Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i Street Trucks

“CUTTING UP A MODERN LUXURY SUV SOUNDS LIKE A COOL THING TO DO, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF DELICATE INTRICACIES THAT COULD TURN THE PROJECT SOUR WITH THE QUICKNESS.” THE CHANCES OF SEEING ANOTHER NAVIGATOR BUILT QUITE LIKE THIS ONE ARE SLIM TO NONE (WE’RE BETTING ON NONE). That’s not a statement of arrogance but rather one of sheer honesty, really. Cutting up a modern luxury SUV sounds like a cool thing to do, but there are a lot of delicate intricacies that could turn the project sour with the quickness. David Shulman, a jeweler from Lake Mary, Florida, is never afraid to take on a challenge, and he did know his desire to ‘bag and body drop a newish Navi would be tricky, but boy, was there…

THERE WE GO AGAIN! Each Year the crew at Street Trucks collectively puts together its list for this year’s best wheel and tire options for your next project. Whether you’re looking to lift it, lower it, street race or drag it, you can find something here for your style of stance. The trend of bright chrome or heavily polished rollers is still strong in this game, but cool colors and custom finishes have made quite the impression over the last few years, which is exciting to watch. Now, you can personalize and customize your vehicle without modifying its factory characteristics if that’s the path you were looking to take. We don’t only document the best on the market, we also dive deep into the rubber that surrounds these beautiful pieces…

LIKE MANY BOYS WHO GROW UP IN A RURAL SETTING, WHEN JOHN MCGRAW, JR., turned 15, his attention changed from Midlothian, Texas, youth sports  to personal transportation. He would soon be old enough to drive, and his quest for independence would come in the form of a faded blue 1970 Chevy truck. The object of his automotive obsession was located right around the corner from his parents’ home sitting on rusted steel wheels with flat tires. John’s dad pointed out that the asking price was a bit high for a truck that didn’t have a motor. The young man would not be dissuaded, however, and his persistent pestering of the neighbor finally paid off. That weathered and worn stepside was eventually hauled home. John McGraw, Sr., is well known in…

IF IT’S TRUE THAT THE MORE YOU DO SOMETHING, THE BETTER YOU GET AT IT, THEN MIAMI’S JOSÉ LUGO’S SKILL IN CREATING IMAGINATIVE RAT RODS MIGHT BE APPROACHING PERFECTION. José already has five hand-built, patina creations in his past and each was better than the last. This one is trophy-rat numba-six! José works in the family electrostatic industrial painting business, specializing in powdercoating. Although customer projects pay the bills, his real joy is the creativity involved in building one-of-a-kind, radical rides. In addition to dispensing with such traditional touches like chrome and paint, the rat rod builder’s challenge is assembling an imaginative collection of unrelated parts and adapting them to traditional roles. Need to sit down? How about a pair of re-purposed tractor seats? Need a shifter for the trans?…

IN THE CUSTOM CAR SCENE, STEVE HOWLE HAS BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK A FEW TIMES. He built his first hot rod back in 1987 and has had some sort of custom, Pro Street or drag car ever since. Some of these include a Pro Street ’81 Vette, a Pro Street 8-71 blown convertible Camaro and a Pro Street ’62 Bel-Air bubbletop. In addition, Steve has built and raced numerous drag cars, including two ’66 Chevy IIs, two ’69 Camaros, a turbocharged ’65 Corvette and his fastest car, a ’69 twin turbo Camaro that ran mid 7 second quarter-mile blasts at almost 190 mph! Steve is nearing his retirement years, so he has decided to mellow things down and build his final custom for the car show scene and late-night cruises.…

RAM has announced it is expanding its light-duty lineup with the additions of the new 2022 Ram 1500 Laramie G/T and Ram 1500 Rebel G/T models. The Ram 1500 Laramie G/T and Ram 1500 Rebel G/T join the lineup and further solidify the Ram Truck brand as North America’s off-road and performance truck leader. “Ram has a strong history of performance trucks and the Laramie G/T and Rebel G/T models add to that while expanding the light-duty lineup with the segment’s best combination of performance, capability, luxury and technology,” said Mike Koval Jr., Ram brand chief executive officer – Stellantis. “Ram 1500 G/T buyers will enjoy this combination of performance and luxury that the newest additions to our versatile lineup offer.” The 2022 Ram 1500 Laramie G/T and Ram 1500…

FOLLOWING UP ON OUR LAST UPDATE WITH PROJECT LUCID DREAMS, OUR 2001 CHEVY S10 XTREME, WE ARE FINALLY READY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE INSTALLATION OF THE C-NOTCH AND 3-LINK KIT. We are back at The Shop, a custom truck fab shop located in Kentucky. Chace Yonts is the man known for building cool mini-trucks, and he’s ready to dive into this next part of the build. Once we saw Lucid lowered, we knew it was going to look even better laying on the ground! This will be part one of a multi-part series with an end goal of getting Lucid Dreams fully bagged and fully drivable on a reliable air-ride suspension. Unfortunately, with the coronavirus pandemic, most companies are having difficulties sourcing materials in order to make the necessary…

PLUCKED FROM OBSCURITY, CORKSCREW LIVED OUT THE FIRST 50 YEARS OF ITS WELL-LOVED LIFE AS A WORK TRUCK AT A VINEYARD IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. Powered by a 2-barrel 318 backed by a 3-speed automatic, the rig was a pretty ritzy unit in its heyday. You can tell by the factory power steering (five turns lock-to-lock with the twitch of a finger) and the hand-striped green and gray accents that streak down the Sweptline’s iconic bedside. In early 2021, the truck ventured north to trade its booze-barrel history for an exciting future at QA1. It didn’t take long for the crew to remove Corkscrew’s four-wheel, leaf-spring factory installed suspension. They also threw out that loosey-goosey steering box along with the little 14-inch pizza cutters. So if it’s out with the old,…

IF YOU’VE BEEN FOLLOWING ALONG WITH ADVANCEMENTS IN TRUCKS, YOU’VE PROBABLY NOTICED THE CURRENT HORSEPOWER WARS BETWEEN RAM, GM AND FORD IN THEIR DIESEL TRUCKS. The peak torque and horsepower ratings of their respective engines has been the headline of just about every piece of marketing material released by the Big Three for a few years now. You may have noticed how they continue to add gears to their automatic transmissions—first it was a 4-speed, then 5-speed, and for a while they settled on 6. The latest 2020 models now come equipped with as many as 10 speeds, and man, are they nice to drive. Something most buyers don’t notice is what all the extra power and the gears mean for the rest of the drivetrain. With those changes in…

LS ENGINE & TRANSMISSION PACKAGES BLUEPRINT ENGINES LS BUILDER SERIES DRIVETRAINS ARE MANUFACTURED AND SHIPPED AS A COMPLETE PACKAGE WITH THE ENGINE, TRANSMISSION AND FRONT-DRIVE ACCESSORIES ALREADY MATED TOGETHER. BluePrint Engines matches one of its brand-new crate engines with the customer’s choice of an automatic or manual transmission, bolts on the front accessories and dresses them with show-worthy parts. Designed to make drivetrain installation less painful and save valuable build time and expense. BLUEPRINT ENGINES 800-483-4263 www.blueprintengines.com WELD BUNGS STEEL WELD IN BUNGS FOR YOUR PROJECT ARE NOW AVAILABLE FROM ALL AMERICAN BILLET. These bungs are 100% made in the USA and are available in three different sizes. ■ 1.223-inch outer diameter x 0.1-inch x 5/8-18 thread ■ 0.992-inch outer diameter x 0.842-inch x 5/8-18 thread ■ 1.25-inch outer diameter…

THE ONLINE BRAND TRUCKSHOW.ORG RECENTLY HOSTED ITS 18TH ANNUAL SLAMOLOGY, A TWO-DAY AUTOMOTIVE AND MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA AT THE LUCAS OIL RACEWAY IN INDIANAPOLIS. Slamology is a different kind of automotive event created for enthusiasts, spectators, media groups, custom automotive shops, distributors and manufacturers alike. This highly successful event has been creating a bond between all entities involved in the automotive industry for years, as well as giving the local community a look into our wild industry. A perfect weekend planned with ideal entertainment for any automotive or music enthusiast alike has been perfected over the years. There are no drugs, glass bottles, firearms, fireworks or pets are permitted at the Lucas Oil Raceway, so you know quality is important to this crew. It’s a weekend full of good clean fun,…

IN 1947 GENERAL MOTORS RELEASED THE ADVANCED DESIGN SERIES OF LIGHT DUTY TRUCKS. This updated design offered greater visibility through larger windows equipped with newly available safety glass. That glass could be molded in a curved shape that became a part of automotive styling considered contemporary for the era. This generation of GM design stayed mostly unchanged until 1955. The top-of-the-line 3100 series was the five window Deluxe Cab. It included a large windshield and curved windows in the cab corners. These additional openings made the interior feel much more spacious and allowed for over-the-shoulder glances to safely change lanes. Butch Hilderbrand from Parker, Texas, has had a longtime passion for some of the things that he couldn’t quite afford earlier in life. Since his high school days, he…

EAST TENNESSEE SHOWDOWN PRESENTED BY DIRECT PAINTLESS DENT REPAIR WAS HELD IN JUNE AT EAST TENNESSEE DISTILLERY IN PINEY FLATS, TENNESSEE. This one-day event is always packed with activities for people of all ages. Distillery tours, special show-labeled moonshine, club games, DJs and great food made on-site were at this family-friendly event. East Tennessee Distillery, home to Mello Moon Moonshine, offers sampling and distillery tours. How cool is that? The distillery is steeped in the tradition of the Appalachian Mountains. Nestled in the hills of Piney Flats, it produces award-winning moonshine for its customers. So, the East Tennessee Showdown really is a weekend of great views, cool trucks and moonshine! After a full day of fun with four wheels, the Top 50 and Best Of awards were handed out and…

STAGE 3 : GEORGIA, SEPT. 25 The third event will be Sept. 25 at Auto Metal Direct in Gainesville, Georgia. This will be a pre-registered, 350-truck show-and-shine event with $5,000 for first place! For more info on the Showoff Series, visit www.showoffseries.com 2021 NATIONAL UPCOMING EVENTS SEPTEMBER SHOWME SHAKEUP 8 Sept. 10-12 Branson Convention Center Branson, MO www.showmeshakeup.com SPARKZ AND RESTORATION SHOW Sept. 10-12 Lakeshore Park Brandon, MS F-100 SUPERNATIONALS Sept. 23-25 Sevierville Convention Center Sevierville, TN OCTOBER 1ST SOCAL NATIONALS Oct. 1-3 Del Mar Fairgrounds Del Mar, CA SPARKS IN THE OZARKS 16 Oct. 1-3 River Ranch Resort Noel, MO SLAMFEST Oct. 9-10 Tampa minimadness.com LAST RESORT SHOW Oct. 22-24 Jennings, LA NOVEMBER SEMA 2021 Nov. 2-5 Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas www.semashow.com DINO’S GIT DOWN Nov. 13-15…