2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 2WD - Long Travel

2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 2Wd Front Left View

2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 2Wd Right Side View

This is a desert truck in street clothing. Pulling the hood, fenders, and bedsides off reveals its true nature.

This is a desert truck in street clothing. Pulling the hood, fenders, and bedsides off rev

Most of the time, good things come to those who wait, plan, and persevere. Every now and then, a good thing drops into your lap.

We were out at the Ocotillo Wells OHV area with the Total Chaos crew on a rather toasty October weekend when we spied Rex Rajewski's bright-yellow Chevy 1500 completely by happenstance. Rex's truck stood out for four reasons:

1-It's a Chevy. There's no shortage of Ford and Toyota desert trucks. Bow Ties are less common.
2-It's bright yellow. Not quite '80s day-glow, but it's a hue that grabs your attention.
3-There's clean fabrication from bumper to bumper.
4-It's still got a license plate.

Rather than search for an off-the-shelf long-travel kit, Rex built his own. It's six inches wider than stock per side and yields 18 inches of travel. The upper control arms use Heim joints at the frame to allow alignment caster and camber changes when needed. King damping hardware dominates here in the form of a coilover, a bypass shock, and a bumpstop.

Rather than search for an off-the-shelf long-travel kit, Rex built his own. It's six inche

Building an off-road truck is a tricky business. There's no set formula for success. Instead, there's whole spectrum of "right ways" to build a truck. At one end of the spectrum there's the full-competition truck with the fiberglass body, no windshield, no creature comforts, and no real-world utility beyond competition. At the other extreme you'll find a daily driver equipped with a stock steel body, a suspension lift, off-road worthy wheels and tires, and perhaps a custom bumper and some off-road lights. Competition-only trucks can survive speeds and hits that would curl a daily driver into a whimpering metallic ball. On the other hand, daily drivers do everything else, taking their owners everywhere life requires including excursions to the dirt. Rex Rajewski's bright-yellow Chevy 1500 walks the line between the two.

Rex, a professional welder from Sun City, California, purchased his '00 Chevy 1500 at an auction. Its intended purpose was to be a tow vehicle for an S-10 project truck. The 1500 was built instead.

Rex built a bumper-to-bumper rollcage using a mix of 1.5-inch DOM and chromoly tubing. A full 'cage like this is mandatory for hard driving in the dirt. Careful, skillful planning went into retaining the stock dash. It's also easy to get into and out of this truck, thanks to a set of door bars that plunge all the way to the floor where they meet with more structural tubing. By contrast, entering and exiting a competition-only truck requires a combination of climbing and contortion abilities.

Sitting inside, you're midway between two very capable suspension systems. Up front, Rex built his own front suspension system with custom control arms that are six inches wider than stock per side. There's a custom steering knuckle connecting those control arms which integrates a BMS Offroad spindle-and-hub kit that roundly surpasses the stock system. Eighteen inches of front-wheel travel are on tap. Behind you, a Rex-built four link cycles through 28 inches of wheel travel. There wasn't money for a high-zoot rear axle in the budget, so Rajewski made do with what he had. "When you weld onto the cast iron centersection, you have to heat it up in an oven first. While you're welding, you need to keep the whole thing hot with a torch," he told us. King coilovers, bypass shocks, and bump stops are used up front, and the rear is controlled using Fox coilovers, King bypass shocks, and King bump stops. The rear frame is notched above the axle to buy a little more bump travel.

Chevy's 5.3 Vortec V-8 is a great engine. There was no need to replace it, especially considering the relative light weight of this truck's standard-cab-and-short-bed combo. The Vortec isn't completely stock, though. It breathes through a K&N intake, is ignited with help from a Hypertech performance electronics system, and exhales through Magnaflow cats and a Mac Products muffler. The power feeds into the stock 4L60-E transmission which in turn spins a two-piece drive shaft built by Oceanside Driveline.

2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 2Wd Boxed Plate Lower Control Arms

Boxed plate lower control arms can take a pounding. This plate layout style, where the top and bottom plates overlap the skinny connection plate that joins them, is preferable because it creates an inside-corner weld joint. The inside-corner weld joint facilitates the addition of more filler metal compared to most outside-corner joints. Translation: these arms are strong. Check out the grease zerk fittings at the frame-end bushings. The zerks make maintenance easy and keep squeaks in check.

Boxed plate lower control arms can take a pounding. This plate layout style, where the top

Most trucks that boast as much off-road hardware and capability as this one also have something else: an off-road only green sticker. Instead of relegating the 1500 to life as a trailer-only toy, Rex built around the stock smog control systems. This ride's street plate bolts proudly to a tube on the rear 'cage. Rajewski trailers the 1500 to and from his favorite OHV areas most of the time, but if he needed to drive it there and back he could.

Off-road ability versus everyday drivability. Walking such a fine line is never easy. Rex Rajewski and his Chevy pulled it off. Maybe you can, too.

Specs
Vehicle:
'00 Chevy Silverado 1500 2WD

Owner/Hometown:
Rex Rajewski / Sun City, CA

2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 2Wd Bumper And Skidplate

The stock bumper hangs down too low and doesn't match the strength of the rest of this truck. Rex set the stocker aside and built his own bolt-on bumper with a matching skidplate.

The stock bumper hangs down too low and doesn't match the strength of the rest of this tru

Engine:
5.3L Vortec V-8 with K&N intake and filter system, Edelbrock headers, Mac Products muffler, Hypertech power programmer

Transmission:
Stock 4L60-E

Front suspension:
Complete owner-built long-travel system. Six inches wider per side, 18 inches of travel. Lower arms are boxed plate, uppers are round tubing. BMS spindle and hub kit integrated into custom steering knuckle. King coilover and bypass shocks, King bump stops.

Rear suspension:
Owner-built four-link system with 28 inches of travel. Stock rear axle retained, but trussed and tabbed for four-link. Oceanside Driveline two-piece driveshaft. Fox coilovers, King bypass shocks, King bump stops.

2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 2Wd Vortec Engine

The 5.3 Vortec is a great engine, so there was no need to swap it out for something else. The engine cage also captures the radiator core support and continues forward to the front bumper. It can be un-bolted if needed.

The 5.3 Vortec is a great engine, so there was no need to swap it out for something else.

Ring and pinion ratio:
4.11:1

Tires:
BFG Mud Terrain T/A, 35x12.50R17

Chassis:
Stock frame retained, but strengthened with a complete bumper-to-bumper rollcage built by Rex. Both chromoly and DOM tubing were used, 1.5 x .120-wall. Both MIG and TIG welding were used during the build.

Interior:
Stock dash notched for roll cage tubing. Kartek seats, Crow harnesses, CNC brake pedal and dual master cylinders.

Favorite off-roading places:
Ocotillo Wells and Plaster City/Superstition

Kartek Comp seats and Crow five-point harnesses ensure everyone stays safely put inside the cab. The shoulder harness belts are mounted to a roll cage tube that's installed just a little lower than the harness slots in the seats. This method is a textbook example of mounting belts the right way.
Kartek Comp seats and Crow five-point harnesses ensure everyone stays safely put inside th
The factory brake booster was in the way, so it was ditched in favor of a CNC manual brake system. The brake light switch was plumbed and wired into the new master cylinder system.
The factory brake booster was in the way, so it was ditched in favor of a CNC manual brake
The low-slung door bars make it easy to get in and out of this truck.

Key parts of the 'cage bolt on and off for easier maintenance. Weld quality is exemplary throughout.
Key parts of the 'cage bolt on and off for easier maintenance. Weld quality is exemplary t
If there's an Achilles heel to this truck, it's the stock steering rack. We don't know what GM was thinking on this one, but half of the rack's housing is steel and the other half is aluminum. Even worse, there's an unreliable rivet holding the whole works together. Rex welded a support tab to each end, and then tied the tabs onto a common mounting plate. He also built a gusset to reinforce the input shaft area. These are slick fixes that help, but the ultimate solution is to mount a Howe power rack and pinion unit in place of the stock stuff. The Howe rack is in the works, but wasn't yet reality when we met Rex and his Chevy.
If there's an Achilles heel to this truck, it's the stock steering rack. We don't know wha
The gas tank's vapor canister is tucked up out of the way, hidden behind a removable bracket.
The gas tank's vapor canister is tucked up out of the way, hidden behind a removable brack

The lower trailing arms are simple and strong. They're fitted with grease zerks at the frame end for easy maintenance and squeak-free running. The stock rear axle was retained in order to cut costs. Welding to a cast iron centersection isn't for the inexperienced, but it can be pulled off successfully if you know a couple of welding tricks.
The lower trailing arms are simple and strong. They're fitted with grease zerks at the fra
Sol Teck lights are always a solid choice, but the big news here is the visor under the lights. Light glare reflecting off the hood is a major hindrance to seeing well after sundown. Mr. Rajewski understands this, and built this visor for optimal night running.
Sol Teck lights are always a solid choice, but the big news here is the visor under the li

There's a lot hidden behind the fiberglass, so this was the best way to reveal what's usually unseen. The frame is notched above the rear axle, garnering extra inches of bump travel.
There's a lot hidden behind the fiberglass, so this was the best way to reveal what's usua
Instead of chopping off the back half of the frame, Rex built on top of the rails. A Fox coilover works in concert with a King bypass shock to produce 28 inches of rear wheel travel. The boxed plate rear shock mounts are simple, yet elegant.
Instead of chopping off the back half of the frame, Rex built on top of the rails. A Fox c
The rollcage was connected to the cab with unobtrusive tie-in plates. There's a Mag Lite stashed out of the way yet still within reach. You can never have too many zip ties along for the ride.
The rollcage was connected to the cab with unobtrusive tie-in plates. There's a Mag Lite s

The stock steering knuckles and the unit-bearing hubs within them are both weak points. The stock hardware was replaced with this owner-built steering knuckle. Rex turned to Blitzkrieg Motorsports for a bolt-on Dana 44-style spindle and a matching BMS hub.
The stock steering knuckles and the unit-bearing hubs within them are both weak points. Th