While attending our Truckin' Havasu Havoc show at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, I noticed a wide variety of cool late-model, lowered, lifted, mini, mid, and fullsize trucks. As I was cruising through the show photographing my selection of trucks to submit to our show coverage, I noticed a contrast of body mods between late models versus early models.
The late-model custom-truck enthusiasts don't seem to express their full creative, in-depth visionary mind capabilities toward serious body mods. It seems, if it can't be simply bolted-on then it's not included in the build. The most exotic body mods I saw were shaved door and tailgate handles, and sunroofs. There were part swaps, like front fenders, grilles, and bumper covers-oh ya, don't forget those front-fender vents. Don't get me wrong, cross-breeding front clips creates a nice effect, such as a Ford F-150 with a Lincoln Navigator or a Chevy Silverado with a grafted-on Escalade front, sheetmetal, grille, and headlights. I remember when Lincoln tried to expose its customers to the Blackwood pickup, complete with a Blackwood grain bed floor and illuminant disco bed-floor lights. The bait didn't seem to be taken.
It would seem, with the recent invention of the Sawzall and plasma cutter, we would be seeing more dramatic body mods. How about a 3-inch chopped lid, or a combo 3-inch chop, and a 3-inch full body section of an '07 Escalade-to express a truly hammered profile-then, layout the hammered Escalade on its rockers while tuckin' a set of 24s?
A few months ago, I had the privilege to work with two early model custom builder icons, Dale Taylor and Dan Dowdy. These two accomplished builders wanted to apply their creativity, minds, and hands to sculpture "Sublime," a '50 Suburban I have been building for the past couple of years. I was fortunate to witness the two working in harmony during a body-mod tech article. The major body mods consisted of chopping the top 3 inches, a 3-inch body section, doors, cowl, and hood section, shaving all of the door handles, the cowl vent, and the side vents, then also shaving the massive external rear-barn door hinges.
The Phat Phendered Suburban was debuted at the Truckin' Havasu Havok show as an under-construction project. It drew a lot of attention. Stay tuned for the re-introduction and remainder of the buildup in upcoming months of Truckin'. The journey should be an interesting one.