Custom Rigs

• A Peek At The Past
  March 2010
  

  Complaints come over the CB about high fuel prices, low pay and long hours. Texas owner-operator Drennon Durham’s response is lacquered across the rear window of his 2007 Peterbilt. One word say’s it all: Kwitcherbitchin. “Easy Money” is the 23-year-old entrepreneur’s CB handle, given to him by a fellow trucker in recognition of Durham’s success at such a young age…

• Creating Mayhem
  February 2010
  

  Jersey isn’t the first place one would think of being a hotbed for customizing trucks. Gangsters ripping them off and hijacking their loads? Sure. But truck dealerships ripping a new rig apart and transforming what was once ordinary into an extraordinary work of rolling artisanship and craftsmanship? Fuhgetaboutit. That is unless you’re thinking pure Mayhem…

• January Rig of the Month
  January 2010
  

  When the company Robert Ewing works for, Hi-Plains Leasing, bought a ’97 Mack previously owned by the United States Post Office, turning the truck into a show rig was one use he hadn’t envisioned for the box-bodied, snub-nosed “Gone Postal.” Other than a paint job, Ewing and Hi-Plains used the truck as purchased for nearly three years before taking it out of service, putting it into the shop and, ultimately, leading it onto the truck beauty show scene.

• MAFIA-BUILT FREIGHTLINERS
  January 2010
  

  The Chrome Shop Mafia is notorious for converting big rigs with millions of miles under their wheels into head-turning show-stoppers. Their big rig artistry is evident across the country and well documented in both print and video. Freightliner, on the other hand, is well known for its forward thinking designs and innovations. The company was looking for a way to turn the spotlight on their Cascadias and Coronados. Now here’s a perfect match….

• HEAVY HAULERS
  January 2010
  

  No matter how or where they’re used, owner-operators take pride in their rides. Take a look at these five tricked-out heavy haulers–customized for both looks and performance. All five of these off-road workhorses haul heavy loads over rough terrain, and all five have earned bragging rights at big league truck shows.

• INSIDE A BUILD-OFF CHAMPION
  November 2009
  

  Frame-up resto takes this 28-year-old Pete from Wyoming oil-field workhorse to Build-Off champion…Jerry Diemoz has logged more than 1.6 million miles in its cab, most of those miles plying the nasty roads and drilling sites of Wyoming’s oil and gas fields hauling rigging and equipment…

• Weathered Truck Video
  October 2009
• CUSTOM RIG SPOTLIGHT
  October 2009
  

  Brian O’Leary has accomplished more than most in his 37-year trucking career including Equipment Driver of the Year and the Colorado Motor Carriers Association’s 2007 Driver of the Year. But it’s his latest accomplishment – a custom build-out of a 1999 Peterbilt 379 stretched to 300 inches – that makes it all worthwhile…

• INSIDE PROJECT ONE
  October 2009
  

  HOT-ROD TEXAS PETE
  San Antonio big rig customizer’s 651st build, Project One, is one wild custom ride

  It began as just a rough color pencil sketch and a short list of specifications/ideas scribbled on a notepad. Two years later San Antonio-based Texas Chrome Shop rolled its tricked-out, multi-hued hot-rod Peterbilt, Project 1, onto the carpet. A dream [...]

• Flaming River project
  October 2009
  

  “Hot rodding has no limits.” This, the motto of Flaming River hot-rod shop, is epitomized in its latest revival: the transformation of this 1987 Pete 379 Flattop into the smokin’ hot gangsta rig known as Blackbird. Flaming River of Berea, Ohio, frequents hot-rod trade shows, showcasing its products and custom work, which is catered to early models of hot rod cars…