Allan Hoffman enjoys the rhythm of island life, tak- ing it easy, and drinking concoctions with little umbrellas in them.
This island attitude of no worries was quickly thrown out the window when the time came to move out of the shadows of custom truck building and take his seat on the throne of show truck superiority. We presented Allan and his dad, Robert, a challenge at Showfest in Greenville last year to change a couple of things on the trick truck, and they took our suggestions to heart. Debuting at SEMA completed, we couldn't believe our eyes as the truck went from cool to "somebody help me pick my jaw off the ground" sick. Not just another lowered truck, Allan's GMC is now officially in the spotlight and the result of several talented people's dedication.
The Oklahoma City native set out to build a truck unlike anyone had ever seen before and surrounded himself with a talented crew to pull off such an admirable task. First up on the modification list was the extensive bodywork needed to prep Allan's truck for amazing graphics and a new paint scheme. Delivering the truck to Todd's Custom and Collision in Tuttle, Oklahoma, the crew shaved the taillights, door handles, third brake light, firewall, and back cab wall, and they cut the bed floor. With Todd Boatwright behind the welder, Allan's truck was as smooth as a baby's bottom and now sported Caddy taillights and a Sir Michael's roll pan. Ready for a new look, Todd laid the white basecoat. The white truck looked nice, but Allan wanted more than an all-white truck and for that the rig was brought to Charles "the kid" Armstrong at his shop in Prescott, Arizona. While in Charles' possession the truck took on a whole new persona reflecting Allan's take it easy attitude. Airbrush and paint gun in hand, Charles applied amazing graphics using PPG and Xotic colors consisting of white, black, orange, yellow, red, blue, tan, and even color-changing pigments. Throughout the GMC canvas are 120 insanely detailed Tiki figures airbrushed on every imaginable surface. Also painted onto the Sierra are real flames, bamboo, flowers, and three-dimensional tear-away graphics. Looking killer, the truck was then transported back to Oklahoma and dropped off at AutoTrendz in Oklahoma City where Jimmie, Derek, and Jeremy were assigned the responsibility of making the truck lay on the ground.
Starting with the fun job of body dropping the truck, the team removed 3-1/2 inches of unnecessary cab floor and cut the entire back half of the truck off of the frame. Filling the new frame void is an Elite Street Rods parallel four-link with Panhard bar using over-axle airbags for adjustment. Up front, Belltech drop spindles lowered the front using sweet tubular 'bag mounts, keeping the Chassis Tech airbags secure. Pneumatic suspension components consist of 1/2-inch stainless hard line, 1/2-inch GC valves, and two Viair 460C compressors. Stuffed under each fender are Bonspeed Laguna billet wheels measuring 20x8-1/2 inches up front and 22x10-inch billet hoops out back. Nitto 555 rubber wrap snugly around each billet beauty with 255/35ZR20 tires taking care of steering chores and 285/35ZR22 mounted for traction.
Pop the remote door poppers and an interior of white and orange exposes itself from top to bottom. Todd Boatwright filled, smoothed, and then painted the stock dash and door panels. The rest of the cabin was taken care of by Upholstery Unlimited in Oklahoma City. While at the shop, the team wrapped the custom sub box that Allan built, laid new white leather flooring, installed the white leather headliner, and wrapped the Cavalier seats in white leather and orange suede. The trick Tiki steering wheel is a custom piece from B.A.D. and the pedals were one of the last sets sold by Trenz. Tunes are supplied by a Pioneer P-6500DVD head unit with a JBL 1201.1 amp pushing the JBL 12-inch sub and Infinity Kappa separates.
Debuting at Showfest, the Hoffman family was pleased with the reactions of admiration, temporarily. You see, at Showfest the dash was all white and the bed was Line-X black, with a nitrogen tank taking up much of the rear. We suggested changing the dash and bed, and two months later at Heat Wave, the dash was the same and the bed was all white with a full sheetmetal skin. Looking better, Allan and Robert had starting problems driving to the cover photo location, so we rescheduled for SEMA. Upon seeing the completed truck, we couldn't believe our eyes. The father and son combo sent the truck back down to Arizona during the three-month break and Charles Armstrong once again went paint crazy, only this time it was on the dash and inside the bed. Pictures cannot do this amazing automotive artwork justice; but trust us, the detail is insane. Now there is no rock left unturned and the couple of months helped Allan achieve the truck of his dreams.
Everything worked out exactly the way it was supposed to and the Tiki truck has never looked better. Eye-catching graphics, big billets, and details galore-this truck is all leid out. Allan wanted to especially thank Todd, Bonspeed, Viair, B.A.D., Autotrendz, Cassy, and of course, mom and dad.
Attention to Detail:An Artist's VisionReal fire on the hood keeps things warm for anytime BBQs.Hood, wiper cowl, and dash.Passenger door.Tailgate close-up.Driver's door jam.