Ford F-150 U-Haul Pickup Is a Serious Drag Racer in Disguise

Built to Haul (Tail)

U-Haul has been offering up all sorts of moving services since it originated way back in 1945, but most know them for the trailers and even trucks that the company rents out. Many of us have rented one and used it to move various goods, and for those that don't own a truck, it's pretty appealing that they can do so for a reasonable price in a short period of time. However, this Ford F-150 "U-Haul" truck isn't exactly what one might think - rather, it's a purpose-built drag racer with a humorous exterior treatment that certainly raises its fair share of eyebrows. 

Photos: Stacy Kinney

One Specific Purpose

Recently featured by MotorTrend, this wild 2018 Ford F-150 is owned by Stacy Kinney of Lawton, Oklahoma, who is actually a technician at a GMC dealership. However, Kinney is a Blue Oval guy at heart, and ordered this particular pickup brand new for around $29k with as few options as he could with one very specific purpose in mind. 

Photos: Stacy Kinney

Evolving Build

Kinney originally intended to make this F-150 a 10-second daily driver and proceeded to slap a ProCharger on it. However, the need for speed only grew, as it usually does, but a VMP supercharger swap only lasted for a couple of months as it was just generating too much heat. That part also wound up breaking the Coyote's crankshaft, all of which prompted Kinney to just give up on superchargers and go with a pair of turbos instead. 

Photos: Stacy Kinney

Full Rebuild

This time, Kinney enlisted Ochs Performance in Texas to give his pickup a full redo, and they proceeded to utilize a Predator block and crank from a Shelby GT500 with Darton sleeves, 12:1 forged JE pistons, and Manley rods, all of which are topped off by a pair of On3 66/67 turbos. Currently, Kinney is using 20 pounds of boost to run low nines - as good as a 9.01 at 149 mph - but he knows there's much more waiting to be unleashed with more boost.

Photos: Stacy Kinney

Brilliant Idea

It was also around this time that Kinney came up with the idea to go with the fake U-Haul treatment, which helped this boosted F-150 stand out from a growing crowd of them. “Me and my buddy were sitting in the shop, scrolling Facebook, and we happened to come across a deal where they had photoshopped a GMC truck with the U-Haul stuff on it," he explained. "We laughed and he said, ‘You should do this with your truck!’ I said, ‘Well, if you get the stickers, we’ll do it.’ Three days later, here he comes with the stickers, and he says ‘Come on, buddy, let’s get busy.’ So we put some stickers on it and finished up the turbo swap and now here we are.” 

Photos: Stacy Kinney

Sleeper Appeal

Of course, the concept of that look is to fool opponents into thinking that they're actually racing a regular old, run-of-the-mill rental truck, which could help give Kinney a bit of an edge - at least, if they look past its drag wheel/tire setup and the sound of that beefed up powertrain. Turns out, some folks still fall for it, too. 

Photos: Stacy Kinney

Catching Them Off-Guard

“We mainly did it to get some races, using it as a decoy-type deal," Kinney said. "The first time we took it to the track with the U-Haul stuff on it, man, the kids and everybody just loved it, so it just kind of stayed with the truck. Everybody around here kind of knows the truck now, so nobody will race it, unfortunately. The whole decoy thing is kind of out the window! Most of the time you can get ’em, you just gotta talk to them before you start it up so they don’t hear it. Most of the time you can sucker them into it. The Lamborghinis, the C6s, the newer Mustangs, and stuff like that. The Dodges are the easier ones to do. The Hellcats and the Demons. Every time I race somebody, I’ll go up to them and talk to them afterward. Usually, their response is, ‘I really didn’t expect that!’” 

Photos: Stacy Kinney

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