Words: Brandon Burrell
Photos: Brandon Burrell
Entering the custom truck world isn’t something you do overnight. It usually takes several years to find your own style and figure out what kind of things you like. For a lot of us gear heads, we find out as a child that we are interested in custom vehicles, and it only gets worse as we get older. As a kid, Michael Garza from Knoxville, Tennessee, used to flip though all his brothers’ truck magazines and fell in love with custom trucks. Once he was old enough to get his own truck, he immediately started customizing it.
Fast forward about 20 years, he is now a project manager for a construction firm, so most of his time is tied up between work and family time. But he still manages to set time aside for his custom truck hobby and was actually able to turn it into a side job with his own shop, Xcalibur Motorsports. Now he’s able to work on his and other people’s trucks in his spare time.
Having owned numerous trucks in his life, Michael has become drawn to Ford Super Dutys, and Excursions and has built and sold about a dozen of them throughout the years. His most recent one is a 2017 Ford F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab 4×4. Knowing he had to go above and beyond his past builds to make this one stand out, he stepped up his game when he picked this one up from the dealership and began tearing it apart to debut it at SEMA 2017 in only five month’s time. In order to make this thing as tall as possible, he teamed up with Plan B and J-Fab to handle the custom 22” lift kit complete with FOA coilovers. Wicked Customs fabricated the custom mount of the Hornblasters horns stuffed under the rear of the bed as well.
Once all the components were test fitted and everyone was happy how it all fit, everything was torn back down to get the Prismatic Powders Illusion Orange sprayed on pretty much everything they could take off from under the truck. With the current trends, it’s a must to have the flashiest undercarriage possible, and with Michael’s love for the Tennessee Vols (his hometown college football team), the colors stood out for sure. A set of 24×14 Gear Forged F71 wheels were wrapped with 42×14.50R24 Interco Sniper tires to plant all that suspension work firmly on the ground.
With the stance and height established on this beast, it was time to make the body just as flashy. To do this, Michael added a fiberglass RK Sport hood, a custom Royalty Core grille, as well as front and rear Fusion Bumpers. Rigid Industries LED lights are tucked in all the bumper holes to provide extra illumination while the Infinite Rule Security lock pins keep the Monster Hooks secure to the bumpers. The headlights were blown apart for some color-matched paint and Klearz Manufacturing lenses. Billy Robertson at Assassin Motorsports in Louisville, TN, handled all the paint work to tie it all together. To cover the bed and keep the 40-gallon Transfer Flow auxiliary fuel tank out of the elements, Michael added an Undercover Bed Cover.
To continue the theme in the interior, black and orange Roadwire Leather was installed. Precision Window Tint Seats N Stuff handled the custom sub box that houses four 8” subs and audio install with a slew of Kicker Audio equipment all powered by a couple XS Power batteries. A Lock’Er Down console safe and Husky Liner floor mats also completes the interior modifications.
Under the hood, Michael added an EZ Lynk Programmer PPEI custom programming and a billet lifetime oil filter by Hobb Filters. Gasses also now exit through the 5” JAMO Performance exhaust. With this truck done, debuted at SEMA and now in a magazine, we guess you could say that Michael finally reached his goals on the build. Now we can sit back and watch to see what Michael and Xcalibur Motorsports come out with next.
SPECIAL THANKS:
Xcalibur Motorsports, Xcalibur Diesel Performance, Husky Floor Liners, Fusion Bumpers, Interco Tires, Gear Forged, Plan B Fab, J-Fab, True Spike Lugnuts, Wicked Customs, Hornblasters, JAMO Performance, Mag-Hytec, Hubb Filters, Royalty Core, AZ Rags Inc, Roadwire Leather Interiors, Drivelines Plus Offroad, Kicker Audio, PPEI, EZ Lynk, Undercover Truck Lids, Rigid Industries, Gen-Y Hitch, Monster Hooks Inc, Transferflow, Infinite Rule Security, Lock’er Down, Assassin Motorsports, Klearz manufacturing, Prismatic Powders, RK Sport, Precision Window Tint Seats N Stuff, XS Power, Truck Guru
GEAR: 2017 FORD F-250 SUPER DUTY
WHEELS / TIRES
- 24×14 Gear Forged F71
- 42×14.50R24 Interco Sniper tires
- True Spike Lugnuts
PERFORMANCE
- 6.7L Powerstroke turbo diesel engine
- EZ Lynk Programmer with PPEI custom tune
- 5” JAMO Performance exhaust
- Transfer Flow 40 Gallon auxiliary fuel tank
SUSPENSION
- Custom 22” Plan B lift kit
- Front 4-link
- Rear 4-link
- FOA coilovers
- Custom trusses on both axles
- Illusion Orange powder coating
- Stainless overlays
- Custom driveshafts by Drivelines Plus Offroad
INTERIOR
- Roadwire Leather upholstery
- Lock’er Down console safe
- Husky Liner floor mats
- XS Power batteries
EXTERIOR/ARMOR
- Fusion front and rear bumpers painted by
- Assassin Motorsports
- Undercover LUX bedcover
- Custom headlights with Klearz Manufacturing lenses
- RK Sport fiberglass hood
- Royalty Core custom grill
AUDIO
- Kicker CXA 1200.1 and (2) Kicker CXA 300.4 amps
- Kicker 6x8s
- Kicker 6.5” components
- (4) Kicker 8” subwoofers
- Custom box under rear seat by Precision Window Seats N Stuff
