Victorville, California, resident Jerry Macias has been building custom vehicles since he was a kid. His love for all things automotive and custom blazed a path of custom truck building that peaked when Jerry spotted GM's new Quadrasteer-equipped '02 Chevy Silverado pickup last year. The image of the Chevy sitting pretty, with its rear wheels cocked sideways on the showroom floor of Crest Chevrolet in San Bernardino, was all the inspiration Jerry needed to drive out of the dealership with a new truck. With a devious smile across his face, Jerry drove home with plans to own the first lifted Quadrasteer truck on the planet.
While we can't be sure if Jerry succeeded in being the first guy to lift one of these four-wheel steering super trucks, we are sure of one thing: It sure looks cool to watch a set of 39.5-inch rollers turn sideways beneath his truck.
SoCal SuperTrucks got the nod to take Jerry's truck from stock to not. The staff equipped the Silverado with Bulletproof Suspension's latest 12-inch subframe lift kit. The kit dropped all four of the IFS suspension's control arms 1-foot lower than their stock mounting locations and also placed a set of Fox 2.0 reservoir dampers inside the wheelwells. The rear of the truck required substantially less effort to achieve an even amount of lift. A new pair of leaf-spring packs from Deaver Springs replaced the stock units and evened out the stance of the truck with an additional 10 inches of lift. Again, Fox dampers were installed on the rearend of the truck, this time in a four-pack.
Now, this might seem like it would interfere with the operation of the rear wheel steering, right? Actually the only modifications that were necessary were to extend a single hose and a wiring harness; nothing too dramatic and SoCal SuperTrucks handled this chore with ease. To finish off the work, a set of Weld Racing's newest wheels, the Cheyenne 6, were selected in a 20x12-inch size and then stuffed inside of 39.5x14.x20 Truxus STS tires.
Huge wheels and tires tend to rob horsepower from a stock engine by moving the operating range of the truck out of its powerband. To keep things moving along efficiently, Jerry installed a Hypertech Power Programmer III, which enabled him to alter the shift points of the GM overdrive transmission; it also recalibrated the speedometer to compensate for the larger diameter tires. In addition to the computer upgrade, Jerry also had a Borla 2-1/4-inch cat-back exhaust system installed on his truck. This free-flowing exhaust pumped up the power output of the 5.3L V-8 engine and gave the truck a hearty exhaust note.
The third prong in Jerry's attack required him to deliver his lifted beast to the crew at Starbuck's Customs in nearby Riverside, California. Within the confines of the high-end custom shop, Justin and company proceeded to riddle the truck with a glorious set of flames in House of Kolor's famous True Blue Pearl color. The paintjob is expertly pinstriped and covers almost the entire truck, including portions of the lift kit.
After nailing the most important aspect of building any custom truck -- the look -- Jerry moved on and added some creature comforts. Inside the cab, Al & Ed's Autosound of Ontario, California, added upgraded sounds to the equation.
An Eclipse AVAD22 head unit controls multiple amplifiers and an additional pair of Alpine monitors that are mounted in the seat headrests. MB Quart coaxial speakers replaced the stock door speakers, and Rockford Fosgate 12-inch subwoofers found a home underneath the rear bench seat. The entire system is wired with products from Monster Cable and pumps out nearly 1,000 watts of musical power.
Jerry's truck is badass even if we can't prove that it's the first lifted truck with Quadrasteer. Either way, the sanitary buildup and customization more than makes it worthy of the coveted cover spot in this issue of OR.