| 2009 Dodge Ram rendering
Stance goes a long way in creating a truck that will turn heads at will. When that stance is completely laid out over 26-inch billet Raceline wheels, then heads will surely look in the direction of your truck just from the shock value alone. But when you want neck-snapping attention, the paint covering your truck's body is the great equalizer. We know all too well the highs and lows of custom paintwork and its associated headaches and triumphs. Having been in this industry for a ridiculous number of years, we have watched fads and crazy colors come and go and come back again. One look that always stayed current and never went out of style was the pure hot rod flame job. When done right, it will stand the test of time no matter what was deemed to be "in" at that moment.
Enter our '09 Ram truck and its extremely tired appearance. After having been a slave to customization and painted a number of times to suit our interests, we had come to the conclusion to turn back the clock and create a scheme we wouldn't ever want to paint over again. Having completed an exhaustive search for colors, a list of killer hues befitting a hot-rod truck was sourced from House of Kolor's Shimrin and Shimrin 2 catalogs with plenty of flakes and Kandies to add luster and pop. Dave Monnig, at Coast Airbrush in Anaheim, California, handled much of our huge shopping list, but was back ordered on a few of our needs due to lending a helping hand with tons of other SEMA projects. To gather the rest of the items, along with the necessary tape, plastic, and masking paper, we took a trip to see Danny Hunt at B&D Auto Paint Supply in Pomona, California. Picking up the phone, we ordered a pair of front fenders from LMC Truck, because the factory pieces had been jacked up from riding low with the wrong offset wheels. Once our shopping bags were overflowing with all the parts we needed, we delivered Project Lead Sled to the highly capable hands of Buck Ramirez and his team at Buck Wild Design Studios in Covina, California. Having worked with Buck and his crew on previous projects, we salivated at the thought of what our Ram's finished appearance would be once completed. Check out the photos to see how they transformed our Ram from executive cruiser to hot-rod–infused custom.
| 29. Ready for a hot rod cruise-in or a custom truck show, this is what the Ram looks like now!
