aving done this magazine-making thing for decades now, there comes a point where you ask yourself, “How many [enter subject] articles can you run in a magazine?”

Whether it’s brakes, suspension, or metalworking (of any kind), to some it may seem rather redundant that we continually publish such content. Or is it? I will be the first to admit, I was tired of doing the same-old Mustang II install 10-15 years ago … but since then, especially in the heavier truck market, that old MII has been heavily beefed up (from spindles to ball joints and so forth), and we’ve seen a great influx in “appropriate” suspension upgrades for light-duty classic pickups. But beyond that, we’ve seen an even greater advancement in complete aftermarket chassis, and I wholeheartedly feel it’s the magazine’s responsibility to showcase those, if at the very least to do our part in not only keeping vintage trucks on the roads but to do so in a manner that’s as safe as possible!

And that takes me to the abundance of brake upgrade articles—like, how many times do you have to see stories on disc brake swaps?! Well, I’ll revert back to the last sentence of the previous paragraph: whatever it takes to keep old trucks roadworthy in a “safe” manner—that’s how many! If you’re comfortable driving your [enter make/model] with old, leaky/squeaky four-wheel drum brakes and single-chamber fruit jar master, please don’t drive behind me on the freeway!

Technically, you can pretty much add that “safety” factor to a number of how-to articles—from adding more visible LED lighting or modern windshield wipers or power-assist steering. It’s not just about selling more product for an advertiser, even though that is one of our goals as well (without the manufacturers producing these parts, there is no aftermarket, and without the aftermarket, well …). Ultimately, the bottom line is: We/I just want you to be informed on everything available to make your classic truck the best it can be, period.

But, there’s still some untested waters for CTP when it comes to topics of tech articles (no, that doesn’t include EV swaps—not sticking my toes in that pool … yet). Here’s where you, the reader, come in. I want to hear what YOU would like to see covered in future issues. LS/Coyote swaps, Carter S1 rebuilds, how to install shag carpet—you name it, we want to know! (Granted, it’s probably very unlikely we do anything with shag carpet, but you never know! We’ve gone off on some pretty good tangents in the recent past, and there’s always that possibility that someone like C10 Talk ’s Ronnie Wetch may just bring back high-pile flooring!)

My email’s listed above—plug that into your Earthlink/Hotmail/Yahoo/AOL account now and fire away! Look forward to hearing from you!