Custom car and truck builders get all kinds of unusual requests. When Shell Lubricants came to Tommy Pike Customs for some ideas to promote its new Rotella T6 Multi-Vehicle lube oil, the answer was clear.
Since the T6 oil was formulated to work in gasoline engines as well as diesel engines, the choice was to build two trucks. Pike chose a 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 Rebel gasser and a 2017 Chevy Silverado 3500 HD diesel for the project.
Both trucks got a full vehicle vinyl wraps with custom graphics and custom blue leather interiors with silver accents to mimic the Rotella packaging. “We wanted them to me memorable, but not gaudy,” Pike said. “Clean and classy to deliver the message.” To finish off the interior experience, both trucks also received a JL Audio sound system including a JL stealth box, custom amp rack and RD501 amplifier.
Pike elevated the Ram 1500 Rebel four inches on a BDS Suspensions lift kit that works with the factory air ride suspension. “You can raise that sucker up seven or eight inches and go mud bogging or drop it down so it’s easy to get in and out of,” Pike said. Hammerhead furnished the custom powder coated front and rear bumpers. The truck also sports a custom Magnaflow exhaust system, a Magnuson supercharger and General Grabber X3 Red Letter tires.
Loaded with a 6.6-liter Duramax diesel, the Chevy 3500 HD dually received a seven-inch lift with 22-inch wheels and 35-inch tires. “This is your hard worker,” Pike said. You could pull your 20,000-pound trailer and pull it until you got tired of pulling.” A Curt Manufacturing 5th wheel and trailer hitch ensures you can tow serious loads. Luverne Truck Equipment black powder coated Baja side steps ease access to the cab.
The Chevy also received a full front fascia replacement with a powder coated front grill with mesh inserts and stainless-steel rivets. “I didn’t care for the center bar that went across there, so we did a headlight and front grill replacement,” he says. Pike also installed Hammerhead bumpers here too and custom LED lights from Southern Lights and a powder coated headache rack from Aires to match the front grill.
Pike started working on cars and trucks in his parent’s garage 20 years ago and turned his youthful passion into a business, Tommy Pike Customs, in Greenville, South Carolina. “We work with corporate customers to help them build their relationships further and make those solid, concrete relationships with their customers, and that’s our business,” he said. “We want to help set our customers and partners apart from everyone else. Our customers don’t want to pull up at a red light and look like everyone else.”