When does the vanity stop? How many mods will be performed before a custom is finished? "Never," says custom truck owner Aaron "Shaggy" Dugas of Houston, Texas. Aaron bought this '98 Ford F-150 in August 2000, and every winter since then, the truck has been put under the scalpel for modification.
The truck was first stock with a 3/5 drop on 18-inch wheels. The second year, it changed colors to Mustang Electric Green, with shaved handles and emblems, and an '00 Lincoln Navigator front clip. By the third year, the truck turned orange. The rolling stock was upgraded to 20s and 22s, with an additional inch of drop. That year, Aaron's truck was rear-ended, and he tore it apart again. This time around, the truck was fitted with wheeltubs to accommodate 22-inch rims on all four corners. The battery and computer were relocated to the bed to make room for the new wheeltubs. Once again, the truck was repainted, but this time in yellow with some tear-away graphics. But, that wasn't enough to make Aaron happy. He tore into the truck again, to remove the tear-away graphics, and the body was completely re-shot again to a solid yellow, but pinstriping was added to accent the paint.
We hear that Aaron's luck hasn't changed much. Recently, the truck was broken into and the stereo equipment was hastily removed from it. Needless to say, the truck received a lot of damage, while undergoing the audio extraction, so some work was needed to get it back in shape. Then, along came a hurricane named Katrina, which filled Aaron's hobby shop with water. Like most 'bagged suspension systems, the truck was left aired out and took on a few inches of rain, damaging the interior of the truck. We hear Aaron has the truck torn apart once again, and this time, a body drop is on the work plans. Maybe this will be the last time for Aaron to rebuild his Ford truck, but then again, maybe not.
The 411
Owner/hometown: Aaron "Shaggy" Dugas / Houston, Texas
Year/make/model: '98 Ford F-150
Engine/drivetrain: 4.2L V-6 / manual transmission
Wheels/tires: MKW M20s (left side) and MKW M9s (right side), both sets measure 22x9.5 inches / Pirelli Scorpion Zero 256/35R22
Suspension: Custom-made notch, A-arms, and arm mounts, with 7-1/2 inches of adjustable ride height / (Front) Slam Specialties airbags / (Rear) Firestoneairbags / all copper hard line / Ekstensive stainless fittings
Fabricator: Aaron "Shaggy" Dugas of Self Made (Aaron's after-hours fun shop)
Body Mods: Front C3 Navigator sheetmetal / shaved clean / Sir Michaels roll pan
Bodywork: John "Pun" Torres (another Self Made member)
Custom Paint: Spies Hecker's Toner Yellow / pinstripe colors are a mixture of House of Kolor paints
Painter: Roy Orduna (another Self Made member)
Pinstriper: Chad "Stripe" Bowling of Houston, Texas
Interior: Leather seats from an '02 Mercury Cougar / custom center console, constructed of sectioned wheeltubs / chrome-plated shock shifter / faceless gauge cluster / smoothed and painted plastic panels
Audio/video: Sony CDX-F5705X head unit / PlayStation 2 / Audiobahn monitor
Installer: Aaron Dugas