10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

COVER FEATURE - OCTOBER 2006

HAMMER DOWN!
ADRIAN ROCAMONTES’ RIG POUNDS THEM ALL
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

Adrian Rocamontes of San Antonio, Texas was always told that California was where all the cool trucks were. Last year, after being invited to participate in the 2nd Annual Big-Rig Build-Off in Louisville, Kentucky, he set out to prove everyone wrong – and to push his welding and fabrication talents to the limit. And when it was all said and done, Adrian’s “Sledgehammer” pounded the competition and blew everyone away. Raising the bar even higher than it already was, the custom truck building community stood up and took notice of Adrian’s incredible creativity and craftsmanship.

Born and raised in San Antonio, Adrian (34) grew up around trucks. His dad, Leo Rocamontes, was a local gravel hauler for many years before giving it up and opening a repair shop some thirty years ago. Leo did all types of maintenance and repair, but his specialty was Detroit engines. As you’ll see later, that expertise would come in handy when building the “Sledge” (as Adrian calls it). Throughout school, Adrian’s focus of study was welding – and he was always at the top his class. After graduating, Leo opened up two bays in his shop for Adrian to get started. Over the years, the two, along with the rest of the family, have worked side-by-side.

Five years ago, Adrian started ACW Specialties and moved into his own building (located on the same property as his dad’s shop, Leo’s Truck & Trailer). Specializing in fabricating custom fenders, battery boxes, deck plates and visors, as well as chopping tops, extending hoods and stretching frames, Adrian has made quite a name for himself. Over the years, Adrian has built many award-winning rigs for people like Tim Thornhill, Billy Hopkins, Steve Vadrine and Victor Garza, but he’d never built one for himself.

Adrian was disappointed that he was not involved in the first build-off in 2005, but was excited to hear that he was nominated to participate in 2006. Mid-America’s Big-Rig Build-Off was created to be a “friendly” competition between custom truck builders to showcase their talents and promote their businesses. The rules stipulate that each builder gets three months (90 days) to complete their entire project. Adrian found out that he was nominated at the end of November (2005), bought the “starter” truck at the end of December, began the build in January and finished just days before the contest was to occur in March. But things did not get off to a smooth start.

Because of previous commitments to some of his customers, Adrian was forced to delay beginning his truck until this other work was completed. After losing the first three weeks of his 90-day window, Adrian closed the gate, locked the door and went to work full time on his rig, completing the massive makeover, on time, in only 67 days. But closing your business for two months takes its toll in a hurry. Halfway through the build, Adrian had to sell another truck that he owned just to keep the project going and to survive. But when they called out his name as the champion for 2006, and the crowd jumped to their feet and roared with excitement and approval, Adrian forgot about all the hard times and long nights – it was all worth it!

The unnamed project started out with a wrecked 1998 Peterbilt 379 car hauler which was quickly stripped down to bare frame rails. Wanting to highlight his welding skills, Adrian went to work on the truck’s 300-inch chassis. Adrian and his crew removed every bolt from the frame, replaced them with countersunk screws and then welded up the heads to cover them up. The deck plate was welded into place between the frame rails and then the welds were grinded smooth, making for an absolutely seamless frame and deck plate. This part of the project alone took almost three weeks, but it really showed off Adrian’s welding abilities. Most welders specialize in a certain metal or a certain process, but Adrian can do all types of welding on all types of metal, including steel, aluminum and stainless.

Next, the crew went to work on the cab and the hood. Adrian chopped the top of the cab ten inches and then capped it with a roof from an Ultra Cab, which gave the truck back almost all of the headroom inside. He then raked (angled) the windshield back, which forced him to chop and re-angle both of the door frames as well. All of the glass on this truck had to be custom cut to fit. Adrian then cut down the grille and slightly raked the hood (just over an inch) and lowered the front fenders a few inches. After that, every skin on the cab and hood were replaced with handmade pieces (the side cab panels were made extra long to line up with the bottom of the lowered fenders). Now that the chassis and body work was done, it was time to go to work on the powerplant.

Adrian wanted this rig to have monster power, so he acquired a Detroit 12V71 from a piece of heavy equipment (a scraper). The V-12 engine was naturally aspirated and had about 520 horsepower – which was not enough! This is where Leo’s expertise with Detroit motors came in to play. Adrian relinquished all of the engine responsibilities except for the custom motor mounts to his father (Leo Sr.) and older brother (Leo Jr.). After upgrading the injectors to larger ones, adding two turbos and two blowers, the twin supercharged powerhouse had increased to 950 horses. And it fired up on the first try. A modern 18-speed transmission was installed to make sure that all that power actually made it to the rear wheels.

With all of the major work done, it was time to paint. Adrian called on veteran painter Raymond Lund of Rainman Graphics in San Antonio, Texas. Not wanting the truck to be obnoxiously colored, Adrian chose an “elegant” neutral color (champagne) for the base of the truck and eight shades of burgundy (from rosewood to almost black) for the top portions. Raymond came up with the graphic scheme and added a few accent colors (blue and orange) to give the paint motion and depth. Wanting the guys at Peterbilt to take notice of the rig, Raymond added various-sized, ghosted Peterbilt oval logos all over the truck. Wearing their suits and ties, many of the Peterbilt executives at the show in Louisville left their display inside and came outside to the parking lot to marvel at the truck. The “Sledge” scored Adrian some big brownie points with the folks at Peterbilt.

After the paint, it was time to put it all together and add the final accessories. The interior was kept simple and elegant. Carl at Rockwood helped Adrian by making most of the cab’s interior pieces. Some of the exterior accessories included WTI fiberglass fenders with custom mounts and front and rear bumpers, shaved headlights, a custom visor, handmade mirrors and brackets, custom grille bars and battery boxes (with step bars that match the grille bars), and a unique airline connector system, fabricated out of radiator tubing, welded to the deck plate. Another neat feature on the truck is the pair of fuel tank strap covers. Made out of hand-rolled aluminum, Adrian produced these smooth pieces to cover all of the wires and ugliness of the fuel tank strap brackets. The only “off the shelf” pieces this truck has is the Dynaflex exhaust and the WTI fenders – everything else was built or modified by Adrian and his crew.

The only thing left to do was name the truck. With only a few days left, they needed to work fast. When they pulled the truck out of the shop, for the first time since they had started the project, everyone was blown away at how good it looked. The truck just “hammered” them all over the head and knocked them out. Somebody suggested calling it “Hammer” but that didn’t seem like enough – so they brought it up a notch and named it “Sledgehammer” for obvious reasons. The painter quickly went to work and sprayed the name across the shock box behind the cab. As a final touch, Adrian’s right-hand-man Joe Martinez took a mini sledgehammer out of Adrian’s toolbox and mounted it as the handle for the fifth wheel release.

There was one thing that Adrian did not get to finish before the competition – the front suspension. He wanted to create a front end with variable driving heights. A few months after the build-off, he was able to accomplish that goal and “finish” the truck. The system allows the rig to run with the bumper as high as eight inches off the ground or as low as dragging on the ground, and everything in-between. Believe it or not, this truck is completely roadworthy. It could be put into service if someone wanted to do so. Its only limitation is fuel mileage!

We took our pictures of “Sledgehammer” in Irving, Texas, the day after the show in Dallas ended. The folks at Bobby Lindamood Demolition were kind enough to open up their doors (gates) and allow us to have full access to their yard. Jake Lindamood and a few of his guys herded cows, moved piles of scrap and drove us around in their golf cart all morning – and it was hot out there. We’d like to thank them for all their help.

Since Adrian was a kid, he and his siblings have always been involved in the family business. His younger sister Sharon has always worked in the office and his older brother Leo has always helped out when he could (he runs trucks of his own). Adrian’s mother Cynthia is very proud of her son and his accomplishments, but she thinks he works too much. “He never stops thinking,” she said in Dallas. Adrian has been married for four years to his wife Shelly, and the couple has two kids – Reece (4) and Sydnee (2). Adrian and Shelly were high school sweethearts, but they parted ways after graduation and then later reunited. Shelly, as well as the rest of the family, provides Adrian with a huge “support” staff. He wanted to thank them for all their help and encouragement over the years. He also wanted to thank the rest of the crew that have not been mentioned yet including Pete Cantu Jr., Juan Diaz, Charlie Garza, Guy Lessing, Martin Maldonado, Gilbert Martinez, Homer Rendon, Ruben Rocamontes and Joe Valdez. Without their help, this endeavor would never have been completed.

Adrian did not build this truck for fame and fortune – he built it because he wanted to prove it to himself that he could. His father always said, “If you can weld, you can make anything,” and this amazing metal machine that he made backs up that statement. Adrian is now ready to move on to his next project, so if anyone out there might like to own “Sledgehammer” get in touch with him and make an offer. He already has a few people interested in it, and he’ll need to sell it to finance his next “big” venture. In the meantime, he plans on just having fun with it and knocking people out wherever he goes. Our heads are still spinning!