Showing' No Merzee

So Cal is a sea of monster-lifted, street-driven, never-seen-dirt trucks. A decent majority of the trucks we see here in our home grounds are stock-bodied with maybe a grille or painted door handles to add some pizzazz. To grab and hold our attention it's going to take just a bit more effort than that. Okay, a lot more effort than that.

Enter Trevor Wood and his cleanly executed 2001 Chevy Silverado. Bringing height into the equation is a candy blue powdercoated Twisted Suspension 15-inch lift kit with an added 4 inches in the form of a custom polished body lift. Those 19 total inches of increased adjustment allow room for the Lexani Roma 22-inch 3-piece wheels and 40x15.50R22 Nitto Mud Grapplers. Two Fox Racing 2.0 nitrogen reservoir shocks reside at each corner, and Power Stop slotted rotors with race pads help the hauler decrease speed. For added effect, the driveshaft was polished to a mirror gloss and a Nu Image iron cross differential cover was slapped into position. Kodiak electric drop-down steps were called upon to help owner and passengers alike attempt to ingress and egress the gargantuan truck.

Motoring along in this hot-licked Bow Tie is accomplished with an aftermarket-equipped 5.3L V-8. Induction is prodded with the use of an Airaid cold air intake tube and throttle-body spacer. Adding to that is a Granatelli mass air meter. On the way out of the small-block mill, the exhaust passes through Gibson ceramic-coated headers and a Gibson after-cat exhaust system complete with mandrel-bent 3-inch tubing all slipped into place by Supreme Muffler in Lomita, California. When Trevor hits the throttle, 5.13 Eaton cogs installed at Rapid Transit in San Pedro, California, twist the big Nitto 40s with ease.

Trevor had Merzees Paint and Body in Santa Fe Springs, California, lay on a laundry list of visually enhancing modifications. Most easily recognizable to most is the swap from the Chevy nose to a Cadillac Escalade nose. A Trenz polished billet grille replaces the factory counterpart. Even the Cadillac tow hooks were fit to the truck, but not until they got a shimmering dose of chrome. Merzees painted the mirror shells and installed Grippen Billet door handles to help with the flow of color from front to rear. The bed was treated to a Sir Michael's weld-on roll pan and a shaved tailgate handle. Topping the bed is a SnugTop fiberglass tonneau cover providing protection to the Wise Industries Bedrug kit. For added kick, Merzees squirted a hot set of flames over the nose in Dupont Blue Pearl and House of Kolor Cobalt Blue. A dark gray pinstripe edges the licks, and airbrushed drop shadows add dimension to make it look lively.

Like a good football game, it takes a team effort to score and the next team member to get the ball was Garret "G Man" Sterns at Real Sounds in Palos Verdes, California. G Man started up the sound system install with an Eclipse head unit passing off to Audiobahn amplifiers. After the signals get pumped to the max, they are lead along to the Eclipse mids and highs strewn about the cabin and two 12-inch Audiobahn subwoofers mounted in the extra cab portion. An Audiobahn 2-farad capacitor helps the dual Yellow Top Optima batteries keep everything fired up. A 6-1/2-inch video screen is molded into the center console and a Sony PS2 is permanently hooked to it.