Street Trucks

WELCOME to the annual edition of our OBS Builder’s Guide—where we bring together all of the best ’88-’98 content for you to feast on in one magnificent place! This issue is jam-packed cover to cover and coast to coast with some of the baddest OBS builds, products, people, installs, artists, builders, and events. From retro to modern, old-school to new-school, and mild to wild—you will find it right here, along with everything else in between. We’ve also been gearing up to embark on a family father/son build journey over here in the Alexander house for a while now. From C10s to OBS options, and yes, my boy has the automotive ADD as bad as his old man, ha ha. Passing on this love for custom trucks to your kiddos and…

Kids, smoking is bad for you. But like, some of the branding is pretty cool, and when your job is supervising design for an international audio company, you pay attention to these things. Behold, Tim Smith’s incredibly cool ’94 OBS. I mean, look at those colors—they have that pop in the sun and a cool black flip in the dead of night. Shoot, he calls it Black & Mild, having me recall my teenage years of sitting outside 7/11 toking wood tips, giving off the essence of cool. But again, smoking is bad for you. Whatever, I digress. My guys Adam and Steve of Mobsteel/Detroit Steel Wheel Co. go way back with Tim since he works for Kicker Audio. When he reached out about his personal build, we were all…

We finally got our hands on a super cherry 1997 Chevy C1500. Bone stock, clean as a whistle, and ready for a modern-day sport truck makeover. For this first phase of the build, we’re tearing into the rear end with an all-new suspension system from Belltech that’s anything but old-school. This isn’t your grandpa’s lowering block kit. Belltech went all-in with a rear coilover setup and performance-driven parallel 4-link system that’s built to handle. And yeah, we’re the first ones to bolt this kit on, so you know we’re hyped to show you how it all came together. To kick things off, we yanked the bed and stripped out every piece of factory rear suspension. With the frame exposed, we hit it with the sandblaster, laid down a fresh coat…

Down in the sun-soaked southern tip of Texas, where the truck scene runs deep and tradition holds strong, there’s one shop that has carved its name into custom culture. The Drop Shop Customs, owned and operated by Guadalupe Gonzalez, known to locals simply as “Piri,” is more than just a garage; it’s a sacred space for slammed steel and smooth welds. Step inside, and you’ll find the unmistakable scent of fresh paint, the hum of grinders, and a legacy that has been built one truck at a time. Piri isn’t just a builder; he’s a pioneer. Long before hashtags like #baggedOBS flooded the scene, Piri was laying frame, dialing in stance, and setting the bar for what a clean build should look like in the Rio Grande Valley. His name…

One of the most anticipated truck events of the year, Battle in BAMA, has now added the addition of OBS Nationals and just celebrated its 10th anniversary in legendary fashion. Formerly hosted beneath the iconic USS Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, the show has now shifted gears to an even more adrenaline-packed location: the world-famous Talladega Superspeedway. Craig Rowley and his dedicated team pulled out all the stops to make this milestone event their biggest and baddest yet, drawing custom trucks from every corner of the country. From slammed mini-trucks to sky-high lifted beasts, there was something for every kind of enthusiast and then some. One of the hottest highlights this year was the return of the OBS Nationals, a dedicated section of the show now in its second year. OBS…

The third-generation K5 Chevy Blazer was the last generation, as Chevy discontinued the K5 in 1994. The Blazer was one of the most popular Chevy SUVs in the long brand history. In 2005, Kevin Schroeder owned a 1992 Chevy K5 Blazer that he jacked up and was looking to have rebuilt. Kevin’s father had recently been diagnosed with cancer, so his timetable was to have it completely rebuilt before his father passed. Kevin enlisted Jason Watts from DJ Customs in Cedar Park, Texas, for a full rebuild. Jason knocked it out of the park for Kevin, bagging the lifted 4x4, rebuilding the entire motor and transmission, and completing all the bodywork and paint. Unfortunately, the timely task wasn’t completed before Kevin’s father lost his battle. Kevin was devastated and just…