Every blue moon I'll open my email to find a legitimate feature truck looking for a home within the pages of "The World's Leading Truck Publication." Usually the inbox is filled with average trucks that belong more in Reader's Rides than deserving spreads up front. This truck was different. A long time reader of Truckin', Cookeville, Tennessee, firefighter and paramedic Tony Null was finally ready to unveil his '97 F-150 to the world. With wife Becky and kids Zac and Makayla excited for the prospects, I quickly emailed Tony back lining up a photo shoot in Atlanta.
After the 5-hour drive to the capital of Georgia, Tony was greeted by a crazy guy in a rental car on the I-85 interstate. That crazy guy was me and as if fate itself had intervened, we drove in a caravan to the photo location. Unloading the truck from the trailer, I got an up-close and personal experience with his Ford. This is what I found.
A slammed stance was courtesy of Show and Go Customs, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. While there, the F-150 received Belltech drop spindles, Slam Specialties airbags, SMC valves, and a Pete and Jake's triangulated four-link in the rear to bring the Ford down low. Bolted onto each corner are 20x8-inch Ice Metal chrome wheels with Pirelli 255/35R20 tires keeping the traction on the pavement. Keeping the 4.6L V-8 running its best is a cool air intake, Optima battery, and Flowmaster exhaust. Tony's truck was now looking good and running strong, but he needed to do some drastic mods to really make the truck stand out. McCloud's Customs, in Cookeville, had just what needed.
Bobby McCloud listened carefully to Tony's wish list and got to work making sparks fly. McCloud's Customs shaved the emblems, tailgate handle, taillights, antenna, and molded a Sir Michael's roll pan into place. Before applying the paint, Bobby added a Cervinis Cobra R style front bumper, along with a steel Reflexxion Cobra hood with Autoloc front-tilt hinges and tonneau cover from Jasons. One of Tony's favorite mods was then performed as Bobby professionally flushed the LED taillights into the tailgate. With the pieces in place, Bobby filled his paint gun with DuPont Hot Hues royal blue pearl, metallic silver, and black and diligently laid down the colors with a flame graphic and two-tone. Bobby then went to work hiding the taillights in the blue graphics on the tailgate. It's a subtle and clean trick that is always a crowd favorite. Paint also made its way to the custom C-notch cover in the bed. With the paint dried, new one-piece projector headlights were installed, along with upper and lower billet grilles, and side ground effects.