Dan Satner is no rookie when it comes to custom mini-trucks. He's built his fair share of old-school S-10s and has been involved in the custom automotive scene for more than 15 years. However, when he got engaged to his fiance Candice, his needs shifted. He decided he wanted a four-door vehicle that would be safe and reliable. When he picked up this '01 Ford Explorer Sport Trac in September 2002, he had no intention whatsoever of fully customizing it. We all know better than that, though, because those famous last words have been spoken by all of us at one time or another. Needless to say, the stock phase of Dan's truck didn't last two months before he had bolted up his first set of dubs, which began the snowball effect of turning it into a full-blown show vehicle.
With a fresh set of 20-inchers bolted up, Dan realized that there was no way in hell his truck would stay stock with just a set of rims - that goes against everything he believes in. The customizing process began, and although he wasn't ready to go all out on the truck, he decided to start with a nice paintjob. James Cashman of Cashman Customs was a regular customer at FBI, where Dan works, so Dan worked with James to come up with a sweet paint scheme for his truck. Dan didn't want anything super crazy; he just wanted his truck to look more custom and personalized than a soccer mom's SUV with 20-inch chrome rollers. Cashman Customs went to work and sprayed Dan's Sport Trac with a Ford White and Silver base and House of Kolor's Cobalt Blue flames. The flames were pinstriped with True Blue and Lime Green to really make them stand out. Some airbrushing detail work then went into the paint, and nautical stars were ghosted in with House of Kolor's Candy Gold.
After the truck came back from the paint shop, Dan took one look at the detail and knew he was in big trouble. The paintjob was way too good to grace a stock vehicle with stock plastic all over the body and 20-inch wheels. That was the final straw. Dan gave up trying to keep it stock and got down to business by 'baggin' the front with the help of his buddy Chris. After the front was laid down to a more respectable height, Dan had a subwoofer enclosure made and began to wire up the audio and video entertainment. He installed a Pioneer DVD/CD in-dash monitor up front, along with a 14-inch flip-down screen for the rear. After his system was up to par, he drove the truck to a few shows to see the response he would get.
Dan placed at the shows, but still wasn't happy with his half-stock, half-badass truck. He made one final overall sweep of the truck, listing things that had to be changed. The first thing on his list was bigger wheels to fill the fenders. He bolted up a bitchin' set of 22x10-inch Sinister Devine chrome wheels wrapped with 285/35ZR22 Nitto rubber. Since he wanted to go lower, the wheelwells were cut out to make room for the massive rims. Dan, Chris, and BC Customs then finished off the 'bag work by laying the rear out using Slam Bags, an FBI notch and four-link, and Blitzluft air line and valves. By this time, the Sport Trac was tucking huge wheels and sat at a much more respectable height, but Dan wasn't going to stop there.
Next on the list were the factory plastic pieces Dan would've ditched the first time around if he'd known he was going to take the buildup this far. He enlisted the help of James Cashman once again to shave his roof rack, cut and section the third brake light to make room for a 13-inch LED, and redo the front and rear bumpers. Cashman knew Dan wasn't playing around this time, so he took it upon himself to turn the rest of the Sport Trac into a full-blown custom. He gutted the interior, unbolted the front and rear bumpers, and went to work.