Home Page

Shop Online

Gallery Page

Mission Statement

Our Friends

Latest Articles

~November 2006~

100 PROOF

TRUCKS MAGAZINE WRITE UP

James DeMouy’s tropically themed 2001 Explorer SportTrac

As kind of a rule-of-thumb you find two different types of custom trucks at shows across the country. There are the truly custom trucks with a lot of hand fabricated parts that have spend countless hours under the knife so to speak. Then there are other trucks that have been fit with a host of bolt-on parts and might have some graphics splashed down the sides. A lot of the trucks in the first category start life as trucks from the second category and as time progresses the owner’s skills get more advanced and the truck makes that transition. But in some unusual cases, like with James and Cathy DeMouy’s Ford Explorer SportTrac, a truck comes out and right off the bat it has a host of really custom modifications that put it in the truly custom category. But as James found out, there wasn’t much of an opportunity for him to put much in the way of bolt-on goodies on this SportTrac because there really isn’t anything. So if he wanted to customize his new truck, he was going to have to be ready to do a little bit – okay, a whole lot – of fabrication.

For example, the trouble that they went to just to get the truck to lay out is really impressive. For Starters Rocky Fox had to build new upper and lower control arms and then relocate their mounting position before adding a set of Firestone air bags and shock mounts up front. And this was just to get the front of the truck to drop far enough to lay out. Then out back, they had to re-build a large section of the frame, custom build a 3-link and make custom mounts for the oversized Firestone bags they used for the extra weight of all of the audio equipment that James planned on installing. Then with the frame lying on the ground, Rocky calculated that the body needed to be dropped down over the frame 3-1/2 inches to plant the rockers on the ground. With the trucks new altitude secured, the air system was plumbed using a big Thomas 100-percent duty cycle compressor, a 6 gallon air storage tank and ½-inch Harion valves. All of that work actually allows the truck to lay out on a set of four 22x9 inch Centerline Compton Wheels wrapped in 255/30/22 Nitto tires.

From there the truck was dropped off over at Chaotic Rods and Customs over in Thomball, Texas for some sheetmetal work and a new paint job. The crew over at Chaotic started by building a custom hood that has a raised center section to help with engine clearance issues brought on by the body-drop. They also shaved the roof rack, door handles, tailgate handle and built what is quite possibly one of the slickest bed floors we’ve ever seen. The crew at Chaotic Rods & Customs then repainted the factory Harvest Gold base color and then added the graphics that include purple, green, orange, blue and leopard print. They also bolted up a set of APC headlights and taillights, a Trenz grille insert and a bunch of other cool little details.

The final piece of the puzzle is the truck’s custom interior work that actually spills out to the exterior and into the engine compartment as well. The work under the hood that relates to the interior includes a pair of upholstered panels that match the leopard print upholstery used inside the truck as well as the addition of a pair of 200 amp alternators from Stevenville Starters. And in the bed of the truck you’ll find a custom battery box that houses four Optima yellow-top batteries and all of the power distribution blocks and capacitors and it looks like it was carved from a beautiful piece of driftwood. Behind the battery rack you’ll find four giant JBL amplifiers mounted to custom tubular amplifier mounts that rise up from the bedfloor. And from there you can catch your first glimpse of what is in store inside the truck as the rear of the subwoofer enclosure is visible through the roll-down rear window where you can see an 18-inch Pyle video monitor that is housed in what looks to be another carved piece of driftwood. Then moving inside, things start to get a bit surreal with a big tiki holding up a subwoofer enclosure that houses a trio of JBL GTI 15-inch subwoofers and the whole thing looks like it is carved out of wood. And the enclosure matches the top sections of the custom door panels, the detailed center console and the amazing dash that houses a pair if 7-inch Pyle video monitors and the controller for the Harmon Kardon Drive and Play head unit. The interior also features the use of a 1967 Ford Mustang steering column with a billet APC steering wheel, Lokar shifter, tan carpet and bamboo floor mats. There are also custom built under-dash and rear cab wall panels that are upholstered in the same material as the lower portions of the door panels. And while each Door Panel houses JBL GTI component sets, you won’t find door handles or window switches as all of those functions are controlled by the alarm remote. And we can’t talk about the interior without mentioning the amazing pair of seats that work perfectly with the other interior modifications. All of the stellar work inside the cab that spills out into the bed was performed by the amazingly creative and talented crew over at Kingpin Kustoms in Pearland, Texas.
And as you can probably imagine, James and Cathy have had quite a bit of help with their SportTrac as it has evolved into the rolling work of art on these pages. They would like to give a special thanks to Rocky Fox, the crew at Chaotic Rods & Customs, Stevenville Starters and the talented folks over at Kingpin Kustoms for everything they have contributed to this project.

JAMES & CATHY DeMOUY
HOUSTON, TEXAS
2001 FORD EXPLORER SPORTTRAC
ERRATIC

		A set of 22x9 Centerline Compton wheels wrapped in 255/30/22 Nitto tires can be found at all four corners of this Ford.
The creativity that it took to shape a fiberglass dash to make it look like it is a carved piece of driftwood with a giant tiki face in the center is almost hard to imagine. The work the crew over at Kingpin Customs has done on the interior of this truck is some of the best we’ve ever seen.

	The crew at Kingpin came up with a unique use for the roll-down rear window. They mounted a video monitor behind it with another faux wood frame.
The amplifiers that power the audio/video system are all bolted to tubular mounts that rise up out of the bed floor.

Footer Page