Shell Rotella Truck Of The Month: Show & Tow

A F-350 Dually Built For The Big Show

This Month’s Shell Rotella Truck Of The Month belongs to Craig Guerra. In less than six-weeks Guerra built his first SEMA show truck, this 2020 Ford F-350 Super Duty. It all started with Guerra’s first visit to SEMA in 2019 with his build partner Dorian at Power Stroke Enginuities. After seeing what the event was all about Guerra decided there and then that he wanted to build a truck for the show and get to be a part of the SEMA Cruise.

After some discussions with Johnny, the owner of Fusion Bumpers, it was decided that Guerra would build a truck for the 2021 show. This truck ended up in the Fusion Bumpers booth in the new West Hall at the Las Vegas Convention center.

Let’s dive into how this show/tow rig managed to get built in such a short period of time and come out so well.

And It Begins

The build started on September 15th, 2021 when the truck was dropped off at Mobile Toys Inc., in College Station, Texas, to knock out the sound system. At the same time the Fusion bumpers, rearview mirrors, hood, taillights, and door handles were getting painted to match the truck, for that sleek OEM+ look. Everything on the body of the truck is done in Ford Silver Spruce, while all accessories are done in Prismatic Powders Bronze Chrome and Ford Tuxedo black.

Two weeks later the truck came back with a thumping sound system, just in time to have the ARE Z Series camper shell installed. The first week of October was a busy one with the Amani Forged Arlo wheels getting dropped off at the powder coater and Guerra tackling a ton of details while waiting on suspension and tires to come in.

Finishing off the interior is a Roadwire interior upholstery kit and Locker Down center console safe. Outside Guerra installed Main Event Emblems fender badges, Recon lights, Amp Research powered sidesteps, a 5-inch exhaust, and the 64 Offroad LED Bars rock lights. The truck bed was finished off with an Access truck bed mat.

Lift Time

The lift finally arrived two weeks before the truck needed to head off to SEMA. Sadly, the crate was destroyed during shipping and the kit was missing a lot of parts. The crew at Wicked Customs made it right though, by making the missing parts and the next day air freighting them.

With parts in hand, including the Overkill Fab grille and Gen-Y hitch, it was time to head back to the powder coater and get everything looking right, before the final install.

Tire Troubles

With time running out tires had still not yet arrived. The plan was to showcase the new VersaTyre MTX/HD 39/15.50R26 tires on the build, but those tires were stuck on a boat in the Pacific somewhere.

Luckily, VersaTyre had a set of MXT/HD 36/14.50R26 in stock and shipped them out expediently. In the end, Guerra only picked up the tires a few days before heading off to SEMA.

Final Push

The weekend before the truck had to be placed at SEMA Guerra was just picking up the final parts from powdercoat and getting the truck over the Power Stroke Enginuities for final assembly. There was still quite a lot of work to do to get the truck dialed in for SEMA and the 1,500 mile drive to the show.

The first up was pulling the axles and getting them cleaned up for paint. At the same time, the freshly powder-coated 12-inch Wicked Customs lift and coilovers were installed, along with R1 Concepts brakes. The Fusion bumpers were also finally installed, including Offroad LED light bars and winch.

Next was getting the tires mounted up on the Amani Forged wheels, which of course turned into more of a job than expected. It was now four short days before Guerra had to leave for the show and it finally had tires on it.

The finishing touches were the Overkill Fab grille and Morimoto headlights. A quick test drive to Pixelwerks for the installation of all the graphics and the truck was almost complete.

Guerra got the truck back from Pixelwerks Wednesday and finished it up around midnight that night. He had to adjust the coil overs, add the No Limit Intake, finish up the H&S Motorsports fuel filters, and install the RKsport hood.

Test Drive

At 4 am Thursday morning Guerra hopped behind the wheel of his creation in Houston and pointed it towards Las Vegas. Twenty-one-plus hours later the truck rolled into Sin City. The 1,500 test drive revealed zero issues.

A deep detail to remove the road grime and the truck rolled into the SEMA show looking good. It was then placed in the Fusion Bumpers booth for the aftermarket industry to drool on for the week, and rolled in the SEMA Cruise after the show for the public to enjoy.

A Second Life

After the show Guerra built out the back of the truck as a camper rig. It now has a drawer system with bed, sink, stove, canopy, chairs, aux battery, and lots of storage. The truck is used as Guerra’s tow and road-trip machine.

The truck now rolls on VersaTyre MXT/HD 39/15.50R26 rubber and is currently getting bumped up to a 15-inch lift. The paintwork is also being redone and Guerra plans to add a Maryland Performance Diesel compound turbo soon.

Build Partner Appreciation

Guerra wants to thank Dorian Reyna, Brennan Wilson, Victor Vasquez, all the PSE Houston guys for all the long nights and motivation to get this truck done, John Vo at Pixelwerks for all the decals and making sure everything matched perfectly, Greg and Gabby Garza along with the whole Elite Wheel and Tire crew for taking care of all my wheel and tire needs, and Vegas Boys Detail for cleaning up the truck after the long drive to Las Vegas and making sure it was spotless the whole week.

“Everything on the body of the truck is done in Ford Silver Spruce, while all accessories are done in Prismatic Powders Bronze Chrome and Ford Tuxedo black.”

2020 Ford F-350

Powertrain: No Limit Fabrication Stage 2 Cold Air Intake, Custom Tune with 5 Position SOTF, Full 5” Exhaust with 7” Tip, H&S Motorsports Fuel Filter Conversion w/ Lower Fuel Filter Upgrade, Optima Yellow Top Batteries

Wheels & Tires: Amani Forged Arlo Wheels (26×14 Front and 26×8.25 Rear) w/ Billet Caps and Shifted Industries 2” Spacers, Truespike Lug Nuts , VersaTyre MXT/HD 36/14.50R26 Tires

Suspension: 12” Wicked Customs Lift w/ Goliath 4-Link and Tractions Bars w/ Armor Plating, Fox 2.5 Coilovers, Fox 2.0 Shocks

Driveline: Tom Wood’s Front Driveshafts, R1 Concepts Brake Rotors

Exterior: Fusion Bumpers w/ 6” Single Row Off-road LED Bars and 13k Winch, Overkill Fab Custom Grill w/ Custom Logo, Morimoto Head Lights, RKSport Hood, Recon Smoked Light Covers, Main Event Emblems Fender Badges, Amp Research Powersteps, Gen-Y 15” Drop Hitch w/ Stabilizers, Bolt Lock Hitch Pins and Recovery Hooks, 64 Offroad LED Bars Rock Lights, A.R.E. Z Series Camper Shell w/ Ascend Roof Basket, Access Truck Bed Mat

Factory tail lights custom painted to be smoked and silver spruce

Interior: Roadwire Custom Double Diamond Stitched Seats, Lock’er Down Extreme Console Safe,

Audio System: NavTV, 2 JL Audio 13TW5 w/ JL Audio 1000 and 800 Watt Amps, Focal 165 Door Speakers, Custom Mobile Toys Inc Sub Box, Stinger Wiring and Interconnects