Hell’s Gate Hot Rods makes it easy to change your wheel lug pattern with their Drill Guides. The drill guide, or “jig,” is a nifty tool that you can use to re-drill axles and drums to be able to use a different lug pattern without having to remove the axles from the vehicle or take the wheels down to a machine shop to get re-drilled to the desired pattern. The drill guides are made of steel for strength and durability and can be used many times over. The drill guides come in 13 different lug patterns, giving you a wide variety of options so you can fit the wheel of your choice.

elieve it or not, LED (light-emitting diode) taillights have actually been around since the early ’90s. Oddly enough, it wasn’t until the early ’00s that LED headlights began replacing the popular HIDs (high-intensity discharge), which had started to replace the age-old Halogen sealed beams around the same time the LED taillights came around.

or lifelong truck lover Tom Patterson, childhood dreams of owning his own hot rod quickly came together when he was lucky enough to meet up with Mike and Brad Swaney of Hayman Creations in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The result of their partnership was a sleek 1929 Model A Tudor that was everything Tom desired in his own custom hot rod. Down the road, these three town natives would once again join forces and devise a plan to construct the hot-rodded pickup that Tom had craved since he was knee-high to a chrome bumper.

e’re the first to admit there’s nothing like the peace of mind and go-anywhere confidence that comes with electronic fuel injection.

We’ll also admit that, for all the convenience of it, the black plastic intake manifold of a factory crate engine and the requisite cone filter, clamped to a length of steel tubing serving as an air intake, don’t exactly complement the underhood aesthetics of a classic truck.

To split the difference, many enthusiasts have understandably been lured by the undeniably great look of a vintage-looking stack-style EFI system. That classic style doesn’t exactly come cheap. Some of the more inclusive systems can push to $6,000 and beyond, which can be difficult to justify when that simple black plastic intake comes already bolted to a crate LS3.

azing through the looking glass it’s easy to see the infinite styles brought forth by major manufacturers as they moved through the decades in designing an endless stream of trucks for the masses. Regardless of whether they were for consumer use or hard-core commercial applications, their era-specific designs spoke volumes in bringing an equal amount of both utility and allure to products rolling off the production lines. While each decade showcased their competitive forces straight from the drawing board, trucks from the Art Deco era brought forth game-changing designs easily seen in the 1941 Dodge owned by Tonyea Mead of Lewes, Delaware, laid out across our pages.

t’s hard to imagine that some of the hardest-working parts on your classic truck aren’t just related to your driveline. While we’re tuned to think of everything from pistons to torque converters and rearends, the truth is that there are far more wear-and-tear items when you start to pin them down. For example, think about how many times your doors have been opened and closed along with the windows over the decades. Through all sorts of weather they thanklessly take a beating while keeping the gateway to your interior protected from the elements. It’s easy to take them for granted but keeping them in top operating condition should be a priority.

fter installing some suspension components we’ve often heard our classic truck–building buddies sigh and say, “Well, if it was easy everyone would do it.” Recently we found something that came very close to fitting that description: Heidts’ 1953-1956 Ford F-100 bolt-in rear four-bar kit is so easy to install anyone with basic skills really can do it.

Heidts’ rear suspension kit includes a new crossmember, coilovers, four-bars, Panhard bar, and all the necessary brackets and hardware. For the most part this is a bolt-in kit, although some welding is required to attach the four-bar brackets to the axle housing and the Panhard bar bracket to the frame. For those who don’t have the ability to weld those chores can easily be farmed out after the bolt-in parts are in place.