The Cole brothers, Kirk and Kyle, will both readily admit to being lifelong motorheads, and not your ordinary motorheads, but motorheads with a passion, or maybe an addiction to four-wheel-drive trucks. From humble beginnings to the custom fabrication and four-wheel drive repair center called Hardcore Trucks, the two brothers have become known in the industry as premier builders of custom and off-road specialty vehicles.

The guys say a majority of the builds that come out of their shop are designed to handle the rigors of everyday highway use, with an occasional trek offroad, or cruise on the beach. This pretty white Ford F-250 belongs to the eldest Cole brother, Kirk, who uses this truck as a daily driver. It is a true example of what rolls out the doors of Hardcore Trucks.

The brothers were born and raised in Largo, Florida, just a short 20-minute drive from their shop located in the City of Dunedin, Florida on the west central Gulf Coast. The boys give their dear old dad all the credit for getting them started on this career path. “Basically, dad built drag cars his entire life, and Kirk and I were helping him with his race cars when we were about 13 or 14 years old,” Kyle offers.

When the brothers got a bit older they both enrolled at Pinellas Technical College where they studied automotive service technology. After graduation, Kyle secured employment as a diesel mechanic for a major construction firm; and older brother Kirk, after working his way up the corporate ladder, became a district manager for Interstate Batteries.

The seed for Hardcore Trucks was planted around 1999 when Kirk decided to build an older 4X4 Dodge Ram pickup. That truck was intended for use as a daily driver and he had no idea at the time that this old Dodge Ram would become the first ever creation produced by what would eventually become a thriving, full-time business for himself and his little brother. “After Kirk built the old Dodge, people started asking us if we would build a truck for them,” Kyle recalls.

Although both Kirk and Kyle were working full-time jobs, the idea of making a few extra dollars, doing something they both loved to do, was rather enticing. After a bit of discussion, the brothers rented an 800-square-foot storage locker and began working part-time building and repairing four-wheel drive vehicles.

The brothers quickly found the storage unit too small for their budding business and moved to a larger facility sporting nearly 2,000 square feet. “The work just kept coming in,” Kyle grins. Fast-forward to today and we find the brothers working out of a four-stall, 4,000-square-foot, fully-equipped facility located on Main Street, the primary east-west thoroughfare through Dunedin. “We are the typical family owned and operated small business,” states Kirk. “We employ six people and we have three master technicians in the shop, myself, and Kyle. Our mom takes care of the front office.

“On average, we see around 45 vehicles a month,” Kyle offers. “That encompasses everything from complete lift kit installs to suspension repairs, total engine rebuilds, and just about anything in between.” From the start, the Cole’s have pretty much relied on customer referrals. Like most small businesses, Hardcore Trucks operates on a very modest advertising budget. “We don’t do any print advertising at all. Our primary source of business comes from customer referrals, and our shop trucks, like Kirk’s truck,” Kyle states. “We do attend all the local car shows, and they account for the majority, if not all of our local customers. Since we use our trucks as rolling billboards, to this point it has been serving our advertising needs fairly well.”

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the rolling billboard that Kirk uses as his daily driver. The truck started life as a 2004 Ford F-250 crew cab four-wheel drive, powered by a Power Stroke 6.0-liter turbo-diesel, backed up by a Ford Torqshift 5R110 five-speed automatic transmission, and a standard Ford chain-driven transfer case. It rolled into the shop completely stock, but when it rolled out, it was mildly wild, or wildly mild, depending on which brother you asked. Either way, the truck is a real beauty and a testament to the skill and craftsmanship produced at Hardcore Trucks.

The foundation of Kirk’s truck is a standard Ford F-250 steel frame. That has been cleaned, prepped, primed, and painted with three layers of gloss black enamel. The front suspension consists of 7-inch spring hangers from Precision Metal Fabrication, and 8-inch Fab Tech leaf springs. A crossover steering kit, fabricated in-house at Hardcore Trucks, and a One Up Off Road crossover track bar. A Fab Tech duel shock hoop holds the Fab Tech dirt logic, stainless steel, piggy-back reservoir shocks. The drive axle is an OEM Ford, Dana 60 with a 4.88:1 gear and OEM Ford manual locking hubs.

The rear suspension sports a Fab Tech 3-inch, drop hanger and shackle kit with 5-inch Fab Tech Leaf Springs. A Precision Metal Fabrication 3.5-inch integrated block and traction bar kit provide the 10.5-inch Sterling OEM Ford, rear drive axle with stability. Fab Tech Dirt Logic, stainless steel, piggyback reservoir shocks smooth the ride. Drilled and slotted, Power Stop rotors with upgraded pads, and stock OEM Ford, single-piston calipers are on all four wheels and provide the necessary stopping power. All suspension components, other than the stock OEM Ford frame have been powder coated for appearance and durability.

In a stock configuration, the engine produces 325 horses with 580 lb-ft of torque. However, Kirk and Kyle spent some time under the hood and made a few tweaks here and there. The internals of the engine all remains OEM Ford. The cylinder heads were decked to insure a proper seal to the block, and the intake was ported and polished by Wise Performance Engineering. Injectors were upgraded to 175s with an Air Dog fuel system to include a 22-gallon fuel cell.

The OEM Ford turbocharger was replaced with a Barder Stage 3 Turbo that features a 68×105 mm Billit six-blade compressor wheel, and a 70.5 mm GT40 10-blade turbine wheel that is completely balanced and includes a VGT (variable geometry turbo) solenoid. A cold air intake, coolant filtration system, and diesel bypass oil filter system; all from Sinister Diesel Products; were also installed.

The engine is still coupled to a Ford 5R110 five-speed, Torqshift automatic transmission. 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 designed for use during cold operation only. The power is transferred to the drive axles through a stock, chain-driven OEM Ford transfer case.

The exhaust duty is handled by a four-inch MBRP system, exiting the truck through a 10-inch Pypes, polished and mitered exhaust stack just aft of the cab. The entire package rides on four 24×16 American Force, Honors Series, two-piece wheels wrapped with 40×15.50 Toyo rubber. The simple, yet attractive paint on the truck is factory Ford white, just as it came off the assembly line.

The lights have all been upgraded both front and rear, and the two light bars provide more than enough extra light when required. The black stainless mesh grill by Paramount Restyling gives the Super Duty a neat, clean, and custom-finished appearance. The leather and suede interior is designed and built in-house at Hardcore Trucks, and the dash and instrumentation remain OEM Ford, with the exception of the Pioneer Sound system.

Looking at the overall package it’s very easy to understand why the stalls at Hardcore Trucks are constantly full; the attention to detail is superb, and the craftsmanship involved with the build is absolutely second to none. The Cole brothers operate a business that is known for its level of honesty and trust, resulting in a referral business that most in the trade can only dream about. From full-blown customs to a simple repair, Hardcore Trucks can fill the bill.

As of this writing, Kyle and Kirk are planning to take this Super Duty F-250 back down to the bare frame and start over again. Why you might ask? Well, it seems that they are rebuilding the truck into an all-out custom that will be unveiled at the 2016 SEMA Show, in Las Vegas in November 2016.

Exact plans on what the truck will be equipped with, or exactly what it will look like, are all very guarded secrets at this point. The Coles will only confirm that they intend to upgrade the truck to a more modern 2015 body style, other than that, they remain silent. Looking at the truck the way it is today, there’s a good bet it will most likely sit on American Force Wheels. When questioned on this, the brothers grinned and stated, “Come back in a few months, maybe we will have something you might want to see.”