When Tom Moscato from palm Springs, California bought his 1996 Chevy S-10, he intended to work on the daily driver as a project with his father. His father passed away in 1998 and Tom decided to finish the truck. He retired it from daily driving and has put less than 200 miles on it since 1998. It was finally finished in 2001 and ready to hit some shows to show off the project he had built. To this day, Tom's truck is 8 years old and only has 22,800 miles on it.

   Tom's S-10 was brought to the pavement using a dissimilar method from most other trucks. He used Firestone airbags like a lot of other trucks but the larger  2600 pound 'bags went in the front and the small 2500 pound bags were used in the rear. Those smaller rear air bags were mounted on chrome Husemann Engineering bag mounting bars behind his axle to assure a good amount of rear lift. A chrome Total Cost Involved  triangulated 4-link was also installed. The frame rails were boxed and painted silver. The axle, drive shaft, and brake drum covers were powder coated silver as well. For his Chevy to ride right and add even more detail, Doetsch-Tech chrome shocks were bolted in. The truck receives air supply from manual switches, 3/8-inch lines, a nitrogen bottle and back-up compressor. Rolling lower is made possible with a 3-inch body-drop and Tom's truck sits on 17x8 Billet Specialties 3-D wheels with Nitto NT-450 215/45/17 tires.

   Making the truck lay out started it's journey on the way to cleanliness but there were a few things on the body that needed to be done away with before the truck could be smooth down it's sides. The antenna, door handles, tailgate handle, and fuel door were all shaved in that process. A roll-pan was added to finish the rear bodywork and the stock mirrors and cowl were replaced with smooth looking Street Scene parts. The 1996 bumper also hit the dumpster and in it's place a 2000 S-10 bumper and valance were installed. The front end also got a Speed grille chrome insert upgrade and billet bowtie in the stock grille. The truck was then painted red and finished with a red pearl clear coat. Rhino Liner spray-in lining was applied to the cab wall, bed, air tanks, and fuel cell.

   The interior needed some serious attention so Tom ripped almost everything out and started at the bottom. Mercedes-Benz gray carpet covers the floor making it much nicer than stock. The door panels and headliner were covered in 3D foam tribal pattern and gray tweed. A custom console was constructed and wrapped in matching vinyl and tweed. The same vinyl and tweed covers the cut-down stock seats in Tom's ride. A tribal stitch pattern resides in the seats as well. The audio system fills the extra room behind Tom's front seats. The stock rear seats were replaced with a host of electronics equipment for his listening pleasure. The head unit was replaced with a Pioneer DEH-P725. The cab speakers were removed and an MB Quart Component set was installed The dash speakers were also tossed in favor of Pioneer 4x6-inch replacements. A box for the rear cab was built to house 3 JL Audio 12-W6 subwoofers with a Lexan see-through face. Power comes from two Precision Power amplifiers, a B-52 1 farad capacitor, and an Optima Battery. To keep it all guarded , a K-9 Alarm with door triggers was wired in.

   Moving onto the performance aspect of Tom's ride, he added a few things for powers a lot lot of detail parts. A chrome intake tube with K&N filter attached start off the engine compartment additions. The alternator and tensioner were polished to give them a new look. Some of the larger components were powder coated along with an array of items being painted. The bed of his truck holds his 14 gallon fuel cell which uses stock pump and gauge. Finishing off the performance aspect is a Magnaflow muffler.

   The first show the finished truck attended was the Truckin’ Nationals in Arizona, where he placed third in the full custom open-bed class.  He has taken first place trophies at 3 major shows since.

   Tom would like to thank Rhino Linings for their support of his truck. Special thanks to Lonnie for making the trip to Palm Springs and making Tom's truck hotter than ever before.