READERS AND THEIR RIGS - JULY 2005

An Oldie But a Goodie From Jersey

This month’s Readers And Their Rigs comes to us from Shane Conklin of SRC Trucking in Johnsonburg, New Jersey. Shane purchased this 1979 Pete 359 nine years ago. At that time, it was painted black, had a 220-inch wheelbase, an 8V92 Detroit, 13-speed transmission and 4.11 rears. It was clean but plain. The first thing Shane decided to do was to get rid of the Detroit, opting instead for a 350 Cummins, and then decided it wasn’t long enough so he cut the frame in half and stretched it out to its current length of 296 inches. Next, the tranny was upgraded to a 15-speed model and then the truck was painted yellow. A year later, he decided it needed a little more color so he painted the fenders magenta. Later, the rears were changed to 3.70’s, eight-inch stacks were installed, and, again, the motor was changed - this time to a 425 Cat. Recently, the roof of the sleeper and cab were painted magenta (after photo was taken) and a mural of a scantily-clad cavewoman and a Saber-toothed Tiger was added to the back of the custom 60-inch Double Eagle sleeper with heart-shaped windows. This truck works every day - most of the year it hauls water and for a few months in the winter it pulls a 48-foot drop-deck. All of the work done on this rig (including changing the engines, stretching the frame and the paint) was done by Shane, his father and his brother in their own shop. The mural was done by “Pooch” from Swift Water, PA. We’d like to thank Shane for sharing this oldie but a goodie with us and our readers. His bug shield says “Class Act” and by the looks of it, Shane and his rig are just that.