Congrats to jpanchalk and his fast azz 2002 DSG HD on August/September, 2006 TOTM!
Question # 1: What sparked your interests in the Harley trucks?
Specifically your DSG 2002?
My fascination with the Harley-Davidson models began when I was shopping for a Lightning in Pittsburgh. I owned a Trans Am after college, but hated how little space I had when it was time to move. I figured the Lightning was perfect. My father and I took it for a test drive, and after maxing it out on a local stretch of highway I went in to sign papers. We saw the 2000 Harley Davidson Edition on the showroom floor and started checking it out. Neither of us said a word, but we both knew I wouldn’t be buying that Lightning.
Two years later, when I was stationed at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama a friend and I were cruising around and drove past a dealership that had a DSG 2002 HD parked out front. I ran in to let them know I would be purchasing it the next day. Later, I requested an X or A-Plan PIN (can’t remember what it was) from a buddy. That next day my 2000 was traded in for the 2002 on display, and I’ve been in love with it ever since.
Question # 2: Any interesting stories behind the history of vehicles you've owned leading up to the HD truck or how you got it?
I’m like a magnet for all things unfortunate, and that holds especially true for my vehicles.
My first car was a 1995 Trans Am. I was stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground right after college, and one weekend I took a trip to VA Beach. I was cruising down route 13, minding my own business, and some redneck ***** in a purple pick-up starts cutting in front of me and hitting his breaks. I was unarmed at the time, so I wasn’t about to pull over in the middle of nowhere. I thought I had an opening, but as I was starting to pass he cut over again, hit me with the bed of the truck, and sent me into a ditch. And I never knew why. I remember being extremely upset that I had just paid for an oil change that morning.
My second vehicle was the ’00 I mentioned earlier. While I was stationed at Fort Lee, VA , I got sent to Leavenworth, Kansas. Not as a guest of the State, but for temporary duty to complete some logistics training and waste more taxpayer money. One weekend we were heading into Kansas City, MO to meet some friends in a club. To make a long story short, some guy in a Blazer who was evading a scene came speeding out of control through the intersection and smashed right into me. My truck was totaled, but somehow he was able to still drive after hitting a light pole, then me. This time I was better prepared to deal with the situation, but I was in the middle of the city and had an injured passenger, so he got away.
With the insurance money, I bought another 2000 HD, but I just didn’t feel the same about it. I left it with my dad while I did my tour in South Korea, then came back and moved to Huntsville, AL. Amazingly, there were no catastrophic incidents with this one, but I did end up mangling the driver’s side door by backing into a post that was out of my field of view.
Question # 3: Give me a rough list of the mods that have been done to your truck. I know you've got a lot done, so you can just list for favorites if you'd like!
JLP built motor to include stage 3 heads and cams and all the extras that come with it, 10 pound lower pulley, Magnum Powers supercharger pushing 21 pounds max boost, JLP CAI with the 110mm tube, Afco heat exchanger, Hotchkis TVS, LFP 58” traction bars, long tube headers feeding a mean Magnaflow exhaust, and your original PST carbon fiber driveshaft. I also have the coolest gauges ever – right Josh? The rest is cosmetic.
Question # 4: Tell us a little about yourself. Your other hobbies, your job, your favorite past time, whatever!
I was born in Pittsburgh, PA, went to college at a small private military academy in Vermont and graduated with a BA in Criminal Justice. Got commissioned in the Army Ordnance Corps in May 1996. I’ve pretty much hated my jobs, but the locations have been great. 3 years ago I transferred into Explosive Ordnance Disposal. I’m currently the Commander of the Army bomb squad at Fort Dix. I’ve been stationed mostly in Germany, with a tour in Korea. I’ve deployed to Kuwait City and Israel for stability ops, and twice to Iraq. Good times. Coincidentally, I’m typing this on my last day of work as an Army Captain, so it’s cool that I managed not to get myself killed in the last 10 years, although I’ve found that I’m more of a threat to myself than anything else I’ve encountered.
I’ve never had a hobby and I don’t collect anything, but in my free time I’m usually in the gym, sitting at a Roulette table, or at my computer playing a game. It wasn’t until I moved to NJ in 2003 that I started racing and hanging out at the tracks. My first trip down the ¼ mile at Atco, NJ was all it took to get me hooked on speed. Now most of my extra dollars go do making her faster.
Question # 5: You've been a member on the site for quite a while now, what is one of the best things you like about the site that keeps you around?
I joined because I was never a car guy growing up, and there’s still a lot I’m trying to learn. I’ll stay because even though I’ll never meet more than 20 or so people from here, I still feel like there’s a certain level of friendship that has developed with the entire group. Most discussion boards on any topic are filled with idiots, and if a person even gets an answer or feedback at all, it’s usually as worthless as the person who wrote it. The NHTOC is an Internet anomaly in that 99% of the people are friendly and the advice given is helpful and mostly correct. I think that because we are so passionate about our vehicles, we try our collective best to ensure that the other HD F-150s out there are taken care of. Other vehicles have “enthusiast” groups, but I think the NHTOC (and NLOC for that matter) goes way beyond enthusiasm. For some it’s an addiction, for others a support group. What other vehicle owners will pull off the road, into a parking lot, and go into a shop or wherever just to see who the owner is? I’ve done it. Then I realized I give off a creepy stalker vibe, so now I just leave a card.
Question # 6: What is one suggestion to help make the site a better place?
Free lifetime membership for all TOTMs. Starting now. Then Ban People Who Capitalize Every Word In A Sentence. I can understand THE ALL CAPS PEOPLE, but how does one type like that? You actually have to make an effort to keep hitting shift, and it doesn’t make any sense! Stop it!
Question # 7: This is where I normally ask about where you decided on your screen name at, and although jpanchalk is pretty self explanatory, any specific reason for choosing it?
Except in matters of demolition and general revenge, I am fairly uncreative, and have to remember so many log-in names and passwords, that I decided to use the same username for everything.
Question # 8: Almost at the end, what is in the future for your truck? Being at the top of the horsepower food chain doesn’t leave as many vast options, so what’s the next plan of attack for your trucks future?!
I still need to get a better supercharger on there. This MP is holding me back in the torque. Seems like every time I reply to a KB that’s on sale, I’ve just missed it. I have one more kink to work out, and then I’ll be able to post a new official time. That will put me in the top 5, if not the top 3. Once I swap blowers 500/600 will be a given, and at 520 RWHP currently, I think I can make 600/700 with little effort.
Since I’m moving to Germany, nitrous is out of the question for now, because it is not legal. Now that Woodbine is developing a totally hidden system, I may think about it in the future. It would be a real challenge, though, to hide everything so well that it would go undetected during a routine inspection.
Also, drag racing isn’t quite as popular there. I have always planned my mods based on the ¼ mile, but now it’s time to start looking toward autocross. German vehicle standards are much stricter the U.S., but with the help of Andre, and a few other L owners in Germany, I should pass inspection with no problem, and be ready for my fist sub-10-minute-lap through the Nuerburgering before November!
Question 9: Last and final question, just an open end question for if you had anything else you wanted to mention that I didn’t have a question for...here's the place to go at it! Your website link, a plug for something, etc. etc. whatever you want to throw in!
Everyone please stop planning get-togethers at Hooters - I hate Hooters.
And thank you to those who found my ride worthy of Truck of the Month!
And with that, I would like to say on behalf of the entire community at NHTOC, thanks for being a supporting member for all these years, and for always being there to help everybody out!! Congrats on TOTM August, 2006!