Four years ago, I received a bone-stock white ranger edge. I’ve always been someone who hated going with the grain, so I started thinking about how to make it stand out. At first, I was going to do the whole lifted on 35″s look… you know, southern. But while i was at the Four Wheel Parts show, I was introduced to Mark Stallings who is now a close friend of mine. He turned me on to pre-runners, and that’s where this story really starts.
Through him, i found dezertrangers.com and met Travis from DA//. He had written on the forums asking if anyone would be willing to help his cause, so I started talking to him. He always would give me advice and recommendations, and ultimately pushed me to build my ride.
The first part that I bought, and I hate to admit this, was a pair of Glassworks fenders. I couldn’t afford the suspension, so I went for the look instead. I upgraded the wheels and tires, put in a sick stereo, and slapped on some DA banners. It was hood-rich for sure, but i loved it.
After driving it like that for a few years, I finally got the nerve(and money) to get a once piece clip. It was a mess. The only way to make it right was to drive across the country from my home in St. Augustine, FL to SoCal to get it fixed. I called up Travis to tell him what was going on, and he was cool enough to let me crash at his place. Then, I got a hold of Nate from Blitzkrieg Off-Road and told him I wanted to get his long-travel kit up front and a custom built bed cage in back. He was stoked on it. I also called up Chris from Allied Suspensions for the install since Nate was slammed. I thought everything was set, and was planning on spending about 3 weeks in Cali. Of course, this wouldn’t be a story if that was all there was to it…
On the drive out to Cali, my truck decided it wanted to stop in Alabama. I got it running again, and everything seemed fine. Then, in Fort Worth, TX, it decided we needed to stop again. After replacing all four cats, she only lasted about 100 miles before 2 plug wires melted because of a leaky manifold. I ended up meeting Nick a day late because the truck was only running on 4 cylinders.
After finally getting it completely fixed in Lake Elsinore, I drove it down to San Diego so the guys at Fiberwerx could slap on some bedsides and fix the 1-piece.
Next came Nate at Blitz. I called him up, dropped the truck off, and crossed my fingers nothing else would go wrong. He kept his word, stayed late, and something finally went right. The truck came out on time and was bitchin’. One of his employees even stayed after his shift to fix my clip! So, after being nearly a week behind schedule from having the truck break down 3 times, things started looking up. So with the LT kit sitting in the passenger seat, I drove over to the boys at Allied so they could do their thing. After many late nights and minor problems, everything was done. I was stoked; it was starting to look like a pre-runner. All i still needed to handle was paint and some Beard seats.
I stopped by Beard to pick up my seats only to find out they had been shipped back to my house. So, I had a family member ship them back. After a few days, I finally had them. During the down time, I had the truck painted at New Image in Anaheim. When I picked up my seats I assumed they would just bolt right in place with the sliders, but, of course, that wasn’t the case. So on the last night of my stay in Cali, the boys at Allied stayed late and fabbed some mounts for me.
When it was all said and done, 6 weeks later, the truck arrived back home. I knew it was worth it immediately. It drove great, and got lots of attention from people. It made all the problems I had seem unimportant. The truck still gets love from everyone. Now it’s sporting a Glasswords 3-piece, and it’s mean as ever. All those nights in Cali at Pole Position, those dinners at In-N-Out, even sleeping on a couch next to Koolz were great times and still make me laugh. Long story short, never expect things to go how you plan them. And when they don’t, don’t stress, just make do and enjoy it.
STORY/PHOTOS: CHRIS FOWLER
