Dan Satner is no rookie when it comes to custom mini-trucks. He's built his fair share of old-school S-10s and has been involved in the custom automotive scene for more than 15 years. However, when he got engaged to his fiance Candice, his needs shifted. He decided he wanted a four-door vehicle that would be safe and reliable. When he picked up this '01 Ford Explorer Sport Trac in September 2002, he had no intention whatsoever of fully customizing it. We all know better than that, though, because those famous last words have been spoken by all of us at one time or another. Needless to say, the stock phase of Dan's truck didn't last two months before he had bolted up his first set of dubs, which began the snowball effect of turning it into a full-blown show vehicle.
With a fresh set of 20-inchers bolted up, Dan realized that there was no way in hell his truck would stay stock with just a set of rims - that goes against everything he believes in. The customizing process began, and although he wasn't ready to go all out on the truck, he decided to start with a nice paintjob. James Cashman of Cashman Customs was a regular customer at FBI, where Dan works, so Dan worked with James to come up with a sweet paint scheme for his truck. Dan didn't want anything super crazy; he just wanted his truck to look more custom and personalized than a soccer mom's SUV with 20-inch chrome rollers. Cashman Customs went to work and sprayed Dan's Sport Trac with a Ford White and Silver base and House of Kolor's Cobalt Blue flames. The flames were pinstriped with True Blue and Lime Green to really make them stand out. Some airbrushing detail work then went into the paint, and nautical stars were ghosted in with House of Kolor's Candy Gold.
After the truck came back from the paint shop, Dan took one look at the detail and knew he was in big trouble. The paintjob was way too good to grace a stock vehicle with stock plastic all over the body and 20-inch wheels. That was the final straw. Dan gave up trying to keep it stock and got down to business by 'baggin' the front with the help of his buddy Chris. After the front was laid down to a more respectable height, Dan had a subwoofer enclosure made and began to wire up the audio and video entertainment. He installed a Pioneer DVD/CD in-dash monitor up front, along with a 14-inch flip-down screen for the rear. After his system was up to par, he drove the truck to a few shows to see the response he would get.
Dan placed at the shows, but still wasn't happy with his half-stock, half-badass truck. He made one final overall sweep of the truck, listing things that had to be changed. The first thing on his list was bigger wheels to fill the fenders. He bolted up a bitchin' set of 22x10-inch Sinister Devine chrome wheels wrapped with 285/35ZR22 Nitto rubber. Since he wanted to go lower, the wheelwells were cut out to make room for the massive rims. Dan, Chris, and BC Customs then finished off the 'bag work by laying the rear out using Slam Bags, an FBI notch and four-link, and Blitzluft air line and valves. By this time, the Sport Trac was tucking huge wheels and sat at a much more respectable height, but Dan wasn't going to stop there.
Next on the list were the factory plastic pieces Dan would've ditched the first time around if he'd known he was going to take the buildup this far. He enlisted the help of James Cashman once again to shave his roof rack, cut and section the third brake light to make room for a 13-inch LED, and redo the front and rear bumpers. Cashman knew Dan wasn't playing around this time, so he took it upon himself to turn the rest of the Sport Trac into a full-blown custom. He gutted the interior, unbolted the front and rear bumpers, and went to work.
Cashman Customs smoothed and painted every single plastic interior piece. The dash, center console, subwoofer enclosure, and other pieces of plastic received the same attention to detail as the exterior paintjob. James then moved back to the outside of the truck, smoothed the front and rear bumpers, and blended the paint by airbrushing into them. He also built one-off custom steps for the rear bumper, ground designs into them, and then candied over the etching with House of Kolor's Candy Blue. After everything was put back together, James and Dan knew that this Sport Trac was bound to turn some heads. Some finish work in the interior and under the hood helped to complete the package. Dan was then ready to show off all his hard work and give credit where credit was due. Check out the Lowdown for the down and dirty details.
The LowdownWheels/Tires 22x10-inch Sinister Devine chrome wheels wrapped with 285/35ZR22 Nitto rubber
Suspension/Chassis Front: Modifications by owner and his friend Chris / FBI torsion 'bag brackets / Slam Specialties RS62 airbags / 1/2-inch air line / 1/2-inch Blitzluft electric valves / relocated DJM shocks / AVS switch box; Rear: modifications by owner, Chris, and BC Customs / Slam Specialties RS72 airbags / custom crossmembers and tank mounts / two chrome 6-gallon tanks / FBI reverse-triangulated four-link / Blitzluft 4101 compressor / 1/2-inch air line / 1/2-inch Blitzluft electric valves
Body Modifications Shaved roof rack / third brake light bubble sectioned and extended to house a 13-inch LED / shaved and smoothed bumpers by James Cashman / custom one-off rear bumper steps with ground-down metal art candied with House of Kolor's Candy Blue / taillights smoothed and painted by Cashman / fenders cut out to fit 22s / Trenz billet grille insert / Carwear HID conversion headlights / bedliner sprayed by Mark Storace at Bulletproof Bedlinings
Paint Painted by Cashman Customs / Ford White and Silver with House of Kolor Cobalt Blue flames / True Blue and Lime Green pinstriping / House of Kolor Candy Gold-ghosted nautical stars
Interior FBI Kamikaze billet rearview mirror and other billet pieces / 14-inch Colorado Customs billet steering wheel with leather half-wrap / all interior plastic smoothed and painted by Cashman and pinstriped by TJ at Poor Boys C.C. / Autoleathers.com Dove Gray and Charcoal Gray seat wraps
Stereo Wired and installed by owner / Pioneer 7-inch DVD/CD flip-out in-dash monitor / custom-built fiberglass enclosure built by Shawn Dehart and painted by Cashman / Audiobahn amplifiers power two 10-inch Audiobahn subwoofers and Alpine mids and highs / 14-inch Micro flip-down screen for rear entertainment / PlayStation 2
Engine/Performance K&N FIPK intake and throttle-body spacer / Optima Yellow Top battery / smaller-diameter driveshaft / Flowmaster 2-1/2-inch exhaust / intake painted by Cashman Customs and pinstriped by TJ from Poor Boys C.C.
Miscellaneous Judges never know which class to place Dan's truck in. He's shown in Mini-Truck, SUV, Mini-SUV, Wagon, Midsize Truck, and even Fullsize Truck classes and has taken home trophies in every single one.
Special Thanks Dan's fiance Candice / Dan's mom and dad / Steve, Phil, and the FBI crew / James Cashman / Cashman Customs / Fabio / Chris / Jeff at AVS / Bulletproof Bedlinings / TJ from Poor Boys C.C. / BC Customs / Georgia Boys and all the cool people from over the years / "Show-Dawg" Mike / Twisted Images