Breckenridge, Texas-based A.J. Field may not be an everyday truck driver, but he and his wife, Casey, are huge trucking enthusiasts, particularly when it comes to the trucks of yesteryear.
The Fields run a landscaping and irrigation business, including one truck for hauling trees, rock, sod and bigger items. They don’t own a trucking company in the traditional sense.
“My husband and I just both really love vintage things,” Casey Field said. “Peterbilt happens to be one of those things.”
A previously owned Peterbilt 359 they rebuilt to haul livestock when they raised cattle for about 13 years. The pair “kind of got that taste in our mouth of, ‘Oh, this was fun. Let’s do it again,’” Casey said.
Today, the couple owns a pair of 1969 Peterbilt 358s -- A.J.’s is a square nose (left), and Casey’s a needlenose.
A.J. got his 358 as a special Christmas gift from Casey back in 2020. He'd seen the truck on Facebook, showed it to her, then forgot about it after that. Casey worked with their close friend Cash Rainer, and “Santa Claus was good that year,” A.J. said.
The truck was in decent shape and had previously been redone for show. Even still, it had a bigger sleeper that they pulled off and replaced with a Bentz model A.J. found “and redid it and re-sheeted it with stainless,” he said.
The sleeper features quilted stainless all around.
Paint colors remain as when they bought it -- Legendary Gray with a red frame -- but they had it repainted to give it a fresh look, with minor changes to the scheme. Front fenders shifted from red to gray to give it a uniform look all around the cab.
One change they made to the rig is one not often seen on truck show lots like the American Truck Historical Society’s Annual Convention this year in Springfield, Missouri, where the rig was on display. The Fields actually shortened the wheelbase.
“It was just so long, we wound up taking 33 inches out of the frame of it and pulled it back instead of stretching it,” A.J. said. “Most people stretch them. We took it out. It was just too long.”
Even after taking so much out of the frame, its wheelbase still sits between 270 and 280 inches, he noted.
Outback Customs in Oklahoma City added all of the stainless and did the interior on the rig. Prior to the work, the interior “was red and had flames in it,” A.J. said, “and I just couldn’t. ... We had to change that. Go back to a little bit more traditional.”
The more muted tones of the brown interior give the truck a classic feel.
It's powered by an E-model Cat, which A.J. said was in good condition when they bought it, so they left it alone. That's coupled with an 18-speed.
The truck doesn’t see much highway, though that changed some this year with the completion of the build on Casey Field’s 358. For now, A.J.’s truck pulls Casey’s on a trailer.
“We call it the stepchild because it hauls hers, so it doesn’t get as much attention as far as love and care,” A.J. said. “It’s still a cool old truck to have.”
Stay tuned next week for a video and more detailing of Casey’s pristine 1969 Peterbilt 358 needlenose that was 10 years in the making.
[Related: 'Gangster Hauler': Al Capone-themed 1967 Kenworth W925]
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A.J. Field: I actually got it for Christmas one year from my wife. I showed it to her on Facebook or whatever and kind ignored it with her, and one of my good friends got it. And anyway, Santa Claus was good that year.
A.J. Field, we're from Breckenridge, Texas. We've always loved trucks, enjoyed trucks. Just we like the old stuff.
Overdrive: What kind of shape was it in when you got it?
A.J. Field: It was in good shape. It's in pretty good shape. It'd been redone. It'd been to Dallas for the truck show and stuff. It's got an E-model Cat in it, electronic motor, and has 18 speed in it. And mechanically it was in pretty good shape.
We got it repainted and did the bunk and everything. We took it to Denton to Peterbilt, and it was just so long. We wound up taking 33 inches out of the frame of it and pulled it back instead of stretching it. Most people stretch them. We took it out. It was just too long.
Overdrive: What's the wheelbase on it now?
A.J. Field: It's about 280, 270-280, something like that. Yes, sir.
Overdrive: Still pretty long.
A.J. Field: Yeah it is. Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah. It was a little over 300 and it was just too long. So good friend of mine found a Bentz sleeper for me, and we took it and redid it and re-sheeted it with stainless and stuff, a little different.
Outback or 1492 did the interior in it out of Oklahoma City and did a good job on it. It's been a day or so since they've done that. It's been probably 2 or 3 years, but they did a good job on it.
Other than that, I mean, it's pretty standard. We call it the stepchild because it hauls hers, so it doesn't get as much attention as far as love and care. But anyways, it's still a cool old truck to have.
