Tribal Gear’s Kustom Kulture Shop Truck

Shop trucks are typically used by businesses to haul goods back and forth and for other maintenance-related tasks. These trucks are usually so abused by employees that they end up in the junkyard. But, if a custom automotive shop or a custom vehicle enthusiast builds a shop truck, then it will most likely become a cool cruiser that hardly ever sees any true service duties.

THE ARTISTIC VISION AND DEDICATION HE USED TO BUILD SEVERAL OTHER CARS THROUGHOUT THE YEARS EVENTUALLY STEERED HIM TO START HIS OWN STREET WEAR CLOTHING BUSINESS…”

Take, for example, the Tribal Gear Shop Truck built by Bobby Ruiz, or Bobby Tribal, as he’s known throughout the kustom kulture and lowrider scene. Before we dive into his shop truck we should introduce you to Bobby and Tribal Gear. Bobby grew up in the ’70s surrounded by the lowrider, graffiti and street wear cultures of San Diego. By the time he was 18 he was cruising around in his own custom lowrider that he built himself with help from his brother and father. The artistic vision and dedication he used to build several other cars throughout the years eventually steered him to start his own street wear clothing business, and 25 years later his Tribal Gear brand is known throughout the world. The iconic brand is worn by celebrities and famous athletes alike.

After all of the cars Bobby had built throughout the years, he felt that it was time to build a truck, and he had his eye on a ’65 Chevy big window C-10 that belonged to a member of the Tribal Clique. Two other members of the Tribal family had owned the truck before Bobby ended up with it, so some of the custom suspension work had already been done, including airbagged suspension with a 4-link rear setup and a custom-fabbed rear back-half by Gabe D’Agosta of Insane Customs. Bobby wanted the truck to lay flat on the ground, so he took it back to Gabe to have him add drop spindles to lay out the front end.

Having the frame lay on terra firma wasn’t enough for Bobby, so he took the truck to Abe at San Diego Rod and Customs to have the cab and bed channeled over the frame so the body would lay rockers. Bobby also got together with Eric Conner of So Cal Suspension; together they designed a titanium scrape bar.

Bobby added a set of Lancer hubcaps with a custom Tribal Gear emblem on the centers and white wall tires. The airbag setup was upgraded with a new pair of Viair compressors.

Now that the suspension was dialed in, it was time to focus on the exterior, so the C-10 was delivered to Chico Gonzales at Candy’s Auto Body where he sprayed the truck in brown suede topped with pearl. Manny Cisneros stepped in next to add the gloss tan top and custom candy paint with patterns and pinstriping featuring gold leaf. Manny also pinstriped the rest of the truck and added a cool ’70s-inspired heavy gold flake strip in between the side trim moldings, and he pained a gold flake Tribal Gear logo on the back of the bedsides.

Once the exterior was complete, Bobby moved on to the interior. He delivered the truck to Anthony of Top Stitch in Montebello, California, so that he could stitch up the baseball glove leather on the factory bench seat. Anthony added Mexican serape inserts on the seats and the door panels. Anthony also laser-etched the Tribal Gear logo onto the leather. To complete the interior, Bobby had Manny add more pin-striping, this time to the dash. A Rockford Fosgate stereo system was wired up so Bobby could listen to some cool tunes while cruising San Diego.

Before Bobby took possession of the C-10 the small-block Chevy 350 had been rebuilt, but he wanted to freshen it up a bit, so he replaced the stock manifold and carburetor with an Edelbrock intake and four-barrel carb system. He dressed up the engine bay with swap meet chrome and had a pair of glass packs installed for exhaust. The 350 transmission was also in good condition, and it’s shifted via the column-mounted shifter. One of the last custom touches was to add a custom-built wooden treasure chest inside the rear bed that was designed and built by Arturo Gonzalez. Bobby opted not to install the wood bed floor so that the custom rear frame and suspension remain visible.

Now the truck is ready to represent Tribal Gear at car shows and other events. Bobby would like to thank everyone involved with the build, including his Tribal Clique family, and most of all, his wife Sabrina for understanding his passion for building custom cars and now trucks. ST

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Bobby Ruiz
1965 Chevrolet C-10
San Diego, CA Tribal Clique

ENGINE

• 350 Chevy small-block V-8
• Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor
• Edelbrock Performer intake manifold
• Swap meet chrome valve covers
• Louvered air cleaner with K&N air filter
• Chevy 350 turbo tranny
• Dual glass pack exhaust

SUSPENSION

• Shops: Insane Customs, San Diego Rod & Custom and So Cal Suspension
• Body dropped
• Drop spindles
• Airbags front and rear
• Custom back-half frame with high axle notch
• 4-link rear suspension with link-mounted ’bags
• Titanium scrape plate
• Viair compressors
• Front disc brakes
• Custom-painted air tank

WHEELS & TIRES

• OEM steelies color matched
• Lancer hubcaps
• Custom Tribal Gear center caps
• Wide white wall tires

BODY & PAINT

• Shops: Candy’s Auto Body and Manuel Cisneros
• Semi gloss suede brown with pearl and gloss tan paint
• Lowrider patterns in candy, flake, gold leaf on roof
• Pinstriping
• Candy gold and flake Tribal logo
• Blue dots on taillights
• Rechromed bumpers and grille
• Custom-made wood chest inside of bed

INTERIOR

• Shop: Top Stitch
• Factory bench seat
• Brown baseball glove-type leather
• Mexican serape inserts on seats and door panels
• Custom-painted OEM steering wheel
• Pinstriped dash
• Original-style loop carpet
• Rockford Fosgate stereo system

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