It's questionable why we do what we do. Apparently, the answers are hidden in some monk's hairless head, perched high atop an unknown and unobtainable mountaintop. We know Jim Shumate sure isn't searching for a cure, as he has an A-list of customs under his belt, including a '55 Chevy, '67 and '69 Camaros, and the clincher, a '69 Cadillac. Any custom vehicle aficionado would chop off a near-and-dear part of himself to own just one of those, let alone all of them. And so that brings us to Jim's current toy, a '98 Chevy two-door Tahoe.
A far cry from the street-rod grouping of vehicles already through his stables, Jim latched onto this Tahoe because of its two-wheel-drive drivetrain. Visions of a clean, smooth cruiser danced around, and to start, the 'Hoe's suspension was brought to a more respectable stance. A 4/5 DJM drop and Edelbrock shocks were installed at Allgood's in Pendleton, South Carolina. Stillen brakes with stainless, braided lines take the place of the stockers, including a drum-to-disc conversion out back. Centerline 20- and 22-inch Edge wheels roll the Bow Tie on 255/35R20 and 285/30R22 Dunlops. At Allgood's the front control arms got whacked an inch shorter to make plenty of clearance to tuck and turn the front wheels easier.
For some grunt, the Chevy came equipped with a 5.7L V-8, but for a rodder like Jim, stock wasn't going to get his heart pumping. To pump up the power, the most obvious additive under the hood is the fully polished Cool Charger feeding the small-block with a bit of boost. After being fired in the cylinders by a JET EFI program the exhaust is tossed aside through JBA ceramic-coated headers and a fully stainless Borla system. Driving the power rearward is a factory 4L60 four-speed feeding the 3.73-cogged rearend. A full complement of shiny chrome and billet bits fills the engine compartment with a tasteful array of eye-pleasing gleam.