Article and Photos by
Bryan Fross

   On an average work truck, you can find tools of the workers craft. In this work truck there are no tools, no equipment, and no everyday dents or dings from using it as a work truck. This 2004 Ford F-150 "work truck"  belongs to Casey Scranton of  CGS Motorsports in Pomona, California. Each year, CGS works to build a vehicle for the SEMA show in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year they built this Hot Hauler for Ford Motor Company before it was available at any dealerships. It was built in just 6 weeks with awesome results you can see here.

   Being the first is not an easy task. Casey took the truck over to Devious Customs in Ontario, California to get the truck a little closer to the pavement. Firestone air bags and a custom three-link rear bar set up were added. To make room in the fender wells, the rear end was cut and shortened. The wheels are 22-inch Colorado Customs Las Vegas II with 265/35/22 front and  305/35/22 rear Toyo tires. To stop this beast as as fast as it would have with the stock wheels, the brakes were upgraded with 13-inch rotors from Stainless Steel Brake Corp.

   To customize the body of this truck, several stock items were removed and replaced with subtle but creative new parts. The mirrors were removed and Street Scene provided new, sleeker looking mirrors. The door handles were also pulled off and Cadillac door handles took their place. The paint and body work were performed by Bern’s Restoration in Santa Maria, CA. The front end needed a little something after the paint was finished so Casey contacted Trenz for a billet grille set to add into the factory grille and valance.  A Street Scene roll pan replaced the rear bumper and a Gaylord’s tonneau cover closed off the bed.  The stock black truck was taped off and painted DuPont custom made CGS Red paint. Ford Centennial badges replaced the factory ones.

   To change the entire appearance of Ford's new full-size pickup, The interior had to be removed and rethought. The seats were rewrapped by Classic Soft Trim to match the outer appearance. The dash was painted to match the exterior as well. The factory head unit was replaced by an Audiovox head unit and DVD player. The headrests from the front seats were removed and monitors by Audiovox were sown in. A Visonik amplifier sends some tunes through two 10-inch subwoofers and the surrounding speakers. All audio was installed by Ernie Salazar.

   CGS Motorsports specializes in Intakes and Exhaust. So naturally, the F-150 got a CGS cat-back exhaust system and CGS Air Intake System. Other parts in the engine compartment were painted to match the outer CGS red paint.

   After Casey's truck was finished, it was showcased in the CGS booth at the 2003 SEMA show. Visitors to the show got a chance to look at one of the first customized 2004 F-150 pickups. Casey and CGS Motorsports would like to thank Devious Customs, Bern's Restoration, Ernie Salazar, and Jennifer Scott for gracing this feature.

Model: Jennifer Scott

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