East Idaho dad gets an unexpected and unforgettable surprise from his children

ROCKLAND — When four sons told an east Idaho dad his old truck was stolen he never expected to see it again.

Especially not in the mint condition he got it back in 18 months later on Father’s Day.

“They were very efficient in keeping it a secret from me — everybody was in on it but me,” Dan Ralphs says.

Dan Ralphs’ sons, Michael, McKay, Mathew, and Marshal wanted to give their father an unforgettable present. So, in late 2015 they decided to restore his old 1962 Ford F-100 pickup.

But before they could fix up the truck they had to convince Dan it was stolen. At the time, Dan and his wife Linda had moved away from Rockland to Missouri for three years.

The children took advantage of the absence to start the restoration project and to create a believable fib about the stolen vehicle.

“Marshal was the caretaker of the farm and the house where we were living in Rockland. He was the one that called me and told me the vehicle had been stolen when I was in Missouri. They played a pretty good trick on me,” Dan Ralphs says. “I was very upset because it was a family heirloom, but it was in terrible shape.”

Dan says they did such great job of convincing him that he told all of his family in the surrounding area to be on the lookout. Those who weren’t in on the good-natured prank were also convinced the truck was missing.

Dan says the truck was significant to the family because his grandfather had originally bought it special order for $3,200 in 1962.

“My oldest brother Michael — I don’t know that he realistically knew how bad of shape it was in,” Mathew Ralphs says. “Myself and my younger brother had talked about it before and we’ve thought it would be a neat idea, but we knew that it was a ton of work.”

The truck held many memories for the boys. They learned how to drive in it and used it on the family farm. With hardly any formal experience in the auto-mechanics the Ralphs brothers began the 18-month road to restoration.

“We’re all fairly handy. My oldest brother Michael and my brother that’s just younger than me, McKay they’re by far the two most automotive-ly inclined,” Mathew Ralphs said.

Countless hours have been put into making the Ford better than ever. Originally the truck was supposed to be given as a Father’s Day gift in 2016, but there were delays until earlier this year.

The brothers knew they needed to have the job done before their parents moved back to Rockland, which was before Father’s Day 2017 so they sped up the restoration process.

“I think we were always pretty confident we were going to get it done. When was kind of a different question. We just plugged away on it,” Marshal Ralphs said.

Finally on Father’s Day all the brothers’ work paid off when they saw Dan’s reaction to his sweet new ride.

“I knew it was a lot of work, and a lot of money and to have it given back to me in that condition it was just … I got me big time,” Dan Ralph’s said. “They all have big hearts like their mom and they’re grandma and grandpa.”

Click here to see original video of the truck’s big reveal.