WILL RINER’S ONE-OF-A-KIND 2002 FORD F-250

Internet auction site eBay has become a major retail force over the past several years. No doubt you’re one of the millions of people who have bought or sold items on eBay and have likely found some amazing deals on the site like we have from time to time. Maybe you’ve even got caught up in a bidding frenzy and overpaid for something as well; the site can be hit or miss depending on what you are looking for and how diligent you are in your searching the site and managing your bids.

Will Riner owns WAR Diesel Recovery in Dandridge, TN, and frequently searches through eBay for diesel trucks. One day in 2013, he stumbled upon a truck that seemed too good to be true: this wild custom 2002 Ford F-250 show truck with huge custom suspension and even wilder custom paint. The truck was being sold in Dallas, TX, by a dealer who wanted to get it off his lot. Riner knew that the over-the-top show truck would be a perfect attention grabbing statement piece to draw attention to his shop and bid on the truck. He was able to purchase the truck for less than the price of a fully loaded new F-250 and the dealer even included a nice triple-axle trailer for him to haul the truck back to Tennessee.

Riner knows very little of the original owner and builders of the truck, but he was able to tell that they did excellent work on the truck apparently building it in about a year and a half before finishing the truck in 2007. It was apparently displayed at the SEMA show in Las Vegas at some point after it was completed and also attended shows through the southwest before ending up in Dallas with a “For Sale” sign.

He does not know what shop handled the custom paintwork, but it’s very likely the high end stereo system was installed before the paint was applied since so much of the custom audio system is also painted. The custom four-link suspension system probably came after the other work was done, but no matter the order we can all appreciate the amazing work that was done on the monstrous F-250.

Since the suspension stands out so much, we’ll start there. The truck rolls on Super Swamper IROK 21/49-20LT tires that are over four-feet tall and wrap around chrome plated Weld Racing 20X12-inch forged aluminum wheels. To make room for those huge meats the truck features a huge custom suspension system with double-triangulated four-link configurations front and rear hanging the trussed front and rear axle assemblies. It rides on air courtesy of four large double-bellow air bags actuating the suspension through custom arms while a pair of Sway-A-Way RaceRunner shocks, each with three bypass tubes and a piggyback reservoir, is used to tame the bumps on each corner of the big truck. The shocks and links all use Heim-joints for smooth operation and smooth movement without binding, and they mount to tubular fabricated sub-assemblies that are bolted to the F-250 frame.

The axle assemblies and suspension mount assemblies were powdercoated bright yellow to make sure no one could miss the custom suspension. Then to really make the undercarriage pop, the links and drive shafts were chrome plated and the transmission and transfer case were painted metallic purple. A three way master power battery switch is installed under the truck to allow the operators to play the stereo system from the bed-mounted deep cycle batteries without running down the starting batteries under the hood or to shut off all the batteries to prevent draining while the truck is stored between events. There is also a set of charging posts installed on the frame in the passenger front fender well in case they do ever need to charge the batteries externally.

Moving inside the truck the audio/video system installers did a world class job creating a show truck complete with amps and speakers mounted inside the roof and seven video screens to go with pounding bass from four 15-inch Punch P2 Rockford Fosgate subwoofers. The subs are installed in a sealed enclosure mounted in the bed of the truck. To get the sound into the cab they cut a large slot out of the front of the bed and the back of the cab and mounted the enclosure so the subs fire directly into the cab through the vent.

Mids and highs come from two pairs of Rockford Fosgate triaxial 6.5-inch speakers mounted in the molded fiberglass headliner so they project the sound down and out of the truck to be heard as you look at the truck from the ground. The dash, door panels and pillar covers were all painted to match the truck and match the custom full-length center console that runs between the four bucket seats in the crew cab F-250. A Rockford Fos-gate CD-receiver is molded into the dash while an Audiovox DVD-player and 7-inch screen are molded into the front of the console and a 40-farad Rockford Fosgate power capacitor is molded into the rear section.

Four Rockford Fosgate amplifiers are used to power the system with two P8002s powering the bass frequencies while two P4002 amps power the mids and highs. The chrome and black amplifiers are mounted above the center console end to end running down the center of the headliner from front to rear. The P4002 amps are installed in the center flanked by a P8002 at each end.

While the previous owner left the 7.3L Power Stroke engine and 4R100 transmission stock, Riner and his crew knew they wanted more out of it. They installed a set of Swamps Diesel Baby Swamps injectors and an S366 turbo along with a TS performance 6-position switch tuner loaded with Swamps tunes to wake up the engine. Then they pulled the transmission and installed a Precision Industries flexplate and torque converter to help it hold the increased power from the 7.3L. When they have time, they intend to pull the engine and build it to a level that’s more appropriate for a wild show truck like this, but they’ve been too busy building customer trucks to get much time to work on their own.

This huge truck might not be the best eBay find out there, but it certainly was a good one and the guys at WAR Diesel Recovery got one heck of a deal on a well-built show truck they will be able to use and enjoy for years to come. They regularly attend diesel events throughout eastern Tennessee and the surrounding areas entering show-n-shine events and taking home best of show, best paint and most unique trophies and honors on a regular basis. If you get a chance to see the truck in person, look at it closely and admire the little details that went into building this massive machine. UDBG

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