T.C. Coleman's Tow- And Show-Worthy '00 Ford F-350
"You have to have a certain passion in your blood to build a truck like this." -T.C. Coleman
T.C.Coleman has been in the truck scene long enough to know the criteria of a full show vehicle. Around two decades ago, he went to his first event with some friends who were in a club called Madness Inc. Like most of us, it took that one eye-opening moment for T.C. to be captivated by custom trucks. Years later, T.C. fell into president status of that very club and became promoter for the club's charity show, Slamfest.
A long his journey to being a leader in the scene, he acquired a '95 Chevy dualie. For the truck's first time around, it was kept to a budget with basic work to get it to a show-worthy stance. It was all he could afford to do while setting a good foundation for his family. Once they got situated, T.C. knew he was going to revamp the Chevy and needed to find the right shop to completely rebuild it. Through the promotion of Slamfest, he ran into the owner of Scrape-n-Customs, and after seeing his work, T.C. decided to bring the truck there for a new stock floor body-dropped frame from the firewall back.
Since the work on the Chevy is extensive, it has become more like a fixture in the shop, forcing T.C. to purchase another vehicle in the meantime. He chose to go with this Ford F-350 because he plans on using it to tow the Chevy once it is ready to tour the show circuit. Originally, the F-350 was partially owned by his father to haul supplies for their industrial hardware business. Once T.C. started customizing it, his father transferred the title to his name and let him take over the payments on it.
When the truck became T.C.'s responsibility, he knew he could do what he pleased with it and went completely nutty on this heavy hauler. Being an expert in mobile audio, he put in a system that uses three subwoofers mounted in a custom-made center console. With the stereo ready to pound out some serious sound waves, T.C. moved on to getting this beast closer to the ground. He went with an air-ride system that entailed custom brackets up front and a four-link in the rear. The Slam Specialties airbags on the truck allow it to tuck tire when aired out and give a smooth ride at drive height.
Capable of going low, this F-350 needed some new rollers to accentuate its size. That's when Frank from Diesel Wheels helped out by shaving down a set of 24x1/2-inch semi-truck wheels to 24s while adding dimples to the lip. Then, to give these bulky wheels more style, a new design was cut on the wheel centers. The shiny new wheels overwhelmed the rest of the exterior, and T.C. felt he had to add some new touches to it. At the front, a new grille and hood did the trick. Out back, the taillight fillers and steel roll pan were shaved, and a 56-inch LED was molded in the shaved tailgate to let others know when this truck comes to a halt.
The last thing on the list was to clean the overall look with a classy two-tone paintjob. A friend of T.C., Robbie Taylor, did the honors of spraying the Bright Amber on top and Burnt Copper on bottom. Because the new colors on the outer sheetmetal looked just right, they were brought into the interior and under the hood for unity. This dualie now stands as a show-worthy custom on its own, and T.C. cruises it around to various events. Even though it's looking good in its new form, the plan is to still tow the Chevy with it. Imagine that, one clean dualie pulling another. It will be quite a sight, and we can't wait to see them together.