For many of you, taking your truck to a show is pretty common between April and September. Staying up late the night before the show to polish the wheels and grille and detail your truck has become such second nature, that most could do it in their sleep - in fact, a few probably have. Then after a long night of last-minute repairs and dirty rags, you get in your truck and grip the steering wheel with fingers, aching from polishing billet for hours on end just to drive hundreds of miles to the showgrounds. Once you finally reach the show, you're greeted by a line so long that you could swear they were handing out free beer and lottery tickets rather than just registering vehicles. Of course, after waiting in line to be classed, it's off to your spot for more cleaning and, in some cases, to set up a display around the truck.
Others spend the same amount of time detailing their truck and traveling to the shows. Rather than taking their place in the registration line, however, they drive their truck into the spectator's parking lot. There could be several reasons for this - they don't want to show their truck until it's done, something may be broken or damaged, and so on. The list could go on and on, but what we would like to focus on is the guy who doesn't take his truck into the show simply because he's never done it before.
Showing your truck for the first time can be intimidating, kind of like the first time you picked up a Sawzall or welder and were afraid that you weren't going to do it right. After all, many trucks are an extension of our personality and style, so if someone doesn't like what you've done to your truck, it can be taken personally. These are things that almost every builder, from novice to pro, has gone through at some point when they put their truck on display for the first time, so just to let you know, it's nothing new.
Our sport relies on not only the people who have been in it since 4/6 static drops and 15-inch wheels were the benchmark of style, but also on newcomers, to keep things fresh and to bring new ideas in. Without them mixing up the pot, we run the risk of becoming stale and stagnant.
In order to help build the confidence of newcomers and let them know what to expect, we hooked up with several show promoters from coast to coast for some tips that even the veterans may be interested in. After all, nothing is worse than making stupid newbie mistakes, especially if you aren't a newbie.