Jamie Johnson, owner of the Marshfield, Missouri-based Rust 2 Rodz vehicle restoration shop, typically doesn't work with Class 8 trucks, but he pulled the 1955 needlenose Peterbilt 281 featured here out of the weeds and took on the rebuild as a personal project.
Johnson has been rebuilding and restoring cars for the better part of 40 years now, starting out when he was 16 working on a Chevy Vega that he narrowed and dropped a V8 in with the help of his dad.
Jamie Johnson showed his build at the 2025 Guilty By Association Truck Show in Joplin, Missouri.
Johnson's rebuilt some old Ford and Chevrolet cabovers through the years, but this rig was his first true semi.
He found the truck in 2019 parked in a salvage yard with “trees growing all around it,” he said.
The salvage yard owner told him the truck had been there since 1971. Johnson bought it for $5,500, and the trees around it had to be cut down so he could pull it out.
“It just kind of started from there,” Johnson said. “Of course, I build chassis for a living and stuff, and I wanted a one-ton. I don’t need a full-size truck. So, my idea was to build a one-ton."
Aviation and airplanes were a lot of Johnson’s inspiration behind the exterior styling. The aluminum's riveted look all around is meant to resemble a ‘40s or ’50s-era airplane.
“I don’t care to fly, but I love that look,” he said. “I love the aluminum look with the rivets and stuff.”
During the build, he made a one-ton chassis using C30 crossmembers out of a Chevy dually, used rack-and-pinion steering instead of a steering gearbox, quarter-inch two-by-six frame rails and more that he details in the video up top.
The wheels are 24.5-inch semi-truck wheels that he milled down to 24 inches to be able to put an SUV-style tire on them.
Under the hood is a 24-valve Cummins that Johnson “P-pumped,” meaning he replaced the electronic injection pump with a manual pump. Behind the engine is an NV4500 5-speed transmission -- usually found in GM and Dodge pickups -- coupled with a 3-speed auxiliary to give the rig a twin-stick setup.
The rig’s exterior features 3,394 bolts to look like rivets that Johnson drilled by hand. “They’re all 10-by-32 stainless button heads, and I drilled a lot of holes,” he said. “I hate drilling holes anymore.” He used only a handful of rivets in areas where he couldn’t get behind a panel.
Inside the cab “is all made out of colored aluminum,” Johnson said. “I wanted to be able to do it myself. I didn’t want to have to pay my interior guy to do anything, so I bead-rolled all the aluminum, the diamonds and stuff.”
The Bostrom seats he bought from 4 State Trucks and did have his interior guy put a diamond insert to match the rest of the interior. A friend of Johnson’s who makes cabinets put in the floors, which are cherry hardwood. Johnson also put in a tilt column, Dakota Digital gauges, and the rig sits on an air-ride suspension.
“It’s got everything that a new vehicle would have, and it’s comfortable to drive,” Johnson said. “The air conditioner blows cold, and it seems to be very reliable. We’ve taken a few trips, and I haven’t had any trouble so far with it.”
For Johnson, the truck is more than a showpiece -- he’s actually used it to haul a friend’s 1955 Chevy hot rod in a 32-foot enclosed trailer from his Missouri home base to the Triple Crown of Rodding in Nashville.
[Related: 1.8M miles and counting: Missouri owner-op's '05 W900L]
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Jamie Johnson: This is the first Peterbilt or Kenworth I've done. I've done some cabovers, Chevy and Ford truck and then the dualies and stuff like that, but this is the first little truck I built.
Hi, my name's Jamie Johnson and I own Rust 2 Rodz. I have a restoration shop in Marshville, Missouri, and mainly I concentrate on one-ton dually pickups and trucks that are one tons and '50s-model half-ton trucks. I started building cars when I was 16 and I'm 56 now. I started out with a little Vega and narrowed up the rear end in it, put a V8 in it. My dad helped me build, and that's kind of where it started actually.
It is a full size '55 needlenose Peterbilt that I found in a salvage yard, and it had trees growing all around it. The man told me it'd been there since 71.
I got it, I think 2019 is when I went and picked it up and gave $5,500 for it, and old boy had to cut the trees down so I could come and get it. And so it just kind of started from there. And of course I build chassis for a living and stuff and I wanted a one-ton. I don't need a full size truck. And so my idea was to build a one-ton, kind of a mini truck I guess you'd call it.
So I had a full body shop back then and I didn't want to have to pay my guys to paint because it cost me just like it did a customer. So I wanted to make sure I could do everything myself. I'm not a body man. I'm a fabricator, so actually that's why I went with the aluminum and I love airplanes. I don't care to fly, but I love that look. I love the aluminum look with the rivets and stuff.
So I wanted to build a one ton chassis. So we started out, back then I used to use the C30 crossmember like out of Chevy pickups. And so I took the cross member out of a one-ton dually truck and we did do a rack on it instead of a gearbox. And I did two-by-six frame rails, quarter inch. And it's got also like a three inch stiff back on it, mainly just to bulk the frame to make it look better more than it needed string. And I did the four link in the back. It's got one ton airbags I bought from Ridetech, but I built all the four link in the back, and the wheels, as far as the wheels, they're semi wheels, but they have adapters that accept the wheel.
The big wheels and the wheels are actually 24.5 semi wheels that they milled down to 24. And that way you can put an SUV style tire on. It's got a 24-valve Cummins that's been p pumped, make it more of a manual instead of the computer. It's got a NV 4500 5-speed behind that. And then it's also got a three speed brownie twin stick they call it, truckers call it, and a behind that.
So it's got 3,394 bolts on the outside of the truck and they're all bolts except for a few rivets where I couldn't get behind the panel and everything and I used a closed in rivet that way the water wouldn't get in it. But yeah, they're all 10 by 32 stainless button heads and drilled a lot of holes. I hate drilling holes anymore.
I've been working on this about five and a half years, but I went a year and didn't touch it while I was building my new shop, and sometimes I just have to go away, get it back from it. I actually need to finish the sleeper part. We're actually doing seats back here like a crew cab, and I got to finish that. Last winter, I just wasn't in the mood and when I'm not in mood, I don't think you need to work on 'em. And they're home projects. They're not business projects.
The only difference in this compared to the trucks I built is just a lot more hours spent in this truck. This truck would be very, I mean very expensive. I've had a dozen people ask me what it would cost to build a truck, can compare to this, and be honest with, you're probably talking a couple hundred thousand dollars, this sounds crazy, but when you got the parts and labor and everything, but I could build a simpler one, probably around $140, $150,000.
But they're using trucks, they're not show trucks. I mean they're made to go down the road pull trailer, I got trailers I pull with it, and we actually went to Nashville to the Triple Crown, pulled a 32-foot closed trailer with my buddy's '55 Chevy in. The interior is all made out of colored aluminum. Again, I wanted to be able to do it myself. I didn't want to have to pay my interior guy to do anything. And so I bead rolled at all the aluminum with the diamonds and stuff. And the seats actually came from 4 State Trucks. But I had my interior guy put the diamond insert in 'em to match the interior. A friend of mine's a cabinet maker and so I talked to him into doing the floors, and it's got cherry hardwood floors in it. It's got full air ride suspension that I can control from my phone. It's got vintage air, it's got Dakota gauges, tilt column. I did it steering column. I mean it's got everything that a new vehicle have and it's comfortable to drive. The air conditioner blows cold and it seems to be very reliable. We've taken it on a few trips and I haven't had any trouble so far with it. They're old cars, so sometimes you have trouble. But so far it's been a very reliable truck.
