This month’s creation was ordered and built for our friend Beau Hillius of Hillius Trucking in Carson, ND (we did a previous feature on Beau and his brother Ben back in October of 2022). Beau was ready for an upgrade from the last truck we ordered for him. At first, he was very skeptical of a new 589, but he also knew that, like the old Bob Dylan song says, “Times They Are A-Changin.” He just wanted to trust the process. So, off we went.
He was undecided on a color at first, but Beau and his girlfriend Christy decided, why change colors? He loved the color of his last 389, and the new truck was a different model, so why not just keep it the same. Once that was decided, the rest was “do the best with what you get” and the end result is what’s pictured here. The new Peterbilt 589 has a 58” flattop, an X15 Cummins with 2,050 torque, an 18-speed, and is loaded with all the goodies and a lift axle.
Once the truck showed up, we were actually still working on 389s, so our friends at The Weld Shop in Leavenworth, KS (Built by Bub) asked us to take the truck to them so they could work a few of the ideas we had and design new parts for the new body style. I can tell you it wasn’t easy for them, but I think Storm and Bub did an amazing job coming up with some cool new parts and new pieces for the model 589 trucks.
This truck features a lot of those new parts including a specially designed visor, revised and upgraded one piece mirror arms, new cowl panels, cab skirts, ramps, and a new tail box. Once they got the parts designed and fabricated so they could produce them, we picked the truck up and brought it back. Once here, Mike was given the job of dialing the rest of the truck in.
Starting off with hiding the DEF tank on brackets I made, Mike added a Lincoln Chrome bumper, including “Iowegian” real sealed base glass light kits, steer axle dumps, 12 Ga. front and rear breather lights, and dummy 7” stacks using clamps my dad welded together for me (still not making them yet, but there may be something in the works). The paint shop painted the fuel tanks, added a flush deck plate with one of my V-boxes, and painted the sleeper cab pressure release vents. Cody polished the deck plate side rails and then Mike installed a set of Hill stainless lift axle fenders on Pederson brackets, four (painted) rear Shift bicycle-style fenders, and painted the rear tail box. The KC Peterbilt Service Department was kind enough to add an engine heater, as well.
Wanting to change the headlights, I reached out to my friend Carl at Rockwood Products to help build me adapters to mount 379 headlights to the new 589s because they are different angles, and you don’t want to have cross-eyed headlights. Carl now has them available, along with weld-on caps, and also factory style grill bars that are flat on the back for easy installation. Please reach out to us or to him if you get the hankering to add those to your truck.
At the last minute, Beau requested us to change his seats to Legacy low riders, and those of you that have been to the dealership know we stock hundreds of those on the showroom floor. I was happy to see two less sitting there. I am excited about how the truck turned out, with just a few ideas coming together, and moving forward. Beau has had the opportunity to run the truck and loves it – it’s quiet and rides and handles beautifully. Thanks to Beau for the business, patience, and being open to change.