Adventurous — or certifiably crazy — aspiring stuntman prefers the bed of a Ford truck and he’s totally willing to risk his life to show it.
Many Ford trucks spend most of their lives working hard. Their interiors endure years of use by families or work crews. When they’re not getting people where they need to go, they’re carrying heavy loads of building supplies in their beds. Some Ford pickups do that while pulling massive trailers that would snap the axles of lesser trucks. This video posted on the Lifted Trucks (aka southern.trucks.militia) Instagram page shows what one Ford truck does when it’s off the clock. (And please do not try this at home. Or on the road. Or ever!)
At the start of the footage, the teal F-150 is just cruising down the road. It’s not loaded down or pulling a heavy load. But it does have a huge responsibility.
To the left of the F-150 is a black Chevrolet Silverado. It’s also rolling along down the same straight road as the F-150. Aside from its badge, it’s different from the Ford in another major way.
A post shared by LIFTED TRUCKS (@southern.trucks.militia) on
There’s a man in the bed of the Chevy with a helmet on his head and one of his feet on top of the Silverado’s passenger-side bed rail. As he eyes the F-150’s cargo box, he raises his other leg and places his other foot on the bed rail.
There have been a lot of movies in which a main character is caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing. Nine times out of ten, they say to the person who catches them in the act, “It’s not what it looks like.” We can’t say that here. This is exactly what it looks like. The guy perched on the side of the Chevy is going to jump from it and into the bed of the F-150. Good thing he’s wearing a helmet. Safety first, you know.
The drivers of the trucks keep their speeds steady as the thrill-seeker readies his wits. Without even doing a deep knee bend, he leaps from the Chevy. Fortunately, his quick physics calculations are correct and he successfully jumps the gap between the two trucks.
Mr. Balls-of-Steel lands in the back of the F-150 without an issue – and, most importantly, without winding up a streak on the road behind it.
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.
