DREAMS DO COME TRUE

The Big Silver Beauty—a fully built 6.7L F-250 Super Duty
Jason Lilley of Durant, Oklahoma, is a recycling manager for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He’s also an extremely passionate diesel truck enthusiast and currently owns two big diesel trucks, the silver 2017 Ford F-250 6.7L Power Stroke beauty pictured here and a 2008 F-350 with a Gibson exhaust, Minimax programmer, and S&B intake. The F-350 is used as his tow rig and sports the factory 2017 bumper off the F-250 show truck and daily driver.

Big Truck Passion

Lilley has always loved modding his vehicles and has a passion for big diesel Ford trucks. He’s owned a 2006 F-250, 2008 F-350, 2010 F-450, and a 2012 F-250 before building up this 2017 F-250. “I’ll never go back to a gasser,” Lilley says.

Naturally, he’s always dreamed about building a SEMA vehicle, however he found his opportunity soon after purchasing the F-250. K&D Customs asked if he was interested in doing a SEMA build with the new truck. His resounding “yes” was accompanied by only one demand—that they go all-out with the build.

“I’m just a regular guy,” Lilley says, “not part of a company advertising products or looking to build more trucks. I just wanted to build something out of the ordinary with this one.”

The Build

As seems to be par for the course with SEMA projects, this truck came together at the last minute. Lilley managed to put the right team together to have the truck built in just eight weeks. He even put in over 50 hours of his own time and labor to help get it built, on top of his busy full-time job.

The artists at Truck Guru drew up the build concept. K&D Customs out of Durant performed a large portion of the build, while Brothers & Rods Customs did the custom paint, smoked lights, and custom RBP tailgate. Platinum Machine did the pristine powdercoating.

Gaining Altitude

This F-250 grew up with a full RBP Max Altitude coilover lift kit, the biggest lift they offer. The truck got a full 13 inches of lift, and the rear leaf springs were changed out for coils. Fox 2.5-inch remote-reservoir shocks ensure a smooth, consistent ride over any terrain. The RBP kit is designed for a better ride and crisper handling than you’ll find with the OEM suspension, while giving the truck some serious altitude and attitude.

The big lift also allowed Lilley to fit massive 40-inch RBP Repulsor MT tires under the truck. That big rubber is wrapped around 24-inch RBP Atomic wheels. These wheels are a deep-dish design with a classic pattern that has been thoroughly modernized.

Bumper-to-Bumper Style

This truck was built to turn heads, and it has custom touches from bumper to bumper that tie it all together. The augmented metal on the outside of the truck includes a Bodyguard A2L front bumper, Bodyguard A2 rear bumper, and RBP RX3 side steps. The front bumper features Monster Hook Swivel Hooks, while the rear sports Monster Hook Reaper Shackles.

Atop the front of this big Super Duty, you’ll find a RK Sport fiberglass ram-air hood. This drives fresh, cold air into the engine bay, helping keep that big 6.7L diesel running cool. A RBP Midnight Special Edition grille adds a little bling to the front end and lights up the night with its bright illuminated logo.

The truck’s lighting program only starts with that front grille. Metra Electronics Heise LED lighting solutions are found throughout the build. Two 10-inch light bars in the grille and a 30-inch bar in the front bumper will light Lilley’s path no matter the speed or the terrain ahead. Light pods in the rear bumper make backing up at night a breeze. Fog light pods in the front bumper make sure that visibility is maximized regardless of the weather. The truck also features a full complement of underglow lighting, which helps to show off the impressive suspension. To top off the lighting program, when the bed cover is up and the speakers are thumping Metra’s LED color-changing strip lighting adds some special effects.

Thumping Tunes, Inside & Out

This F-250 brings the party wherever it goes. Inside, you’ll find a full JL Audio system, which features a custom-fit fiberglass enclosure with 13-inch TW5v2-2 subwoofer and a 600-watt amp. Outside, you’ll find four 6.5-inch outdoor wake tower speakers pushed by a four-channel, 300-watt amp, all installed by Diamond Audio and hidden stealthily under the bed cover. This outdoor system is revealed when the Metra Electronics actuators raise the bed cover at the touch of a button.

Keeping It Clean

Husky mats are used throughout the interior to keep things clean and tidy. Truck Hero also supplied a BedRug for the truck bed. It’s a classy touch that’s also comfortable to sit and lay on, while also being very easy to hose out.

Performance Elevated

An S&B intake and a full DPF-back Gibson exhaust with a RBP RX7 tip allows the truck to breathe easy. Mag-Hytec diff covers provide extra oil volume and much-improved cooling. Keeping tabs on all the vehicle vitals is accomplished with an SCT monitor.

Considering the power and weight of this rig, it’s really important to be able to stop it in a quick, controlled fashion. R1 Brake Concepts cross-drilled eLine Series rotors and Optimum brake pads are used. The combination enables the truck to stop on a dime.

Build Issues

All builds at this level, especially in this short a time frame, are going to bump into a few issues along the way. Luckily for Lilley, none were too big to overcome while working on this project.

The first issue encountered was that the original coilover setup that was going to be used didn’t exactly bolt up to the RBP suspension components, as the ends were too small. RBP fast-tracked a full set of Fox shocks for the build, which worked out perfectly.

And the final last-minute issue with this build, as there always has to be at least one, was a powdercoating mishap. The sway bar threads ended up getting powdercoat, which ended up causing one end of the bar to break off when it was tightened down on the truck. Luckily, RBP was also able to overnight a new sway bar, which was received the day before the truck was loaded on the transporter to SEMA.

Update

Jason Lilley’s silver F-250 beauty has gotten a bit of an audio upgrade since we photographed it after SEMA 2017. Two big Diamond 6.5-inch wake tower speakers have been hidden inside the fenders, and a big sub box was installed in the bed to house two square 12-inch Kicker subs. All that extra volume and rumble takes the audio system on this truck truly over the top.

This F-250 brings the party wherever it goes.

2017 Ford F-250 super duty 6.7L

Suspension: RBP Max Altitude 13-inch coilover lift
w/Fox 2.5 shocks
Under The Hood: S&B intake
Wheels & Tires: RBP Atomic wheels, 24×14-76
RBP Repulsor MT tires (40×15.50×24)
Interior: SCT monitor, Truck Hero Husky mats
Bumpers: Bodyguard A2L front & rear bumpers
Other: Gibson DPF-back exhaust w/RBP RX-7 tip,
Mag-Hytec Diff Covers, Gen-Y hitch, RK Sport fiberglass ram-air hood, RBP Midnight Special Edition grille, Monster Hood Swivel Hooks, Monster Hook Reaper Shackles, Heise LED light pods/bars/underglow lighting, RBP RX3 side steps, Hornblasters Condustro Series Special 544 Nightmare train horn, Bed Rug, UnderCover tonneau cover,
custom JL Audio stereo, R1 Brake Concepts cross-drilled eLine Series rotors & Optimum brake pads