This article originally appeared in the May 2021 issue.
Looking back now, Big Blue was probably the most generic name I could have come up with but at the time I thought it was the perfect fit for my navy blue 7.3L Power Stroke build. Since then I’ve come across some very inspiring and creative names for truck builds that either perfectly sum up the entire project in a couple of words, or the name is so out there that it just makes you want to know more.
Best example of this might just be our Road Treasure build years ago. Dave Friedli never hesitates to investigate those items on the side of the highway that have fallen off another vehicle. Over the years he’s found coolers, motorcycle helmets, tools, ladders, CD cases and just about everything else you could imagine. He even once found a Bible that he was able to return to the owner, so it’s not always about keeping what he finds. Although he has several hobbies, one of them without a doubt is scouting for what he refers to as “road treasure.”
We took Dave’s stock daily driver, a 2003 GMC LB7 Crew Cab Short Bed, and created a true towing machine. While the specific details have faded over the years, the love for this project name remains as strong as ever.
Honey Badger was another unique build name. It was inspired by a viral video entitled “The Crazy Nasty#$! Honey Badger” when we were looking for inspiration for our next magazine build project truck. Of all the classic lines in that video, the one that caught our attention was, “The Honey Badger just don’t care.” It was for that precise reason we went ahead with the 2002 Dodge RAM 3500 Cummins dually as our project truck when others would have run from it. Most people might overlook a diesel truck with 200K miles on the odometer, but not us. We just “didn’t care” and we made it into a real head-turner.
We loved the back story of a 1999 7.3L Power Stroke so much it lead to a unique build name. It became [Project Date Night] after we learned the previous owner was trying to woo a particular young lady who was rebuffing his advances. This was a number of years ago, so at the time the truck would have been pretty new. According to him, he pulled up to her house and she just fell in love with the truck. They went on the date, kept it going, and eventually got married. They’ve had the truck ever since, at least until we got our hands on it. As we drove away after buying it, the couple’s little girl was just beside herself with grief that the truck was leaving. The owner hadn’t done much to it during his time with it, but it was really special to them. After we got it whipped into shape, we loaned it to the couple so they could take it out for a night on the town to relive their glory days.
Elk Hunter was one of those purpose-builds that was solely geared toward hunting. Every step owner Adam Westfall took on his build got him closer to his ultimate goal of having his 2005 Dodge SLT 2500 crew cab long box ready for the next hunting season. As an avid hunter and outdoorsman, Adam’s vision for his 5.9L Cummins went above and beyond his original expectations as he created an off-road beast that is dependable and can get him to those places in the mountains he needs to be.
Peer Pressure is another one of those funny project names. They say peer pressure can be a bad thing, but that’s not always the case. For Trent Mayes, sometimes you need a little push from your friends to get you motivated to tear into your stock 2012 Chevy LML Duramax and that’s exactly what we did. Of course it only made his friends more determined to upgrade their trucks after that.
And finally, Warhorse, owned by Troy Unruh. After all the updates were done the 1996 Dodge 2500 ended up with a World War II Bomber shark teeth wrap that was the perfect final piece to an over-the-top build.
What creative or unique names have you come up with for your truck builds? We want to hear the story behind your truck’s name or build project. Drop a line to TruckNames@dieseltechmag.com and let us know all about it. The best stories will run in an upcoming issue.