Twice a year, we gather up some of the cleanest customs on the West Coast, vacate our dreary cubicles and head out across the desert to locations beyond our Southern California borders. For the 2004 Truckin' & 4x4 Nationals in Phoenix, we set our alarms for early and joined nearly 50 trucks and their owners at Marcel Venable's Line-X of Huntington Beach, in Huntington Beach, California.
With the wide variety of trucks and builders assembled, verbal parking lot customizing ensued. This first stop of the day included a quick breakfast, goodie bags and T-shirts, and the first of five cards that our participants hoped would help them in their quest to drive to Phoenix with the winning hand. Once the group was ready, the lead trucks headed out, sporting highly visible Vortex Spray-On Liner flags, while 75 anxious cruisers followed in hot pursuit to the second stop at Sir Michaels, also in Huntington Beach, California.
Sir Michaels, which is one of the old-school shops in the custom truck scene, is known for its quality roll pans and louvered parts. Inviting members of our run into its shop, participants were able to see the inner workings of Sir Michaels' manufacturing process. Another raffle drawing and poker card later and the group hit the road again, this time setting course for our third stop's new state-of-the-art Fabtech suspension facility in Chino, California.
After taking a break and enjoying VIP access to the Fabtech facility, the cruise took a turn south and headed for a warm welcome by the always gracious hosts at Gibson Performance Exhaust in Corona, California. With the tour of local shops in SoCal complete, it was time to make some serious time, as the caravan rode out approximately 400 miles east to the desert city of Phoenix and the Firebird International Raceway, where the Truckin' & 4x4 Nationals were to take place.
Halfway there, a lunch stop, sponsored by our friends at J.C. Whitney, was made at a diner in Blyth, California, right on the California-Arizona border. Full of food and fuel, the sun was setting quickly in the west, and the group chased the rising moon and the good times that awaited them at the final destination, the indoor cart racing.
We would like to thank all of the sponsors that made this event possible, including Chevrolet, J.C. Whitney, Magna Charger, Advanced Flow Engineering (aFe), Gibson Performance Exhaust, Stylin' Concepts, Alfa Otto, AIM Industries, APC, Rhino Linings, Vortex Spray-On Liners, KAIK, Rolling Big Power, ATS Designs, Line-X of Huntington Beach, Tucker's, Sir Michaels, Fabtech, and BTW.
FULLSIZE TRUCKS
DRAG RACING
BIKINI CONTEST
 Participants lined up to vie...  Participants lined up to vie for the crowning of Miss Truckin' & 4x4 Nationals. |  Nikki Zeno of Los Angeles,...  Nikki Zeno of Los Angeles, California, winner of the bikini contest, signs posters for faithful fans in the Truckin' booth. | |
MINI-TRUCKS
 |  |  You can't go wrong in the...  You can't go wrong in the mini-truck world with an early Datsun done retro-rod style. |
 Volkswagen powered and detailed...  Volkswagen powered and detailed to the max, this Toyota garnered attention from open to close. |  This S-10 had the dubious...  This S-10 had the dubious pleasure of being part of our caravan to Phoenix in State to State Cruise on October 22. | |
CLASSIC TRUCKS
 This stock-bodied classic...  This stock-bodied classic C10 had a beautiful interior and, as you can see, a hammered stance. We loved it. |  |  The '67-'72 Chevy trucks still...  The '67-'72 Chevy trucks still give us goosebumps when done right. Case in point, this bright-red hauler, which some of you may recognize from our very pages. |
 |  A classy body on all-new underpinnings...  A classy body on all-new underpinnings is the way to go. We'd pull a trailer with this awesome Ford any day. | |
0FF ROAD
 This about sums up the down-right...  This about sums up the down-right fantastic display of off-road toys at the Truckin' & 4x4 Nationals. High-flying action and head-to-head truck romping had the crowded spectator stands full from dawn to dusk. Not one person was sitting down when Bigfoot pulled this insane air. | | |
VENDORS, VENDORS, VENDORS