Big Blue Part I

I tend to obsess over that unique American creation of laying down two block-long streaks at a flick of your foot; blame it on my day job. But when it came to our next project truck, I decided to take a different approach. My plan is to start off with some minor modifications and work towards creating an efficient towing machine that is capable of pulling my roughly 3,000-pound Starcraft deck boat. The fiberglass CSX model won't be the heaviest toy I pull, but the 22-footer will be one that I tow the most often.

With so many 7.3L engines still running strong, we wanted to show that with a few specific upgrades you could take an older Ford and breathe new life into her. At least that's what we told ourselves when we decided to actually search for this truck. What we found was a 2002 Ford F-250 Super Duty that we quickly dubbed Big Blue, based on its raised look and color.

If we were going to turn Big Blue from a stock grocery-getter into a true beast worthy of its name, I knew I had to get Powerlabs Diesel in Idaho Falls, Idaho, involved. Owner Brent Willsey helped me outline where we needed to go with this Power Stroke and in a short amount of time we were on our way.