Braedon Zawada, 22, from Saskatchewan, Canada, has always been a grease monkey, whether playing with Hot Wheels as a child or modding his custom diesel truck as an adult. His fascination has been an obsession since he got his driver’s license in high school.

“My first truck was a 2004 F350 6.0L Lariat that I got from my dad,” Braedon recollected.

At first, his dad was just letting him drive the truck as a mode of transportation to and from school, but then Braedon started slowly putting money into it. By the time graduation came, he had put new injectors, custom tuning, AirDog fuel system, lift, flares, and a few other small things to it.

“It doesn’t sound like much, but only being 16 and making $11 an hour and learning everything from YouTube and forums, it’s not bad at all.”

Disaster Strikes

Because Braedon had taken such good care of the truck and modded it so much, Braedon’s dad put the truck in his name for a graduation present, which Braedon thinks was probably the best gift he could have received because of how much he loved it. However, shortly after graduation, his ‘04 was stolen right out of the parking lot in the middle of the day where he worked. He ended up finding it about a week later, and though there was no major damage, everything had been stolen out of it.

“The only thing they left was my SCT monitor, the same one I have in my 6.0L today.”

Unfortunately, the truck had to be written off. But with the money Braedon got from the insurance, he ended up finding his 2005 6.0L Power Stroke F350 Harley Davidson edition a couple hours away from home. The outside of the truck was in decent condition, but the motor was another story. The oil was so thick and sludgy that he had to trailer it home. The engine bay was covered in oil and grease, and the ball joints and steering components were almost nonexistent.

“It just needed some love.”

So he picked it up for half of what he received for his other truck and was on his way. 

Shortly after, he got an oilfield job fracking—that’s where the big changes started happening for the truck. Every paycheck, Braedon put half of his earnings away into savings, and the remainder went towards parts for the truck. He began ordering one thing at a time, starting with the immediate drivability parts and preventative maintenance and upgrades, then slowly started getting into the performance side of things. 

Braedon has made many modifications to his Power Stroke since he first bought it, so many that it would almost be easier to recite them in an itemized list.

Engine/Fuel

BD Diesel Stage 2 GT37 66.5mm/72.5mm Screamer Turbo, BD Diesel Big Power up-pipes and Y-pipe, ARP 425 head studs, heads machined 290xxx km w/ OEM gaskets, Warren Diesel 190cc 75 percent over injectors, Blue Spring fuel pressure upgrade kit, XDP regulated fuel return system, AirDog II 165 4G lift pump, Sinister Diesel fuel sump kit, Sinister Diesel oil and coolant filtration kit, Sinister Diesel fuel and oil filter caps, Sinister Diesel 200amp alternator, Sinister Diesel billet water pump, Sinister Diesel aluminum degas bottle and cap, Sinister Diesel CAC piping and intake elbow, Sinister Diesel No Limit cold air intake MISHIMOTO Performance Radiator, FICM Repair Deluxe Blue 1/0 and 4/0 battery cable upgrade, Swamps Motorsports 58V FICM, SCT Livewire ts+, Warren Diesel Custom Race Hot Street tow tunes, “harpooned” fuel tank, 4-inch turbo back exhaust with 8-inch RBP tip, 6.7L Power Stroke starter, GLOW SHIFT gauges, a new thermostat, and updated standpipes/dummy plugs.

Transmission

Updated 6.4 trans pan/pleated filter, DieselSite Trans bypass filter kit, Stage 2 direct solenoid, Stage 2 EPC solenoid, new valve body screen/gaskets, billet dummy plug, and a new temperature sensor.

Suspension & Towing

A 4-inch PRO COMP suspension lift kit, Air Lift rear airbags, BDS dual-sided steering stabilizer, BDS adjustable track bar, FOX 2.0 shocks, WARN premium manual locking hubs, POWERSTOP Performance drilled/slotted rotors, a new Summit Racing front drive shaft, B&W hidden gooseneck hitch, CURT Class 5 20,000-pound hitch powder-coated receiver, and a REESE trailer brake control.

Lighting

BlackOut housings, custom “6.0L” lens etching, Morimoto/NHK super h1 projectors and NHK hid kit, Morimoto harness, Turbine shroud with 100mm profile, color change halo, switchback turn signal running lights, VIP LED smoked taillights with OPT7 LED reverse lights, RECON Super Duty light-up door sill plates, LED interior and license plate lights, OPT7 Aura LED running board and courtesy lights, 40-inch plus 2x 7-inch SS Series single row FCK light bars, FabWorks adapters with 20-inch Rigid light bar, white LED clearance light, Oracle Double Row Pure White ring lights, 14 Pure White GLO PRO LED rock lights, LED grille lights, and sequential switchback mirror lights.

Looking Back

“Everyone always asks me how I learned so much and how I know so much about diesels, and honestly I just started doing research, and little by little I got better and learned more and more as I went,” says Braedon. “I did everything myself, and it’s a pretty good feeling to take something old and run down and turn it into a complete head turner.” 

And he should be proud! Braedon’s truck really is a head turner, no matter whether he’s driving it down the street or parked at a show.

When asked if his truck had a nickname, Braedon said, “I guess you could say it is Nasty. I decided to call it that because it seemed to be the most common word used to describe my truck. People would walk up and say ‘This thing is nasty!’ So that’s what I started to call it. And that’s the look I was going for—an aggressive/mean-looking street truck that can still be a daily and tow.”

What’s Next?

The work never stops, especially on a truck. But even after all of Braedon’s modifications (with many more modifications going unlisted), he still has plans for future alterations to his diesel truck.

Braedon says that he has already ordered a BDS 8-inch long arm lift with FOX shocks, custom 2.5-inch level, PMF coil buckets, PMF front and rear diff covers, custom frame faceplates, custom forged 26×16 TIS wheels, 39×15.5 Versatyre MXTs, and a SoCal billet compound turbo kit that will include a S480 over his stage 2 vgt. axles and all suspension as well as engine parts and piping and turbos will all be coated in illusion cherry from Prismatic. And after all that is done, he plans on redoing the box and box mounts, adding a fresh paint job, and doing some body work this summer.

“Other further upgrades would be a fully built bottom end and a built trans. The goal is 1000 rwhp, but I’m currently sitting at 600hp.”