When your time comes, you can rest assured that your last cruise will more than likely be in the back of your local coroner's meat wagon. Stuffed in a black Ziplock and strapped down to a gurney may not sound all that appealing to you, but Robert Valencia from Las Vegas loves it. Of course, this Ziplock isn't constructed of just plastic.
Robert started constructing this body bag with an '00 Chevy Silverado. From there, the body drop and airbag suspension were installed. Now, cruisin' in a body bag is a daily adventure for Robert. Hell, maybe we should just make Robert's truck the Las Vegas coroner's pickup.
Robert bought the pickup as a work truck for his family-owned-and-operated restaurant. After a year, the truck had served its time as a staff member and some customization was in order. Robert started with some basic bolt-ons, but it was all downhill from there.
He took the truck to Custom Truck, where Dennis put the basics on. The pickup then received a custom billet grille, a Top Deck tonneau cover, APC clear corners, and a DJM 4x6-inch drop kit.
Robert is affiliated with a club by the name of Negative Camber, and after the simple stuff was in place, the guys encouraged him to take it to the next level. So, back to Custom Truck he went. This time, the truck was disassembled, the stock floor was cut out, and the body was lowered over the framerails by 3.5 inches. Custom Truck also shaved the tailgate and added a sunroof to the standard cab pickup.
The front A-arm pockets were hollowed of their coil springs, and 'bags were set in their place. Out back, a scratch-built three-link sits on top of another set of 'bags. Clearance for the rear differential movement was made with a 4.5-inch step notch in the framerails. In addition, the floor of the bed was hacked on for clearance issues.
Controlling the suspension movement of the 7-1/2x9-1/2-inch drop is done with JM shocks. Air is pumped in and evacuated out of the airbags through 1/2-inch air lines, and controlled by 3/8-inch Mac electric valves. A K-size nitrogen bottle is mounted in the bed and supplies the lines and 'bags with quick pressure for fast-'bag action.
Bringing the body down 3.5 inches over the framerails created a few clearance issues, so the body and bed were pushed back on the framerails by 1 inch. A custom tranny mount repositioned the driveline for proper geometry. Custom-fabbed brackets hold up the entire engine compartment's electrical components and computer. Moving the body down over the framerails also created intake clearance issues, so a custom cold-air intake was fabricated from aluminum.
The interior was brought up to speed by Total FX of Las Vegas. The shop re-covered the seats in light gray and filled the truck with lots of polished goods. Aluminum flame inserts were fitted to the dash door seal plates, door panels, pedals, rearview mirror, and cab light.
Gomez Jr. and Sr. headed up the graphics department with Dupont's Fuchsia Purple Violet. The dash surround was smoothed and sprayed the same color as the graphics to tie the interior and exterior together. The Vegas-based paint shop tapped and sprayed the tribal-style graphics on the truck's body. An HR Giger-style mural was laid down on the tailgate. The truck was finished with two-tone pinstripes by James Davis, and 16 coats of clear finish off the body bag.
This body bag sits on Cartelli 20-inch Dons wrapped in a set of 255/35R20 Falcons. Bright work to complete the interior includes billet flame pedals, an antenna, flame gauges, an aluminum dash insert, flame door panels, and window tint. The bed is covered in dark-gray tweed and houses the nitrogen tank battery and some spare bling.
Robert knows the meaning of "going out in style." When it comes our time, there's no other body bag we'd like to have our carcasses hauled in than Robert's.