Driver's Seat
4 Custom Rigs (ISSN 1941-4595) is a registered trademark of Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. LLC., 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. POSTMASTERS: Send address corrections to Custom Rigs, P.O. Box 3187, Tuscaloosa, Ala. 35403-9871. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Copyright (c) 2009 Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. LLC. W hen you are around people outside of the trucking industry and the topic of custom rigs comes up in the conversation, which is going to happen when you are the editor of a magazine called , the first question is, You mean they customize those big trucks? And the second, Why? Most people understand the concept of customizing four wheelers. But custom-izing a truck is something most haven't even thought about or even noticed on the road. I explain to my non-trucking friends the truckers I am fortunate enough to hang around with are just boys with bigger toys; toys that also happen to be the main tool of their income and office all rolled into one big package. And, like those who customize cars and trucks, the owners of big-rigs want to make their rides reflect the same pride they have in their work, just as the Burn-ingham's have shown with their ash hauler shown here and on the cover. Customizing is also about performance. In fact, performance and customizing can be looked at as one and the same. The word performance to those who own custom rigs can mean improving an engine's power while increasing fuel economy and reducing mainte-nance through the addition of some new electronic hot-rodding technology, or exchanging some component part for another. Improving performance can also relate to upgrading headlights to LEDs or HID, or relocating them to provide better lighting at night and to compensate for old eyes or just to give the rig a different look. It can also mean swapping out the stock bumpers for custom versions front and rear. Improving a truck's performance can mean upgrading the seats, changing up the sleeper interior, and upgrading the sound system so the driver is more com-fortable on long hauls or short. Such upgrades lead to better mental and physical comfort, which leads to improved driver safety and in general, to better overall performance. Performance upgrades can also mean making minor or radical changes to the truck's overall style, paint and graphics, The end result is the rig not only performs better in truck beauty shows, it attracts a lot of favorable attention on the open road and in doing so casts a good light on the owner, driver, and company the rig represents. The whole concept of truckers customizing their rigs goes back to one common trait shared by automotive enthusiasts around the world: personalization. When you have pride in your ride, no matter what it is, it's going to be customized. Bruce W. Smith Bruce W. Smith bsmith@rrpub.com CUSTOMIZING FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE DRIVER'S SEAT DRIVER'S SEAT Driver's Seat Driver's Seat Customizing is also about performance. In fact, performance and customizing can be looked at as one and the same. CUSTOM RIGS Fall 2009