Stuff-11-20-2008 CMT Trick My Truck (FAILURE)

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McCurdy’s tricked-out truck not a welcome sight

Justin Elbert / Tomball Magnolia Tribune

When Ronnie McCurdy and his wife, Sueann, traveled to Joplin, Mo., on Oct. 19, they expected to see something that would change their lives forever.

Ronnie McCurdy was selected to get an overhaul of his wheelchair-accessible van by Country Music Television, but is not please with the result: a circus-themed van with no a/c.

According to them, that’s exactly what they got.

McCurdy was selected to be on Country Music Television’s Trick My Truck this past summer and was hoping the show would fix his aging handicapped-accessible van.

The McCurdy’s needed to buy the 1994 GMC Rally Van after Ronnie broke his neck in a diving accident and was paralyzed from the mid-chest down.

Over the last four months the McCurdy’s have made three visits to the show for taping and to see the progress on the van. According to McCurdy, the first two trips were the best times he has ever had.

It was during the last visit that McCurdy got the surprise of his life.

When he arrived at the garage where his van was being worked on, he hoped to see a nearly complete van that he could drive home and be proud of.

What he saw was a multi-colored circus-themed van that, according to him, wasn’t “anywhere near being finished.”

McCurdy expressed concern that the show had asked him about his hobbies and interests, but, according to him, didn’t listen to a word he said.

“I told them I like hunting and fishing,” he said. “Where they got the idea for the circus theme, I don’t know.”

McCurdy was also hoping the show would fix at least some of the problems he had told them about during his first visit.

“The van is not mechanically sound and breaks down all the time,” McCurdy said. “The A/C doesn’t work real well either. It’s real uncomfortable back there for me when it goes out.”

He also expressed his anger over what he called, “the most important part of the van.”

“They put in a brand new wheelchair lift in for me, but they wouldn’t let me talk to the company supplying them the lift,” McCurdy said.

“It was too small for my chair. I was 6 foot, 2 inches before I broke my neck, so my chair is pretty large,” he said. “One simple phone call with the company would have prevented that problem.”

McCurdy said the show agreed to replace the wheelchair lift with a larger one that would fit his wheelchair. He also noted that the show is going to fix a few more things that weren’t done when he last saw the truck.

“When I was there last, the van had no seat belts installed, no window wipers, no license plates and no inspection sticker on it,” he said.

According to McCurdy, none of the important parts of the van were finished, but one unique feature not on his list of wishes did make it into the van.

“They built a dartboard into the back passenger window,” McCurdy said. “It was done real well, but I have no clue where they got that idea from.”

“They told me they have close to $50,000 tied up in that paint job. Why would I let people throw darts at something like that? What the hell were they thinking?”