10-4 Magazine April 2023

36 10-4 Magazine / April 2023 After getting the truck cleaned up and ready for its first trip, he loaded out of Majestic Steel in Bedford, OH, and then headed for Columbus, OH. As he was driving, he began to smell exhaust, so he pulled the truck over and checked the dipstick on the Big Cam and noticed the oil was milky. Figuring that the motor was cooked, he made his delivery and then headed back home empty. After that, Brandon and a friend spent the next month performing an out-of-frame repair on the truck. On the second trip, once again he loaded up out of Majestic Steel and then headed down to Columbus. While attempting to back into the customer’s dock, Brandon crossed a set of railroad tracks and the wish bone on the rear suspension broke. It became a running joke that every trip the truck went out on, something would break. After literally fixing or replacing everything that could break on the truck, from the front to the back, stuff would still break. That’s how the Kenworth got its name “Murphy” (referring to that infamous Murphy’s Law definition stated previously). I met Brandon in June 2020 at the Vintage Truck Covid Convoy, which was featured in the August 2020 edition of 10-4. At that event, Brandon’s 1981 W900A, painted in the Seminole scheme in blue and white with red stripes, really stood out for me. I had asked what he had for a motor in the KW and he told me it had a Detroit. At the time he didn’t have it running like he wanted, but a few months later he got it tuned by Brent Wallentine, and now she runs great. The 1981 W900A is equipped with a 2003 HK 14.0-liter 60 Series Detroit Diesel engine backed by a 13 double overdrive transmission, with 3.55 rears, a Freightliner Airliner rear suspension, and a 245” wheelbase. The interior was done by his Amish neighbor, and a Pete Unibilt ring was installed between the cab and sleeper. Brandon is a hardcore Kenworth lover! There is just something about that A-model and the flat glass that just “fits” him. He enjoys other brands, but Kenworth is Brandon’s favorite, and he really loves the hood design with the “V” in the top. In his eyes, Kenworth trucks just have a little more style. Finally making his dream come true, in July of 2022 Brandon opened Carpenter Custom Trucks. This is what he has always want to do – build fancy trucks. His first customer, Gary Jones, who had a famous truck called Excessive Behavior 2 (AKA EB2), was completely changed, and is now called EZ Money. This truck made its debut at MATS (the Mid-America Trucking Show), held in Louisville, KY at the end of March. Looking to give a few special mentions, Brandon would like to thank Mike Ramsey for giving him his first ride in a big truck (a 1992 black 379), along with his sister, Cristin Carpenter, and his beautiful girlfriend Cheyenne Johnson. He would also like to thank Majestic Steel in Bedford, OH, Hedstrom Plastics and Coburn Inc., both in Ashland, OH, as they were all some of his very first customers. Today, he still has a great business relationship with all of them. This truck may have given Brandon Carpenter a lot of reasons to throw in the towel and quit, but his perseverance paid off, and he now has a reliable and cool truck that defies Murphy’s Law! n