COVER FEATURE - MARCH 2010
PURSUING PERFECTION
JOHN T. SILVA TAKES PRECISION TO NEW LEVELS
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor
“Keep on Truckin” is more than just a catchy phrase for John T. Silva, it’s a way of life. John has been hauling hay for as long as he can remember around California’s Central Valley. Owning and operating Silva Hay in Chowchilla, California, John spends most of his days buying and selling hay, loading trucks with his squeeze, and keeping a sub-hauler or two busy. But the best days are the days when he gets to haul a load – for that, he rolls out his bright red Peterbilt and perfectly matching trailers and hits the road – unless it’s raining. Then, he just takes out one of his Freightliner cabovers (there’s no reason to get the nice truck dirty if you don’t have to).
John T. Silva (36), not to be confused with his dad John V. Silva, is a third generation truck driver. His grandfather Tony immigrated to the United States from Portugal and then started a dairy in Madera. Cows and trucks go hand in hand, so eventually a few rigs were purchased. Later, Tony began buying and selling hay, and then hauling all sorts of stuff like grapes, cattle, cotton seed and feed, under the name Tony Silva & Son. Tony’s son John V. helped out at the dairy, but he was more interested in trucks than cows. The dairy closed in the late 1950s, and then trucking became the new family business.
When John V. took over, he operated as John Silva Hay & Trucking. John V. never bought a new truck, so knowledge about repair and fabrication became a necessity at their shop in Madera. This is where John T. learned most of his skills. And although John V. claims to have had one of the first hay squeezes in California, he also said that the squeeze ruined hay hauling. “It used to be hard work that not many people were willing to do, but once the hay squeeze was introduced, anybody could do it,” he said. At the height of his business, John V. had six trucks, two squeezes and several trailers – but most of the time, it was just father and son – John V. and John T.
Growing up around trucks, John T. was not allowed to be lazy. Young John found himself working in the shop at an early age – at ten years old he completely rewired his dad’s 1955 Peterbilt (a truck they still have today). When his dad was getting ready to paint the old rig, John T. did all of the sanding. Later, he helped his dad install a new suspension and switch out the twin-stick transmission to a 13-speed model. At sixteen, John got his CDL and started hauling hay out of the Sacramento Delta in that same 1955 Peterbilt. But, later that year, John T. got his own truck – a 1970 Freightliner cabover.
The old cabover wasn’t much, so John went to work on it almost immediately, which is exactly what his dad wanted him to do. John V. told us that he gave his son the truck to keep him busy and out of trouble. Over the years, much has been done to this bright red cabover including new paint, new interior, new wiring and recessed exhaust. It also got new steps and fifteen cab lights, the 335 Cummins engine was rebuilt and turned up to 475 hp, the 4-speed main box of the original 2-stick transmission was replaced with a 13-speed, and much more. Today, this truck is still a work in progress, but John hopes to finish it soon (it’s been shut-down in his shop for a couple years now getting air-ride suspension, new tires, new doors with one-piece windows and shaved door handles, and a completely new, custom-fabricated bed).
When John T. was twenty years old, his life took a little detour. He always wanted to be a bull rider, so when he got the opportunity to go to bull riding school in Nipomo, California, he went for it. For three years, John trained and competed throughout California, winning a couple of events, but mostly just beating up his body. He broke his pelvis three times, got eleven stitches across his eyebrow, was stepped on by 2,000-pound bulls regularly, pulled his groin several times, and the list goes on and on. After an event, he’d spend a week on the couch recovering. In 1996, he gave it up. It was a broken dream for John, who has not watched bull riding on television or attended an event since. He then returned to the family business and continued where he left off.
A few years later, it was John’s dad’s turn to take a detour when he became the Supervisor for the city of Madera in 1998. John V. handed over the reigns to his son in 1999, and Silva Hay was formed. John continued to run his cabover, bought and sold hay, acquired a few squeezes (he currently has three), and hired sub-haulers to pick up the slack. After eight long years away, John V. came back to work and now runs a 1989 Freightliner cabover truck and trailer every day. But, trying once again to bring some sanity and common sense into the local government, John V. is now ramping up a new campaign to become Chowchilla’s next Supervisor this June.
About eight years ago, John T. received a small lathe as a birthday gift and began making billet accessories for his truck. Taking the truck to shows, people really liked the pieces he made so he started to sell them. He wore that little lathe out in less than a year! As money allowed, he upgraded his fabrication tools. He also moved his new operation into a 5,000 square foot shop behind his house, where he formed Silva Kustom Trucks. John not only makes unique billet knobs and switches, aluminum and stainless parts, brackets, light bars and more, but he also builds custom hay wagons, does custom painting and wiring, truck and trailer lowering, and just about anything else you can imagine. John is very creative, but he’s also a perfectionist, so all of his cool-looking parts are also perfect and precise. If you want more information about what John does, visit www.silvakustomtrucks.net.
In 2008, John T. was given the opportunity to buy the 2000 Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood seen here and on our cover/centerfold this month. The Silva colors, going all the way back to John’s grandfather, have always been either red and white or red and black. John has been lucky to find properly-colored pieces of equipment, so he doesn’t even have to paint them after he buys them – this is true for not only this truck, but his Manteca Roadrunner squeeze, as well. Both of these units were red with a white stripe when he bought them, so all he had to do was put his name on the door. And, believe it or not, the Pete was purchased from a Bill Silva out of Turlock, California (no relation), so John did not even have to change the name on the door! The lettering was different, so he eventually did change it, but most of the paint on this Peterbilt is original.
After purchasing the 3-axle truck with a 3406E Cat, John converted it to a 2-axle and shortened the wheelbase to 180 inches. He then installed 22.5 low-profile tires, changed the visor and stacks, and then ran it hard for a year. The following year (2009) was slow – which is bad for making money, but good for freeing up time for a big project. John took advantage of the slow year to trick out his Peterbilt and rebuild his trailers.
John started the rebuild by pulling the hood and painting the frame. He also air-bagged the front-end with help from Jeff Botelho, changed out the dual square headlights with singles, and added Pete low air leaf suspension. He then built a custom stainless light bar, installed smooth step boxes, painted the visor, rewired the entire truck with help from Bobby Lloyd, and made a smooth, painted deck plate that is cut to fit around the air bags on the back of the cab. He also switched out every visible bolt with a military-standard type of bolt with tighter tolerances, then grinded and polished them. John’s friend Dennis McCluskey helped out a lot, too – so much, in fact, that his name is painted on the side of the cab, thanking him for all his support and assistance.
While John was at it, he went ahead and juiced-up his motor with some PDI parts, which cranked up his horsepower to over 700. He also polished and painted some pieces on the engine, installed a 7” exhaust, and moved the air lines to the back of the rig. John is very particular about matching themes, shapes and colors – and even bolt patterns – he doesn’t miss anything. If one bracket has a hole through it, every bracket on the truck will have that hole as well, and if one piece is at a specific angle, you can bet that there will be others that match that same angle.
Next, John went to work on the trailers. The semi is a 1975 Utility and the pull trailer is a 1990 Utility. Both are 28’6” long, and both have custom cheaters built by John. He also replaced the rub rails, added new aluminum floors and rewired everything. John made custom light bars to match the one on the back of the truck, put a new tail end on the pull trailer, added fifteen lights down both sides of each trailer, and then painted everything red to match. He even cut his landing gear feet into the shape of a Maltese cross!
The final touch was to have pinstriper Craig Judd add some old-school white, black and lime green pinstripes in various places on the truck and both of the trailers, including the deck plate, steering column, glove box, the front and back of the trailers, and on the landing gear legs. John also added the phrase “Keep on Truckin” to the back of the pull trailer and the back of his visor. John still plans on doing more to his truck, so stay tuned – his dash and floor are going to be awesome! John plans on taking the truck to a few shows this year, but then hopes to have it running hard again next year (or as soon as possible).
John and his wife Jackie, who is a real estate agent, have been together for eighteen years and married for nine years. They have two small children – a five-year-old boy named Tony (who already has the trucking bug) and a seven month old baby girl named Taylor. John stays pretty busy these days, running his squeeze and buying and selling hay, and is happy that he has a great sub-hauler named Jay Demeter to help him out. Things might not be perfect right now, in regards to the economy, but like John says, “When all else fails, just keep on truckin!” Amen.