NEW LEASE ON LIFE
THE LATEST PROJECT FROM CLINT MOORE
This month’s “creation” was not built for its current owner, John Faulk (47) of Lafayette, LA. Most of Clint’s custom creations are special ordered by his customers, but some of them are just ordered and built by Clint to put on the lot at the dealership where he works (Kansas City Peterbilt). This was the first truck Clint ever got to order and build just the way he wanted, so he holds it pretty near and dear to his heart.
The 2004 Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood was ordered with a 63-inch flattop, a 525 Cat, an 18-speed trans, Low Leaf suspension, a factory 300-inch wheelbase, and an old paint scheme done up in orange and white. This was one of the first “emission-compliant” engines from Cat and Clint was determined to put straight stacks on it. It took some time, eventually swapping it out for a KW exhaust, but he got it to work. He also added a flush deck plate, a bowtie visor, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
The truck sat on the lot for a few months, but Clint finally sold it to a local guy who used it for many years and then just recently sold it back to the dealership. It was pretty worn out when they got it back. Clint’s friend and customer “Big John” Faulk saw it and had to have it. Clint did some refurbishing on the truck and gave it a new lease on life, and now Big John has added it to his extensive fleet of other Clint Moore trucks.
Big John came from a large family - he was kid number five of eight. While growing up, John’s father, Charles Faulk, was a professor of Special Education at the University of Louisiana. In fact today, at 85, he is still a specialist in that field, flying all over the country to teach and evaluate Special Education teachers. Big John definitely did not come from a trucking background.
After graduating from high school in 1979 he got a job sandblasting and painting oil field equipment. That job led him to driving trucks around the yard, which eventually led him into trucking. Big John has been hauling coil tubing and nitrogen equipment used in the oil industry since 1984. Over the years he has had a lot of trucks, beginning with a long 1979 Freightliner COE with a 400 Cummins, 13-speed double over, cold A/C and no power steering. “It was a cool truck, but it was hard to drive,” he said.
Today, Big John’s Trucking operates four trucks, four step-decks and two RGN lowboys, all of which can be linked to Clint Moore in one way or another. Big John has been a great customer for Clint over the years, but more importantly, he has become an even better friend. The picture above shows Big John and his wife Miss Linda holding Clint’s two small children, and that’s Clint’s dad Dave on the crutches.
Big John met Miss Linda back in 1992 and they have been together ever since. She has been a real estate agent for the past 35 years. The couple has two grown children that live in Missouri and Tennessee and now five amazing grandchildren. When they aren’t selling houses or running the highway, the two like to escape to their beachfront bungalow in Hackberry, LA, but Hurricane Ike beat it up pretty good. John hopes to have it all cleaned up by spring so that the Moore’s can come out for a relaxing visit. This isn’t the first run-down “Clint truck” that Big John has kindly adopted and given a good home, and Clint figures it probably won’t be the last.
~ 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.