This 2022 Peterbilt 389 is one of the newest builds from the shop of Troy Massey and Nacogdoches, Texas-based Massey Motor Freight.
Nicknamed "Dustn' the Wind," the truck is a tribute to Massey's "friend first, salesman second" Dustin DuPree, whom he'd long worked with on truck purchases before DuPree passed during the COVID pandemic. "So the truck sat for a little while, while we figured out what we were going to do to honor him," Massey said. "We decided we'd call the truck 'Dustn' the Wind,' and then we began work."
Overdrive found Massey out at the Peterbilt Pride & Class parade event and truck show in October 2023, where Massey said he'd ordered the rig as bare-bones as possible with a plain white cab and a Baffin Blue frame, no exhaust, etc. Before they'd put the first mile on the 389's odometer, Massey and his team stripped it down to just the frame rails and started ordering new parts for it.
Most of the metal work was handled in-house by Massey's team. The fenders, T-bar and rear bumper are from Nu-Gen Services out of Louisiana. "They put their signature package on there," Massey said.
Massey said his shop fabricated all of the panels to wrap around the fuel tanks, "which is a job on its own," he said.Photos by Todd Dills
Massey also relocated the sleeper suspension and airbags, hiding them behind a panel to keep a clean look. The truck's exhaust system is all tucked away as well. It still has a DEF system and "weed burner" exhaust, all positioned beneath the truck or otherwise hidden. The stacks themselves are just for show.
The truck features a factory Peterbilt interior that has been re-covered in King Ranch leather, except for the door panels. A friend of Massey's from Houston, Mike Tatum, did the upholstery work.
The floor of the interior is clear-coated over a reproduced image designed to show a kind of "highway to heaven," Massey said.
One of the most impressive parts of the build is in the engine compartment. Massey said he and his team "pulled the engine, pulled the transmission, stripped everything that we could possibly take off of it." Then they chromed everything they could -- including the air compressor, alternator and more. "The front structure's chromed. The motor mounts are chromed. I mean, the fan shroud ring is chromed. The radiator assembly's all chrome. We chromed everything."
After everything was chromed and put back together, the engine and transmission were painted Baffin Blue.
Hear more from Massey on business from the scene in Denton, Texas, around the Pride & Class parade and truck show in this edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast:
[Related: Independent's stunning 'Little Blue' 1995 Freightliner FLD]
For more videos and custom-equipment features delivered to your email inbox, subscribe to Overdrive's weekly Custom Rigs newsletter via this link.
Troy Massey: Started out with as naked as a truck as you could get from Peterbilt, just a plain white truck with nothing on it, no exhaust anything. And in a Baffin blue frame. And we got the truck in, it sat for a while because the name of the truck is Dustn' the Wind. And unfortunately our salesman and our friend, friend first, salesman second, Dustin, he passed and during COVID. So the truck sat for a little while, while we figured out what we were going to do to honor him. So we decided we'd call the truck Dustin the Wind and then we began work.
So we stripped it all the way down with literally zero miles on it. We stripped it down to the frame. No cab, no sleeper, no engine, no radiator assembly, no nothing. And we started ordering new parts. I would say most of the metal work we did in our shop, fabbing things up. We did bring in our friends from Nu-Gen for the fenders in the T-bar and rear bumper. They put their signature package on there. And we wanted something strong and sturdy and we needed to focus our time on a lot of the other custom things. So all of the panels, the deck plate, because it has an underbelly also under it that that's got lights facing down, so you can't see up in the frame. All of the panels, they wrap around the fuel tank. The way they do that, so they started out as bubs and then the other 50% is we just built onto them and made it look as if they came that way, which is a job in its own.
Around behind the sleeper of the truck. We relocated all the sleeper suspension and airbags. Built a little panel to hide all that so it's real clean and neat looking. Behind the exhaust, because it does have weed burner, fully functioning DEF system, it's all under factor warranty. So the weed burner is still underneath there. So we do have dummy stacks, but we built these panels behind the stacks so that it's a lot more difficult to... it tricks your eye a little bit as you're walking by it don't just stand out and you say, oh, it's got dummy stack.
Another cool thing is on the driver's side, there's no DEF tank. And so one of the other things that we brought in an outsider is we picked up a picket DEF relocation. So the batteries went to this side, DEF tanks in the driver's side step, and you fill it right underneath the hood and put 150 gallon tank to match the passenger side, painted those. And so it's white, Baffin blue, and then legendary gray. So you see the sparkle in the gray in the sun. And my buddy in Houston, Mike Tatum, he owns an upholstery shop and that's all he does and we're lifelong friends. And so I hired him to do this job. So it's a full factory interior, just recovered in King Ranch leather except for the door panels, because we eliminated the door pockets.
As far as the engine. Most of the work that we spent is in the engine bay because we pulled the engine, pulled the transmission, stripped everything that we could possibly take off of it. And every little item that you can possibly chrome, we sent down to Houston to have it chromed. We even took the air compressor apart, we took the alternator apart, we took everything apart that we could possibly take apart and had it chromed, put it back together and then reinstalled it painted the engine Baffin blue, the transmission Baffin blue. The front structure's chromed. The motor mounts are chromed. I mean, the fan shroud ring is chromed. The radiator assembly's all chrome. We chromed everything. And then to top it off, the wheels, they're original Peterbilt oval wheels and we sent them down to a buddy of mine's shop in Houston and he made what he called big-hole Peterbilts. So they still have the factory oval, it's just exaggerated now.
Arroyo front end, air ride front end under it with piggyback King shocks, and a King steering stabilizer. And we did that so that you can still have that ride quality and no bump steer of a factory air ride, but we can sit the front end all the way on the ground, sit the bumper all the way on the ground when you're parked at a show. Kind of cool, a little show gimmick.
