Do- It-Yourself
WOOFER POWER
Fabricating a ported subwoofer  enclosure for maximum bass with minimum cost
By Cesar Alvarez
(Photos by Bruce W. Smith)

One of the attributes of a pro-level sound system is its ability to produce crisp, clean notes with the power to seemingly shake the earth.

Such acoustic energy is a product not of the speakers or the amps [...]

Year’s end is always a time of reflection. We look back over the past 11 months and take measure of where we are now in relation to where we were when the year began. We hope progress has been made in the positive and the road we took, with all the different twists, turns, and intersections life has thrown our way, was the proper one. From there we plot out where we’d like to head as the New Year begins. So it is around our offices …

Christmas is just around the corner and if you haven’t a clue what to get your trucking buddy, trucking spouse, or trucking boss, think outside the typical Christmas gift box. Why not give them a photograph of their favorite custom rig in a frame, on a coffee mug, calendar, mouse pad, coasters, or even T-shirt…you can even send out your own Christmas cards with your rig on it–or hang a crystal custom rig ornament from the holiday tree all by going to our special photo site…

In a truly custom rig, the driver’s seat isn’t just a chair: It’s a throne. And like the throne in a palace, it commands attention and sets the tone for the rest of the king’s chamber. But the seat has to do more than just look good: It has to feel good when the rig is working. The premium seating market offers a wide range of options in looks, comfort, durability, and design fit for a king –or the owner of a custom rig wanting to make a statement at truck shows and on the road…

Cool custom rig models
In our Fall ‘09 issue Lucinda Coulter, managing editor of our sister magazine, Overdrive,  did a nice article on a Frenchman who builds replica scale models of all types of big-rigs as a hobby. His favorite trucks are American custom rigs.

The twist is Christian Chapson is literally an ocean away from our [...]

Custom T’s for Christmas
Seems like everyone is gearing up for Christmas–and Thanksgiving turkeys haven’t even seen the inside of the ovens yet!

For instance the Triple R Diesel guys down there in San Antonio, Texas, just let us know about some cool custom big-rig tee’s they have for kids. What’s interesting about these T-shirts [...]

PRO TIP
Installing 8″ Stacks On Custom Rigs Equipped With DPF Exhausts
“One of the problems we have run into on the DPF trucks being customized here at Pro-Fab is not being able to put big stacks and big Pickett-style elbows on them,” says shop owner and custom fabricator Randy Kaylor.

So the Manheim, PA, fabrication and installation [...]

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Do-It-Yourself

Custom KW Door Window Trim
Give your Kenworth’s cab the chopped look by adding upper window trim panels
A popular customizing trend  among KW owners is adding a painted trim piece to the top of the door window frame to give  the cab a chopped look.

The trim fits along the door lip at the top [...]

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…

While legions of owner-operators are spending $500 to $1,500 to upgrade their stock sound system, another group of truckers don’t blink at dropping $5,000 or more for custom sound systems that rival those of show cars. If you love audio systems or are just looking for great information on the latest and greatest audio products, check out our audio guide…..

Well it’s finally here…Klos Custom Trucks – The Book, with photography by Robbie ‘Dingo’ Rose. 280 photos splashed across 112 glossy pages in A4 size. Great coffee table material! The book is $40 (Aussie Dollars) plus postage and handling (around $10 to anywhere in Australia). It will be available for our overseas mates too! …

Courtesy of Texas Chrome Shop

THE PERFECT BED STORAGE SYSTEM

DAMAR TruckDeck combines the best of all worlds when it comes to bed storage and cargo management

Your truck has many uses – construction, camping, hunting and more. Now you can have the flexibility to organize [...]

When you get an invitation from the boyz at the Chrome Shop Mafia like that there’s no way one can turn it down. You just know the turn out is going to be good and the hospitality terrific. What we found were 97 trucks on site–72 of them registered in the Chrome Shop Mafia’s Truck Show–and a whole lot of fun…

In an on-going effort to expand and refine Custom Rigs Pride & Polish truck beauty shows, the Randall-Reilly Events Division has just announced the selection of Neal Holsomback, Victor Verret, Barbara Holsomback and Suzanne Stempinski to manage the logistics, judging and on-site operations for all 2010 Pride & Polish truck beauty events. Other changes include…

“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…

The crew from Outlaw Customs strode into the Overdrive’s Pride & Polish contest in Dallas last August on a mission. As Dead Man’s Hand, a 2001 Peterbilt 379, rolled into the show, the guys who built it – Andy and Alex Gobel, Nic Gillan and Jon Gill – hoped it would answer a pressing question: “How can we get people to talk about us?” Well, they found the answer….

COOL’S HOT FENDERS
Cool Truck Components expands line of custom fenders
Cool Truck Components manufactures a complete line of Big-Rig fiberglass composite fenders that are as tough as they are sexy.  And now the company is expanding its custom composite fender product line with new styles and applications.

Cool’s proprietary five-ply composite lamination sequence gives your truck [...]

Smokin’ Gun Volume 5 Two Disk DVD
No custom rig is complete without a little–or a lot!–of airbrush work. And there’s no better way to learn the art of airbrushing than having custom painter Ed Hubbs of  Full Blown Kustoms show you the secrets and techniques to bring your visions to life.

Ed Hubb’s newest [...]

HOLLOW SOULS
If you really want the interior of your custom rig’s cab to stand out when the doors are opened, nix the round mixer stick for a Hollow Soul.

Hollow Soul is part of Outlaw Customs new shifter line for Peterbilt 379’s.

These custom shifters come with genuine Eaton isolators and are hollow so the shift knob’s [...]

Tired of running plain-Jane mirrors on your 379? Step up to a pair of one-off Texas Chrome Shop’s custom aluminum billet mirrors. Tripel R Diesel’s Texas Chrome Shop division is turning up the heat in the truly custom parts world by offering aluminum billet mirrors like the ones seen on our show-winning Project One. Custom designed to your specifications and cut with our in-house CNC machine, these mirrors will set your rig apart from the others. You tell us what you want, and we’ll do the rest! $1,599/pair. (210) 410-6161 and ask for Roland; www.TripleRDiesel.com