When Matt Rodenbough started his own business nearly three years ago he had a goal in mind and it had nothing to do with what he hoped to accomplish as a company. If he reached his goal, it would mean Rodenbough Trucking & Excavating had succeeded as a new business. His goal was to simply have a big diesel pickup for oil field work and excavating.
As RTE grew, Rodenbough purchased diesel pickups to help him get the job done. These work trucks were what he needed to help his company grow, but they fell short of the goal that he had set for himself. He stayed focused on his quest to have a solid truck he could be proud of and his patience paid off when he found what he was looking for. He reached his goal when he purchased a 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 Heavy Duty dually. This is exactly the kind of truck he was looking for and it quickly became his pride and joy.
"I wanted a solid truck that wasn't too over-the-top," explains Rodenbough. "I wanted it to stand out, yet be clear that it truly is a work truck and not just something for the showroom."
No Finish Line
His goal has come true and then some and his Ram dually continues to turn heads as it roars down the road and is put to work. But even though this truck was his goal starting out, it certainly wasn't the finish line for what he wanted it to become.
As Rodenbough Trucking & Excavating continued to do well, the need for bigger and better led to installs and upgrades along the way. One cosmetic upgrade Rodenbough was considering was adding a new grille to help give his dually its own distinctive look. But while during his research he discovered the perfect way to give his truck a new look, while also showcasing his logo. In talking to Royalty Core Truck Performance he learned a custom grille just for his truck was a possibility.
"Josh Ellison at Royalty Core is great to work with," says Rodenbough. "They can now design, machine and fabricate your logo on a grille of your truck and I knew I wanted to do it."
He ordered the grille and then took it to Powerlabs Diesel in Idaho Falls to have it installed, along with a few other upgrades. The initials for his business were already on his North Dakota license plate, but now having his actual logo on his grille really helps make that statement he was going for.
"Every customer is emailed a CAD rendering for approval before it goes to the cutting process," says Ellison. "Taking a one-dimensional jpeg file of your logo and converting it into a full-blown colorized 3D metal version takes time and skill to get it right."
The custom grille is 100 percent stainless steel and that includes the frame, mesh, studs, logos, mounting and hardware.
Worth The Drive
Even though Rodenbough lives in North Dakota, he still would rather bring his projects to Idaho after working with Powerlabs Diesel VP Brent Willsey on other projects.
"When I used to live in Colorado my buddies would drive all the way over to Idaho Falls just to have Brent work on them," says Rodenbough. "They just do a great job and when it comes to custom tuning I only trust my truck to Brent."
The key to success is not only to do quality work, but to also help educate the customer and that is why Powerlabs continues to grow. It's this philosophy that keeps customers like Rodenbough coming back despite the long distance drives.
"We want to educate the customer first instead of just forcing parts on them," explains Willsey. "We always ask customers what they expect out of their truck and find out how they use it and then set them up with the right products. When working with Matt, he comes to us with his own ideas and we like that."
Added Goodies
Besides the Royalty Core custom grille, Powerlabs Diesel also installed a Smarty Diesel Tuner, Auto Meter Dodge factory match gauges and pillar. The truck was also custom tuned by Willsey who really has this skill dialed in, which keeps him in high-demand in the area and beyond.
But before this latest install even took place, the Dodge dually already had a good jump on other upgrades before it got to this point.
"I added a six-inch lift from Tuff Country and George & Jesse's in Rigby (Idaho) did all the work," says the RTE owner. "It also has a 5-inch turbo pack Hushpower exhaust, 35-inch Toyo tires and XD Series Wheels from KMC. I also did the K&N intake myself and I'm already looking ahead to see what else we can do to her."
Next Step
Rodenbough has a few ideas on where he'd like to take his truck next, including adding twin turbos and some other performance-specific upgrades, but he's going to take a little time to enjoy his truck and where it's at right now.
But it won't take him very long before the mod bug bites him again and that just means another trip down to Idaho Falls from his North Dakota home to make sure those upgrades and modifications are done right, which means another trip to Powerlabs Diesel.