Griffin Gunner not only has the fortune of sporting one of the coolest names ever, but he happens to be pretty talented with suspension fabrication, too. His Fresno, California-based shop, Twisted Suspension Designs, has been pumping out extreme lift kits for MANY YEARS. the company's current project, this '00 Ford F-250, is, according to Griffin, "Just a tow vehicle for our real show trucks." Some of you may remember Twisted's blown 468cid big-block Tahoe we featured in our Oct. '04 issue. It's a pretty good example of a Twisted show truck.
The crew started out by removing the stock suspension that had originally set the ride height. A set of spring hangers and leaf springs lets the axle reside 16 inches from its original position. A dual shock hoop was mounted within the front wheelwells, allowing a total of four shocks to dampen the ride, and an AGR Rock Ram hydraulic steering box was mounted to assist in moving the 40-inch Super Swampers. A massive three-link wishbone setup was fabricated from 2x0.250-inch-thick tubing and connected with 1-1/4-inch rod ends. Triple-bellow 'bags were mounted over the axle on perches, as well as below the frame with tubular drop-down brackets, and flanked with dual shocks on each side for a massive 20 inches of travel. The 'bags were plumbed using 1/2-inch line through GC Xtreme valves and fed via two chrome VIAIR 350 compressors. Once the suspension was good to go, it was ripped out and powdercoated in the planned orange-and-white color scheme.
Since the giant was going to be pulling even larger beasts behind it, Griffin wanted to make sure he was squeezing every last bit of torque out of the 7.3L Power Stroke. To achieve this goal, the truck was upgraded with a Bully Dog turbo, intake, Power Pup computer, shift kit, and 5-inch exhaust, as well as Bully Dog's propane injection system and a 125hp shot from NSX foggers. The result? An estimated 1,000 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels for those tough, uphill climbs. When it comes to driving down the hill, no one wants to be driving a runaway train, especially when some large investments are sitting atop the trailer behind you, so Griffin had a Bully Dog exhaust brake installed.
The hauler was then taken to Settin'Trendz, also in Fresno, where the crew shaved the gas door and relocated the fuel filler behind the taillight. The stock fuel cell was ditched and replaced with an aluminum version behind the rear axle. Mario of Kustom Airbrush stepped in and 'brushed several pieces with the tribal flames. After Mario's 'brushwork was completed, Settin'Trendz pinstriped each lick with blue and buried the paint under several coats of clear. Total Image Detailing then cut and buffed the truck from nose to tail to bring out the shine.
To finish up the inside of the Ford, Griffin accented the doorsills, panels, and pedals, as well as the rearview mirror, with Trenz billet pieces. The head unit was replaced with a Pioneer flip-out with GPS and a Pioneer DVD player. A set of 12-inch Audiobahn subs was wired up to Audiobahn amps that provide the amps. To assist in keeping tabs on what was happening behind the truck, a camera was mounted in the tailgate and video feed was piped into the head unit.