A Proud 6.4L Owner

This article originally featured in the May 2022 issue. 

We like to learn a little bit about the people we feature beyond just their truck. What are their hobbies? What do they do for work? This helps us get a unique perspective on each truck owner as we learn everything from their military experience to their bowling club. But sometimes we get someone like Josh Septor who says, “Most of my hobbies are truck stuff mainly.”

To Josh and anyone else who devotes their life to the automotive world, as a magazine solely devoted to diesel pickup trucks — we get it.

When Josh isn’t working on his 2009 Ford F350, he’s working in his shop or on another one of his personal trucks. It’s a hobby, lifestyle and a career. 

Starting Over

Josh arrived just in time to purchase the long-bed crew cab that still has the original 6.4L Powerstroke engine, with two other potential buyers showing up just minutes after him. He started putting the work in on the build, but it was undone in an instant when he was forced off the road by a deer.

The truck ended up slamming into a large pine tree. The cab, bed, fender hood and grille were crushed, so Josh brought it back to his shop, pulled everything off of it and started over.

“It was definitely discouraging at first,” he explained. “Right after the accident I was really bummed out and upset about the truck, but I was determined to bring it back and better than ever. The truck had a lot into it prior to the accident, but it was a good excuse to go even further with it and just make it that much nicer.”

He started by sending it to a shop to make sure the frame wasn’t bent and they had it back to him the same day with zero issues. Josh found the parts he needed for repairs, completed those and the fun stuff could finally begin — modifications. 

The Fun Stuff

Josh got his start in the diesel game about 10 years ago with a 1988 IDI OBS Ford. It was a mud truck that he had fun with, and sure he might’ve learned a little bit on it, but it wasn’t until a few years later at Diesel Nationals in New Jersey that he became truly hooked.

“I probably had another diesel a month or two later and was buying parts for it on the way home,” he said.

Josh had years of practice figuring out what he likes on his trucks and that was the plan behind this build of his 6.4L: just put what he likes on it and see how it turns out. He also does all the work himself, other than maybe just the paint.

On the exterior Josh has 24x16 Fuel Forged wheels which, along with his Twisted Diesel Stage 3 transmission, is powder-coated teal, to go with 405/25/24 Pirelli tires. Accompanying them are 3-inch FFS wheel spacers, True Spikes lug nuts, a 4.5-inch Rough Country lift, Gator Tonneau cover, custom PTM emblems and fender badges, GEN-Y hitch, HornBlasters XL air horn with a custom mount and AMP research steps with a switch and Next Level step mats. Additional lighting on the exterior includes 30 rocklights, two sets of DB Auto wheel rings with custom mounts, Super Bright LEDs front pods and light bar, Rigid Industries flush mount reverse lights, custom PTM headlights with Morimoto projectors, a custom PTM third brake light and switch back mirror light and finally, Spyder taillights with Morimoto mini pods reverse lights.

In the realm of performance, Josh installed a Mishimoto intercooler, Pusher Intakes CAC pipe and elbow, MPD s369 sxe turbo and single kit, No Limits Fabrication intake, aFe 5-inch exhaust, aFe 8-inch tip, Sinister Diesel coolant filter system, AirDog 165 lift pump, Valair 444c pump, SCT tuner and Rudy’s Diesel Performance stainless HD up-pipes.

On the interior you can find rear-matching captain’s chairs, a 12-inch Skar Audio sub, WeatherTech floor liners with blue LED lights and two 450pc headliner kits from Starlight Headliner.

What’s Next?

Josh takes the Ford to as many shows as he can but doesn’t enter it in as many shows as he’d like. He feels he gets hate for owning a 6.4L, but he has a message for those haters.

“Everyone who's going to hate on this truck because it’s a 6.4L, don’t. I can assure you this is a great truck. Most of the ones that break are usually abused. I take care of it and abuse it when needed and it’s done nothing but treat me well.”

He’s currently making mounts for traction bars and plans to put in powder-coated axles. He also feels the exhaust is starting to show its age and wants to upgrade that as well.

“This is just something I enjoy doing and showing off,” Josh concluded. “It's just an all-around good time and something I never get tired of working on. Sure, there are days where I hate it or things don’t go right, but I still wouldn’t change anything.” 

Sources:

aFe Power

951-493-7100

www.afepower.com

AirDog

877-421-3187

www.pureflowairdog.com


AMP Research

888-983-2204

www.amp-research.com


Fuel Off-Road Wheels

www.fueloffroad.com


Gator Covers

855-427-4568

www.gatorcovers.com


GEN-Y Hitch

574-218-6363

www.genyhitch.com


HornBlasters

877-209-8179

www.hornblasters.com


Mishimoto

877-466-4744

www.mishimoto.com


Morimoto

424-239-5142

www.morimotohid.com


Next Level Mats

513-654-5908

www.nextlevelmats.com


No Limits Fabrication

800-581-8986

www.nolimitfabrication.com


Pirelli

www.pirelli.com


Pusher Intakes

772-212-9290

www.pusherintakes.com


Rigid Industries

855-760-5337

www.rigidindustries.com


Rough Country

800-222-7023

www.roughcountry.com


Rudy’s Diesel Performance

866-757-6537

www.rudysdiesel.com


SCT

407-774-2447

www.sctflash.com


Sinister Diesel

888-966-6543

www.sinisterdiesel.com


Skar Audio

www.skaraudio.com


Spyder

626-934-8884

www.spyderauto.com


Starlight Headliner

www.starlighthq.com


Super Bright LEDs

866-590-3533

www.superbrightleds.com


Valair

940-4684542

www.valairinc.com


Weather Tech

800-441-6287

www.weathertech.com