Hardcore Car Guy Drives and Reviews a Tuned 2019 F-350

This lifted and tuned 2019 F-350 Platinum may not be a sports car, but it has 1,000 reasons for a car enthusiast to like it.

In the automotive enthusiast world, there are two basic ends of the spectrum. At one end, you have car people. You see them zipping around town in a highly modified Ford Mustang or a custom Nissan GT-R. At the other end of the spectrum are truck lovers. They like their torque ratings high and their pickups even higher. So what happens when a devoted car guy such as the popular YouTuber ThatDudeinBlue, aka David Patterson, tests out a giant diesel truck? If that rig is anything like the lifted and tuned 2019 F-350 Platinum in this video, things should go well.

Patterson has amassed a YouTube following of over 1 million subscribers by constantly posting footage of his drives in insanely powerful sports cars, including a 1,000-horsepower MKIV Toyota Supra and an equally bonkers Shelby Super Snake. You don’t really see a lot of trucks on his channel, but this one kind of fits in because it’s heavily modified and it’s been tuned to generate more power than it did when it left the factory.

It belongs to Patterson’s friend Griffin. Surprisingly, he didn’t get it lifted. Instead, he had the front end leveled by 3.5 inches. Suspension upgrades include “Fox reservoir shocks up front and … in the back I have standard Fox 2.0s,” according to Griffin. Like many truck owners, he swapped out the stock wheels and tires for an aftermarket setup. Griffin’s F-350 rides on massive 24-inch X 12-inch forged billet aluminum wheels.

Griffin’s mods extend to the mighty 6.7-liter Power Stroke turbodiesel V8 under the hood. Some of its power-sapping emissions hardware has been deleted and it’s capable of safely running a variety of custom tuning profiles. It also has a cold-air intake and breathes through a 5-inch exhaust system. Final output is 550 horsepower and 1,000 lb-ft of torque.

So, what does Patterson think of this muscle mega truck? As someone who doesn’t spend a lot of time in trucks, particularly diesel models, he finds the F-350 both odd and enjoyable. He tells Griffin, “What’s so funny about when you drive one of these – you’re pretty much eye-level with a dump truck driver.” The steering is another stand-out feature. Patterson is impressed by how normal it is. “I’m putting a little bit of steering input in and it’s … going around the corners just fine.” He makes sure to fit in a few high-throttle pulls, too. That’s how power works. It never meets a hostile stranger. More is always better – whether you’re a truck buff or a car nut.

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Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Derek also contributes to other outlets. He started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to get even more automotive content out to fellow enthusiasts.

He can be reached at autoeditors@internetbrands.com.

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