Soup Up a Truck and We’ll Tell You the Best Time to Buy One

By: NIkki Weed

6 Min Quiz

Image: Pexels by Scosche

About This Quiz

Are you a fan of the "Carolina Squat," or are you more of a "Slammed and Jamming" style? When you think about going to the tire store, are you thinking about the tread depth and off-road capabilities or exactly how low-profile you can go? These little decisions can say a lot about your wants and needs for a truck, especially when you should buy one.

Souping up, by definition, means to alter a vehicle in such a way to upgrade output, performance, efficiency, or make more exciting overall. For trucks, this can mean something as simple as adding an LED light bar over the bed or doing a complete engine swap and all things in between. Every modification that is done to a truck should have a purpose. To you, is it to navigate through the barren wastelands of the Mohave Desert or to look cool in the parking lot on Saturday night at Sonic? Are you the one to roll coal at intersections and make hybrid drivers weep, or are you just trying to haul your lumber in the most efficient way possible? Trucks are so much more than practical vehicles nowadays; they can be works of art.

Take our quiz to find out what your souping up style says about when you should be looking for a truck. Who knows, you might end up shopping for a Sonata instead!

Campus Automotive Inc via YouTube

Let's talk about where the rubber meets the road. After ditching the tires that came on the truck from the dealership, what are you wrapping around your wheels?

Fuzion A/T

Yokohama Geolander X/AT
Nitto TerraGrappler G2

Mickey Thompson Baja Boss

G's Footage via YouTube

What cold air intake system would you add to your truck?

Injen SP Series Speed Pro because you deserve the best!

Roto-Fab Dry Cold Air Intake because they're low maintenance
K&N Blackhawk because you've seen K&N parts under every hood at the local car show

Does rolling down the window in winter count?

Stage 3 Motorsports via YouTube

When you want to be in total control of what your truck is doing under the hood, what tuner are you fond of and why?

A simple Banks Power AutoMind 2 so you can program your truck to be as easy on itself as possible

A state of the are Edge Revolution Programmer so that you adjust performance easily on the fly
A plain Jet EZ-Tune so that you can technically say you have a tuner but are also on a tight budget

Do you mean the radio tuner? The presets include NPR and Radio Disney. Those are sure to amp up performance!

Covers & Camo via YouTube

What non-performance aftermarket accessory is going to be the first item in your Amazon shopping cart after you buy your truck?

Camouflage seat covers with a matching steering wheel cover

A couple of obscene objects that dangle off your tow hitch
Practical rubber floor mats with matching bug shield for the hood

Fuzzy dice, a couple of air fresheners and pair of handcuffs to hang from your rearview mirror

FUEL MY RIDE via YouTube

What is your honest opinion on aftermarket strut braces?

As long as they're functional, they can look pretty neat and add some character to an engine bay!

Shoot, smack a body-colored one over a Hemi, and all of a sudden, you have at least 70 more horsepower!
Unless you're tearing through the Mint 500 off-road race at break-neck speed, you don't need one.

Strut braces are a real pain, especially when you're trying to eat popcorn or corn on the cob!

Method Race Wheels via YouTube

If you were shopping around to upgrade your wheels from the boring factory set, which brand and style would you lean toward?

Enkei Commander Series in black

Moto Metal MO985 Breakout
Method MR311 Vex

A simple Dorman wheel

aportell100 via YouTube

Instead of allowing your truck to sound stock, what sort of exhaust modification would you do first?

Run two straight pipes out the back and delete the catalytic converter

Upgrade to a Magnaflow 304 stainless steel package with chrome exhaust tips
Switch over to a high flow muffler and catalytic converter for increased fuel economy

Swap out the old muffler for one that isn't rusted out and full of holes

MAPerformance via YouTube

What's the most extreme fuel system modification you're willing to make?

Walbro upgraded in-tank fuel pump

An axillary fuel tank in the bed, behind the cab
An electronic fuel management system

A tank full of premium unleaded fuel

Stage 3 Motorsports via YouTube

Trucks are meant to be tough-looking, and no truck looks meaner than one with a big brush bar. What brush bar are you going to select?

Any Westin product would work, especially with matching step bars!

A fully enclosed Lund Bull Bar with divots for lights and tow hooks
A simplistic Aries grille guard that protects the headlights

A RI Concepts chunk of metal for dirt cheap from Walmart

hoohoohoblin via YouTube

Nothing makes your your truck sound cooler than a turbo whistle! What's your approach?

Shop for a kit on J.C. Whitney online, but never follow through with ordering it because you can't justify the cost.

Leave a blank check with your local tuner shop and let them go wild, even if it means you'll be eating Ramen for months.
Order a modestly priced kit from Huron Speed Products, but never get them installed for fear of voiding your warranty.

Buy a sticker for the back window that states "I don't typically whistle, but when I do I use my turbo."

Project Sleuth via YouTube

In order to obtain the smoothest ride possible in your truck, how do you plan on souping up the suspension?

Suspension airbag kit

Roadmaster Active Suspension
Rough Country 3-inch Lift Kit

Inflate the tires to proper PSI

DOOWORK PRODUCTIONS via YouTube

A good looking truck on the outside needs to be equally impressive on the inside. How are you going to soup up your interior?

Aftermarket heated and cooled bucket seats

LED interior lights with adjustable colors
Reupholster the bench seat with crushed velvet

A foam lumbar pillow and matching seatbelt sleeve

Mitch Carveth via YouTube

If someone asked you if you wanted to do an engine swap, what would your response be?

"If you're talking about slapping an LS under the hood and calling it a day, where do I sign up?"

"What sense does that make? The engine under the hood runs perfectly fine as is. That'd be wasteful!"
"I've heard excellent things about running the diesel on used cooking oil as opposed to fossil fuels."

"If we could swap the engine out for one that doesn't leak, smoke or tick, that would be great!"

AmericanTrucks Chevy & GMC via YouTube

There are dozens of bolt-and-go body kits for trucks. What part of the truck body are you going to start with and why?

The tailgate because yours fell off a long time ago and your cargo keeps sliding out

A front lip spoiler because you like to hit every small animal that crosses the road
Fender flares because you love bumping your forehead on them whenever you check the tire pressure

A combination of a hood scoop and rear wing because what good is going fast if you don't look fast, too?

Young Chevy Truck via YouTube

You can't talk about performance enhancing modifications with mentioning upgrading your headers. What set are you upgrading to?

Trick Flow GenX all-aluminum heads

BluePrint Muscle Series heads
Simple Edlebrock E-Street heads

Cast iron heads from Summit Racing

Brandon Keele via YouTube

Paint is important! How are you going to soup up the appearance of your truck through the paint?

Run a couple of pinstripes down the side to distract the eye from paint blemishes

Invest in a full ceramic coating and have it maintained by a professional
Get a full vinyl wrap in a matte finish to protect the entire body

Run it through the touchless car wash once a month when it's muddy

Wheels via YouTube

If you were to install a track timer in your truck, what would its primary purpose be?

To time your lap around an off-road course

To track your quarter-mile speeds
To measure the amount of time wasted at the drive-thru

Purely for looks because you're not even sure how it works

Full Throttle Off Road via YouTube

If you were going to soup up your light performance, what would your aftermarket light addition of choice be?

Four round Baja lights across a bar across the top of your truck's cab

A high-intensity yet low-profile LED light bar tucked into the grille
A headlight film that darkens the lens and, in reality, lowers your candle power

Upgrade the stock halogen bulbs for blue HID projector lights

mossman381 via YouTube

To get maximum fuel efficiency and power, trucks should be as light as possible. What would be the first step you would take to lower weight?

Swap conventional body panels for carbon fiber

Do an AC delete and eliminate unnecessary electrical components
Keep your fuel tank half empty at all times

Go on a crash diet to reduce your own weight

FCA North America via YouTube

Trucks are incredibly versatile vehicles and can go from the highway to off-road relatively easily. What would your first modification be to make going off-road more enjoyable?

Satellite navigation system so that you never get lost

A Warn hidden winch system to save you from being stuck
A GoPro to show the world the cool places you've been

A AAA membership sticker on the bumper for roadside assistance

AmericanTrucks Ford via YouTube

With what sort of shocks are you planning on equipping your truck?

Fox 2.5 Factory Series Coilover Reservoir Shocks

Bilstein B8 Reservoir Shocks
Rancho RS5000X

Skyjacker Hydro Shocks

Kongsumer via YouTube

If you're lucky enough to find a manual transmission truck, how are you going to soup up the shift knob?

Keep it like it is but use the stalk to collect rubber bands on it

A chromed head of a cobra with eyes that glow in the dark
A polished ball of mahogany wood with an inlaid silver shift pattern

A plastic knob with a design that mimics a real carbon fiber grip

nastynate150 via YouTube

If you were to soup up the appearance of your grille from ordinary to extraordinary, how would you do it?

Get a CCI punch grille but keep it in a box until you actually need it

Sketch out a skull design and have it manufactured out of heavy 16-gauge steel
Select a lightweight wire mesh grille with an integrated LED bar in the middle

Invest in a can of Plasti Dip and paint the grille in your driveway

raysp3c via YouTube

Factory brake setups can be lacking in performance at times, so how are you going to amp up your braking power?

Swap out the factory rotors for slotted ones from StopTech

Install a Brembo GT series big brake kit
Drain out factory brake fluid with Pyroil high temp fluid

Use ceramic brake pads after the old set gets worn out

Mark Brenner via YouTube

If you're going to cruise around looking cool in your souped up truck, what is the darkest tint you're willing to go with?

15% because you like getting pulled over

30% ceramic tint on everything except the windshield (which is 70%)
70% only to keep the cabin cool during hot months

Whatever came on the truck is good enough for you.

Billet Specialties via YouTube

If you're going to have a truck that goes fast, you might as well have an accelerator pedal that looks like it means business. What pedal kit would you select for your truck?

A set of stainless steel pedals with small rubber nubs

Swap out the entire pedal with a drive-by-wire system
Install a retro Billet Specialties pedal kit

Invest in a set of super-grooved, small-batch SRP Racing pedals

B&M Performance & Off-Road via YouTube

The word cool doesn't just pertain to how you feel while driving your truck, it can pertain to parts of your truck! What "cool"-ing part are you souping your truck up with first?

A B&M SuperCooler to maintain a perfect engine oil temperature

A Summit Racing Heat Sink to keep your transmission fluid super cool
A Derale Hi-Flow Racing Remote Fluid Cooler to keep ALL of your fluids on ice

A USB port powered personal oscillating fan to keep you cool under the collar

ParleysDieselPerformance.com via YouTube

Once you've obtained optimum power and coolness, you'll be ready to get towing! What tow hitch are you installing on your truck?

Draw-Tite bolt-on gooseneck with reversible ball

Rapid Hitch adjustable drop hitch with 2-inch ball
Curt E16 Sliding Fifth Wheel with slide-bar jaw

U-Haul bumper mount ball hitch with a bicycle rack

Motordyne G35 via YouTube

Engine power all starts with one tiny spark. What spark plugs are you going to use to make sure your other souped-up accessories perform at maximum potential?

AC Delco Rapid Fire Platinum Spark Plugs

Accel Copper Core Spark Plugs
NKG Iridium Spark Plugs

Autolite Copper Spark Plugs

Viral Vehicles via YouTube

You've successfully souped-up a truck and are about to find out when you should buy one, but first, you need to select a name for your ride! Which name would fit the personality of your truck the best?

Coal Rollin' Colin

Truckasaurus Rex
Truck Truckstofferson

Blue (or whatever color it is)

5 Minute Quiz 5 Min

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