Less Is Moore

This month’s cool creation was built for Coast Pipe in Paso Robles, CA. Clint Moore may be known for his striking paint schemes and old-school stripes, but for every flashy truck he creates, two equally-nice but plain-looking ones go out the door. This is one of those units. And although it may look like there is not a lot to SEE on this truck, following the “less is more” approach, there certainly is a lot to SAY about what all has been done to it!

Coast Pipe is an outfit that specializes in all types of pipe products used for fencing, barns, sheds, vineyards, corrals, cattle chutes and gates, as well as a wide variety of posts, panels, roofing and erosion control products. Owned by Peter Orradre and Bill Roth, the two business partners bought the company nine years ago, which sells products in the states of California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada.

Last year, Rawley Duncan, a salesman and general representative of Coast Pipe, went with his friend Clay White to pick up the truck he had ordered from Clint (featured in our August 2012 edition). The two ended up spending a week with Clint, and became pretty good friends. Shortly after Rawley returned from that trip, the company got a “nice” letter from the State of California, telling them that they had to start upgrading their equipment – or else! Not really wanting to buy a bunch of new trucks, they were pretty much forced to. Rawley recommended to his boss, Kris Broubaret, that they order these new units through Clint, and they did.

Starting out with a couple medium-duty models for pulling a gooseneck trailer in and out of those tight delivery locations, the company quickly realized that they were going to have to upgrade their big truck, too. Since they have had good luck with the red ovals in the past, they went ahead and ordered another one from Clint.

The truck is a 2014 Peterbilt 389 with a 36” sleeper, a Cummins 550 ISX, an 18-speed, Low Low-Air suspension, and a car-hauler front axle. The plain white truck sits on a modest wheelbase, but there is nothing plain about this rig. After it showed up at the dealership, the guys installed extra grill bars, a dump valve on the steer axle, a custom Clint Moore stainless drop visor, and seven cab lights with clear lenses. The air cleaners were chopped and the straps were removed, a powder-coated deck plate was installed, and an over-inflate system was added for those “what was I thinking” moments. Then, stainless Hogebuilt half-fenders were installed using Clint’s hidden brackets, custom two-inch wide skirts were added to the bottom of the cab and sleeper, a shock-box cover was built, and a rear visor was installed.

But the coolest feature on this truck, if you are looking close, is the sneaky new way Clint hid the urea tank – in the battery box! The batteries were moved to a box built between the frame rails, behind the sleeper, and then the fuel tank on the left side was moved forward to match the one on the right side – you know, the way it should be! Clint sketched out his idea on a napkin one night at dinner and then his dad (who just celebrated his 70th birthday), made it happen.

If you live in California or run into the state and are being forced to upgrade, we suggest you call Clint, just like Coast Pipe did, and let him build you a cool, compliant truck, that will allow you to keep on truckin’ for years to come. And with a “less is Moore” style (or not), you can have a simply-cool Clint Moore Peterbilt, too.