Buckstop Truckware’s Single Rear-Wheel Converted F-450 Stole the Show at the Mint 400

30 photosPhoto: Benny Kirk/autoevolution

In a quiet little corner of the venue, you could almost walk right past Buckstop Truckware’s booth at the Mint this year. But once I get a closer look at what would normally be a typical heavy-duty dually truck, I couldn’t help but notice this one’s so far removed from normal you could call it Doctor Strange as a pet name. Yes, I was there in the flesh, and that’s how it went down. Notice that one single wheel at each rear corner? That’s right, this dually ain’t a dually anymore. It’s been professionally converted to a single rear wheel by Bucktop Truckware’s twin facilities in Coleman, Texas, and Prineville, Oregon.Be it Ford, GM, Ram, Toyota, or even Nissan full-sized trucks, Buckstop Truckware has the tools and the skilled personnel to produce and install heavy-duty bumpers, body kits, lift kits, and professional applications that trucks like F-450s are the best suited for. But as its showing at the Mint 400 proved, Buckstop Hardware’s piece de resistance has to be their stunning dually to single-wheel conversions. From start to finish, the process takes place at one of the two Buckstop Truckware facilities and doesn’t leave its roof until the job is done.

But why? Who in their right mind would take a dually truck that’s a bare minimum $60,000 investment and take the trademark twin-tire wheels off? Well, the location of the venue might lend some clues there. With trophy trucks roaring down a straightaway literally less than 100 yards away, you can tell that better off-road performance is the name of the game with such a conversion. Though great for heavy-duty, on-road tasks like towing and hauling, dually wheels can become a straight-up liability on sufficiently difficult off-road trails.

Think of all the logs, twigs, rocks, and various woodland muds and fauna that could get jammed up between two sets of dually tires. If the stars align and Mercury isn’t in retrograde that day, those narrow and stiff dually tires could get your truck stuck. That’s where the Buckstop Truckware dually to single-wheel conversion kit comes in clutch. In their state-of-the-art facilities, Buckstop Truckware meticulously disassembles the rear axles and suspension of customer dually trucks and replaces it all with more off-road capable hardware better suited to difficult terrain.

With beefier radius arms and coil springs, the conversion kit adds valuable suspension travel to a truck with enough torque to power out of anything so long as the wheels are still on the ground. A heavier-duty sway bar over stock ensures the on-road mannerisms are at least not a total you-know-what show. As icing on the cake, the custom fabricated track bars that come with a Buckstop Truckware conversion kit are a full 200 percent heavier than what comes on a stock fifth-generation F-450 Super Duty.

The optional computer-controlled “Liquid Spring” suspension gives the overall package a “Cadillac Ride,” as the official web page literature boasts. With an installation price ranging between $23,000 and $26,000 depending on the model chosen for upgrade, it better gosh darn have a ride like a Rolls-Royce, let alone a Cadillac or a Range Rover. “Sports car handling” is another accolade Buckstop touts about this uber-expensive suspension upgrade.

In fairness, the Powestroke diesel V8 has at least enough power to get a good drift going. Does that equate to sports car handling? We’ll let you be the judge of that. However, it’s worth mentioning that Buckstop Truckware will convert your truck happily regardless of whether it runs on gas or diesel. In fact, the drivetrain might be the last item left on this rig, which is bone stock. That said, Buckstop Truckware will happily tailor the axel gear ratios in their trucks to the needs and requirements of each customer, including a rear-end ratio of 3.31:1 available for diesel applications. They’ll also upfit all Ford Superduty trucks made from 1999 onwards, so no one feels left out.

What’s easy to judge is that these eight-inch fender flares and 20-inch forged alloy wheels on boulders of 40-inch Mickey Thompson Baja Legend MTZ tires look wicked. Seriously, this truck looks ready to enter the Mint 400 and finish the race, even if it’d fall apart within one lap in all likelihood. But that’s not a knock against this truck. The ‘Mint’s’ seen far more powerful and capable trucks fall to pieces. In the looks department, what Buckstop Truckware brought to Primm, Nevada, was nothing short of a showstopper. It’s the kind of truck worthy of promotion when the best racing trucks on Earth are a stone’s throw away.

Of course, this isn’t a conversion for everyone. What this F-450 gains off-road in an overland situation, it loses in on-road practicality. Buckstop Truckware’s own website states that it expects its single-wheel HD truck conversions to see limited miles per year and not to do any heavy towing at all. If you’re a small-town fire department or an influencer building an overland rig, and your Buckstop Truckware SRW conversion will never see a trailer hitch, then no harm is done with a lack of towing capability.

On exterior aesthetical features alone, Buckstop Truckware’s single rear wheel HD truck conversion contends in a top trump competition that most trucks, no matter who builds them, could never hope to win. But with the complete package of a unique look, capable drivetrain, and a laundry list of high-quality aftermarket parts under the skin, these trucks, as presented at 2024’s Mint 400, make for the coolest trucks in the venue that didn’t have a racing harness and a roll cage installed. As for how much a rig like this costs, a basic Stage 1 conversion kit starts at $18,317.00 with an estimated shipping time of six weeks.

This scales all the way to the Stage 5 kit complete with Liquid Spring suspension at all four corners and starts at $35,967 before taxes and fees. That’s without including the cost of the truck, which, in its Super Duty Limited getup, sports an MSRP starting at $104,030. are you the kind of guy with the coin for this rig? Well, congrats to you on the success, but you’re welcome for bringing it to your attention.