Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Diesel World

As a longtime member of the No Regrets Car Club, Chad Cooper of Magnolia, Texas, knows how to turn heads with custom rides. Steve Adgate of Rio Vista Ford originally built this 1999 Ford F-250 before Chad and his crew took the beast to the next level with some serious updates. Starting with the exterior, the custom wide fenders and killer bed work set this F-250 apart from others, thanks to the skilled hands at Bob Grant and the team at GrantFab. Once the body was dialed in, Chad Pickering laid down a fresh coat of red paint that really makes this truck pop. “This dually was originally built for a SEMA display in the Air Zenith booth, and Chad proudly notes that it was finished well before the deadline—a…

There’s a truck repair shop in Houston called STP Diesel, which is owned by Benito (Benny) Diaz, managed by his brother Tony, and operated by some of the finest technicians in the industry. The STP crew has established a name for themselves in the Texas diesel truck community and beyond due to their combined effort to treat every customer’s truck like it was their own. Benny, Tony, and staff are truck enthusiasts through and through, with a slight proclivity for diesel models, but they really do enjoy working on any type of truck, from 2WD light-duty pickups to the high-powered work trucks on the opposite end of the spectrum. While it may sound like the guys at STP Diesel are all business all the time, they do make it a…

MARK WETHERINGTON’S ’08 FORD F-550 Mark Wetherington from Tennessee says he uses his fully restored 2008 Ford F-550 for “everything—driving for work, farm stuff, anything.” Here’s a rundown of the truck’s upgrades. “A complete frame-off restoration, the truck was painted, and the frame was sandblasted and coated with Steel-It,” Mark says. “The axles, brakes, and S&B cab mounts were all rebuilt and restored.” He added 24x12-inch American Force Super Single wheels up front with 24x8.5-inch Super Singles in the rear. They’re wrapped in 35x12.5-inch Venom Mountain tires. Kelderman 4-link air-ride suspension is installed in the rear with 4-link front and Icon 4.5-inch progressive-rate springs. The F-550 also has a J&K Engines stage 2 long block with 8,000 miles, a new torque converter, and a HD flexplate. There’s hot/cold side intercooler…

01 THOROUGHBRED DIESEL VP44 Thoroughbred Diesel offers replacement Bosch VP44 fuel injection pumps that have been rebuilt by certified Bosch techs and tested on a test stand for four hours before the pump is sent to you. Bosch VP44 diesel pumps are also upgraded with all the latest upgrades required by Bosch, and come with a one-year unlimited mileage warranty. Thoroughbred Diesel WWW.THOROUGHBREDDIESEL.COM 02 ARP HEAD STUDS: ’08-’10 FORD 6.4L POWERSTROKE ARP created these heavy-duty head studs to help overcome head gasket failures that can occur in Ford 6.4L diesel engines. The studs are manufactured in ARP’s Santa Paula, California, plant from proprietary ARP2000 material with threads rolled after heat-treat to provide optimum fatigue strength. They are centerless ground to assure perfect concentricity. The ends of the studs are broached to facilitate…

As a diesel truck owner, routine maintenance is equal parts rewarding and frustrating. While the actual act of changing your engine oil and filter is a pretty straightforward process, it’s all the steps leading up to that moment that can be a bit of a headache. There’s nothing worse than calling your local parts store, talking to the kid behind the counter, and repetitively getting asked what trim your truck is, like it’s going to make the life or death difference for your engine oil and filter. What’s worse is getting to the store and finding that they’re out of your oil, don’t stock your filter, or finding out that your local dealership wants an exorbitant amount of money for your filters. All of that is why the folks at…

With so many shows to choose from every year, it makes it hard to see EVERY show that happens—and that’s why you have us and our awesome contributors to cover the ones you can’t attend! Music City Showdown 2024, held on May 10-11 at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park in Franklin, Tennessee, was a spectacular gathering of automotive enthusiasts from across the country. This annual event has quickly become one of Nashville’s most prestigious automotive shows, attracting a diverse array of vehicles, from lifted and lowered trucks to classic cars, Jeeps, and SxS. This year’s showdown was not just about the vehicles—it was about the community, the atmosphere, and the perfect Tennessee weather that made it all possible. A SHOWCASE OF AUTOMOTIVE PASSION The 2024 event featured a stunning…

Have you ever stopped to think about how absolutely incredible this journey is? Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Here we go again, Dustin is off his rocker and in his feels again.” While that’s only slightly true, there really is a lot of truth to that statement. This past weekend (at the time of writing this article), I got to check off one of my lifelong goals. For those who don’t know, I reside in the beautiful cheese state of Wisconsin, and while we don’t have much going for us up here, we are blessed to be home to one of the most prestigious racetracks in the whole world—Road America. What makes Road America even more special for me is that my grandparent’s farm is only about a mile…

Everyone has their own specific vision of a dream truck. This is what makes going to custom truck shows so exciting—you just never know what you’re going to see. Dylan Terry of Millstadt, Illinois, could’ve sunk his teeth into just about any type of pickup out there, but the one he wanted to build the most is the one you are looking at now. The second-generation Silverado has been at the center of his truck obsession for years, and he finally reached a point when he was able to build his ’07 2500 HD to match the one he had conjured in his dreams. In a brief two-year period, Dylan was able to transform his Silverado from stock condition to a customized version that features very personal alterations that satisfy…

Got a 12-valve Cummins under the hood? Then you probably know that the airflow inside these engines isn’t exactly winning any efficiency awards. But don’t worry—our “Stock to Not” project still has some tricks up its sleeve for improving street performance … or does it? Enter Pusher Intakes from sunny South Florida. Since hitting the diesel scene in 2008 with its top-notch 12-valve parts, the company been a game-changer for diesel enthusiasts everywhere. Today, we have “Stock to Not,” our trusty project truck, parked in the driveway, ready for an upgrade. Our mission: to swap out our freshly powder coated parts (stay tuned for more on those next month) and install this gorgeous Pusher twin ram intake kit. The kit comes with the intake, a 3.5-inch cold side pipe and…

Most of us know how it feels to look back at a truck and realize we’re in just a little too deep. For Mark Vanadia of Big Time Kustomz in Randolph, New Jersey, what started out as a simple, daily drivable build for his wife to take their kids to shows almost overnight turned into a frame-off SEMA build that retained its drivability while looking absolutely immaculate. Now, Mark is no stranger to modifying trucks, so when his wife expressed a desire for an older Ford truck for herself, he immediately started the search for the perfect one. There was only one caveat: It couldn’t be a longbed because, she said, “They are too long!” And soon, there was a 1997 Ford F-250 in the driveway ready for the straightforward…