This month’s creation was built for Ned Vander Ploeg (60) of Lynden, Washington. Many of you might remember Ned from a previous article we did about him in January 2012 – when he bought his last truck (which was the second truck he had purchased from Clint). Thankfully, that 2012 Pete 389 was a great truck, so he decided to order another new rig. Red and black have always been Ned’s colors, and this new one, like the last two, features those colors. Since his first truck was called Nedsled and his second truck was called Nedsled II, this latest “creation” was dubbed Nedsled 3.89.
Turning 61 years old next month, Ned said not much has changed since his last article. He just gets up every day and goes to work (thinks the world would be a better place if everyone just did that). His family is doing great – his daughter got married and they now have two boys – Alex (2), and a six-month-old baby named Andrew. Ned said he loves it when the grandkids come visit, and that Alex always wants to ride with him on his tractor. Since the last article, he purchased a 2015 MAC 48-foot flatbed and had a Quick-Draw curtain kit installed, because “all of the cool kids” have one. Painted to match his new truck perfectly, the trailer looks right at home behind it.
The new truck is a black 2017 Peterbilt 389 with a red frame and a 48-inch flattop, a 280-inch wheelbase, a 550 ISX Cummins and an 18-speed transmission. It was also ordered with Low Low AirLeaf suspension, horizontal exhaust and small boxes. When the truck showed up, Charlie in the Service Department installed a Rod Pickett front suspension, and then the guys in the body shop installed one of Clint’s visors, an 18-inch bumper, five cab lights in that “old school” configuration, cab and sleeper skirts (painted black), and painted Fisher half-fenders, mounted on Clint’s hidden brackets. They also moved the driver’s seat back a bit, for more leg room, and then Clint’s dad chopped the air cleaners. The guys also painted the fuel tanks (red at first, then black, because the red just wasn’t working for them), the mirror brackets, the headlight buckets and the dash panels.
Back in 2012, on the Nedsled II, this was the first truck that Clint hid the urea tank. Still experimenting and figuring things out back then, Clint put the tank inside a hollowed-out end of the fuel tank. For this new truck, Ned wanted a little more available fuel capacity, so Clint had to find another place to put it. Opting this time to hide it under the truck between the frame rails, they put the urea tank behind the box and a “dummy” air tank on the passenger side of the truck. Hey, as Clint says, “It’s not what you see, it’s what you don’t see!” It takes a little more work to fill it (you have to lift the hood), but nobody ever said “cool” was easy! Thanks to Kenny and Tyler in the Service Department for all their help with this part of the build.
Ned is the type of guy that prefers to do everything all at once, and although he intended to put some stripes on it when he got home, that just didn’t work out. Now, he likes the fact that it’s just a simple black truck with a red frame and a matching trailer. Ned has added a few things since he got the truck home – his friend Brad Powell of Outlaw Kustom Garage in Lynden, WA built him a cool rear light bar, along with a few panels for his trailer. Ned likes dealing with someone local, and from his own home town.
Driving truck since the late 1970s, starting his career hauling hay, Ned has been pulling a flatbed in and around California, Oregon and Washington for the past 16 years. He bought the original “Nedsled” – a Viper Red 2007 Peterbilt 379 with a flattop sleeper – from Clint in 2006. After putting almost 500K miles on that rig, he replaced it with the “Nedsled II” – a two-tone red and black 2012 Peterbilt 389 with a distinct (and very cool) stripe scheme – from Clint in 2012. After running that truck for 375K miles, he ordered this third one – the 2017 “Nedsled 3.89” seen here – from Clint in 2016. Clint has been trying to do a feature on this rig for months, but it just kept slipping through the cracks!
Will this be Ned’s last new ride, or will there be a Nedsled 4? Only time will tell. Until then, Ned Vander Ploeg will just keep riding in style in Nedsled 3.89, doin’ what he does best – lookin’ good and gettin’ the job done! Big thanks go out to Ned from Clint for always being a great customer, and an even better friend!!
