1. Is this your truck?
No! I just stole it, but thanks for asking!

1. Is this your truck?
No! I just stole it, but thanks for asking!
If you assume that every other car on the road is generally driven by the owner, why wouldn’t the same be true for a custom truck? Also, I know some owners, like myself, who are very particular about who drives their ride – and that “who” list is very short. That is partly because modified trucks (and cars, too) often come with explicit instructions: “Ride height is 90/40, but when turning, 110/40. If the headlights don’t work, jiggle the cluster of wires under the dash and that should help. If the compressor doesn’t turn off, hit the check valve with this wrench. Put in 8 ½ gallons of gas only, or else it overflows… and the fill nozzle is under the notch cover.”

2. How much did it cost?
How much did it cost me or how much would it cost you? Let’s assume you’re asking how much it cost me. Well, let me get my itemized list out of my pocket: would you like parts only, parts and labor, or parts, labor, tax, and ticket fines as well? I’m just kidding, but I don’t know of too many people who would be able to give you a direct answer for even their own ride. Anyway, that whole money issue is just better avoided in general, because we all know that the answer is, “way too much.” Cost varies: type of system you want, who does the labor, how many times it’s done, and the connections you have, etc. So if I said “between 4k and 10k”, you still wouldn’t know anything more than before asking.

3. Why would you want to do something like this?
Ouch! For the same reason that you like to knit, or that Bob likes to build Mustangs, or that Billy likes to play chess – because you want to, because that’s where your passion happens to be! Normally you’re not forced into liking a hobby.

4. How do you drive it that low?
If the custom truck looks like it would be physically impossible to drive over that speed bump, then the logical conclusion would be that something changed while going over the speed bump compared to after the speed bump. If the bump didn’t disappear, then the truck must have raised up. There, you solved it without even asking! This stuff really isn’t rocket science. Whenever someone asks me this question and my frame’s on the ground, I reply, “very carefully.”

–Monica T.