2001 Ram Resurrection When Bad Things Happen to Good Trucks, Enthusiasts Like Chad Accettura See Opportunity
Written by Gary Blount Photos by Gary Blount
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How come there's no personal recourse for unethical business practices? If any one of use didn't pay taxes, the government would think nothing of laying claim to anything of value to a non-taxpaying citizen. Yet the CEOs of fraudulent scandals such as the WorldCom or Enron events will spend a couple years in "prison" (more like camp Snoopy) and have plenty to come home to. That's a small price to pay considering these events played a large part of the drastic decline of the U.S. market, and our economy with it, according to Thomas Carson's "Some Lessons of the Recent Corporate Scandals" article in the Journal of Business Ethics. Chad Accettura is no stranger to the boundless hypocrisy today's business ethics have allowed us to stoop to.
Chad and his girlfriend, Seija Laukkanen, spent countless hours building their vision of a killer diesel truck. In fact, not months went by when the new-at-the-time Dodge truck started receiving modifications. When insurance renewal time came, Chad wanted to make sure their investment was in good hands so he called his insurance agent who instructed Chad and Seija on the ways to insure their hauler.
On April 17, 2005, Seija and Chad were traveling down a rainy Vancouver Island highway when suddenly the truck broke traction. As a Drayton Valley, Alberta resident, Seija has piloted many lifted trucks over the same conditions. She tried to correct the steering and ease off the throttle. It was no use; the truck slid into a cement barrier. The couple was thrown onto the passenger side of the truck until it slid to a stop.
As luck would have it, the incident was a single vehicle accident and no one was seriously hurt. Chad did sustain a minor scratch on his finger, but nothing too bad. When the call went out to the insurance carrier, the claims adjuster came out and took pictures, making note of the truck. From there it took the insurance company three months to return their calls to tell them they weren't going to cover the vehicle because it was customized. Chad and Seija sought legal advice, but the insurance company's contract provided a loophole that allowed them to skate free.
What the hell is that? The insurance company didn't want to pay for the custom parts! How is it always OK for companies to pick at the deal in their favor? What part of insure my truck didn't they understand? What's next, refusal of medical care because you got sick from eating a modified piece of chicken?
Chad and Seija didn't let the insurance company's excuses stop them from doing what they loved. Chad spent many hours out in the oil fields of Alberta, Canada to pay for the $23,000 loss. Chad's uncle, Trevor Ladret, lived in Powell River, BC and told Chad he and Seija could use his facility to build the truck. But this was no Chip Foose garage. The building walls didn't come down to the ground and there wasn't even cement on the floor. Other than a gas-powered generator, the garage was little more than a tool shed. Chad's uncle isn't afraid of a little hard work, and he was kind enough to give up his build facility to Chad and Seija so the build was on.
On October 7, 2005 they got started tearing apart the 2001 truck. It was the start of a six-month hard case that ate every bit of seven days a week, 10 hours a day. But to Chad and Seija it was a dream job. The frame was taken down to bare metal and sandblasted, then shot in a custom silver. Everything went back on the truck after being cleaned, polished and/or painted, then matchlessly installed one piece after the other.
Chad needed an exhaust for the truck, but the new suspension wouldn't accommodate an off-the-shelf system. The guys at MBRP shaped a masterful 4-inch stainless exhaust with a custom tail segment that exits at the rear center of the truck. At the end of the killer exhaust is MBRP's dual 5-inch stainless tips. Because the truck uses a 3-inch body lift, the under belly is exposed for all eyes to see.
The truck was really taking shape, so Chad made a call to NADP to get all the power mods to give the truck the power to set fire to the new 44-inch TrXus STS tires. NADP's techs fixed Chad up with full tranny, transfer case, converter, intake, computer/programmer, exhaust manifold, fuel system, turbo, injectors, plus some. Seija and Chad were away on a prior commitment, so the truck was dropped off at NADP for the mods.
After they got back, Chad was taken to NADP to pick up the truck after the power was turned and tuned. Chad was floored by the performance. "Who knew that you could get so much power out of a diesel," was his initial response.
Chad's longtime friend, J.F. Launier of Desert Speed Shop in Oliver, BC., took the freshly prepped machine and with Chad and Seija's help, worked to get the pigment adhered to the sheet metal. Even though the new build was bigger and almost everything was changed, Chad wanted the truck to be reminiscent of the original build. And since J.F. was the original painter on the first build, it was going to be easier to duplicate a similar paint scheme with an added touch so the paint would equal the quality of the new build. But the rush was on since Chad was anxious to debut at NADP's annual August Blackout, in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Like the first custom paint job, Chad and Seija worked side by side with J.F., sanding, masking and prepping. When the truck got its last dip of clear, they started wet-sanding the hulk until the paint was perfectly even to the eye and to the touch. J.F. snapped up the polisher and brought the clear coat to a show shine that brought tears to Chad when it was rolled out in the sun for the first time. There, it was all the hard work and effort they put back into the custom monster that bonds Chad and Seija - but this time bigger, badder and better than ever before.
The truck was painted just in time for the show. They finished it on March 22, 2006. This was just two weeks before the truck had to be delivered to NADP in Edmonton, where we pinpointed the truck two days before the show. The resurrected 15-second 8,000-pound Dodge not only smoked the show-and-shine, Chad also took second in the burnout competition.
