White Knight: 2016 Ford F-450 Platinum

At the intersection of Interstate 20 and Highway 338 that runs an oval around Odessa, Texas, a sprawling town of 160,000 surrounded by the arid deserts of the Texas panhandle, is a relatively new gray block building with an expansive concrete parking lot laid before its five red-trimmed bays. Nationally, the city takes pride that Odessa is the birthplace of famed Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, while locally, Odessa is known for its population of jackrabbits—so much so that it is the city’s mascot—and Mathew Hoerauf and his crew at Select Off-Road, a haven for everything “you need to command the roadway, whether it be the highway, the dirt road to the jobsite or the original path you carve out with style and attitude.”

Cars have been a passion for Cody Gill since he was a kid. Behind the garage doors of his home hides some old American metal, and his previous build was a none-too-stealthy 650-horsepower 2015 Dodge Viper.

He has been friends with Hoerauf for years. “He and his crew at Select Off-Road have built a couple of cars for me in the past,” Gill recalls. “That’s when we started talking about the SEMA show, and I have always wanted to build a truck for SEMA.”

Fast forward a year or so, and Hoerauf approaches Gill with a rendering of his F-450, designed by Hoerauf and plotted by Robbie Bryant at KEG Media in Fort Smith, Arkansas. After seeing the KEG Media treatment, Gill was very impressed with the design and gave the project the green light. “When we originally started talking about building the truck, I had some ideas I wanted to see on it,” Gill says. “And when Mat and the guys at Select Off-Road started building it, they added their touches to it and really brought it all to life.”

Originally, Gill bought the truck in July 2015 to be used as a daily driver and tow his RV. “I have always loved Fords,” he explains, “and there’s nothing better than a Super Duty diesel, especially its enormous towing capacity and power.”

UNDER THE HOOD

The eight cylinders of the 6.7-liter powerplant produce a stock 900 lb-ft of torque and over 500 horsepower, and the engine was left mostly stock. The intake was upgraded to an S&B Filters cold-air intake kit that allows for better fuel economy and more power. Spent gases make their way through the five-inch stainless plumbing and out via a Magnaflow exhaust.

The entire thing is monitored by SCT’s Livewire TS+, a unit that unlocks horsepower and torque by recalibrating the truck’s computer.

FRONT BODY MODS

The expansive panels of the dually were resprayed Platinum Tri-Coat White by Rick Riney in Odessa. GIll says, “White is a blank and clean canvas. White is a very sharp color and especially when you incorporate other colors it really makes everything pop.”

A Fusion bumper was installed up front, making room for an interior-mounted Warn winch with a Factor 55 fairlead. Cleats were welded to the bumper to hold two Monster Hooks swivel recovery hooks, both painted candy red to match the overall theme of the truck. The headlamps pop with red highlights thanks to Oracle Lights Halo kit from PlainAnSimple.

The RC3DX grille insert from Royalty Core features threedimensional lines, a painted-to-match base grille with chromed accents. The hardware was powdercoated to match the candy red motif. The entire grille is T304 stainless steel.

Flanking either side of the front bumper are a pair of Rigid Industries E 6-inch spotlight bars with two rows of LED lights featuring a 10-degree spot pattern. On top of each one—to fill out the void—is a pair of 6-inch single-row light bars from the SR-Series. Each side douses the road with approximately 6,000 lumens of light.

BACK IN THE BACK

A Fusion bumper is fitted in the rear, and carved out of the sheet metal are spaces for another pair of Rigid Industries 6-inch spot light bars from the E-Series and spaces for the stock rear monitor system. Cleats were added to hold another pair of Monster Hooks swivel recover hooks, while a candy red-painted MH-4 hook from Monster Hooks is locked into the receiver. The taillights are the 21-LED-bulb models with smoked lenses offered by Go Recon Lighting. Additionally, LED side markers highlight the dually wheel wells on each side.

The bed didn’t escape the Select Off-Road treatment either. The SC200 Truck Box Organizers, from Undercover Swing Cases, were mounted to the rear quarter panels of the bed to provide a secure place for tools and gear, while the entire bed received a coating of durable spray liner.

On the outsides, Amp Research provided a pair of power retracting running boards to ease access to the lifted truck while tucking away quietly and quickly under the rocker panels. The door handles and mirrors were all painted to match the Platinum Tri-Coat White scheme of the truck.

UP IN THE AIR

To lift the truck and get the perfect stance, the folks at Select Off- Road chose a Kelderman Air Ride kit. The four-link suspension design completely removes the factory leaf spring suspension in favor of a full air-ride suspension. Kelderman’s design allows for the use of four industrial strength air bags (two per side) to increase payload and towing capacity as well as improve the ride quality.

In the front, a four-to-six-inch air suspension kit from Keldermann was added as well. By removing the front coil springs, the kit places an industrial-strength air bag in the factory spring bucket. The system is designed to save the factory radius arms on Gill’s F-450, but does contain upper and lower air bag plates, air bags, a track bar drop, dual steering stabilizer bracket, radius arm drop brackets, pitman arm and extended brake lines.

The air bags are inflated by a pair of Viaire 444Cs, each offering 200 psi. The two aluminum holding tanks from Specialty Suspension hold a capacity of five gallons each. Mounted in the middle of the tanks is a quartet of Hornblasters’ air-powered train horns used to motivate slow-moving traffi c. The management system making sure the ride height remains level is the E-Level Controller with Touchpad from Accuair. With height sensors on each corner, the system features a ride monitor mode, changing the ride height in response to the addition or removal of weight. The steering stabilizer shocks were supplied by Fox, and all prominent components, fore and aft, were powdercoated candy red (color by Prismatic Powders) by E Powder Coating down the road in Mesquite.

ON THE CORNERS

Keeping the truck off the ground is a half-dozen Interco Trxus M/T radials sized at 35×12.5. The American Force wheels are from the AFW Man O’ War line. The 22-inch wheels are forged from T-6061 aluminum; each has a mirror polish and they are specifically designed for a dually setup.

WHAT’S NEXT?

With plans to build another truck already on the drawing table, Cody Gill first would like to sell this one to make room for the new one. For helping make his project concept a reality, Gill would like to thank the following for their support: Mat Hoerauf and the guys and gals at Select Off-Road, Robbie Bryant at KEG media, his family, Kelderman Air Suspension, Fusion Bumpers, American Force, Viair, Interco, Warn Winches, Factor 55, PlainAnSimple, Go Recon, Hornblasters, Monster Hooks, Rigid Lighting, Accuair, Specialty Suspension Air Tanks, E Powder Coating, Prismatic Powders, Bully Dog, Magnaflow, Royalty Core, and AMP Research. DW