Another chapter of Shawn's story is plastered onto the single cab's doors. Giordano's passion for building off-road trucks led him to open his own shop, Unlimited Motorsports. For a decade, Unlimited Motorsports' doors were open for business. In time, another opportunity presented itself. Shawn had the chance to put his fabrication skills to work for Fabtech Motorsports in the big blue's R&D department. Although his commute to work is now much longer, Fabtech gave Shawn a schedule that lets him make the drive to and from work during the hours when traffic is light. Once he arrives at the company's Chino, California, facility, Shawn is part of a team that designs and builds suspension systems for the latest trucks available to the buying public. Custom, one-off designs are built, analyzed, tested (read: abused in the dirt), and finally put into production. To the end user, this means that his or her bolt-on suspension kit has a heritage in that which is custom-fabbed.
OFF-ROAD recently had the chance to crawl under, climb over, and ride in the Unlimited Motorsports/Fabtech Toyota. The truck begs to be driven hard, assuring the driver he's got a stable platform from which to assault the terrain and the competition. The engine needs to be driven hard. The four-cylinder 22RE is at its best when the rpm and the momentum are kept high. What impressed us the most, though, was the way that the added wheelbase gave the truck a different personality. With predictable handling and a smooth ride, it's easy to see why adding 8 inches beats the competition by a mile.
Dirt Logic
Although the stretched Toy worked well with a variety of brand labels on the suspension dampers, Shawn's truck was fitted with a full cadre of Fabtech's Dirt Logic shocks and bumpstops in the weeks following our photo shoot.
Dirt Logic shocks are not relabeled shocks from another top manufacturer. They are produced in-house at Fabtech and serve to showcase the blue company's capability to produce hard-core off-road suspension weaponry. Key features include Viton seals, 7075 aluminum end caps, and hard-anodized internals. Check out the immaculate TIG welds used to construct the 7/8-inch bypass tubes. The shock bodies are electroless nickel-plated both inside and outside for good looks and even better performance. The Dirt Logic lineup includes coilover shocks, bypass shocks, and bumpstops. The coilover and bypass units are built in a variety of diameters and stroke lengths.
Look for Dirt Logic shocks on all of Fabtech's team trucks and as part of selected Fabtech suspension systems. Dirt Logic shocks are also available for custom applications.