Ahead Of The Storm: Building A Storm Chasing Truck From The Ground Up

As always, our storm trackers are ready to go into the storms, armed with everything they need to chase.

In their nearly 20 years chasing storms for News 9, Val and Amy Castor are always improving their truck with the latest technology and this year is no exception.

Val started with a basic 2011 Chevy 3/4 ton Duramax at Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater where welding students created a custom roof rack to put on top of the truck to hold weather equipment.

"These guys out here are definitely inventors, they're creating and designing and making things that have never been done before," said Amy Castor, News 9 Storm Tracker.

The next stop was Auto F/X in Yukon where the truck got a brand new suspension package, giving them a five inch left for more ground clearance. Then new wheels and tires changed out.

The truck got a new wrap job at Fast Signs in Oklahoma City, showing off the News 9 Storm Tracker logos. Finally, it went back to Auto F/X to have LED lights put all around the truck.

"There are times when we're going down the highway at night and it's pouring down rain and hail is falling and it's very hard to see but those bright lights, especially down low the amber lights will really help us to be able to see," said Val. "The LED lights we're going to have on the side of the roof rack on both sides we're going to use that to illuminate tornado damage at night."

They didn't forget the inside of the truck.

"We have to have a console that goes between the two front seats to put switches and radios and our computer and all the equipment that we have inside the vehicle." said Val. "I've done this for 25 plus years, I've had to build up my own storm trucks over the years, it's a lot of work. This is definitely a dream come true here."