09/09/2026
Introducing Northern Tool Build IV! This time around, we’re challenging students from Flandreau Indian School to transform a 1976 Ford F-350 into America’s Ultimate Trades Toolbox™!
Throughout the school year, 14 CTE students will take on the transformation of the work truck, gaining hands-on experience in welding, fabrication, automotive repair, paint and bodywork, design and more. The truck’s six utility compartments and bed will become America’s Ultimate Trades Toolbox, with each showcasing tools, craftsmanship and career pathways in the skilled trades.
Along the way, students will work alongside industry professionals including renowned custom painter and build mentor Keaton Lee, and a team of trained Ford technicians and experts at Einspahr Ford in Brookings, South Dakota.
DEWALT will equip the school’s shop with professional-grade tools that will impact students for years to come, and House of Kolor will help reopen the school’s shuttered paint booth and provide paint for the build. Red Wing Shoe Company has provided Irish Setter boots to each build team member, ensuring the students have protective footwear of the highest quality.
Students have until May 5 to complete the build before its first reveal near Flandreau later that month. Then, their work heads to the national stage as a featured vehicle at SEMA 2027 in Las Vegas. How cool is that?
Watch these students tackle Build IV with monthly video updates on our YouTube channel starting next month! Then, tune into RACER Network where the build will be documented as an eight-episode TV series premiering in October 2027.
*Flandreau Indian School and Bureau of Indian Education participation does not constitute or imply endorsement of Northern Tool + Equipment, its partners, products, services, or this content.
Flandreau Indian School, DEWALT , House Of Kolor, Einspahr Auto Plaza, Keaton Lee, Red Wing Work, Irish Setter Boots, The SEMA Show, Jesse James Dupree, RACER
