Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/87831
Ridding the demons CUSTOM RIGS Jeff Botelho and his crew built his show-winning rig as a tribute to his late father. By Todd Dills Botelho and crew gutted the cab, leaving only the wiring harness. Vinyl-graphics dash elements were laid over a com- pletely reworked surface. The truck won Working Bobtail and Custom Paint honors at a 2010 Pride & Polish competition. Jeff Botelho's older brother, Jim, runs 100 Proof Ink and created the vinyl graphics that adorn the hood and fenders, among other exterior and interior pieces, of Botelho's 379. He named the truck 5150, the police code commonly translated "crazy person on the loose." J eff Botelho runs both his family's Botelho Bros Trucking business and custom shop – unofficially coined Tin Can Customs – out of one small Los Banos, Calif., facil- ity. "Most people can't believe we turn the equipment out of the little facility we do," Botelho says. Top show rigs are in the shop's rep- ertoire. Perhaps the most meaningful piece Botelho and crew have built is his personal working rig – this 2007 Peterbilt 379. It had less than 35,000 miles on it when Botelho learned of his father's death. Jim Botelho, he says, was both his best friend and his business partner. He immediately directed his crew to halt service work on the truck while he began to outline a plan for rebuild- ing the rig, his last "Hey, Daddy, look what I can do," he says. What eventually emerged was a flame-throwing custom truck inspired by Botelho's grief. He and his crew built a rear roll-down power window into the sleeper, fabricated sheet metal and door panels and re-spun the inte- rior for maximum sound by adding a 2,800-watt Pioneer head unit and 18 speakers in custom enclosures. November 2012 | Overdrive | 49 Photos by Bruce W. Smith