10-4 Magazine / May 2026 11 Micheal began to disassemble the truck, he realized the chassis was even worse than they thought, so over the next 12 months, the truck went through an entire rebuild – and I mean entire – as the only things left from the original truck turned out to be the engine, the 18-speed transmission, and the cab’s floor pan, firewall, door jambs, and windshield mask. Micheal ended up replacing everything else! And speaking of Micheal, this guy has an interesting story, too. A third generation truck driver, Micheal grew up in a family that worked in the oilfields, did a lot of drilling, operated winch trucks, and did heavy haul and oversize loads. After trucking for a bit, Micheal started a company in 2008 called Phoenix Oilfield Services that specializes in systematic pressure testing of all the necessary equipment used to pump and transport oil, including the equipment that ends up on the sea floor out in the Gulf. When much of the work began leaving the area, Micheal did not want to follow, so he went back to trucking and restoring trucks (as a true one man shop). This guy is smart, resourceful, and not afraid to roll the dice, try something new, and take chances. Starting with two blank frame rails from Vicon Fabricating that would give the truck a 323” wheelbase, Michael’s first job was to build a rolling chassis. Wanting a newer style air ride suspension, David bought a cut-off from a 2014 truck, and then Micheal proceeded to drill the holes and mount the suspension and 3.36 rears to the fresh rails. The 6NZ Cat engine was rebuilt in Micheal’s shop by his friend Wade, who installed a C18 marine cam, modified Acert injectors, a custom ECM tune, and more. In the end, the engine, which was completely painted by Micheal and dressed up with lots of shiny things, including extensive custom piping from BH Tube in Pennsylvania, puts about 950-hp to the flywheel. The engine also got chrome valve covers from Henry and all our friends at Jemsal, Inc. in Los Angeles, CA. After adding a car-hauler front drop axle with an air-ride kit and springs from J Ferrell Custom Trucks in Gap, PA, Micheal painted the rolling chassis in the light blue color that is now known as Pitre Blue. Mike Guidry of Church Point, LA was the king of louvers back in the day. After being diagnosed with ALS, a degenerative disease that damages motor neurons, leading to muscle weakness, atrophy, and a loss of voluntary movement, Mike gave his massive louver press to Michael before he passed away. Continuing
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