There is good money to be made in the oil fields of North Dakota, but you
don't need to tell Josh Siepert that. He discovered nearly five years ago that
there's really no place like this anywhere else in America.
New drilling technology has freed up vast reserves of oil in
North Dakota,
fueling an economic bonanza that has become a flat-out gold rush. As the rest
of the country desperately tries to skirt a double-dip recession, North Dakota boasts a
$1-billion budget surplus and the nation's lowest unemployment rate. And the
boom shows no sign of letting up - almost 200 drilling rigs are boring 100 new
wells a month.
Siepert works for Ensign Drilling on a four-weeks-on,
two-weeks-off rotation and the results of his hard work and dedication to this
company have paid off in many ways, including what's he's been able to
accomplish so far with his 2012 Ford F-250 Super Duty XLT.
Shortly after purchasing his 6.7L Power Stroke he stopped
into Custom Auto Diesel Performance in Idaho
Falls, Idaho, to see
about adding some LED headlights. But little did he know this visit would
eventually lead him down the road of performance modifications. It was Custom
Auto owner James Brendle that helped him with his goal to create the ultimate
truck.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Custom Auto, James and
everybody at the shop," says Siepert. "They stuck out late nights until three
in the morning at times just to put my truck back together. They're always
there when I need help."
Upgrades
Besides the LED lights, one of the first steps Siepert took
to modify his truck was to add a 2-inch leveling kit from BDS Suspension,
35-inch Toyo tires and 20-inch MKW wheels. He then followed it up by adding
fender flares from Bushwacker.
"James hooked me up with the fender flares," says Siepert.
"He got them earlier than they were going to be released."
For the next phase, Siepert went with the Mini Maxx tuner
and 4-inch exhaust from H&S Performance, but after coming up just short at
a dyno event, he decided he needed to add a little extra.
Instant Power
"I got beat by 14 horsepower at a dyno event and I decided I
didn't like that happening so we added the nitrous bottle from Edelbrock," says
Siepert. "We put about a hundred shot on it just in case that 14hp ever came up
again and I haven't blown it up yet either."
What did end up blowing out was his rear end, which led to
the new aFe rear differential cover that he really likes with the sight window
and other key features.
In just over three months Siepert, through Custom Auto, had
transformed his truck that now included a Kicker sound system with a Legacy
deck into a loaded Super Duty. But the Idaho
native soon realized this was just the beginning.
"Next we started getting into the expensive part," says
Siepert with a smile. "But hey, it's all fun and games right?"
Twins