Just the good ol' boys; never doin' no harm." Waylon Jennings immortalized the "Dukes of Hazzard" for thousands of kids who grew up in the '80s with that little tune. More than two decades have passed since the General Lee first graced the screen, but the legacy of those dirt-road chases and Daisy Dukes' shorts is still thriving. We're not sure if you can actually classify someone from Lakewood, California, as a good ol' boy, but by the looks of this monstrous F-350, we're not going to give Leonard Lacey III too much grief about it. We'll call him whatever he wants because he's made one thing definitely clear: His F-350 is boss.
Leonard grew up around street rods and has had his hat in the custom-truck ring for more than five years. After building a lowered '72 Chevy pickup and owning a couple of standard 4x4s, he decided to take things out of the cookie cutter and build a new off-road truck that would reflect his unique design concept. Leonard bought the '04 Ford F-350 in August 2004, and in a little less then eight months, with the help of friends and associates, created something that most men will never have their hands on, let alone be able to build.
Since Leonard was calling the shots on this buildup, he decided to take a little different route. The project began with the bodywork. Leonard and his friend Colin Fletcher have the honor of claiming responsibility for most of the F-350's bodywork, which has been refined to add to the boss' presence. Starting with some essentials, the stock headlights were removed and fiberglass covers were placed to fill the original locations. A new set of APC headlights was relocated down inside the new fiberglass bumper. The original hood was also swapped out for a new Ram Air hood from Good Hood, which sits 6 inches above stock height. Fiberglass bulged front fenders sit flush with the higher hood and supply plenty of coverage for the new tires. Leonard also added rocker support bars on either side of the cab, and four 12-inch drop steps provide each passenger with ease of entry.
Once the body was ready, Leonard took the truck to Darren Shockey, who showed him the painting and sanding ropes. With a clearcoat down, Mike Schartel of Hesperia, California, also took Leonard under his wing, showing him the fine art of masking and covering the F-350 with House of Kolor Sunset Pearl Orange, Lemon Yellow Tangerine, and Purple Pearl clearcoat flames.