In this line of work, much of our day revolves around finding the best trucks possible to bring to you each month. Of the trucks we feature, the majority of them are found at shows we attend throughout the year. There are those special trucks, however, that we seem to have been hearing about or following for years. Don Hachenberger's '56 Ford is one of "those" trucks.
You see, it all started four or five years ago (who's counting?) at No Limit Engineering in San Bernardino, California. Owner Rob MacGregor had been doing work for noted Tri-Five-Chevy guy Allen Law. Allen had a friend and business associate who was looking to build a truck, and he even went so far as to talk the build over with Rob. No Limit got started on the project through Allen and made a fair amount of progress that first year or so. Then at the F-100 SuperNationals in 2000, a total stranger walked into Rob's booth and said, "So, how's my truck coming along?" Well, that stranger of course turned out to be Don, and the two have become pretty good friends in the years since. The original plans for how the truck was to be built, however, pretty much went out the window.
From the original truck, most of the cab was used, as well as one door, and that's pretty much it. What started as a mild build quickly escalated into what would become one of the most all-out over-the-top builds in F-100 history. The starting point was a handbuilt No Limit tube chassis, which was reworked a few times to incorporate all of Rob's ideas. The front suspension is a No Limit Wide Ride setup, but most of the components were built using polished 304 stainless. Kugel spindles and Wilwood brakes were chosen, and the frame sits close to the ground, thanks to a set of Firestone 2400 airbags on handbuilt mounts. Out back, a stainless Fat Bar four-link connects to a Dutchman IRS unit complete with inboard Wilwood brakes and Air Ride Technologies ShockWaves - all chromed or polished, of course. This already amazing suspension was also fit with Firestone's Intelliride air management system, which finds ride height at the touch of a button. Once the whole assembly was dialed, the frame and No Limit fuel cell were sent out for powdercoating before it was reassembled with hundreds of polished parts.
The interior work is right...
The interior work is right up to par with the rest of Don's Princess. Cream leather and Florida gator hides were used throughout the cab and on the reworked Glide Engineering seat.
Under the power-actuated tilt...
Under the power-actuated tilt bed lies not only the No Limit fuel cell, but also the radiator, accessories, and airbag rear suspension.
When was the last time you...
When was the last time you saw a Dutchman IRS rearend on Air Ride? That was just one of the cool ideas Rob incorporated into the truck.
The engine is another aspect of the build that, by all accounts, got totally out of control. Don wanted a big Ford engine with all the bells and whistles, but that does not even begin to describe this powerplant. The 460 block was bored and stroked until it was a 610, and then it was balanced, blueprinted, and filled and topped with the very best parts available, such as JE pistons and aluminum Pro Stock heads from Ford Motorsports. On top of the handmade intake is a BDS 14-71 blower topped with an EFI setup from F.A.S.T. And that's not the half of it. The entire engine is plumbed with stainless hard lines (the entire truck is, for that matter), and you might notice the absence of a few key items in front of the engine - namely the radiator and all of the engine's accessories. That's because they're all located under the bed floor. The accessories run off of a separate driveshaft powered off of the crank pulley. It's a simple system but one that draws a crowd at any show and leaves many scratching their heads.