Rikki Martinez grew up in Idaho where trucks are almost a part of the state’s culture, so it was almost a given he would eventually be exposed to trucks in some way, shape, or form. His journey into the world of trucks actually began with a gasoline truck with his first Silverado 1500. But soon after, a couple of his friends let him drive their diesel trucks and that’s all it took. He says there is no comparison, thinking his 1500 had a softer ride, but that a diesel truck has everything else including extra power to spare.

“It was night and day for me. So I knew my next truck I had to get was a diesel,” Rikki said.

He got his first diesel, a 2005 Duramax, back in December in 2012 and he hasn’t looked back even once. It didn’t take long for him to fall down the rabbit hole of modding his cherished diesel where he picked up some tricks from his friends but really taught himself through YouTube. And it’s a good thing he likes learning everything and anything new about trucks!

“If I didn’t know how something worked, I would try looking on forums and the internet and go buy the tools and supplies I would need,” Rikki said.

Money-Mechanics

To his credit, he’s always done his best to keep himself on a budget because he had a family, including a newborn baby, to take care of. He loved his truck, but unfortunately had to sell his ’05 Duramax in 2014 because he couldn’t afford to keep it.

When he started working at Smith Chevrolet he found another ’05 Duramax he liked at a competing dealership and asked his employer to buy it, but the other dealership declined. That wasn’t acceptable for Rikki. So he just went to the other dealership himself, not really expecting anything, but got a call the next day letting him know he had been approved!

“It was perfect! Just an old grandpa farmer truck,” stated Rikki. “The only thing that was done to it was it had a huge brush guard on the front. Everything else was completely stock. A perfect canvas just like I wanted.”

Rikki didn’t want anything done to the truck because he wanted to make it his own. But he also wanted to change the stock parts out before they could break while also adding more reliability. So that begs the question: What has he done to the truck?

Many Modifications

Well, the list is long! Just from Kryptonite alone, he has added sway bar end links, four spline death grip pitman arms, bump stops, tie rods, and upper control arms. He slapped on some 22×12 TIS 547B wheels with 33×12.50r22 Toyo M/T tires, and complemented them with HSP 70-inch traction bars and Bilstein 1500 front and rear shocks and Bilstein 1500 front dampers. But don’t worry, Rikki has done more than adjust the traction or shock absorption of his truck. He’s installed a Deviant fuel sump, a 150 FASS lift pump, and a Deviant racing PCV reroute. And with HSP full piping, a PPE race valve, and a 5-inch MagnaFlow straight pipe exhaust and downpipe, he’s good to go! But that’s not everything he’s done to the truck.

Rikki’s also added an 8-inch FLO PRO tip, a 32-inch light bar, rear rugged wheel liners, an Undercover flex tonneau bed cover, a 1-inch rear block, a Cadillac Escalade gauge cluster with blue needles, window tint, iBoard running boards, Rigid dually fog lights, Auxbeam led headlights, an Edge CTS2 insight monitor, an AutoMeter pillar pod and cobalt boost and pyrometer gauges, Alpine speakers and subwoofers, Kilmat sound deadener lining the whole cab, Pioneer double DIN CD player and amps, a Graves Fabrication front bumper, a Banks power differential cover, a LINE-X bed liner, a custom mesh grille, Boost auto mirrors, Spyder LED tail lights, 16 LED rock lights, Cognito leveling keys, spiked lugs nuts, a PSC steering box, and a Keyparts cowl hood.

Along with the color-matched parts, his favorite mod is his front bumper that he made custom from one 8×4-foot sheet of 3/16 steel that he had cut out and welded with the help of his friend Brennan.

“It makes it stand out the most and different from most trucks,” Rikki believes.

And he does most of the mods himself, but if he doesn’t feel mechanically prepared for any particular job, he usually takes it to Jake Johnson in Blackfoot, Idaho, at Diesel Mafia Performance, and to Steve Quintana at Quintana Autobody for his autobody and paint needs.

“They are both amazing!”

Poster Child

With all of these modifications, Rikki certainly doesn’t miss out on any local truck or car shows if he can help it! And he loves showing people pictures of where he started with the truck and pictures of where he is now, and he gets tons of positive feedback. However, he admits he’s got more publicity than awards.

“I’ve been on posters but I did get third place at the dirt drags at a local event a month ago.”

His favorite memories from his truck are being on the poster and ad for the Blackfoot Car Show in Idaho a couple of years ago, seeing his truck on posters in local stores and gas stations, and meeting new people and fans from his “Rikki Diesel” YouTube channel.

But at the end of the day, he just wants a clean and unique truck—nothing overboard but something that still stands out from the crowd of a million other white Silverados.

What’s Next?

Rikki wants to start doing a lot more performance stuff like building the transmission, more turbo work, and maybe a 4-inch lift, as well as probably going on trips with his family and going to more truck shows.

“It’s almost an avenging build—like things I wish I did when I had my old truck. But it’s more just about building a clean form and functional truck that can do everything from racing, pulling, and daily driving,” Rikki says.

And for everyone who wants to know more about his truck, the entire build process of Rikki taking his truck from nothing to where it is now, as well as where it is going, has been recorded and can be followed on his YouTube channel (Rikki Diesel).