Owner: Josh Barnes
Ride: '03 Chevy S-10 Crew Cab Dually
Hometown: Keokuk, LA
Over the last 5 years or so TV has brought us one thing; horrible shows about custom vehicles.
These are shows that throw a fish tank in the glove box, a set of wheels on a Lambo, or a suede headliner in an Escalade and call it "custom." Here's a giant middle finger to that pop culture custom movement. Thankfully, we know that real custom actually involves thinking outside of the box, and more than anything, pulling it off with minitrucker style.
When Josh Barnes of Keokuk, Iowa, started to think outside of that proverbial box, he didn't stop at the standard 'bagged, body-dropped, and shaved with big wheels formula that many of us have become comfortable with. He wanted to One-Up that formula, and in a big way. If you were going to think outside of that box what would you think? If you said; 22.5-inch dually wheels, hand formed rear fenders, a righthand drive conversion ,and a turbo motor on top of the 'bagged, body-dropped and shaved formula then guess what? You'd be Josh Barnes and you'd have an insanely badass truck!
Josh and his dad started with finding the perfect project truck; an '03 4WD S-10, which was a 23-hour round trip away from them. After bringing it back home, a new stock floor body-dropped frame was built from the firewall back and a small block was dropped between the front frame horns. In order to get the 22.5-inch Alcoa wheels to clear up front the control arms were lengthened 3 inches and combined with a 2-inch drop spindle.
To create the rear fenders, Josh used his buddy's Stepside S-10 to make molds for the fenders and then carefully molded them into the side of the stock longbed. Everything on the truck has been completely shaved and the rear doors were flipped to suicide hinges. Up front, Josh got rid of the stock bumper and fabbed up a smooth one for a much cleaner look. Before having his dad spray the truck with candy green and silver metallic, they turned their attention to the interior. A righthand drive Dodge Caliber dash was shoehorned into the interior along with a console. Everything on the interior was smoothed and painted black and silver and the seats were recovered using the same color scheme.
Josh set out to create a never before seen minitruck and with the help of his dad and a few friends, he accomplished just that. Now all he needs to do is figure out how to get that fish tank into the glovebox and he'll be set.
The Lowdown
Rolling Attire
Wheels: Front: 22.5-inch Alcoa frontsteers 8.5 inches wide Rear: 22.5-inch Alcoa supersingles 14 inches wide
Tires: Front: Hankook 255/30/22 Rear: Pirelli 315/25/22
Chassis Modifications
Airbag type and size: Slams RE7
Control arms: tubular upper and lower
Spindles/springs: Belltech 2-inch drop spindle
Compressors: Sanden 508 EDC
Frame mods: built frame from firewall back
Frame material: 2x3x1/4-inch
Gas tank: built 16-gallon fuel cell
Brakes: all four disc
Detail work: smoothed and painted green
Misc.: Righthand drive setup from Dodge Caliber
Performed by: Owner
Body Modifications
Shaved: everything I could
Body-dropped: three inches, stock-floor
Front end: custom made bumper
Back end: shaved tailgate
Taillights: oval LEDs
Suicide doors: rear doors
Performed by: Owner
Paint
Brand and colors: Sherwin Williams candy green and metallic silver with HOK silver micro flake
Performed by: Gary Barnes (Barnes Body Repair), owner's Dad
Interior
Material: black and silver leather
Dash: '06 Dodge Caliber RHD
Door panels: smoothed and painted black
Center console: stock S-10 and Dodge Caliber
Flooring: black carpet
Headliner: black suede
Gauges: AutoMeter white faces
Performed by: Owner
Stereo
Head unit: Sony Xplod
Mids and highs: Fusion 6.5-inch and tweeds
Subwoofers: two 8-inch Rockford Fosgate
Amplifier for subwoofers: Rockford Fosgate
Custom fabrication: hidden sub box
Performed by: Owner
Engine/Performance
Displacement: Chevy 350 small-block
Turbo: Garrett T4 turbo
Boost: 7-10psi
Detail work: painted engine block green and a lot of aluminum accessories
Misc.: Demon carb
Performed by: Josh Barnes, owner
Special thanks by owner:
My wife Sarah, my son Chevy, my Dad, my brothers, Anthony, Michael, Micky G, Jerry Palmer, Bill and Patrick from O'Reilly's, RIP- George, miss you man!