Owner: Jeremy Jenkins
Ride: 1994 Toyota Pickup
Hometown: Wheelersburg, OH
Club: Drop Mob
Sometimes building a custom vehicle doesn't always have to start with something in the stock form.
If you've already been down the custom road before, then you can find a project vehicle that someone else has started on and due to unforeseen circumstances they have to sell it, giving you a great start. Or in the case of Jeremy Jenkins from Wheelersburg, Ohio, you come across a custom truck that has not only been finished but has been featured in this very magazine.
Even though Jeremy bought a feature vehicle, that doesn't mean he had it easy getting it to the show-winning state that you see here. The truck was originally built by Bubba, who was one of the original members of Pebble Pushers, and he took the truck all over the East Coast both showing it and driving it. But life got in the way after it was featured, and he wound up parking the truck and eventually had to sell it. From there, what we're told is that it was sold a few more times before Jeremy finally got his hands on it, and the 1994 Toyota had seen its fair share of abuse and neglect, knocking it down a few notches from its original feature glory.
After deciding to give the truck an overhaul, Jeremy did a complete once-over, taking notes of what needed the most attention. The suspension had seen better days, the body had its own share of dings, bends, and gashes, and the interior was pretty worn. Knowing that he wanted to build this truck back into a show-winner like it once was, Jeremy tore it apart and started addressing a few of the issues one by one. The first thing he did was to update the worn suspension and fix a few brackets that were pretty beat up to ensure the Toyota would drive as good as it looks. Once the truck was back to being a safe vehicle to drive, it was on to the body, which also needed a ton of TLC. Jeremy sanded down the body and proceeded to fill in all the dings and knock down the high spots before a solid coat of primer was sprayed to create a smooth base for the hot-rod orange paint and the real fire ghost flames. Several of the interior panels including the dash and console were also stripped to receive this new the Orange Crush look. Much of the interior was also torn apart for new coverings and updated to Jeremy's liking before he was finally happy to show and drive his latest creation.
Once Jeremy had his truck in the condition he wanted, it was time to take it to some shows and enjoy his pride and joy. With a little time to enjoy his new Orange Crush cruiser, Jeremy assures us he will be up to some new tricks soon enough. Check out the Lowdown for the down and dirty of this rebuild.
Show
Lowdown
Rolling Attire
Wheels: 18-inch Cruiser Alloy Chillyn
Tires: 215/35ZR18 Kumho
Chassis Modifications
Front Suspension: Air with torsion brackets
Rear Suspension: Reverse four-link
Control Arms: Chrome upper control arms
Spindles: 2-inch AIM drop spindles
Compressors: Two Viair 480s
Gas Tank: Raised
Performed By: Owner and Larry Tacket
Body Modifications
Shaved: Door handles, cowl, corner markers, mirrors, taillights, bed welded shut, gas door
Frenched: License plate
Body-dropped: 2 1/2 inches
Front End: 4x4 fenders
Back End: Shaved
Taillights: 7-inch LEDs
Exterior Bolt-ons: Phantom grille, billet motorcycle mirrors
Misc: 30x36-inch sliding ragtop
Performed By: Owner and Casey Hall of The Chop Factory
Paint
Brand & Colors: Crossfire Hot-Rod Orange
Style: Single color with true-fire airbrushing
Airbrushing: True fire with ghosted skulls
Performed By: Owner and Dave's Airbrushing
Interior
Seats: Honda Prelude cut down
Material: Tweed with vinyl inserts
Dash: Smoothed and painted
Door Panels: Smoothed and wrapped in tweed
Center Console: Fiberglass
Flooring: Tweed with raised flames
Headliner: Tweed
Gauges: Chrome gauges with billet overlay
Misc: Boyd billet half-wrap steering wheel
Performed By: Owner
Engine/Performance
Model: 22RE
Detail Work: Chromed power steering reservoir, valve cover, intake plenum, and some brackets
Performed By: Previous owner
Special Thanks From Owner
"Larry Tacket, Brandon Wooten, and Casey Hall of the Chop Factory, Subway Jared for picking up the pizzas cause ya know guys gotta eat, Dave's Airbrushing, J.C. Millette the previous owner, and anyone that had a hand in this build over the years."