Custom Chevy Avalanche - Racing To Be The First In The Air

When Chevrolet decided to release the Avalanche to the public, it was met with a bit of skepticism and a bit of enthu siasm. Most truck owners couldn't decide if the fold-down rear cab wall was really a benefit or some silly gimmick. Edward Ceja of Richmond, Texas, had a voyeuristic vision of what could be with the new one-piece truck body design of the Chevy and headed for the local dealership vying to be the first kid on the block with one. It was all up in the air from there, literally.

Edward is an employee of Xtreme Offroad in Rosenberg, Texas, so going up with the suspension was already predetermined in the game plan. Whiplash was sourced for a 14-inch suspension lift kit, but before any of it saw the underside of the Avalanche, just about every piece that could be bolted to the frame was triple chrome-plated. Anything not dipped in shiny chrome was painted House of Kolor Pearl Green and accented with violet airbrushed skulls and flames, including the frame. Ten total King shocks with reservoirs make up the rest of the lift equipment. Huge rubber was on the list of things to do, so a one-off billet body lift was created to move the roofline of the Bow Tie 6 inches further north. Now 20 inches taller, 49-inch TSL Iroks mounted to 20x12-inch Weld Cheyenne 6s do their best to fill in the enlarged wheelwell openings. Aiding the 5.3L V-8 in its quest to move the crazy-sized rubber are 5.13 gears, along with Hypertech's programmer, a true dual-exhaust system fit with Flowmaster mufflers, AIRAID intake mounted to a POWERAID throttle body spacer, underdrive pulley set, and Flex-a-lite electric fans.

Edward had his dream to be the first to lift the Avalanche the highest amount possible, but the factory black exterior just wasn't written in the sky, even with the plastic cladding fully smoothed and color coordinated. Chaotic Customz in Tomball, Texas, made up the difference between the contrasting green of the frame and black of the body by laying down a killer set of flames to match. House of Kolor Pearl Green with Violet Pearl ghost flames intertwine with more skulls and detail work to bring the exterior skin of the 'Lanche to life. After spending a couple months in the stereo shop, Edward decided more paint was in order, so he dropped the Bow Tie in the capable hands of Alamo Customs in Alvin, Texas, for more flames. Robert at Alamo shaved the raised "Chevrolet" emblem from the tailgate and added a matching set of green over violet flames. Not that there wasn't enough shine already from the undercarriage, but a Stull billet Bow Tie emblem and billet grilles were installed, along with an APC billet antenna.