BIG BLUE
Chris Dicus’ ’72 F-250
Chris Dicus’ ’72 F-250
DEADLINES HAVE A WAY OF controlling a build, and sometimes builds—and the people in charge of them—are put to the test. Well, Chris Dicus and his custom fab shop are no strangers to this, as seen here by his latest creation. His ’72 F-250 is a great example of how a custom fabrication shop can pull together under pressure and showcase its capabilities for the automotive world to see. In fact, Chris brought this towering truck to the Nexen Tire booth at the 2019 SEMA show to do just that.
At first glance you can’t help but notice this F-250’s size, though it’s not the biggest truck you’ll ever see. It is proportional and has a certain practicality to it. The framework is actually a custom-built tube chassis by Chris and his shop. The suspension has both a front and rear triangulated four-link using HD rod ends by Rod End Supply. The extra long travel and large diameter of the link bars serve to give this truck some much needed clearance and durability while out on the trails. Dampening is handled by the custombuilt nitrogen shocks and bump stops. Making this old iron maneuver just a little easier is a full hydraulic steering set up by Power Steering Components (PSC) Motorsports.
The entire original Ford body was gutted and skinned so that it could be slipped over the tubular skeleton and attached, becoming one.
Perhaps the coolest part of this truck is how it is integrated into the chassis. The entire original Ford body was gutted and skinned so that it could be slipped over the tubular skeleton and attached, becoming one. The chassis then serves as the body’s internal skeleton and bracing. This sort of fabrication is similar to what you see in the world of monster trucks. Even though it seems like the body itself is somewhat plain, it took hundreds of hours to make it look that way. The bed is actually stretched, and the cab has been welded to the bed, making it a unibody, and giving the entire truck more rigidity over the skeleton inner structure. The doors and front fenders were done the same, giving this F-250 an extra clean look. Helping with that is the Axalta blue body with an oĢset gray on the factory front bumper, grille and door handles. Although this bumpside has been heavily modified, there is no mistaking its classic Ford body lines.
Helping move this beast along is a healthy 577 ci Ford V-8 and automatic transmission. The Holley carburetor feeds the fuel being
delivered by an Aeromotive fuel system, while the MSD Ignition supplies the spark. All this power is transferred to both Dana 60 axles, each with 5.30 gears and locking differentials. Custom headers were fabricated around the tubular chassis and exit under the body to give her quite a rowdy sound. Another big part of what makes this truck stand out are the rollers. Nexen Roadian MTX rubber surround the 20x15-inch Grid Offroad Forged wheels. All of this being controlled via the driveline mounted brakes by Wilwood Engineering.
The interior of this truck is minimal and simplistic; only the essentials are accounted for. A pair of PRP racing bucket seats were mounted to the chassis and accompanied by the AutoMeter instrumentation, which are wired with a
Painless Wiring switch box. A ratchet shifter by B&M and a quick release steering wheel round out the race truck interior. To give it one last touch of custom, Chris decided to use Lexan as the floor and firewall barrier.
It is always great to see the variety in the custom truck world and witnessing a build like this in such a short timeline certainly solidifies why we will always be amazed at what comes out of the annual Vegas gathering. You just never know what you might stumble across!