By adding bigger tires, a four-door cab, dually bed and a toolbox, Philip Asher transformed a commercial low-profile Ford F-800 truck into a pickup with some serious power.

Initially, the Elizabethton, Tenn., power plant construction worker planned to use the former 1998 moving truck for hauling. But when he spotted an F-250 four-door cab at a junkyard, he decided to give the truck a makeover instead, with the help of a couple of friends. After the cab was in place there was a 2-ft. gap between the cab and the Ford 350 dually bed he installed. He decided that was just enough room for a large toolbox. 

"It looks factory-built," Asher says of his truck, which includes the console and reclining bucket seats from a 1997 Ford truck. With a 5.9 Cummins in-line 6-cylinder diesel engine, he had plenty of power but the wheels were undersized. He fixed that by upsizing to 22-in. tires. The tires improved mileage to about 15 mpg but made the speedometer incorrect. He solved the problem by using a small GPS unit.

The 11,000-lb. truck has a 189-in. wheelbase and is 24 ft. long, but fits under his 8-ft. tall garage door and can be registered as a pickup. "There are steep mountains between me and the power plants where I work, so I need something with more power," Asher says. "This F-800 does it for me."

Though it's only 2-WD, it's built heavy-duty and durable, compared to smaller 4-WD trucks he's used in the past to pull his 11,000-lb. gooseneck trailer. 

"On a farm that needs to pull trailers this would be ideal to handle plenty of weight," Asher says.