Eddie Homfeld, owner of Buckner, Missouri-based Lacoh Transport, bought the 2024 Peterbilt 389 featured in the video above with the intent to add a few custom parts and put it to work.
After Homfeld took the rig to Geis Peterbilt in Kansas City, Kansas, though, “one thing led to another,” according to Geis builder Cody McCandless, and the project turned into a full-on custom transformation.
Cody McCandless
McCandless, who did most of the work on the 389, said Homfeld brought the truck to him in June of 2024 to fashion an above-average working unit. "It was going to have this stripe package on it. We body-dropped the truck two inches to start with, and we had a few great ideas to make a nice work truck.”
One day in the shop around mid-October 2024, McCandless had all of the stock interior pulled out to cut the back window, and Homfeld walked into the shop. He told McCandless, “Don’t put it back in stock, make sure it goes back custom.”
That put the finish date for the work closer to the end of 2024, “and by the time we got to that, we were Louisville-bound,” McCandless said. “So we just kept pressing on it through the springtime and took it to Louisville” to show at MATS.
After the body-drop and stripe, McCandless swapped out the 389 grille for a 379-style grille, then added square 359-style headlights on the factory brackets. He said Homfeld had bought a lot of parts from 12 Ga. Customs, so McCandless added all of those to the rig -- that 379-style grille, breather screens and more. Homfeld “had a very good idea and foundation of exactly the truck that he wanted.”
The rig also features “a gob of RoadWorks parts,” McCandless said. “They really make a great product that can go to a full custom-build truck. From the bumper to the lighting -- it’s got over 200 RoadWorks dual-cut lights on it -- hood buckles, grille bars; they helped us out with a lot.”
Once the foundation was laid, to keep the frame rails clean the team mounted the APU under the sleeper to hide it. They did, however, keep the DEF tank exposed, and all of the rig’s emissions tech is still intact, McCandless noted. He also countersunk the bolts on the frame to hide them.
The rear fenders and fender brackets are from Shift Products.
They were getting closer, yet McCandless decided “there was something needed to be done under the hood. We hadn’t touched it yet.”
He shaved the hood to remove all the emblems and, on the underside of the hood, built skins to mimic a 379's style with mud guards to match the grille, he said. He continued the stripe pattern on the underside of the hood, too.
The 565-hp Cummins X15 also features plenty of paint work.
Inside the rig, McCandless knew the truck would eventually be a daily worker, so he wanted it to be durable.
He pulled out all the plastic and vinyl and dyed them with a product from SEM Products. “I knew this truck will go to work, and I didn’t want paint to chip and fall,” he said, and for he and Lacoh to be able to show the truck “for a few years.”
The interior trim work is red to match the exterior striping.
The floor is polycarbonate that glows at night to create ambient lighting so the overhead lights aren’t blinding, McCandless noted.
In total, Homfeld's 389 represents “hands down the most elaborate truck that I’ve ever gotten the opportunity to build, and it has created its own opportunities and challenges within itself,” McCandless said. “It’s a proud moment to see it out here and see the way it is, because there has been a lot of days that you don’t succeed, but the challenge has been accepted, and we’re having fun with it.”
[Related: Missouri dealer's incredible 2016 Peterbilt 389, rebuilt from the bare frame]
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Cody McCandless: This is hands down the most elaborate truck that I've gotten the opportunity to build, and it has created its own opportunities and challenges within itself, and this is a proud moment to see it out here and see it the way it is, because there has been a lot of days that you don't succeed. But the challenge has been accepted and we're having fun with it.
I'm Cody McCandless. I work for Geis Peterbilt out of Kansas City, Kansas. We build custom trucks from new to old, and this is our latest creation that we built for Lacoh Transport, Eddie Homfeld. Eddie Homfeld kind of had a dream that he put it in my mind. We went to lunch a few times and we kicked around some ideas.
And prior to the build, he had purchased a lot of parts from 12 Gauge, the 12 Gauge grille, the breather screens, and he had a very good idea and foundation of exactly the truck that he wanted. This stripe was something that we were very adamant about, and I would say that he's really designed the truck more than anything, and I just laid in the fine details where needed.
It's a 2024 389. We started in June of '24 building the work truck. We body-dropped the truck two inches to start with, and we had a few great ideas to make a nice work truck. About mid-October, I was cutting the back window in this, and I had all most of the interior out to do that process, and Eddie had come in the shop and said, "well, don't put it back stock, make sure it goes back custom."
And that led us into later in the fall for completion date, almost to the end of the year. And by the time we got to that and we were Louisville bound, you know, so we just kept pressing on it through the spring time and took it to Louisville and won a couple of awards there in the limited mileage class, and felt pretty good about showing it and few other places this year.
We started, like I said, with just the body drop and the stripe. We changed the 389 grille out to 379, and the 359 square buckets on the factory brackets. It's got a gob of RoadWorks parts on it, and once we kind of got the foundation going, we knew we needed the APU, we wanted to tuck it up underneath the sleeper, keep the frame rail clean. And we kept the DEF tank exposed, and the aftertreatment is still all intact on the unit.
Once we left Louisville, we wanted to do more. We went home and I've countersunk and done a lot of fab work on the frame. All the frame's been countersunk, all the bolts hidden and welded, body worked out. The end of the frame, I tucked it all, made a nice recessed panel at the end of that. And hidden Shift fender... we're running Shift fender brackets and Shift fenders on this, and built a small modification to get the rear end tucked on that.
After that process, we decided that there was something needed to be done under the hood. We hadn't touched it yet, so the hood's been shaved. Inside I built skins to mimic a 379 style, with the mudguards to match the grille. And then we continued the stripe inside the hood, as well. Added a lot of detail to paint work in the motor area. It's a Cummins X15, it's just stock 565.
Every plastic and vinyl goods have been removed from this interior. We pulled the dash, and I decided to dye everything with a product SEM makes, because I know when this truck will go to work. I didn't want paint and to chip and fall. I wanted to be able to show it for a few years.
So we dyed all the black plastics and soft goods black and then trimmed it out in red. Used 12 Gauge's steering wheel. The floor is a polycarbonate floor that glows at night to create ambient lighting, so cool lights over your head aren't blinding. A lot of neat little details in there, as well. I'd say the build process is one thing led to another until a custom truck is never done.
