Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85442
CUSTOM RIGS Flirting with Disaster By James Jaillet | Photos by Bruce W. Smith howtime Trucking owner Troy Huddleston has no regrets about converting what was a '91 Freightliner FLD to a square-ended Freightliner Classic. "I always like the square front better," Huddleston admits. When the truck needed a paint job in 2006, he bit at temptation's beckon to tear the rig down and rebuild it. The Hunt City, Ill., resident says the truck became a S Freightliner 120 Classic after he moved the front axle forward 16 inches, exchanged hoods and slapped on a new coat of paint. He also gave the interior a makeover, adding a granite floor and one-off stainless parts on the console, visors and door panels, among other touches. Though the name's inspiration is a favorite Molly Hatchet The interior work included addition of a chrome chain steering wheel and shifter. song, he says it also refers to an incident when he rolled a loaded tanker full of anhydrous ammonia onto its side in 1996. "I never spilled a drop," he says. "But everybody told me I was flirting with disaster." Troy Huddleston says he'd never seen butterfly doors on a truck when he got the idea to try them. He took the hinges off, adapted them to fit and, after much trial and error, "fig- ured out how to get them in just the right spot," he says. 74 | Overdrive | August 2012 OverdriveOnline.com and search "Troy Huddleston." To see a video and more photos of Huddleston's Freightliner, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit