Bright blue super-stretch F-450 dually with 28-inch wheels, an air suspension, and room for eight is a SEMA-level over-the-top build.
There are custom trucks and then…there’s this. Many show-quality modified pickups are covered in an eye-catching wrap, jacked up to the sky on thousands of dollars of suspension hardware, and roll on giant wheels and tires so knobby they can ripple concrete. This Ford F-450 Platinum dually is on a completely different level, though.
It has some of the things you’d expect to see on a custom truck. It’s covered in bright blue paint. According to the YouTube channel that posted this video, WhipAddict, it’s called “Dark Sky Blue” (“Smurf Blue” seems more fitting to us, especially when you see the plush creatures the owner has hanging out of his rearmost windows). It rides on a massive set of chrome 28-inch wheels. The bed is covered with a hard tonneau cover painted to match the body.
There’s a 6.7-liter Power Stroke turbodiesel under the dual-scoop hood. Judging by the high-pitched whistle coming out of it that makes it sound like a jet engine, it’s had some work done to it – just like every bit of metal that surrounds it.
Instead of going the ultra-hardcore off-road route with their build, the owner of this F-450 went for the lowrider look. They swapped out the stock suspension for an air-bag setup that allows the truck to sit low over its thin tires, which are the automotive equivalent of rubber bands.
Those changes would enable this truck to do well at any custom vehicle event, but there’s one mod that makes this Super Duty an absolute showstopper. Make that four. That’s right – this F-450 has eight doors.
Those eight doors provide access to four pairs of captains chairs. At one point in the video, it looks as if every seat is occupied. Oddly enough, in the front row, the interior looks pretty much stock.
If this truck hasn’t been on display in the SEMA show before, it should be. Just watching the owner and the show staff trying to get this long monster inside the Las Vegas Convention Center would be its own form of entertainment.
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.
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