We always hear it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. In school, he was the mild-mannered kid, and at work, he is the soft-spoken boss who yields authority. Yet, at a truck show, he is a different man. David Davis arrives throwing switches, bumpin' the bass hard, and with a whine hinting he has a blown V-8 under the chameleon-flamed hood. Yeah, we thought, it's those quiet ones.
As an active member of the Pebble Pushers truck club in Polkton, North Carolina, David built a beautiful Chevy Tahoe with every category checked off for perfection. Beginning the project with his wife Wendy's daily driven '99 Tahoe, he decided to give the Chevy new ride characteristics in the form of air. Delivered to Str8twizted Customz, in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the crew scrapped the stock setup in favor of a PAI/Firestone airbag system using DJM drop spindles up front and Toxic shocks all the way around. Filling the lowered fenders is a set of KMC Clocker wheels measuring 20x9 inches at each corner with Goodyear rubber providing the contact patch. Moving to the body, David went with subtlety over insanity.
Satisfied with the limited body kit that came factory on the Tahoe, David dropped the SUV off with Fred Probst in Salisbury, North Carolina, for a new paint scheme. Before the paint was applied, a set of Buick hinges was used to create the forward-tilting hood. Other modifications include projection headlights, APC taillights, and a roll pan installed out back. Fred mixed up DuPont Onyx Black and Absolute Purpaline, then added ChromaLusion flames to the fullsize show truck. Needing just the right light to make the paint pop, David had what he wanted, a truck that when properly inspected would turn heads.
Inside the freshly painted Tahoe, David turned to Carolina Audio in Monroe, North Carolina, to build a custom system worthy of bumping and showing. An Alpine flip-up head unit sends signals to two MTX amps supplying power to two MTX 8000 15-inch subwoofers. In case music is not the entertainment of choice, David also has an Alpine DVD player, a PlayStation 2, and a VCR mounted behind the rear seat feeding a flip-down monitor from the headliner and two in the front headrests with wireless headphones for his two sons. Finishing off the interior is a Colorado Customs steering wheel, a ChromaLusion-painted dash bezel, Trenz billet pedals and accessories, along with Nu-Image flamed gauges.
Powering this limit-pushing custom is a 5.7L 350ci V-8, with extra horsepower supplied by a Powerdyne supercharger forcing 8 psi down the intake chambers. Air is fed through a K&N intake and a Flowmaster exhaust system, and for moments when David is being too quiet, a complete Nitrous Works nitrous setup, tuned to a 75-shot, injects the proper amount of go-juice for a whole new side of Mr. Davis. The nitrous bottle is flamed to match the exterior of the truck and is mounted on a sweet billet stand. Tuning is provided by Hypertech, and the 3:42 gears keep the tires smoking when David wants to.
All that was left to do was take the keys from Wendy (who drives the Tahoe to school where she teaches), load up the family, and drive to the shows where trophies can be collected at will. Originally, David's father thought only rednecks painted flames on their trucks, but after seeing the final product, he quickly changed his tune and now appreciates the Tahoe for what it is - the perfect outlet for a mild-mannered family man to push the show-truck limits.