Back in the ’80s, many trucks were just, well … tall. Function wasn’t a priority because attitudes were different. Back then it was all about lifting trucks as tall as possible for visual shock value. Of course, in many cases the end result was a truck that offered almost zero suspension travel and a bone-jarring ride akin to an 1800’s buckboard.
Trends change, and today function overrules form for many truck builders. In many ways we have rockcrawling to thank for this. The suspension design and components created to help crawl what in the ’80s were considered insurmountable boulders has trickled into the mainstream. Now we’re seeing this exciting technology applied to tall fullsized rigs.
Jerrod Adkins’ ’00 Chevy Silverado is a great example of this. It features a super-flexy, state-of-the-art suspension system that incorporates another new invention: 49-inch-diameter tires. Adkins, a college senior, was inspired to build this truck after helping his brother work on his custom rockcrawler. Throughout his college years he collected the needed parts, and during the summer break he’d wrench on the truck. After three years of juggling wrenching and school, something had to give, so he turned the truck over to the wizards at Kat Kustoms in New Knoxville, Ohio, for completion.
The end result is this functional fullsize truck that sports the DNA of a rockcrawling rig. The chrome crowd may be appalled at the bare metal and lack of bling, but in Adkins’ world, function overrules form-at least until he puts that college degree to work and earns enough Benjamins to have the whole thing painted.
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