Each year, auto enthusiasts await the unveiling of Rick Dore's latest automotive interpretation. If you look at Rick Dore Kustom's portfolio, you'll notice a penchant for curvy custom classics. Now the only thing curvy about a dualie are the Styleside's rear wheelwells that, at best, epitomize the truck's muscular cargo and towing capacity and, at worst, bulge like butt implants on a contestant for American Gladiator. There is no mistaking that dualies are great work trucks, but really, those wheelwells often represent a victory of function over style. Thankfully, RDK's treatment of the '03 F-350 4x2 DRW Crew Cab Lariat splashed across these pages transformed this dualie into a low-slung, high-appeal cruiser.
Let's start with the obvious: this Super Duty's black and green paintjob sliced with violet. PPG Black dominates the front of the vehicle. It embraces the Roadmax grille and Distinctive front bumper, and coats the Reflexxion-restyled cowl hood, the upper half of the cab, and the SnugTop tonneau. Meanwhile, a PPG Candy Green lick characterizes the sides and rear from the fenders to the Rick Dore Signature Series shaved tailgate and roll pan, and the side skirts that comprise the Rick Dore Signature Series ground effects package.
Aside from inducing sweet-and-sour-tasting sugar shock in an onlooker's eyeballs, the Candy Green appears to have a slimming effect on those bulbous rear wheelwells. Streaks of violet fray the border between the two dominant colors. Starshield protection preserves this pristine paintjob, and an Altec LED lightbar augments the otherwise-stock lights. Beneath the tonneau lies a Wise Bedrug, and an Au-TOMOTIVE GOLD license plate frame pins the tags to the roll pan. The paint was expertly applied by Doug Jerger of RDK, and Bob Grant executed the custom bodywork. In fact, they made the ground effects and roll pan just for this project from metal and then sourced them out to DG Motorsports to be reproduced in fiberglass and sold on the aftermarket.
Inside the dualie, a licorice-striped, Grape Ape-colored fiberglass sub enclosure adds another food group to the candy cornucopia. It's slathered onto the very back of the cab around two 800-watt MTX amplifiers and erupts from between the rear passenger seats into three 10-inch MTX subwoofers fronted by Fishman grilles. These subs lay the sound floor for MTX component speakers and five ICON monitors, all strung together by Streetwires cable, wiring, and power accessories. Fiberglass inserts endow the same black-and-violet pattern upon the door panels, and Dynamat insulation dampens all but audio satisfaction. A Viper alarm stands guard with its arsenal of characteristic whoops and whistles. Out of Phoenix, Cardenal Electronics and Erin Ruddy, who built the amp rack and sub enclosure, pointed the audio and video system toward the direction of true A/V and visual appeal.
Rolling stock for the truck is a set of dualie Spanks from Foose Wheels and P215/85R16 Goodyear Eagles riding underneath a 3/5 drop courtesy of a DJM kit installed by Butch Clark in Mesa, Arizona. Under the hood is an '03 6.0L Power Stroke diesel powerplant with a Bully Dog performance module for a package that grabs performance by the throat.
Dore doesn't mince words when it comes to his opinion of the make and model of our featured vehicle. "Ford builds the best trucks on the road today," said Dore. "This dualie was a natural for a street cruiser." And given his rep for quality and creativity, Dore was a natural choice for this project.