This ‘Build and Price’ Tool for Truck Mods Is Fun Even if You Don’t Buy Anything

Every mainstream automaker’s site has a “build and price” tool that lets you visualize different models, trims, colors, and options as their prices are tabulated for your reference. There have been versions of this for aftermarket parts, too. But the new “RealTruck Builder” is the richest and deepest I’ve seen yet.

RealTruck is like The Home Depot of aftermarket truck parts. It carries good and decent versions of popular items for common vehicles. Obscure or specialized things like vintage JDM parts or long-travel Baja suspension are best sourced elsewhere. Truck bed caps, aux lighting, side steps, seat covers, and other crowd pleasers are well-stocked, though.

So you probably already understand what we’re heading towards: The builder lets you input a vehicle’s year, make, and model, and then lets you visualize various aftermarket parts on a 3D rendering of your rig.

Again, they don’t have super-old or unusual cars, and the catalog is not that deep on every model. But it’s not limited to Chevy Silverados and Ford F-150s, either. The Mercedes-Benz Metris van is in there, and so is the Hyundai Palisade, Mazda CX-5, Chrysler Pacifica, and a pretty long list of common imports and domestic vehicles.

The 3D models are neat, too—you can open doors, open the trunk, put them in a variety of settings, and spin them around in 360 degrees. But the fun part is outfitting them with various mods, selectable from a menu on the left that also feeds you an add-to-cart button. Since, of course, the site’s objective is to get you to buy stuff.

I think it’s a cool idea, and pretty well executed. I’ve always liked that TireRack.com lets you call up an image of specific makes and models to let you see what different wheels would look like with your body style and color, and the RealTruck builder is just a much more advanced version of the same idea. And it’s amusing to play with, even if you’re just looking for an ad-free “game” to kill a few minutes in a waiting room with.