A.R.E. Accessories and Jose Reyna Show Custom Dodge Ram 1500 at 2013 SEMA Show

SEMA featured A.R.E Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck

The best part about inspiration is that you never see it coming, which explains why it's so rousingly motivational. For Jose Reyna the spark that ignited him was his first SEMA show in 2004. He had just started working for local truck accessory retail store called Daco Truck & Van Equipment located in North Hills, California. "Seeing all that customizing under one roof blew my mind away," said Reyna.

Modified Dodge Ram 1500 in the A.R.E. booth at SEMA 2013

After that show Reyna set a goal to customize a vehicle worthy of being displayed for others to ogle. He built his first truck the following year in 2005, his GMC Sierra Denali. "I loved it," he recalled, "And I knew it was important to use the best products, so I used K&N as well as A.R.E. products. And later that year A.R.E. used my GMC Sierra for the L.A. Auto Show and I was so stoked. After that build I knew I wanted to build another truck, and having it displayed at SEMA was my new goal."

To meet that goal Reyna bought a new Super Duty Harley Davidson Edition truck from Galpin Ford, and by this time he was working for A.R.E. Accessories LLC. Founded in 1969 by Sal Gatti, Jonas Yoder and Aden Miller, A.R.E. and originally manufactured aluminum truck caps and storage buildings. In 1979 A.R.E. started to manufacture a commercial work shell for trucks called the Deluxe Commercial Unit (DCU). The first fiberglass truck cap A.R.E. made was in 1982, and in 1989 they produced their first Tonneau cover. In 1990 A.R.E. was the first fiberglass manufacture to offer paint as a standard option for all truck caps and Tonneau covers. They have been an ISO certified manufacture since 2001, and one of the founders has been inducted into the Light Truck Accessory Association (LTAA) Hall of Fame.

The 2013 SEMA Show included this custom Dodge Ram 1500 truck built by A.R.E. Products

These days Reyna is a SEMA show veteran, and in the A.R.E. booth at the 2013 SEMA show they had on display a crowd pleasing Dodge Ram 1500. "For the Dodge Ram we partnered up with great companies to make our Dodge Ram stand out," Reyna explains. "We used great products from our partners to build this truck. For the exterior we used Fusion Bumpers, N-Fab Dura Steps, N-Fab Mesh Grille, Rigid Lighting, BDS Lift Kit, Bushwacker, Hellwig Products, Toyo Tires, DUB Magazine's TIS Wheels, A.R.E. Accessories Overland Series Truck Cap, BedRug, Cargo Glide, Monster Hook, Bolt Lock, Surco Roof Rack, Warn Winch, Spyder Automotive front and Rear Lights, and Katzkin Leather kit."

SEMA 2013 was a great success for A.R.E. and their custom Dodge Ram truck

"Now we needed to step-up the performance on this bad boy, and we needed the best to move this beast," he continues. "Knowing we needed to increase the air flowing into our truck we decided to use a K&N filter kit, Corsca Exhaust, and a BullyDog tunner to fine tune this truck's performance. We feel we built a solid overall truck which looked good and performed as well as it looked. SEMA 2013 was a great hit for us because we arrived with a new look. The mission for A.R.E. was to make an impact at SEMA and feel we accomplished it with the help of great partners."

"I will for sure be at SEMA 2014, and this year we have taken on a new project which is fishing. We were surprised to realize what a huge roll a truck plays in the fishing industry. We partnered up with Bass Master and several professional fishermen to build some cool trucks. And we are certainly sticking with the same great partners for this new industry."