RealRides Volume 17: Matt Markoff

Most automotive retailers and magazines turn the spotlight outward—showcasing customer builds, reader submissions, and fan favorites. And while we appreciate that perspective, we flip the script at RealTruck. The people installing your accessories, sourcing your products, and running the shop floor aren't just truck enthusiasts by job description. They're truck enthusiasts by nature—the kind who spend their weekends wrenching on the same vehicles they work on and slang parts for all week.​

Welcome to RealRides, where we pull back the curtain on the builds, restorations, and passion projects owned by the RealTruck team. This month we're featuring Matt Markoff—Head Install Technician at the RealTruck Flagship Store in Rochester Hills, Michigan—and the leveled 2024 F-150 Lariat that keeps him busy even after the shop closes.

Before we get into Matt and his build, let’s get a bit deeper into the inspiration behind RealRides.​

RealRides is RealTruck's monthly series dedicated to the vehicles owned by the people who make this company run. Each installment features a brief interview with the employee, a look at their build or builds, and the story behind how they got there—just the trucks, Broncos, Jeeps, and classics that our team drives to work, takes to the trails, and modifies in their garages.​

The series exists because we understand the importance of a company run not just by parts pushers and corporations, but by true enthusiasts who hold your best interest in mind. We believe that buying from RealTruck means getting parts and accessories supported by people who actually use them—and RealRides is how we communicate that to our customers.

Matt Markoff is the Head Install Technician at the RealTruck Flagship Store in Rochester Hills, Michigan—responsible for ensuring every build that leaves the shop is done right. He joined the RealTruck team in October 2025, bringing with him 12 years of professional mechanical experience, including eight years as an RV technician. That background—diagnosing and repairing some of the most mechanically complex recreational vehicles on the road—has made him exceptionally well-rounded in the shop.​

"I've been messing with anything mechanical for as long as I can remember," Matt says. That's not a figure of speech—it's a fact that runs from his earliest memories straight to his current workbench. Today he channels that lifelong passion into high-quality truck builds for RealTruck customers, while keeping his own F-150 as an ongoing personal project.​

When he's not at the shop, Matt and his wife Sam spend their time boating, motorcycling, and road-tripping—including an annual winter run down to Florida with their two dogs, Coal (a 10-year-old black lab and golden retriever mix) and Roxxy (a three-year-old Rottweiler). Both dogs are regular boat passengers and enthusiastic travel companions on the long drive south.

For Matt, RealTruck was a natural extension of who he already was. A lifelong mechanic who loves working on trucks, joining a company that specializes in truck parts and accessories—with a physical flagship store where he could install those parts hands-on—was an easy fit.​

Matt’s experience naturally lent itself to a career with RealTruck. Eight years working on RVs means Matt has touched electrical systems, plumbing, structural components, HVAC, and everything in between. That’s the kind of experience that translates directly into the thorough, detail-oriented installs the flagship store prides itself on. When a customer brings in a complex build, Matt's seen harder problems on vehicles far more complicated than a pickup truck.

The RealTruck Flagship Store in Rochester Hills is the company's physical retail and installation hub—a place where customers can walk in, see products in person, and have accessories installed on-site by experienced technicians. For Matt, working there means the satisfaction of seeing a build go from box to bumper in a single day.​

There's a tangible quality to that work that a purely online retail environment can't replicate—a customer drives away in something better than what they arrived in, and Matt had a direct hand in that. After eight years of RV repair, where the work was often invisible to the customer and driven by warranty claims, the flagship store's energy is a different experience entirely.​

"I love messing with anything mechanical," Matt says—and at the flagship store, that's exactly what the job is, every day.

Matt's daily driver is a 2024 Ford F-150 Lariat—a well-equipped starting point that he's made his own with a focused, purposeful set of modifications.​

The standout upgrade is a Superlift leveling kit paired with 35-inch Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T tires—a combination that lifts the front end to match the rear, corrects the factory rake, and gives the truck an aggressive, planted stance. The 35s fill the fenders perfectly after the leveling kit and add some much-needed traction in bad weather.​

It's a build philosophy that reflects Matt's background—clean, functional, and done right. No shortcuts. As someone who installs accessories for a living and spent eight years diagnosing other people's mechanical decisions, Matt knows exactly what a properly executed build looks like—and his own truck reflects that standard.​

Other subtle mods include:

• RealTruck AMP PowerStep® Vision running boards

• RealTruck BAKFlip® MX4 tonneau cover

• Husky Liners AeroCab PRO marker light

• Husky Liners Aeroskin Lightshield PRO hood protector

His wife Sam's 2023 Ford Bronco Outer Banks is also part of the household fleet, and the two have recently gotten into mild off-roading together with the Bronco—a natural progression for anyone with a lifted truck in the garage and a capable Bronco in the driveway.

A big thank you to Matt for sharing his story and his build. Twelve years of mechanical experience, eight of them in RVs, and now the face of the RealTruck flagship install bay—it's exactly the kind of background that makes RealRides worth reading.​

We'll let Matt close it out in his own words, which highlight why he’s the perfect fit for our flagship store:​

"I love working on my truck, and my wife's Bronco—and life is best spent outdoors, whether we're boating, motorcycling, or road-tripping to Florida."​

Stay tuned for the next installment of RealRides. In the meantime, check out past features on Rebecca Monticello, Jason Hutchens, Searle Roscoe, and Brendan Soriano.