BREAKING TRADITION

THE LATEST PROJECT FROM CLINT MOORE

 

This months “creation” was built for Dusty Dockstader of Calipatria, California (a small town way down south near El Centro).  Dusty’s dad Duane has been hauling hay since 1968, so it only made sense for Dusty to do the same.  Back in the day, somebody dared Duane to paint his truck purple, so he did - and every one of his trucks have been purple ever since.  But when Dusty ordered his latest rig, he decided to break tradition and order something a little different.

Dusty started driving for his dad when he turned 18 and stayed with him until he was 23.  At that point, he bought his first truck - a 1984 Freightliner cabover powered by a screaming 8V92 Detroit.  His dad told him to slam his leg in the door when he got in so he’d drive it right, referring to how drivers had to “get mad at” those old 8V92’s to get them to run right.

His next rig was a Freightliner conventional, and then he purchased a new 2000 Peterbilt 379 with a 36-inch sleeper.  He dolled up that truck and got her looking super sweet, until one day in Borrego Springs when a kid decided to cross the center line and commit suicide by driving head-on into Dusty’s big Peterbilt.  The truck was totaled.  He needed a replacement truck in a hurry, so he went down to the local dealership and purchased a new 2004 Freightliner Coronado.  He drove that truck for four years, until he picked up this new 2008 Peterbilt 388 he ordered from Clint.

Dusty loved his 2000 Peterbilt, so when he ordered this one he started out with the same basic configuration of that truck, which included a short hood and a 36-inch Unibilt sleeper.  He also ordered an ISX 500 Cummins engine, a 13-speed transmission, Reyco air-ride with a drop front axle, Platinum interior, factory Wide Ride seats and, of course, enough switches and gauges to make it look like an airplane inside.  Dusty opted out of the navigation system saying, “I know where I’ve been and where I’m going.”  The two-color paint scheme was done at the factory in Beige and Black Cherry.

As soon as the truck arrived, Clint and his team went to work installing a painted drop visor, two extra cab lights, seven-inch body drop panels (painted to match), a stainless rear light bar and a flush deck plate.  They also painted the fuel and air tanks and then added wide bands, installed Hogebuilt quarter fenders, hid the hood latches and removed all of the emblems.  Inside, Clint removed all of the dash panels and painted them, as well as all of the wood trim, to match the paint scheme on the outside of the truck.

When the truck was finished, Dusty and his friend Bill Mead (who had also ordered a truck from Clint) went to Kansas to pick them up and stayed for a few days.  While he was gone, Dusty had his set of 28-foot Utility Ultra Lights painted Beige to match the new truck.  There were some skeptics about this new truck, but once they got it home everyone realized that not all trucks are created equal - some are cooler than others.

Dusty and his wife Gina have a four-year-old son named Tanner who loves the truck.  He thinks he should go on every trip with his dad.  And what does Dusty’s dad Duane think of the new color scheme?  He thinks it’s cool, of course.  After all, old traditions were made to be broken!

~ If you would like Clint Moore to order and/or build you a new custom truck, contact him at Kansas City Peterbilt via e-mail at clintmoore@kcpete.com or call him at (913) 441-2888.  You can also visit his website at www.custombuiltfor.com and check out pictures of other custom trucks he has built.