Dakota’s SIK7 is a Testament to all Things Ford

WE ALL HAVE OUR BRAND BIASES. Some of us are Chevy only all the way, while others love our Dodges. But the Blue Oval guys, they’re a unique breed. Although you do see the occasional lowered Ford truck, many of them are lifted, and they usually have powerful diesel engines. This one, a truck owned by Dakota Wheeler of Spring, Texas, is no different in that regard. As for the rest, well, that’s where things start to veer away from the crowd.

Dakota has been into cars and trucks for quite a bit now, particularly those in the Ford camp. One of his previous builds was a ’93 Ford Mustang coupe that garnered quite a bit of attention a few years back. When he’s not building cars that go fast, he builds trucks that go up, and usually does so fairly quickly. One recent project was a ’12 F-250 that he built and sold so fast that he picked up this ’13 F-250 Platinum before the model year was off dealership lots.

To stand out in the sea of other lifted Fords, one major thing that Dakota did was order a set of one-off wheels for the truck from Intro Wheels. As the story goes, he originally designed a set of rims for his Mustang, and was super happy with the results. So happy, in fact, that he asked Intro to make the same wheels again, but this time in a three-piece and 24×12. After some back and forth with the designers at Intro, they decided that a two-piece rim that looked like a three-piece was actually the way to go, and that’s exactly what they did. But before he had them mounted to the Nitto 38s, he painted the outsides black and the insides House of Kolor Trublue pearl.

That House of Kolor blue features prominently on the truck, since it’s the accent color for the black base both inside and out. On the interior, blue stitching on the black leather and Alcantara suede matches the Trublue air vent trim and center console. The air tank (that powers the train horns) and powder-coated McGaughy’s lift also match the legendary hue, and the accents across the hood, roof and tailgate finish it off. It’s a potent combination when paired with a clean black paint job with lime green pinstriping.

“WHATEVER HE CHOOSES WE’RE CONFIDENT THAT THIS TRUCK WILL JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER AND BETTER WITH AGE.”

There are lots of other cool features to check out when you dig deeper into this truck. The lighting, for one, makes sure that there’s nothing Dakota can’t see while driving at night, between the custom headlights and LED panels mounted in the bumper. If you can get high enough to look into the bed, you’ll see a Transfer Flow gas tank nestled between the frame rails. Even though the 6.7l Power Stroke turbo diesel under the hood is stock for the most part, an S&B intake paired with an MBRP 4-inch exhaust keeps things running smoothly.

With a guy who flips his rides on a fairly regular basis, you might be surprised to learn that Dakota still has this truck. He recently painted the outside of the wheels Trublue pearl, and he’s debating whether a 10-inch lift and 40-inch tires is the best way to go, or if he should just flip it and move on to the next project. Whatever he chooses we’re confident that this truck will just keep getting better and better with age.

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Dakota Wheeler
2013 Ford F-250 Platinum
Spring, TX

ENGINE

• 6.7l Ford Power Stroke V-8 turbo diesel
• S&B cold air intake
• MBRP 4-inch stainless steel exhaust with custom split tips
• Automatic Ford transmission
• G2 differential cover
• Transfer Flow external gas tank

SUSPENSION

• Performed by Chad Denena of Gas Pedal Industries
• McGaughy’s 8-inch lift kit
• Fox front and rear shocks
• Fox control arms
• Gas Pedal Industries custom dual shock hoop kit

WHEELS & TIRES

• 24×12 Intro ID320 custom design by owner and Jose “Mr. Intro” Moreno at Intro Wheels
• 38×13.50×24 Nitto Trail Grappler M/T tires

BODY & PAINT

• Performed by Cory Scott at Kustom Werx, ALLN1
• House of Kolors Trublue pearl graphics on factory black
• Custom grille
• Lund fender flares
• Amp Research running boards
• Pace Edwards Bed Locker bed cover
• The Lighting Firm headlights
• Horn Blasters train horns

INTERIOR

• Dakota Wheeler (owner), ALLN1
• Verona Leather and Alcantara by Alea Leather
• Suede headliner
• Infiniti Kapp speakers
• Kicker subwoofers and amplifiers

SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE OWNER: Chad Denena, Tom Yamawaki, Cory Scott, Steve McGaughy, Brandt Hemphill, William Hong, Billy Link, Carlos Bustamante, Jose Moreno, Kris Horton, Ben Whitehead, Joe Thompson, Patrica Stewart, Jeff Carr, Alicia Driggers, Charlie Gonzales, Brian Godfrey, Warren Johnson, Melissa Hintz, Chloe Eady, Camden Lynn, Chandler Welling, Tom Williams, Tony Haynes, Steve Smart, Rosemarie White, Josh and Layne Wheeler.

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