The imposing height of the...
The imposing height of the F-350 comes from a combination of custom fabricated four-link suspensions front and rear, Kenworth 20,000 pound airbags, 20-inch Weld Racing rims, and 49x21x20 Super Swamper IROK rubber.
At age 31, Matt Miller has been involved with vehicles more than half his life. A civil engineer and vice president of operations in the Miller family construction company, Matt connects with rugged trucks on both a business and personal level. His '00 Ford F-350 was purchased as a transporter for his original show truck, but in 2004, some small changes began. Matt enjoys hunting and fishing near his home in Starr, South Carolina, and the truck was the perfect way to get into the backcountry. For fun, he began using it for truck pulls-accomplishing a full pull with 14 tons behind it. With the help of his 10-year-old son, Buck, Matt thoroughly enjoyed the upgrade process. It wasn't long before those few initial body and suspension mods morphed into major changes. The truck was rolling on 44s and casting a shadow several feet taller than when it rolled off Ford's assembly line. About that same time, the state of South Carolina played an unexpected role in the buildup.
Shortly after the high-altitude changes were complete, the laws changed concerning lifted vehicles and Matt had a truck he could no longer drive on public roads. "They made my truck into a paperweight," he says with a half smile. Not one to take things lying down, when life handed him lemons, he didn't settle for the old lemonade cliché. Matt's approach was more like add a shot of tequila, some salt, and let's do it right! Since the truck was now illegal, he decided to take it off the road and make it into a full-blown show truck.
Matt began the redesign using AutoCAD. Since he was already at 24 inches of lift and wanted more, he decided on a dual four-link air suspension of his own design that incorporated monster bags from a Kenworth big rig, each rated at 20,000 pounds. Computing the maximum height and the maximum drop, he built the necessary support structure while the truck was still on leaf springs. The tops and bottoms of all four bag supports were bolted together temporarily until everything was in place. Then, the truck was lifted, the original springs removed, and the bags attached to the bag supports. Matt fills the bags in two ways. The truck is equipped with a pair of Viair 480 compressors feeding a pair of five-gallon reserve tanks, but because of the volume of air required, Matt augments the onboard compressors with portable nitrogen tanks when a quick fill is needed. The heavy-duty Dana package-a Dana 80 in the rear and a Dana 70 up front, both equipped with 4.56 Eaton gears-is the one normally found on the F-450, but Matt was thinking ahead and special-ordered it from Ford when he bought the F-350. Wheel hubs and heavy-duty brakes are also stock. Dune Runner steering arms handle the turns, while the BDS shocks keep cornering lean to a minimum. Running two shocks per wheel, Matt created custom brackets that were later painted and flamed to match the exterior. The huge 20x12 Weld Racing rims and 49-inch Super Swamper rubber need lots of power to keep them turning, but dyno readings confirm that this truck won't have any problems.
The 7.3L Ford Power Stroke is equipped with the full range of Banks products, including the intercooler, 150hp injectors, 88mm Big Woofer turbo, Banks wastegate, and secondary fuel system to ensure an adequate volume of fuel. Power goes through the beefed-up Ford automatic transmission, equipped with a Banks 2500 stall converter and Banks Trans Command shifter that allows Matt to unlock the stall converter when necessary. With 607 hp and 809 lb-ft of torque at the wheels, the heavyweight truck moves out smartly, in spite of the extra-length driveshafts that consume an estimated 30 percent of the engine's power!
The Kenwood flip-face head...
The Kenwood flip-face head unit, CD player, and equalizer energize the pair of Kicker amps hidden in the rear enclosure. The separate TFL screen above the head unit handles both GPS navigation and Sony X-Box.
Custom
touches on the shaved body include an '05 front end along with a Lund
Razor Back and moon visor. Bushwacker flares protect all four
wheelwells while the Euro taillights and Halogen headlights dress up
the front and rear. Todd Wilson of Anderson, South Carolina, sprayed
the realistic flames over the DuPont black paint, even taking the paint
job underneath to the detailed hood. Both Matt and Buck love the way
the truck looks and there is always more in store. Future plans include
an F-650 front end, Lambo doors, and a dumpbed, all remotely controlled
by air pressure. Who says you can't have fun with paperweights?
 The shaved body features an...  The shaved body features an '05 front end, Lund accessories, Bushwacker flares, a realistic flame paint, and a bed loaded with stereo. A 33-gallon gas tank is visible underneath the bed along with the pair of Viair compressors and five-gallon reserve tanks. Inlet valves for portable nitrogen bottles allow a quick fill-up. |  The mirrored tonneau cover...  The mirrored tonneau cover gives ground-bound spectators a view normally reserved for Shaq! The bed is filled with Kicker components and upholstered in tweed to match the interior. |
 |  The rear bench seat was eliminated...  The rear bench seat was eliminated in order to accommodate the oversized sub enclosures for the Kicker subs, visible when the rear crew cab doors are open. |
 Auto Meter gauges on the A-pillar...  Auto Meter gauges on the A-pillar measure pyrometer, transmission temperature, and turbo boost. |  The heart of the system is...  The heart of the system is the owner-designed front and rear four-links, activated by Kenworth 20,000 pound airbags. Made from 1.5-inch-round DOM tubing, the four-link bars in the rear hold the Dana 80 in place with the top bar 71/2 feet long and the bottom bar a whopping 8 feet! Up front, the bars holding the Dana 70 are 51/2 feet long on top and the bottom bar is 61/2 feet long. The truck uses a triangulated wishbone in the center, making a fifth-link setup. |
 The adjustable bags give the...  The adjustable bags give the truck more than a foot of travel and continuing the extremes, the rear driveshaft is more than 11 feet long! |  Fitted with a complete Banks...  Fitted with a complete Banks performance package, the 7.3L Power Stroke turbodiesel puts out more than 600 hp and 800 lb-ft of torque. The Cervini Ram Air hood looks good on the outside and is painted with realistic flames on the inside. |
 We thought we would include...  We thought we would include a shot of Matt, expressing his opinion on the current state of local legislation. |  |
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