In February of 1999 Bill laid down a cool $28,500 to get things going. After a grueling 2 years of blood, sweat, tears and lots of money; Bill would find is show winning Dually being used for body laying spark displays along with towing the shop's enclosed trailer from sea to shinning sea. To start bringing the vision to reality, the crew at Ekstensive would begin their work on the suspension of the new shop truck. The front would be the first to receive the new make over. With utilizing a set of Bell Tech drop-spindles and KYB shocks, the Dually was well on the way to stardom. Next they would be quick to weld in a set of Ekstensive airbag brackets, which would house the Firestone airbags for ride height adjustability. To bring air to the bags at sudden response, the use of 3/8-inch airline along with Ekstensive valves would be the solution. The front now laying flat, it was time to move to the rear.
|
 | These gauges are used to help let Bill know when he is about to lose another finder to mother nature. | Bringing the rear down meeting the current front status was found to be a little more work then what originally thought. This wasn't because they thought it was going to be a simple project, but more along the lines of keeping true to the Ekstensive Metal Works theory on customizing rides; "If you are going to customize your ride, then do what others have strayed away from." This isn't a direct quote, but more less what I think when seeing the work that they tend to put out with each and every ride. Beginning the rear, the frame rails would be cut out and step notched to provide the room needed to lay out with the front. Bill being happy with the current notch in place, the next step was to mount up the chrome Ekstensive panhard. A 2-link custom Ekstensive suspension design would be next on the table. With the 2-link in place, this allowed mounting up of the Firestone airbags along with the chrome KYB shocks.
|