Jason Mulligan
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June 19, 2025
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F100 Builders
Opportunity seldom knocks, and when it does it’s best to grab ahold and make the best of what comes. A great opportunity came for Jeremy Rice of Tre5 Customs out in Arizona when his friend Brian Spradling was making his way home from Japan after a stint in the Air Force. He initially thought he would be back home for good, but he was soon transferred to a base in Italy for the next few years. Not wanting his 2001 Ford F150 to sit around and rot, he called up Jeremy and struck a deal. Jeremy had worked on many vehicles for other people, but it had been a while since he had something custom to call his own.
Tre5 Customs is known for creating cars and trucks with a clean style and most are outfitted with hydraulics. The shop has helped put hydraulics on the map as a reliable alternative to airbags, rather than just as hoppers. But Jeremy didn’t want to be pigeonholed, so when he decided to build the F-150 as his next shop truck and daily driver, he went a different route.
His goal was to use his skills to build a custom 2001 Ford F150 truck that would grab attention yet remain an attainable daily driver. He started with the suspension, of course. To get the Blue Oval on the ground, the rear was notched and a custom parallel 4-link, Watt’s link and reverse bars with Slam Specialties SS7 airbags were installed. Up front, Jeremy added a set of Michigan Metal Works control arms and ’bag mounts with Bilstein shocks and Slam Specialties ’bags.
For better clearance, a Ford Explorer brake booster was used. To control the air system, Lowrider Depot provided an AccuAir VU4 manifold controlled by an AVS switch box. Providing air to the system is a pair of Viair 444 compressors powered by Kinetik KR2412 power cells. Lastly, a set of 22 x 9.5-inch Platinum Diamonte wheels wrapped in 265/35 Falken S/TZ04 tires was bolted up.
Things under the hood were kept simple with an Edge programmer, a K&N air intake and Gibson exhaust, but the exterior changed dramatically. The entire front end was swapped over to a 2006 Expedition using parts from LMC Truck. The handles were shaved and the rear bumper was smoothed and tucked.
Chad Anderson of Metal Asylum was tasked with body mods, paint and graphics. Old School Paint supplied the USC paint. Once everything was shaved and smoothed, Chad laid down a silver basecoat with mild metalflake and followed it up with a candy red graphic with real fire airbrushing down the side. The interior panels were smoothed and painted to match.
On the inside, a US Speedo gauge cluster was installed as well as plenty of billet goodies. For a sound system, Steve at Definitive Audio worked on the custom subwoofer box that houses four 12-inch Scosche EFX subwoofers powered by a pair of Scosche EFX mono-block amplifiers. The custom door panels received 6.5-inch components powered by a pair of four-channel Scosche EFX amplifiers.
A JVC head unit provides the tunes, while a pair of Kinetik KR2412 power cells mounted to the USC-lined bed take care of power. Sean Johnson tinted the windows for security and a Leer shell was mounted to protect any cargo carried around town. Lastly, The Interior Shop laid down the black carpet from LMC Truck and wrapped the seats and door panels in black vinyl and suede with the Tre5 Customs logo embroidered on the head rests.
When all was said and done, Jeremy created a clean custom that serves as a daily driver and shop truck, and still attracts plenty of attention. It also helps to prove that Fords have their place in the custom scene with the other heavy-hitters. Street Trucks
JEREMY RICE
2001 Ford F150
Peoria, AZ
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