Astonishing, as it may seem, this ultra-low, powerful, dragging machine is the first truck Chase Shiver has ever laid eyes on. It was his father's '82 Chevy C10, and it was used all through Chase's childhood. By the time he was in middle school, he started to read Sport Truck magazine and became interested in custom trucks. Meanwhile, his father was making plans to trade in his Chevy for a brand-new '96 Silverado. Chase knew that within a few years he would be driving and wanted to have a vehicle of his own.
When he first got it, a minor fire went off in the cab and destroyed the interior. Then, the driver-side front wheel fell off and damaged the fender. For repairs, Chase wanted to take a stab at fixing everything himself. While doing so, he molded on a roll pan, shaved the tailgate, and removed the rain gutters from the roof of the cab. At the time, he lacked skill and the tools to paint, so he paid to get the truck painted a metallic blue with ghost flames. The body was cleaned up, and Chase attempted his first lowering job on the truck. Then, to add more power, he threw in a 350-cid engine with a 350 turbo transmission from a '76 Camaro.
The truck was looking sweet, and Chase wanted to show it off. He headed to Atlanta, Georgia, to attend the annual NOPI Nats event to do so. While there, he saw a ton of vehicles that went way beyond his truck. This included his brush with Dave Shulman, founder of the AcrophobiA club. Chase was driving through the showgrounds and heard a peculiar noise coming from behind him. When Chase looked to his side, he saw Dave dragging the body of his F-150 right past him.
Chase was inspired from that moment and ready to cut his C10 to go super low. He started out with the front end by cutting and raising the motor cradle/front crossmember for ground clearance. Then, he added a set of 2,600-pound Firestone airbags and 3-inch Chassis Tech drop spindles to make for a good adjustable suspension. For the rear to drop in the same manner, he fabricated a two-link suspension with a Panhard bar for lateral stability. Another set of 2,600-pound Firestone airbags was required to lift and lower the rear like the front, and a nitrogen bottle was attached to supply the entire air suspension. Once Chase started going low with the truck, he saw how the body was only inches from sitting on the ground. Because he was still new to the game, Chase asked for assistance from his friend "Fro" to help cut the floors for a body-drop. These modifications were all set to fit around the 20x8.5-inch Intro Pentias wrapped in Aurora rubber.
Then for the finishing touches, Chase got onto the interior and exterior mods. He shaved the door handles, antenna, corner lights, mirrors, firewall, stake pockets in the bed, taillights, and rear skin combo. On the inside, Chase got creative and fit in a '96 Silverado dash and steering column. Then, he cut the headrest off a pair of '92 Honda Civic bucket seats and fit the seats in the cab.
Since it was first truck Chase had worked on or built, he learned a lot of skills from his experiences with it. The truck also got him into doing paint- and bodywork with some of the repairs and modifications. It pushed him to further his knowledge at Albany Technical College with classes on the subject. As his skills progressed, it landed him a job as a painter in a local body shop. He also became good enough with his fabrication work to open his own shop named Real Life Kustoms. Although he produces high-quality vehicles in his shop, he only does it in his spare time as a hobby. He makes good money as a painter but is out to help others build the vehicles of their dreams.