Shop Profile: Outlaw Customs
Notable builds/trucks: Dead Man’s Hand, Vigilante, KMT 359
Location: Henderson, Colo.
Phone Number: (303) 952-8109

Outlaw Customs, headed by brothers Andy and Alex Gobel, spawned from transmission and differentials specialist Western Truck Parts, owned by their father Allen Gobel. Alex says the crew’s goal is “to think outside the box to provide cool custom products.

Anything [...]

Spawned from the San Antonio-based repair mega shop Triple R Diesel, the Texas Chrome Shop rang its bells of independence on July 4, 2005. It was then, says the shop’s co-owner Raul Mendez, “we got more into customizing and started building all kinds of different trucks.”

4 State Trucks owner Bryan “Bossman” Martin says his shop’s calling card is a “mild to wild” approach – from small custom upgrades to tricked-out custom builds, he and his crew can oblige.

Shop Profile: Botelho’s Custom Trucks
Notable builds/trucks: 355
Location: Los Banos, Calif.
Phone Number: (209) 652-4204

Botelho’s Custom Trucks is a merger of business and hobby. Jeff Botelho says when he was a kid, his dad was big into building custom street rods. The family, though, has made a living off of the trucking business. “So I turned [the [...]

Jeff Battler’s Ontario-based 12ga Customs shop started as a repair facility in 1990, doing general maintenance work and overhauls and catering mostly to owner-operators with more high-end needs.

Shop Profile: First Class Services
Notable builds/trucks: First in Class, Bucket List
Location: Lewisport and Owensburg, Ky.
Phone Number: (270) 295-3746

Randy Stroup of the Lewisport, Ky.,-based First Class Services says the shop’s inception stems from his and the rest of the crew’s personal passions for hot-rods. They’ve been actively building trucks since 2006, Stroup says, and the [...]

Paint and graphics artist Jeff Zimmerman and his crew of nine at T/A Truck Painting offer custom paint and body work, restorations after crashes, accessorizing and custom vinyl graphics.

Shop Profile:
Car Craft Truck Works & Elizabeth Truck Center

Notable builds/trucks: Mayhem, Hillwick 66, The Beast, Punisher
Location: Elizabethtown, N.J., and Staten Island, N.Y.
Phone Number: (908) 355-8800

Car Craft Truck Works began as a heavy truck collision shop in 1976 in a 6,000 sq. ft. facility in Brooklyn. Today, the Car Craft crew operates in a 60,000 sq. [...]

We recently started both Facebook and Twitter accounts to post information and headlines related to custom trucks and truck customizing.

For the past 20 years and counting, Berube’s Truck Accessory shop in Bow, N.H., has been one of the heavy hitters in the business of making New England’s trucks stand out in a crowd. They also know how to throw a party.

We should have a place on the Custom Rigs web site where you guys could post custom rigs and related items for sale. You know, a “marketplace” or a Custom Rigs website flea market. Does this sound like a good idea or not? …

For Sale: 2011 Pete 389; 261″ wheelbase; Lowleaf with Airride car-hauler front axle; 500hp Cat; 18spd; 3.36 gears with full locking diff’s

REWARDING READERS

It’s fun when the work one does is gratifying with just enough challenges to keep it interesting.

One of the fun aspects of my job  is working on ways to make your interaction with Custom Rigs fun — and rewarding. That’s why we came up with a couple new twists recently to reward each of [...]

One of the most wicked ash haulers on the road is a rare 2005 Peterbilt 379X called Haulin’ Ash, owned by Burningham Enterprises of American Fork, Utah, located about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City.

It looks like rush hour on the Garden State Parkway with garbage trucks, reefers, dumps, tow trucks, boom trucks, tankers and an assorted mix of new and antique custom bobtails nose to tail in a slow procession. The difference is it’s way after rush hour and the view the drivers see slowly moving past their high perches is lush countryside around the Sussex County Fairgrounds

East Coast Large Cars Show Day 1
The weather is turning out ot be pretty good this weekend, which should bode well for everyone heading out to Augusta, New Jersey and the Sussex County Fairgrounds for the East Coast Large Cars.Com truck show.  That’s where I’ll be today as well.

Last year Richie Acosta’s truck show drew [...]

[ October 1, 2010 to October 2, 2010. ] “Guilty By Association” Truck Show & Customer Expo-by Chrome Shop Mafia/4 State Trucks; October 1 & 2, Joplin Missouri. It’s the ‘event of the year’! Don’t miss it! Cool Trucks , Bands – Concerts, Good Food – BBQ , Vendors on site , Prizes – Give Aways , Shop Tours, Unbelievable Bargains on Parts, a Good Time for All

[ October 23, 2010 to October 24, 2010. ]
Truckin’ For Kids
Pride & Polish rolls into SoCal for a good cause

The Truckin’ for Kids Truck Drags and Show & Shine is an exciting event held annually in Southern California. This annual fund raiser attracts a diverse crowd of people who are interested in everything from big rigs and drag racing to [...]

No matter the economy, you can’t lose in this Las Vegas venue, where the free advice, equipment displays, job opportunities, regulatory updates and beautiful show trucks offer plenty to owner-operators…

What I’m going to do for the rest of the year is send out a half-dozen Pride & Polish T-shirts to those of you who send me the best tech questions each month. The questions can be about anything in your truck from engine related to audio systems, suspension to interior, custom or stock.

CUSTOM RIGS’ TECH TIPS
Submit a question to our Tech Forum and if we use it in the magazine, you’ll receive a free Custom Rigs/Pride & polish T-shirt and Custom Rigs hat!

Do you like winning stuff? I do. We have two new contests starting and both are easy to enter. We’ll have more “official” details next week…but I thought I’d give those of you who read my blog a head start!

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT & WIN

GearWrench sponsoring Custom Rigs tool give-away as Reader’s Rigs takes on a cool new twist

Every day readers submit pictures of their trucks to our Truck Gallery in hopes they’ll be spotlighted in the pages of Custom Rigs.

Starting with our August issue we’re upping the ante with a [...]

NEW MIG GUNS FOR CUSTOM JOBS
Tregaskiss MIG guns meet demands of light- to heavy-duty applications

Options available for light- to heavy-duty applications
Complimentary value-added feature
180- to 650-amp models available
Air-cooled and water-cooled versions

WINDSOR, Ontario. May 20, 2010—To meet the demands of welding applications ranging from light- to heavy-duty, Tregaskiss offers two brands: TOUGH GUN™ MIG Guns and TGX™ [...]

One of the things I really love about Custom Rigs readers is every one of you are proud to be truckers, and each of you take a lot of pride in the rig your drive that brings food to your tables–and ours. The other thing I enjoy is when you take the time to share photos with our staff of what you’re doing and the rigs you’re driving. I thought I’d share a couple of the latest that came in yesterday…