12 10-4 Magazine / April 2025 going to be Jason’s personal work truck, so he wanted it to be special. Over the next year or so, PCT did quite a bit of work to this bone stock little 2-axle truck, including doing a full body drop, installing an air-ride front end, and adding 8” Dynaflex exhaust with Pickett elbows (yes, they are named after the Pickett boys because they came up with the idea and made the first ones). The Medium Emerald Green truck, which was adorned with Ultra Violet Purple accents and stripes, also got a wide Pickett visor, Pickett step boxes, big-hole wheels, 379 dual square headlights with shaved blinkers, and seven plastic chrome LED cab lights. A lot of custom fabrication was done to this Peterbilt, as well, including chopping the breather screens and adding breather light panels, the straps were removed from both the fuel tanks and breathers, the air bags on the back of the sleeper were hidden, and custom aluminum cab and sleeper panels were installed. The truck also got a painted flush-mount aluminum deck plate, Hogebuilt stainless-steel quarter fenders, painted window chops, and eleven grill bars were added. Not much was done inside besides painting the dash panels purple and adding all the available Rockwood dash accessories. The stock black rubber floor was kept, because Jason had planned to work this truck, so he wanted it to be somewhat practical. The custom hay trailers were ordered from PT Welding in Woodland, CA. Painted green to match and covered in LED lights, the trailers feature big-hole wheels, air-ride suspension, and Pickett’s own billet oil hubcaps. PT would not paint the purple stripes on the trailers, so Rod and his crew did that. Once it was all finished, the combination sat at PCT for at least another year, before Jason himself finally flew out to pick it up and drive it back. After getting it home, he decided it was a lot fancier than he thought it would be and decided it was too nice to work, so he parked it. Besides taking it to a few local shows near the dairy, the truck did not see the light of day until Jason brought it to Rod’s truck show in Chandler, AZ in April of 2024. After that show, Rod told Jason if the truck was going to be strictly a show truck, he needed to take it to the next level – and Jason agreed. So, back it went to PCT for a second round of even more dramatic customizations. One of the biggest changes was the headlights, which were switched to large round headlights from a 1932 Ford, mounted on custom brackets, that are attached to the fender braces (not the sides of the grill surround). And speaking of the grill surround, the stock aerodynamic 389 surround was replaced with a 379 version with more square edges and 13 grill bars were added. The painted deck plate was replaced with a stainless one, the window chops were removed, and the stock mirror brackets were replaced with a set of polished brackets from 12 Ga. Customs. Going even deeper, an 18” stainless 12 Ga. bumper with lights on each end was installed, along with a rear painted light bar to match the back of the trailers. The visor was swapped out with a slightly smaller Pickett/RLK stainless visor, the plastic cab lights were replaced with chromed metal ones, all the watermelon lights on the truck and trailer (almost 100 of them) were switched to glass lenses, and the sliding 5th wheel was lowered and made fixed. The stock 23” diameter fuel tanks were replaced with shorter 26” tanks, the straps were reintroduced, and the fuel filler caps were hidden (they are now accessible through the sleeper side doors via trapdoors in the floor of the sleeper). But the PCT crew didn’t stop there! To get the truck’s “stance” just right (and level), the PCT crew modified the truck’s Reyco air-ride suspension brackets by moving them about 4” up to get the rear of the truck even lower. Once they did this, the Hogebuilt quarter fenders were too long, so they trimmed 2” off the bottom. Also, the tires on the truck and trailers were not the same size or brand, so brand-new Bridgestone 255s were purchased and mounted on every wheel. The same step boxes from the first build were kept, but new billet step plates from Lifetime were added, along with stainless wiper arms and chrome wiper blades from GGE Products, and more under-glow lighting was added, especially under the trailers. The final exterior detail was a bunch of added pinstriping by local painter Ron Hernandez. Moving inside the cab, much was done here, with the biggest change being the painted (and pinstriped) floor and door panels, a custom overhead console for the CB radio and speakers, a small steering wheel from Billet Specialties, billet pedals from Spare Time Fab, and polished Rockwood door sills. The sound system got a major upgrade, as well, and now features a Kenwood head unit with (3) big 15” Rockford Fosgate subwoofers under the bed and (16) 6.5” mids/tweeters throughout the cab and sleeper. The chrome tilt steering column was modified to tilt even more, the shifter knob was replaced with a purple #4 billiard ball, several green watermelon lights were added, and the stock seats were lowered and moved back using Pickett adapter plates. The sleeper also now features a high-quality memory-foam mattress from our friends at West Coast Foam.
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