Owner: Brad Wellman
Ride: '98 Nissan Frontier
Hometown: Midlothian, Texas
A few years ago, Brad Wellman was pretty heavily involved with compact cars. In fact, he was so into them that he didn't think twice about custom mini-trucks. When his friend Justin Coffman started pushing him toward working on a truck and getting out of the compact-car scene, all it took was purchasing a truck and beginning to work on it to prove to Brad that custom minis were far more intriguing than a bunch of rubber-stamp look-alike JDM compacts. This was the very thing that got Brad out of cars for good and into mini-trucks. Brad got so into trucks that in no time, almost three years had passed. A couple of relationships also fell apart during this time because the chicks he'd dated simply bitched too much about him spending too much of his time working on the truck and not enough spending it with them. (Silly girls, you lose.)
Over the course of the next couple years, Brad built something clean using a '98 Frontier as the basis for the buildup. By the time we ran into him at Texas Heat Wave, we were happy to level our cameras at the truck and give him some of the well-deserved respect he's been due now. While we don't know of the hardships he may have faced during the time he spent building the truck with friends and a few trusted shops along the way, we wholeheartedly thank his friend Justin for showing Brad the error of his ways and pointing him toward the path dragged more often.
The entire time that Brad has owned the truck, no matter what state it happened to be in, he's taken it to shows. He was a regular at Dustoff, (2002 through 2004), spent plenty of time at Toppin' It All Off 2002 and 2003, and has spent his fair share of time baking in the Texas sun at Texas Heat Wave. Congratulations to Brad on a truck that's bound to turn heads and make ricers wonder what happened to him.
The Lowdown
Wheels/Tires 18x8-inch chrome Zinik wheels with 215/40R18 Falken radial tires
Suspension AIM dropped spindles / Gabriel shocks all around / Firestone air springs all around / Pete & Jake's triangulated four-link rear suspension setup / sectioned frame to allow full-length four-link bars / all suspension work by Black Magic Kustoms in Halton City, Texas
Interior Custom center console and subwoofer enclosure / painted dash / black Saturn bucket seats / faux-zebra headliner / custom gauge pod / custom tweeter pod installation / custom door panel modification
Stereo Sony MP70 head unit / 8-inch ported enclosure doubles as a center console and armrest / Z7000 and Z5000 Cadence amplifiers / 8-inch Kicker Solo-Baric subwoofer / Kicker RMB-6 midrange speakers / Kicker R19 tweeters / installation by Jeff Jackson at Stereo Encounters in Red Oak, Texas
Body Modifications Checkmate tonneau cover / stem-mounted billet aluminum Harley mirrors / phantom billet grille / smoothed lower valance / shaved door handles / shaved fuel filler door / shaved taillights / tailgate skin / steel roll pan / molded tailgate area shut / two '98 Grand Am third brake lights used for new taillights in roll pan / frenched license-plate tag area / bodywork by Crashwerkz in Krum, Texas
Paint/Graphics Jeremy Miller sprayed the truck using Iridescent Pearl, Planet Green, and Tangelo Pearl paint from Hot Air and House of Kolor / heavy-stroke hand-pinstriping
Engine/Performance Internally stock 2.4L four-cylinder engine / relocated emission equipment / Optima battery / Flowmaster muffler / 3-inch custom exhaust
Special Thanks Brad's mom / Brad's dad / God / Justin Coffman for helping Brad get out of compact cars and into mini-trucks once and for all