Ford landed three best of SEMA awards this year for its not-long-for-this-world Focus, the Mustang of course and its most popular vehicle, the venerable F-150 pickup. Visually, those are the most impressive, mostly because of the sheer size of these monsters.
“APEX” delivers 1,000 hp from a twin-turbocharged Coyote V8.
The first truck looks like modern day F-150 Lightning, if you remember that one. This SEMA 4×2 truck based on the Lariat trim was customized by NASCAR driver Kurt Busch and ZB Customs.
“APEX” delivers 1,000-hp from a twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter Coyote V8. It gets a Ford Performance forged rotating assembly, road racing oil pan and side-exit exhaust. The 3.5- by 0.095-inch prop shaft is from The Driveshaft Shop, coated pistons from JE and the turbochargers are from On3.
On the chassis side you’re looking at a Ford 9.75-inch flipped axle, which basically means the leaf springs are below the axle, which has the effect of lowering the vehicle. And this one looks slammed. It also has Brembo brakes, an Eaton Detroit Truetrac locker, a JRi Shocks hydraulic ride height system, KBI custom upper control arms, two-inch dropped front spindles and PAC Racing coilover springs and sway bars.
The color is called Axalta Electron Blue, DezignWorks supplied the carbon spoiler and splitter and ZB Customs did the widebody fenders, bumpers and grille insert.
MaxTrac and Crown lowered the SpeedKore pickup.
The next piece is from SpeedKore Performance Group and started life as a 2018 F-150 XLT 4×2 regular cab with a 5.0 and 10-speed automatic.
The engine gets a Ford Performance supercharger, cold-air intake and side-exit exhaust. A Brembo brake kit slows everything down while MaxTrac and Crown provide the lowering spindles and springs, respectively.
The paint is a custom gray from PPG and the interior was done by Gabe’s Custom Interiors out of San Bernardino, California. The wheels are from HRE and the tires are Pirelli Scorpions, 305/40R22.
Brantley Gilbert, country music star, “inspired” the custom guitar and amp.
The Freak-O-Boost F-150 uses, predictably, an EcoBoost with an upgrade.
Moving from low to high, we have what Full-Race Motorsports calls Freak-O-Boost, featuring, obviously, an EcoBoost motor with turbo upgrade, CARB approved intercooler, cold-air intake, charge pipes and cat-back exhaust. HeadGames Motorworks did the cylinder heads and XDI provided the high-flow fuel pump.
Icon Vehicle Dynamics, not that ICON, added the 3-inch front coilover and 3-inch rear bypass kit, billet Raptor front upper control arm kit and rear leaf spring and bump-stop kit. Brake hardware is from Raybestos, hey, we know that one!
Those mega mud tires are Maxxis RAZRs, 37 x 12.5 inches and rims are also from Icon Vehicle Dynamics.
Freak-O-Boost also came equipped with a Warn recovery kit, no winch, Ford Performance race side steps, Decked bed storage system, FiberwerX widebody fenders and bedsides, Morimoto projector headlamps, Rogue Racing front and rear bumpers, an Undercover Ridgelander cover and biking accessory kit and an Avery Dennison wrap.
The Transfer Flow pickup comes with a Yakima kayak rack.
Next up we have Transfer Flow’s take on the family adventure pickup. In addition to the 50-gallon fuel tank, it has a 40-gallon in-bed auxiliary toolbox combo with refueling kit and movie projector screen. Fab Fours Vengeance did the bumpers and roof rack and Yakima helps store the kayaks.
Borla provides the cat-back exhaust, Hellwig the auto-level compressor kit, Big Wig the air spring kit and front and rear antiroll bars. Pro Comp added its 6-inch Stage 2 coilover kit, Congo wheels and MT2 tires.
It too has a recovery kit form WARN, sans winch, along with a Rockville touchscreen DVD/HDMI 9-inch headrest monitor, Qable Powerz (terrible spelling) multicolor lighting, Potek 2,000-watt power inverter and a Kicker radio.
It might not be a “brodozer” per se, but it’s definitely brodozer-adjacent.
The next F-150, actually 350, was built by Extang and local college students from Washtenaw in Michigan. It starts as a Lariat with a 6.7-liter diesel V8 and six-speed TorqShift automatic transmission. It also has a Ford Performance tailpipe with a custom black tip.
ARFT Speed Shop provided the custom bolt-on four-link rear end and Air Lift Performance donated the air management system, fitting and lines, Viair air compressors and Dominator 2600 air springs. Fuel Off-Road Wheels sent over the 24-inch copper-plated wheels and Dilente provided the tires.
Other accessories include a Ford hard folding bed cover by Extang, black custom-painted Ford platinum grille, AkzoNobel Modern Classikk Black Hole Black paint with clear coat custom-applied by students from Washtenaw Community College’s Custom Cars and Concepts program, billet custom copper-plated F-350 fender badges, custom-mounted bed cover integrated with 65-inch LG OLED 4K television, custom copper-plated swing-out cooler and grille behind tailgate, custom-fabricated low-profile cargo slide with integrated expanding game table, shaved door handles with SPAL door poppers by Custom Cars and Concepts students and Undercover swing cases with custom-installed Maxxsonics MB Quart eight-inch speakers.
This Super Duty is ready for a backwoods adventure.
Wilderness Collective, an outdoor tours company, built the next truck that is its vision of the ultimate adventure F-250 Super Duty. The only powertrain update to the 6.7-liter diesel is a Ford Performance tailpipe. It also gets a 2.5-inch lift, upgraded front track bar, dual opposing steering stabilizer kit, Hellwig airbags and front and rear antiroll bars and Warn front wheel manual lockers.
Elsewhere we’re looking at a front and rear wheel well liners from Ford, ARB compressor, Frontrunner cab rack, bed rack, rooftop tent and cargo system, Rigid lights, Titan sidekick in-bed fuel transfer tanks and XXL stock replacement tank. Vaderworks did the vinyl wrap and the outdoorsy artwork was done by Justin Bauer of Wilderness Collective. Warn provided the winch, rear ascent bumper and full-guard heavy-duty front bumper.
Cognito Motorsports provided the suspension for the Super Duty Transformer work truck.
Finally we have an F-250 Super Duty “Transformer Work Truck by DeBerti Design.” It too starts with a 6.7-liter Power Stroke and six-speed automatic. To that DeBerti added a Ford Performance tailpipe, Midwest Diesel & Auto twin-turbo kit with 76-millimeter precision turbo, Fleece Performance Engineering 63-millimeter high-pressure turbo and a No Limit Fabrication air-to-liquid intercooler, oil pan, EGR kit and cold-air intake.
It has a Cognito Motorsports suspension, Eibach coilovers, Fox shocks, Hellwig airbags and antiroll bars and QA1 Motorsports heim joints. Ultra-Wheel beadlock wheels are wrapped with BFGoodrich KR2 37-inch tires.
Exterior accessories include a DeBerti Designs custom utility bed with hinges, light bar and rack, pull-out bumper utility box, pre-runner front bumper and T6061 custom grille, B&W trailer hitch gooseneck flip ball, BOXO tools, Bullseye retro headlights, LGE*CTS Motorsports Baja forged fiberglass fenders and bedsides, MAC’s tire straps, Miller Welding products, Pro Eagle jack, Rigid LED lights and Sherwin-Williams paint.
So there you have it. The best-selling truck in America is also the Best of SEMA. And as Ford has proved — actually, the whole truck market has proved — if you don’t like your stock truck there are infinite ways to change it.