Justin Lofton's Rough Rider Ford F-150

When Justin Lofton was a kid he had a Ford Rough Riders poster hanging in his bedroom hoping he could be part of the team someday. Unfortunately the team was dissolved before Justin was old enough to have a chance. That didn’t keep him from pursuing his dreams of off-road racing, and has been racing Stadium Super Trucks as well as a Trick Truck in the Best In The Desert (BITD) Racing Association.

When Method Wheels approached him to see if he would be willing to do a Heritage Livery for the 2021 NORRA 1000 Race of the Simon & Simon Rough Riders 1995 Ford F-150, Justin welcomed the opportunity.

2015 Jimco Gen 3 Trick Truck packed with modern technology such as a big block engine mated to a Fortin 5-speed transmission, modern-day Fox suspension, tall Yokohama tires and Method 103 Race Series beadlock wheels.

In 1991 Paul and Dave Simon, or Simon & Simon as they came to be known, won a Championship in class 7 4×4 in the first year of the Ford Rough Riders before moving to the highly competitive unlimited class (class 1). The Russ Wernimont built truck was basically a full tube chassis, 4-link rear suspension and boxed front suspension with a fiberglass Ford body. Wheel travel was approximately 20-inches in the front and around 28-inches in the rear.

For 1991 those numbers were impressive but if you don’t have the shocks to handle that much travel it doesn’t really matter. Russ had to build just about everything for this truck by hand, and that included the shocks. Bilstein was able to supply him with some parts but the shock bodies (3.25” OD) and pistons were custom. The 800hp Ford engine was pushed back about a 1/4 of the way into the cab to help with weight distribution. The Simons would also be running the new 37-inch BFGoodrich Project tires that had only been out for about a year.

Todays off-road race trucks are a lot more advanced than they were in the early 1990’s, but you have to admit that 1995 F-150 body with the Rough Riders paint scheme looks pretty amazing on the Jimco Truck Truck.