By Jackson Darby
Body stained in oil, the smell of diesel clinging to his shirt. Hours spent under the hood shaping a young boy’s future in the engineering field.
“I’ve always wanted to find out how things work,” junior Colten Cruea said. “That’s honestly one of the reasons why I work on my truck is to see how it runs and see how the engine works.”
Students at Delta High School have been constructing and designing their trucks while breaking their bank accounts.
Cruea has been one of the students driving in his souped-up truck. He drives a 2006 Ford F350 and has added modifications.
“So I put a 5-inch turboback exhaust and rebuilt my turbo,” Cruea said. “Those are the main things, and then currently it’s at the shop getting brand new heads, it’s getting studded, new injectors, and a bunch of stuff like that.”
He plans on doing many other additions later, once he rounds up the funds.
“It’s been a pretty big hit to the bank account, probably 2 or 3 grand for me, and then my dad has spent like $15,000 on modifications,” Cruea said.
To others, it may seem he’s squandering his money, but in his eyes, he’s creating a masterpiece.
Cruea hasn’t been the only one bumping his bank account to the ground.
Senior Draydon Rodgers has been pouring money into his white 2007 Chevrolet Silverado.
“So I first added new headlights and taillights and a third brake light, and then I got a new bed because my old bed was junk,” Rodgers said.
That is only a touch of the modifications Rodgers has added. Just like Cruea, he has an expertise in installing them on his own or with a little help from family.
Rodgers works on his truck with his cousin.
“It’s so much better when you’re working with someone, especially him,” Rodgers said. “He knows a lot about what he’s doing and he teaches me, so just learning with him makes everything better in general.”
Installing these parts isn’t the only challenge when it comes to building his dream truck.
Just like second guessing your test answers, seeing if these expensive pieces are worth it has been the number one question for Rodgers.
“I’ve had to drive hours to get parts for my truck before,” Rodgers said. “In that time you think about if it is really worth it.”
While Rodgers is spending all his time perfecting a singular masterpiece, senior Sebastian Gillum is currently working on his second.
Gillum spent dozens of hours adding various modifications to a 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500.
He had a few major problems with this truck, however.
“It was too big. It wasn’t practical, and I wanted to get into a diesel,” Gillum said. “It was also really bad on gas mileage.”
Gillum solved this problem in a purchase of a newer 2013 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Duramax, entering him into the world of diesel trucks.
Buying it was just the first step in the plan.
“I plan on lighting it up and putting some nicer wheels on it in the summer,” Gillum said. “I also want to increase the longevity in any way I can.”
The big three in diesel engines are generally recognized as Chevy Duramax, Cummins, and Ford Powerstroke.
This goes for the Delta parking lot as well.
Senior Griffin Fisher joined the Duramax crew with his 2006 Chevy Silverado 2500HD. A dream of his came true when he got his truck .
This dream is rooted from always viewing his sister’s boyfriend’s truck.
Once he got the ability to make his dream come true, he did. It didn’t turn out that way at first, though.
“Well, when I first bought it, the head gasket blew on it, so I had to pay to get that replaced,” Fisher said.
With many other problems in his way, it isn’t stopping Fisher or any other DHS student from making their dream become reality.
