From Hauler to Head-Turner: A Fully Custom 2001 Ford F-350

This is a story that’s widely understood and shared by many in the custom truck world, especially those who have been in the game for some time now. Jimmie Broyles hails from Norman, Oklahoma, and has been building and driving customs for almost two decades. He’s had his fill of everything from laid-out minis to full custom Cadillacs. Bit by the custom bug when he was young, Jimmie has been cutting up rides of his own since he was 17. As a long-time member of Negative Camber, he eventually graduated to the big show builds and built a few full-size show trucks and custom Cadillacs.

“… his wife had no idea this was taking place… he’d narrowed the rearend and had a set of Moser axles built while measuring for the 24-inch American Force Raptor wheels.”

A few years back, Jimmie needed a daily hauler and tow truck for a ’64 Cadillac project that he was in the middle of building. Since the Cadillac was a long-term build, he would need to haul it to different shops and some shows in its various stages before it would be complete. So, Jimmie did what any one of us would do and went on the hunt for an affordable and reliable tow pig. He came across this 2001 7.3L F-350 and struck a deal for a very “stock” Ford. Although the thought crossed Jimmie’s mind more than once, he vowed to keep this one stock and just use it as a hauler and work truck. Yeah, you can tell where this is headed.

MODEST INTENTIONS

But, let’s not get too far ahead of the story. Jimmie had been tinkering with the idea to just ’bag the F-350 and throw some wheels on it, but continued to resist the urge—until the opportunity came. His wife was out of town for a couple of weeks, and well, he happened to have all of the parts lying around in the garage. So, one night he just pulled it in and started cutting away. After about two weeks of working nights, he had the truck laid flat using a 2000 Chevy 1-ton suspension clip, ’bag-over-axle tow suspension and custom 4-link setup. Of course, his wife had no idea this was taking place, so in the meantime, he’d narrowed the rearend and had a set of Moser axles built while measuring for the 24-inch American Force Raptor wheels that he ordered to complete the look.

It was definitely all downhill from there because now the Negative Camber truck was sitting on the ground where it belonged. Jimmie continued to build the truck in true Negative Camber fashion until it became what you see today. Jimmie grafted all-new 2009 front and rear sheet metal, added a custom fiberglass cowl hood and smoothed the bed. By the time it all was said and done, it definitely went a bit further than he had originally planned. The finishing touches included the bright red and traditional flame paint job sprayed by Joey Skinner with flames by Cole Stevens. From there it was just a matter of finishing off the interior by fabbing up a center console for the Digital Designs audio system and covering the seats with custom Katzkin leather featuring alligator-style inserts.

Can you blame him? Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves, and every little thing snowballs into something else until we walk into the garage one day to see an award-winning build sitting before us. Some guys have all the luck. We just hope his wife went easy on him. DW

All-new 2009 front and rear sheet metal