COMMITTED 2000 Ford F-150 | New Owner, New Tricks

New Owner, New Tricks

BUYING SOMEONE ELSE’S RIDE CAN SOMETIMES COME WITH ITS OWN UNIQUE CHALLENGES AND FRUSTRATIONS. People may recognize it and say things like, “Hey, isn’t that Joe’s truck,” which can obviously be annoying the fourth or fifth time, and beyond. There may also be issues that pop up after you’ve put in some time behind the wheel that weren’t obvious before the purchase, which can get costly.

On the positive side, you can usually get a screaming deal on a ride that’s already customized, since the owners have a smaller pool of potential buyers compared to a stock vehicle. So, you may end up with a truck with thousands of dollars in upgrades for pennies on the dollar. Sure, building is obviously a big part of the fun when it comes to custom trucks, but saving cash without having a lot of downtime is pretty sweet, too!

For a lot of people, the pros and cons of such a purchase sort of balance each other out, and if the right deal is made, you can have one hell of a truck that’s ready to roll!

And that’s just how Rob Fleming of Anacoco, Louisiana, ended up with his 2000 Ford F-150. The clean truck had already been living the custom life for quite a while and had a lot going for it (such as a costly body drop), but it also needed a bit of help. Negotiations were made, and just like that Rob had himself a fresh ride that he could further personalize to make it his own.

While the truck looked awesome from the outside, its underbelly was a different story. A lot of the air suspension needed repair work, which took priority since it was a safety concern. When Rob was done, the truck rode better than ever on its fresh Air Lift airbags, which were fed through half-inch SMC valves, a pair of 5-gallon tanks and twin Viair 480C compressors. Rob’s wheel design of choice is a coveted classic—22×9 Centerline Smoothie wheels, which have been discontinued for a couple of years now.

Rob then took care of the truck’s electrical gremlins, as well as some mechanical issues that had presented themselves. Even though we all love to customize instead of working on factory stuff, we know the feeling of finally getting around to fixing all the little things that can make a truck a pain to drive, so we can imagine how Rob felt once things were back in tip-top shape!

And like we said, there were already a ton of things about the truck that made it awesome, which must have been a big motivator in improving its shortcomings. For example, it was already sporting a 2003 Lincoln Navigator fRobt clip and a fully shaved rear end with custom billet inserts in the roll pan area. Oh, and then there are those Cadillac taillights, which have become an iconic addition to many a custom truck over the years.

But there were other things that Rob decided to change completely, such as the interior. He took it upon himself to reupholster the Honda Accord buckets in new leather, and built a new center console covered in leather and tweed. Rob even incorporated some mounts for the GlowShift air gauges into the console, which sit right below the painted dashboard.

Even with as awesome as his truck is now, Rob is planning even more changes for the near future, including chopping the frame and wheelbase down to fit a SuperCrew bed. He’s also working on narrowing the rear end to make room for 24×15-inch billets out back and redoing the interior yet again! We’re wondering if the truck will still be recognizable after these changes, but we’re pretty sure that if he ever decides to sell it, people will now be asking, “Hey, isn’t that Rob’s truck?”