Chris Helton :There are a lot custom pieces. You can’t get much for an International. You’ll have to make it. We bought the cab with chassis. It’s a 05 model. It’s a 2005 model. We bought it two years ago. An eight speed. It has the 7.83 380 Rockwell back ends. The 7.83 ratio is designed for pulling and not speed.
The body was installed in January last year. It’s a Reynolds Truck Equipment body from Kentucky. We put a brand new body on it. They call them “coal kickers”, and when they load you, if any coal or lumps fall, they won’t hit your cab. It hits this, and shoots it out in the opposite direction.
Then we covered them with aluminum. We could then polish it and make it look as if it was a visor attached to the side of the mattress.
It was off-road since about 15 years when we bought it. We started from the ground up.
Todd Dills : Landon your dad told me that you brought many ideas to the truck.
Landon Helton :I brought this centerpiece there. I had this idea and my thought was to put an American flag tarp over it. We did that.
Chris Helton : The majority of them have black ones. We put the American flags and he wanted to change it. Same kind, same type of system. Same kind of Mountain Tarp. Flipped up seal. We have an electric motor on the opposite side of the cab and a switch inside the cab.
Todd DillsAre these required?
Chris HeltonYeah we’ve got to have something to cover the burden with. Both the state of Virginia and company want it there. Landon came up with the Dual Revolution lights. We can turn them orange, so we put the stainless piece behind all of the steel to make it look solid. We put the flotation tires and other stuff on it. It had the Dayton wheels on the back. It has simulators on it now, as well as a grille, visor, and double bumper.
About all the PayStars at home have double bumpers. It makes them look better.
It has 180,000 miles. The hours are what kills us. It’s 29,000 hours old. It’s a pretty factory, but we had a ton of chrome. I made a few pieces to go inside. I used three pieces at the bottom of each door and the pieces at the bottom dash. You can order the piece, but we had to reduce it to fit in the key switch. It took a lot more time and effort.
I’ve been driving now for 25 years. I started driving in 2000. My dad had started before me. We had two trucks back then and then we grew to 12. Then we sold some, and now we have 19 trucks.
Todd Dills : I’m assuming these are all large dump trucks, right? You did mention that you had a few tractors, right? I have a ’87 Freightliner model and a B-model Kenworth. But we don’t use them much right now. We move coke for Suncoke Energies. They make foundry coke, and we take it from the truckload when it’s hot to another storage area. Then they load it onto tractors and ship to Canada. And everywhere. You can imagine. We work 365 days per year, seven days a weeks. The trucks run pretty well all day long.
Todd Dills – Why yellow?
Chris Helton Well, it’s the factory colour of the truck and we just went for yellow. I had a ’99 model that I had fixed up like this. I sold it, and I’ve always wanted to get one back. It stands out.
Todd Dills – Easy to See
Chris Helton says Yeah it’s bright.