Click here for more pictures! It would have been a damn shame to see this truck disappear from the scene. That was the possible of this crazy low hauler. Back in the day, original owner Danny Becker had major plans to go all out with this truck and make it a head-turning show truck. But, later on, the interest in the project was lost and the pink slip found its way into the hands of Chad Lucas. Like we stated, this '00 Chevy Silverado had a different owner that wanted to go wild with it. The first plan was to make the distance between the roof and the ground as short as possible. The best way to make this possible was to 'bag and body-drop the truck, so it would lay out in good fashion. Being a SoCal resident, it was inevitable that it would end up in the hands of Cary Iaccino of IF Customs to get cut down in height. Cary took his expertise and put in one of his own IF Customs two-link rear suspensions. Then, to get the doors closer to the concrete, the truck was body-dropped 5-1/2 inches, using 3x4-inch square tubing, while keeping the floor of the cab from being altered.
After the suspension was set up to tuck 22s, the body was reformed a bit to clean up the stock body lines. The door handles were shaved, a set of Cadillac taillights were installed, and a Chevy HD grille was put in. The truck also received a welded-on rear tailgate and roll pan combo that was left unfinished. By the looks of the bodywork, it was visible that all interest had been lost, since the owner was bored with the amount of time it took to get the ball rolling and to finish the project. A member of the Severed Ties community, Danny told his fellow club members that he was pondering giving the truck to someone who had more interest in it. This is where Chad Lucas came to revive the build. As you may know, Chad is the associate editor at Mini Truckin', a sister publication that's down hall from us in the Primedia offices. He is currently building several projects, including his crazy blown and body-dropped '92 Pathfinder. Even though he works on a mini-truck-based publication, his love for custom trucks knows no bounds. So, when Chad and the other Severed Ties club members heard about the door-dragging Chevy, he raised his eyebrows in thoughts of possibly recovering the truck and taking it to a new level.
The very next day, Chad and his buddy Mike Alexander went to check out the truck and all its goods. He found it covered in dust, as if it had been sitting for a couple of decades. But, nonetheless, it could be salvaged, and so he decided to swap green for pink. Since the bodywork was iffy, he made some calls to see what could be done about fixing it. It ended up that Steve Platt of Plattinum Audio Designs of Las Vegas would orchestrate the rest of the project buildup. That Christmas night, Chad got in the truck and drove from Southern Cali to Las Vegas in order to get everything going. Upon his arrival to Steve's house, the plans for stereo and custom fiberglass work were mocked up. Given that Steve's shop was in the same building as Musso Motorsports and Kaotic Customs, the plan was set to have the bodywork and paint done all there in that building. After the dash, center console, sub box, and door panels were set up by Plattinum, the truck was sent to Musso for the bodywork to be redone. They sand-blasted the rear of the truck and took the doors down to bare metal to redo the metalwork, instead of coating it down with body filler. Once it was primered, Musso laid down the Blue Pearl basecoat. Then, Ryan Evans of Kaotic mapped out and sprayed the aggressive flame licks in silver and flake down the front and sides.
The last thing done was the upholstery and the bed work. The materials were also brought together by Steve Platt and assembled in house. Lastly, the bed was coated in Line-X by Marcel Venable of Line-X of Huntington Beach. As it sits now, you can see for yourself that this is one bad-ass ride. The cool thing about it is that Chad will drive and drag the hell out of it. We had to even make him garage it for a little while before we could take these photos because he would otherwise drive it and wreck something before we could shoot it. Even though it may have started out by collecting dust and spiders, with new ownership the build was revitalized by fresh blood and has become one wild truck that gets driven--not trailered. You gotta respect that.
THE 411
Owner/hometown: Chad Lucas / La Verne, California
Year/make/model: '00 Chevrolet Silverado
Engine/drivetrain: 5.3L with custom intake and engine covers by IF Customs, painted to match by Musso Motorsports
Wheels/tires: 22-inch Rozzi Carbons / 265/30ZR22 Continental Tires
Suspension: IF Customs two-link, DJM drop control arms, 5-1/2-inch stock floor body drop using 3x4-inch 1/4-inch wall tubing, Oasis Compressor, 15mm SMC Valves
Fabricator: IF Customs in Sylmar, California
Body Mods: Shaved door handles, antenna, stake bed pockets, taillights, and third brake lights; Grant Kustoms combo; rear molded shut, Caddy taillights; HD front end; custom bumper by Josh Freeman; all other work performed by IF Customs and Musso Motorsports
Custom Paint: Custom mixed blue pearl over white base, silver flames with silver flake, all paint is Matrix Paint Systems and was applied by Musso Motorsports, with flames by Kaotic Ryan
Interior: Gray Mercedes carpet; dove gray Enduratex from Mike at Enduratex; dark-gray suede; with blue glitter vinyl; custom-made door panels painted to match truck; molded dash painted to match truck; vinyl and suede headliner; Nu-Image stainless gauges, flamed billet A/C knobs, and platinum A/C overlay; BAD Diamond Severed Ties steering wheel
Upholsterer: Plattinum Audio Designs in Las Vegas and Jim Sarcone
Audio/video: Pioneer CD player; two JL Audio amps; two 10-inch ARC Audio subs; 6-1/2-inch ARC Audio separates in doors; 5-1/4-inch ARC Audio separates in rear pillars; Accelevision DVD player; two 10.4-inch Accelevision LCD screen (one in dash and one in the center console for the rear passengers); custom subwoofer enclosure under the rear seat upholstered in vinyl; Accele 40-pound door solenoids and door poppers; Ohio Generator 300-amp alternator
Installer: Steve Platt at Plattinum Audio Designs in Las Vegas
Engine: Zirgo Cooling Products Radiator hose and heater hoses; custom-made metal panels by IF Customs; Ohio Generator 300-amp alternator; custom-made intake
Misc.: Street Scene brushed speed grille; cowl-induction hood; color-matched Line-X by Line-X in Huntington Beach
Special Thanks: Danny Becker for the O.G. build, IF Customs; Steve Platt of Plattinum Audio Designs for orchestrating the rebuild; Musso Motorsports; Kaotic Ryan Evans; Brandon at Rozzi Wheels; Continental Tires; Nu-Image; Josh Freeman; Mike Alexander; Mike at Enduratex; Marcel Venable at Huntington Beach Line-X; Street Scene; Matrix System Paint; SuicideDoors.com; Zirgo Cooling Products; Accelevision; and Josh Threlkeld Club: Severed Ties