In December of 2015, we published a feature article introducing you to Kyle and Kirk Cole, owners and proprietors of Hardcore Trucks in Dunedin, Florida. Over the years, the brothers have amassed a reputation as premier builders of custom and off-road specialty vehicles. This same article highlighted Kirk Cole’s daily driver, and what the brothers referred to as their “rolling billboard” for Hardcore Trucks. Although this “Mildly Wild” F-250 Super Duty 4X4 is a true testament to the expertise of Hardcore Trucks, it was destined for something bigger.

As most good business owners do, during the last quarter of 2015, the brothers were looking to expand their footprint in the industry and began bouncing ideas off each other on how to best accomplish this. Over the years, they have operated Hardcore Trucks on what could be considered a meager advertising budget. “We have never done any print advertising.” Kyle offers. “Our advertising has always been on a referral basis or word-of-mouth.” Considering that the brothers founded Hardcore Trucks in 1999 working out of an 800-square-foot storage unit, and having progressed today to a fully-equipped, four-stall, 4,000 square-foot facility that sees around 50 vehicles through the doors a month. This word-of-mouth system seems to be working pretty well.

Both brothers agree that if this referral or word-of-mouth advertising is working, then they need to let the system work; however, they also realize that in order to continue moving in a positive direction, they needed to consider something a little more aggressive. “We wanted to put Hardcore Trucks in front of a bigger audience – let people outside of Florida know who we are,” Kyle affirms. After several brainstorming sessions, the boys came up with a plan to build a show-quality truck and unveil it at the 2016 SEMA show.

Kirk Cole’s daily driver was destined for bigger and better things, the plan was to transform the truck from mildly wild to full-blown show truck.

“I don’t know what we were thinking.” younger brother Kirk, grinned. “We came up with this idea for the Super Duty in November of 2015, so we knew going in that we had just under a year to get the build complete.” Now, one year may sound like more than enough time to build a custom, state-of-the-art show truck, but keep in mind, the brothers still had a business to operate, and both Kyle and Kirk readily admit that they almost didn’t make it.

The plan was to completely transform Kirk’s F-250 Super Duty pickup from a daily driver to a full-blown show truck. The build started with a number of renderings offering a variety of options on what the finished product would look like. After sorting through the available options, the Coles agreed on the final product, and the build began.

American Force is well-known in the industry for their beautiful yet durable two-piece aluminum wheels.

Like any proposed build, one of the first tasks was to gather the parts and pieces needed to actually build the truck; this task fell mostly on the elder Cole brother, Kyle. Kyle would spend a great deal of his time over the next few months walking around with a phone that was seemingly glued to the side of his head. “I first talked with our suppliers, you know, the guys that we work with every day.” he said, “I explained what we were doing and asked for their help and suggestions.”

After hearing what the Cole brothers had in mind, the folks from American Force Wheels were the first to offer their support with the Super Duty, and more importantly, a spot in their booth to display the truck during the 2016 SEMA show. “When American Force came on board, we were off and running.” Kyle laughs. Albert Diaz with American Force Wheels stated, “We’ve done business with Kyle and Kirk since the beginning; they have used and promoted our products from the start. Many vehicles have rolled out the door of Hardcore Trucks riding on American Force Wheels. They support us completely, so we support them completely.”

The 22-gallon PMF fuel cell fits snugly between the OEM Ford Super Duty frame rails

After securing commitments from Nitto Tire, Precision Metal Fabrication, Fusion Bumpers, and Under-cover, the build began in earnest in early March of 2015. Like any project of this magnitude, the first step was to completely disassemble the vehicle. The 6.0-liter, Power Stroke,

The 6.0-liter, Power Stroke, 5R110 automatic transmission, and the  OEM transfer case were all set aside to be upgraded and would be reinstalled in the build. All of the Super Duty body components were sent to Jim Depergola, owner of Jim’s Body Shop in nearby Seminole, Florida for a complete and total makeover. Everything else, and we do mean everything else, was discarded. Kirk, Kyle, and their three master technicians started with a clean slate.

The foundation for this newest creation from Hardcore Trucks is an OEM ladder frame. The frame has been bead-blasted, prepped, primed, and color-coated with Valspar-Silver Pearl. Every nut, bolt, and fastener used on the frame and suspension components were zinc coated for durability and appearance. The 18-inch lift kit and all suspension components were designed and manufactured by Precision Metal Fabrication (PMF), in Tucson, Arizona.

The 18-inch lift kit and all suspension components were designed and manufactured by Precision Metal Fabrication (PMF), in Tucson, Arizona. The front suspension under the Super Duty is a four-link system and the rear uses a 4.56 gear ratio and Ford OEM manual locking hubs. The rear suspension is PMF trailing arms, with Fox coilover bypass shocks. The rear drive axle is a Ford OEM Corporate 10.5-inch with a 4.56 gears

As mentioned earlier, the guys retained the original 6.0-liter Power Stroke for the build. Kyle says the engine is the same, as it has been rebuilt using OEM Ford internals: crankshaft, rods, and pistons. However, the heads have been decked, and the intake was ported and polished by Wise Performance Engineering.

Upgraded 175 injectors a cold air intake, coolant filtration system, and a diesel bypass oil filter system from Sinister Diesel reside on the top of Power Stroke. The factory turbocharger was replaced with a Barder Stage 3 turbocharger.

The exhaust sounds emanating from the five-inch MBRP polished stainless steel system can only be described as a low rumble, with a very distinct lope at idle; under acceleration, the high-pitched whine of the turbocharger is unmistakable, and there is the issue of an NX Nitrous bottle under the Undercover bed cover. With all of this in mind, we are not really sure what the Cole brothers’ Super Duty is capable of, but we definitely know it sounds really, really mean.

If you build it to go, then you have to build it to whoa. Six-piston Wilwood discs on all four corners get this job done.

The reworked Power Stroke is coupled to a stock 5R110 five-speed,  automatic transmission. Fun Fact: Although advertised as a five-speed transmission, the 5R110 actually offers six speeds by engaging third gear and overdrive simultaneously to produce a 1.09:1 ratio which is designed for use during cold operation only.

The power is transferred through a stock transfer case. The truck rides on two-piece aluminum  American Force Wheels wrapped with 40×15.50×24 Nitto rubber. Six-piston, 11-inch Wilwood disc brakes on all four corners bring the truck to a safe, controlled stop.

The front clip, cab, and bed of the truck were sent to Jim Depergola and his staff at Jim’s Body Shop. The Super Duty was put on a rotisserie, prepped, primed, and color coated with Valspar White Pearl. The blue accents on the truck are also Valspar Blue Pearl. The detail work on the body of the truck is second to none, from the blue inserts on the American Force Wheels to the accents on the mirrors and door handles, to the silver pearl trim rings around the headlights, all done with painstaking diligence; the paintwork on the truck is absolutely flawless.

Now that the build is complete, and the official unveiling during the 2015 SEMA show is behind them, the Cole Brothers, and most importantly, Hardcore Trucks, have accomplished exactly what they set out to do; a complete, frame-off transformation, in just under nine months. “Our self-imposed deadline was getting scary close.” Kirk related. Kyle  added, “Everyone here at Hardcore worked long hours to make this happen, we have the finest staff in the business bar none.” As the brothers rolled into Las Vegas with their latest creation in tow, they made the final, finishing touches on the truck right there in the American Force booth. Kyle laughed and stated, “we finished it about two hours before the show opened.”

When we asked the brothers if it was all worth it, Kyle smiled and quietly affirmed, “This was a great experience for us personally, and professionally; we did what we set out to do, and it’s already paying dividends.” Just one month after returning from the SEMA show, Hardcore Trucks has received two inquiries from customers interested in having complete frame-off builds done. Kyle smiled and states, “We’ll just have to see how it goes.” For additional information about the Cole brothers and Hardcore Trucks, visit their website.