Seldom do we hear such a cool story as the one Bill Deterich, of Chilton, Wisconsin, has lived through. As a senior in high school, Bill's shop teacher saw his great potential and hooked him up with a buddy at Universal Technical Institute. After finishing the 11-month training in just 9 months, with all his certifications, Bill put all of his eggs into the custom-truck shop business. And so began Kustom Design Innovations in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Six months after starting the first major project, the shop had one sweet dualie to its credit. This 1-ton truck features some slick ideas that show Bill's innovations are for real.
Starting out life as a C3500 work truck, Bill's latest venture was destined for big things. Starting with the suspension, Bill added DJM 3-inch drop spindles, Firestone airbags, and Belltech shocks up front. Out back, a triangulated three-link supports the 14 bolt full floater with 4.10 gears, and Firestone 'bags, along with a 1/2-inch airline, 1/2-inch SMC valves, two Viair 550C compressors, and a 9-gallon tank keep things moving up and down via the 10-switch airbox. Those huge wheels are 22-inch Brentz custom-cut billet hoops wrapped in Hankook tires.
Powering the 1-ton to and from shops is a meticulously-built 454ci big-block. Fond du Lac Motor and Machine went through the '95 Vortec engine and bored the block .030 over, added a Comp Cams camshaft, and Headmen Hedders. The 454ci V-8 looks as good as it runs, with an MSD distributor lighting the lamps, and March pulleys with air cleaner, along with Billet Specialties valve covers. The 4L80 tranny makes quick work of the gear changes, which is important because Bill uses the custom-fabbed fifth-wheel hitch to tow his buddies' show trucks, on a 36-foot goose neck trailer, who live too far to drive them to shows. Yes, he's a good fabricator and a nice guy. It's the body of his dualie, however, that gets the most attention.
Heavy-hauler aficionados will notice the dualie fenders are not stock, as Bill tubbed them out to accommodate the new Brentz wheels. While at the Kustom Design Innovations shop, the dualie also lost its third-brake light, cab seams, body line in the cab corners, bed-stake pockets, door handles, and the taillights. Up front, the grille lost its Bow Tie by way of the welder and replacing it was a smoothed-over metal filler plate. The bumper was also heavily modified and is the end result of two separate bumpers being fused into one. With the welds filled and smoothed, Bill mixed up DuPont paints and applied the Jet Black, Bronze Pearl, and a custom-mixed yellow hue covering the flames up front, which fade to red. He then went back and laid down the light-blue pinstripes. The overall result is a truck that looks like a retro hot-rod, but can tow with the best of them.