Jacob Ryder’s Heavy-Duty F-450 Shop Truck: A Bold Showcase of Power and Style

Jacob Ryder’s Heavy-Duty F-450 Shop Truck

Running a small business is hard work. Those who are self-employed certainly enjoy freedoms that come with being their own boss, but clocking long hours while struggling with the constant need for sleep and even more coffee presents a guaranteed continual hurdle to clear. While there is hardly a simple solution to completely fix this issue, Jacob Ryder of West Melbourne, Florida, has found a surefire way to alleviate the burden that accompanies the daily grind.

Jacob owns and operates Ryder’s Diesel Repair and Performance, a business that grew from his love of building badass trucks. While he does enjoy meeting new customers and being of service for their projects, it still is a job at the end of the day. Jacob enjoys what he does, but he must worry about operational things like finishing jobs in a timely matter, paying the bills when they’re due, and somehow attracting new business to keep the doors open to do it all over again next month. While investing in local advertising does help, Jacob has become keen on self-promoting online, which requires a lot of time and effort. He has seen good results via social media and was willing to double down on a more exciting way to reach new clients while having a good time doing it.

“We build trucks for a living, so it only made sense to go all out on a truck that represents what we do,” Jacob says enthusiastically.

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To serve as the base for the shop’s rolling calling card project was a 2022 Platinum edition Ford F-450 that he was eager to customize.

“The process of improving the truck the way I had envisioned only required two months of wrenching between customer jobs,” Jacob adds. “The final product showcases just some of what can do for truck owners out there who like what they see in the F-450.”

And what’s not to like? Jacob started the project by introducing an Elevate Suspension 5.5-inch suspension lift kit to promote a much more aggressive stance. Fox Racing coilovers and shocks with reservoirs allow the F-450 a comfortable ride quality while enjoying a view head and shoulders above the rest. The existing wheels and tires didn’t have much of a future in the truck’s new direction, so Jacob replaced them with an impressive set of 28-inch wheels from JTX and fresh Fury MT rubber to match. No, this portion of the truck’s restyling was not cheap, but Jacob is never afraid to put his truck through the paces. The way he sees it, this F-450 was always supposed to serve as a work horse for the shop—no matter how pretty it turned out.

With the shop truck sitting right, Jacob then moved onto the next phase, which naturally centered around boosting the prowess of the 6.7L power stroke. To increase performance, he turned to a s476 Bullseye turbocharger, a Pusher intake setup, and a 5-inch exhaust system to expel spent coal with maximum efficiency. Next, the Ford’s OEM fuel pump issue was next to be taken on. Jacob simply replaced the stock pump with an S&S DCR pump conversion that is a direct drop-in solution to solve problems related to the Ford’s CP4 pump failing with little to no warning.

Next on the agenda was injecting some excitement inside of the cab. Jacob was hoping to find a way to reenergize himself throughout the day, and a booming sound system was the method he chose to do just that. Sometimes there’s nothing better than cranking up your favorite album and rocking out. A network of subwoofers was assembled to shake things up inside the cab (and to help drown out Jacob’s questionable singing voice). If you think that is an awful lot of speakers for the confines of a F-450’s interior, you’d be right. The deafening amount of firepower might be audio overkill for some, but it’s absolute music to Jacob’s ears. To accompany the sounds, a 1,100-piece starlight headliner kit makes for an intense visual effect that is always good for a mood booster. The interior was already well-appointed from the factory, so these improvements were all Jacob felt was necessary to make the truck’s confines complete.

The completion of the F-450 has allowed Jacob an opportunity to take it to local events to show off what his shop is capable of. So far, the reception of the truck has been nothing short of positive. The sight and sound of this truck has drummed up lots of conversation that hopefully evolves into more possible business for Ryder’s Diesel Repair & Performance. Either way, Jacob needed a capable shop rig, so he figured he’d build it up as best as he could while keeping it 100% functioning and reliable.

“Patience is everything,” Jacob says. “You can do a lot of work to your own truck with a proper amount of research and patience. Whatever you aren’t comfortable to take on, make sure to select the right shop to do things correctly.”