Eden, Arizona-based Shawn Wright spent about 15 years as an owner-operator before retiring from the trucking business at the young age of 35 to be able to spend more time with his wife and five children at home.
He followed in his father’s footsteps by getting into trucking, as well as out of it, as his dad came off the road around the age of 35 as well.
Wright drove from the age of 20 up to that point, though, mostly hauling produce in the summer and cattle the rest of the year. He’s been involved in the agriculture industry in Arizona since his retirement from trucking.
“It was a hard choice,” Wright said of retiring from the business. “I liked it. I liked driving. I had a [Peterbilt] 359 then.”
Today, Wright is the owner of an even more vintage Peterbilt -- a 1968 358A that one of his sons saw on social media. They knew their father “wanted something to play with and just mess around with,” so they contacted the owner. He didn’t want to sell the truck, but he’d trade for it, so they got the classic Pete in exchange for a three-horse stock trailer.
Shawn Wright and his grandson, Kolter, are shown here at the 2024 Peterbilt Pride & Class Parade and truck show in Denton, Texas, following a 1,000-mile trek with "no A/C, no power steering, no radio."
“It was a cab and a hood, and it ran,” Wright said. At the time he acquired it about three years ago, it had a 262 Cummins with a 13-speed. He soon swapped out the 13-speed for a two-stick 6-and-4.
Wright had the truck on display at the 2024 Peterbilt Pride & Class Parade and truck show, but under the hood was a 400 Big Cam instead of the 262.
[Related: Pride and Class: 7th-annual Pete parade event in the books]
“The 262 blew up a week before we were coming here,” he said back at the event in October. “I wasn’t going to come. I just didn’t have a motor; didn’t have money to put a motor in it.”
Tristan Hatch with Old Iron Truckin’ got word of the mishap, however, and supplied the Big Cam to allow Wright and his grandson, Kolter, to make the 1,000-mile trek from Arizona to Denton, Texas, for the show -- “No A/C, no power steering, no radio,” but it ran and made the trip.
The help from Hatch and Old Iron has been of a piece with the rest of the build -- Wright said he hasn’t put much money into it, but he's made a number of changes and additions with things he’s either made, borrowed or traded for. The only exceptions to that have been the visor and fenders be bought to put on it.
The grille, for example: he had a friend who had dented his 379 grille, so he gave it to Wright, who turned it sideways to make it fit. The bumper came from the same friend, who said it “wasn’t shiny enough for him,” Wright noted, “so I put it on the truck.”
He traded two calves for the straight stacks.
He made the light bar on the rear of the truck out of deck plates from a cattle trailer.
In the cab, he added a wood floor and, because he couldn’t afford truck seats, went to a salvage yard and found two conversion van seats for $40 that he bought and installed.
When the Big Cam 400 was swapped in, a 5-and-4 transmission was put in, as well, replacing the 6-and-4 Wright had put in it after he got the truck.
The stick for the main box is a Volkswagen tie rod, and the auxiliary stick is out of an old school bus.
“Stuff like that is fun for me,” Wright said. “I’ve just built it and not spent a lot, but I had fun doing it.”
The sleeper, an old Mercury Fabricators unit, Wright found locally sitting under a mesquite tree. It had been taken off of a Mack in the 1980s, he said. “I’ve known it’s been there for 30 years, probably,” he noted. “He kept telling me if I ever built a truck again, I could have it. Well, I went to get it and he kind of balked,” but eventually agreed to let Wright take it. “It was in bad shape, really bad shape. I had to put a floor in it.”
The Mercury sleeper adds a unique look to the classic Peterbilt.
After he got it all put together, he took it by the previous owner’s house to show him the finished product, and just a few days later, he passed away.
Wright had planned to polish the sleeper to make it shine again, but it was pointed out that the previous owner’s ICC numbers and other identifying marks could still be made out on the side. “I thought, ‘Man, that’s cool.’ So I’m gonna have them all lettered back out.”
[Related: Semi-retired owner-op Lynn DeNeve's fresh '24 Pete 389 build]
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Shawn Wright: So it was in Phoenix, one of my boys, I got four boys, saw it on Facebook or somewhere called the guy. And he said he didn't want to sell it, but he had traded for it. So Tyson traded a three horse stock trailer for it and it was a cab and hood and it had a 2 62 Cummins with a 13 speed in it. And he knew I always wanted something to play with and just mess around with. So he got it and drove it up and it barely, it wouldn't even stay in the lane. It was rough. It was pretty rough. And I've had it for about two and a half, three years. I've not put a lot of money in it. I've bought, actually bought the visor and the fenders. That was it. Everything else I made or borrowed or traded or got out of people's junk pile.
So that's been the fun part for me. I got invited here. I had a 2 62 of the six and four in it that I'd put in. And the 2 62 blew up a week before we were coming here. And so I wasn't going to come. I didn't have a motor, didn't have money to put a motor in it. And Tristan Hatch with old iron truck and he's a good dude. He just text me. He's put what with question marks on a Sunday and I said, motor blown I can't go. And he called me right then. He said, I'm going to put a motor in your truck for you. So they came to my house, loaded it, hauled it to his shop in Duncan and he and his cousin TN pulled that 2 62 out and he had a big cam 400 that they put in. And it wasn't easy, nothing fit.
I mean the motor barely fits in that thing. And so I kept calling him, what do I need to do? And finally he just said, stay out of the way. They got it running. We pulled it out of the shop Saturday. I went to pick it up, drove it about five miles. It quit, would run, messed with it all day. And it was a flapper in the fuel line. Got that running, went to church Sunday, loaded everything Sunday afternoon and Colter, my grandson and I left Monday morning and drove out here a thousand miles in it. Wow. No ac, no power steering, no radio. So it ran. Only had a little, couple little hiccups and it was good from the front. It had a rock crusher screen for the grill. So a buddy of mine had dented his 3 79 grill. So I took that grill and turned it up sideways and made a grill.
The bumper come out of the same scrap pile. It wasn't shiny enough for him, so I put it on this truck. Had a 13 speed in it. I put a six and a four. It's got a five and a four. Now over traded, two calves for the straight stacks. I made the light bar on the back out of deck plates, out of a cow trailer. Coulter's favorite part is there's a big stainless plate in the back that was a commercial refrigerator door that I cut and put on back there. But we put a wood floor in it. I couldn't afford truck seats. So I went to the wrecking yard and got two van seats for 40 bucks. Conversion van seats. So they turn out, they swivel out my sticks. I wanted chrome sticks. So the main box is a Volkswagen Tie rod, chrome tie rod, and the auxiliary's out of an old school bus.
Stuff like that's fun for me. I've just built it and not spent a lot, but had fun doing it. The Mercury belonged to a guy there in town. He took it off. It was a Mac in the eighties and it was under a tree, a mesquite tree for I've known. It's been there for 30 years probably. And he kept telling me if I ever built a truck again, I could have it. Well, I went to get it and he kind of boxed. He said, I don't want to get rid of it. And I said, come on Mike. It deal's the deal. So I took it and it was bad shape, really bad shape. I had to put a floor in it and got it all put together, put it on the truck. I went by his house, showed him him for a ride. About three days later he died, passed away. So here at the truck I was going to have it all polished out and a suggestion was made. You can see all of his ICC numbers and stuff. They said, don't polish it, leave that on. And I thought, man, that's cool. So I'm going to have 'em all letter back out.
