Who is Jake Agar?
Jake Agar grew up splitting time between his family's cattle ranch in Malt, Montana, and on the slopes at Big Sky, where he worked as a snowboard instructor. He went to college, taught snowboarding at Big Sky, and came back anyway, 100% in, ranching full-time alongside his father on the operation they'd been building together since Jake was in high school. Here's how he built his rig for Agar Ranch, and why brake fade was never going to be part of it.
The Agar Ranch
The Agar Ranch runs a commercial cow-calf operation across two spreads: red Angus on the main place, black Angus on Jake's. It's the kind of operation where calving season means round-the-clock checks, newborn tags and vaccinations in the dark, and pulling calves inside to warm them up before returning them to their mothers. It's the kind of operation where your truck doesn't get days off.
"We start the days they're planned out, the day before, the week before," Jake says. "It takes a lot of planning to be professional and to be successful."
The Build
When Jake spec'd out his work truck, he wasn't building a show rig. He needed something that could run gravel roads all day, pull a loaded stock trailer without drama, and handle whatever the ranch threw at it.
Jake built his truck for one job: tough ranch work.
The base is a 2015 GMC Duramax Denali, one-ton, tuned and deleted, wearing a Bradford Built flatbed that handles pallets of feed, pallets of salt blocks, and whatever oversized ag equipment needs hauling. Up front is a ranch bumper, because gravel roads don't forgive stock fascias.
Wheels and tires are stock, kept that way on purpose; the truck needs to tow right and ride well, not turn heads. And now, stopping it all: Doc's Diesel drilled and slotted rotors paired with ceramic brake pads.
Doc's Diesel Drilled & Slotted + Ceramic Pads
The Bradford Built flatbed was an easy call: pallets of feed, pallets of salt blocks, big ag equipment. Stock wheels and tires because the truck needs to tow right and ride well, not look good at a car show. Ranch bumper up front because gravel roads and ranch work don't care about your OEM fascia.
"It runs down gravel roads almost its whole life. That's brutal on a truck. And I've had no problems with it."
— Jake Agar, Malt, Montana
Stopping Power: The One Thing You Can't Afford to Lose
When you're hauling a stock trailer loaded with bulls, there's no room for brake fade. Jake puts the math plainly: a fully loaded trailer can tip the scales anywhere from 20,000 to 25,000 pounds. You have to be able to stop that rig on a steep downhill, on gravel, or in an emergency, without question.
That's where Doc's Diesel drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic brake pads come in. Jake recently upgraded to the setup, and the results spoke for themselves on the first heavy haul.
"A stock trailer full of bulls — you can't afford to lose brakes or have brake fade. They've been great for towing and stopping a heavy load."
— Jake Agar
The drilled and slotted rotor design dissipates heat faster than a stock rotor under sustained load, exactly the kind of sustained load that comes from hauling 20-plus thousand pounds down a Montana grade. Paired with ceramic pads, the setup resists the fade that can catch you off guard on a long descent.
The Rancher's Mindset
When asked what it takes to run a successful ranch, Jake's father put it without hesitation: hard work and try.
"Keep your health up, keep them fed right, keep them bred up, it's a lot of hard work to do it right. The better it looks, the better it is."
Jake carries the same standard into how he maintains his equipment. "If you don't keep your equipment up, your downtime will kill you." Every spring, after cattle go to grass, Jake goes through everything in the shop; 99% of the mechanic work is done himself. The Doc's Diesel brake upgrade fits right into that philosophy: the right part, installed right, so the truck is ready when it has to be.
Out here, there are no excuses and no second chances on a loaded downhill. Jake Agar's not interested in either.
What Jake's Running
Since jumping back in a diesel pickup truck, I put many miles a month. Dealership prices are outrageous and box stores are also high. My RV Transport buds told me about Doc’s. I tried them on my first oil change, saved $$ and all the filters fit perfectly and have been using them pretty much on a monthly basis. CCV filter is another one. Every 50K. Thanks Docs for great pricing and superior shipping.
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