For the 13th straight year, truck owners and admirers from all over the U.S. of A. made the trek to Austin, Texas, for the show we all know as Texas Heat Wave. This year, much to everyone's delight, Heat Wave was held back at its former location at the Travis County Expo Center. The move proved to be a successful one; this year, we saw more than 1,000 vehicles competing for 500-plus awards and prizes while more than 30,000 spectators looked on.
Surrounding the impressive show field were more than 150 vendors hawking their wares and shaking hands with the people. Air Ride Technologies had an action-packed booth. On Saturday, the crew spent their day transforming a bone-stock S-10 into a laid-out cruiser with the help of their new Road Grater suspension system and a set of billet rollers. Although owner Bill Carlton was off having a baby with his wife (congratulations), the Ekstensive crew was on hand showing off a couple of their newest creations, a Sport Trac and a Quad Cab Ram that were resting on their framerails.
Throughout the show, we must have run across 30 other vehicles that were laid out and sporting Ekstensive banners. Another key player in Texas seems to be Xtreem Rides. Its booth was overflowing with 'bagged, House of Kolor-sprayed trucks. Three of them were immediately pulled out and photographed for upcoming features in Truckin'. Other booths that stayed extremely busy throughout the weekend included Line-X, Godfather Customs, and Billet Accessories Direct.
New to Heat Wave was the Custom Sounds Car Audio Expo & Sale. Nearly every car audio manufacturer we could think of was in attendance, displaying the latest in audio equipment at sale prices that were some of the best we've seen. In addition to displaying some of the cleanest trucks around, Heat Wave offers the chance for people from all over the country to get together for a few days and talk truck. And believe us when we tell you that there is no better place for this than 6th Street in Austin. Just how much fun is it? We guess you'll have to come next year and see for yourself.