Leaps and Bounds

People from the south and lifted trucks go together like lamb and tuna fish -it’s just something that’s been a part of living out here in the rough terrain. Having a vehicle that can take a beating, something to be used for tough work, something that can not be limited to driving on a paved road is simply not for the faint of heart. It takes a certain kind of person that decides to turn their truck into a vehicle that has no limitations as far as the roads, or lack of roads, it can drive down. Where most of the automotive community all wants to get a lower center of gravity, this usually means sticking to the best roads in the town and having to map out a very safe route to get to our destination because “crap that one road is total shit and full of pot holes”.

Brians Z71 Colorado isn’t some indestructible tank, but it does have the ability to take any road he wants all while keeping some of the nice creature comforts we are all used to in todays vehicles. Equipped with a subtle yet effective 3.5″ lift- this truck has no issue navigating some rough roads or steep drops for that matter. The thing about lifted trucks is they will usually require you to do suspension AND upgrade your wheel and tire combo at the same time, lifting any kind of Truck or off-road vehicle on stock wheels can probably be considered one of the biggest sins in the off road community.

I dont know much about the whole Truckin’ world anymore, I’m not that involved with it as much as I used to be. I had a 2000 Silverado ext cab with a 5.3L with a few mods. It was my daily, it carried some music equipment around, my brothers drum set, was fun on the highways, could carry all my friends around to the beach, and I think it’s best time down the track was a 15.3 which wasn’t so bad for a nearly stock heavy weight. The furthest I got into suspension was the 2″ drop shackles I installed out back one time in my auto-tech class in High School and that was it. I did want to go lower…and the thought of lifting the front to level it that way had crossed my mind, I just never pulled the trigger. Brians truck is a great example of the type of truck I wouldn’t mind currently owning, it’s got a great ride height that isn’t in the nosebleed category of truck lifts. It’s not a huge tank driving down the road and clunks around town, its very nimble and easy to maneuver around any type of terrain. All of that and the fact that its still fairly new, has a great power plant, an upgraded sound system, and one of the nicer a/c systems I’ve felt while in a vehicle…I’m pretty sure stepping out of the Texas heat and into this truck might have had something to do with that statement but I’ll stick with it.

Lifted Trucks and the South, or the Country side, go hand in hand – probably better than lamb and tuna fish. I’d like to apologize for taking a bit longer then expected to get this feature up and live, we’ll just say I’ve been slightly unmotivated as far as shooting vehicles or writing about them goes. It probably has something to do with not messing around with something with wheels for almost a year, I mean I don’t think I can really mod a Chevy equinox…can I? no let’s not even entertain that idea. I think in due time I’ll step back into a vehicle I can toy around with – but for now I’ll just have to find inspiration in the builds and work of others from around here so I can keep focused and keep this site as updated as much as possible. So please if you’re out there, building something you think has what it takes to have us come out and photograph it once its all said and done, or hell even during the build process- feel free to hit us up on facebook or dropping a line here! Cheers.

Brian Guerrero’s 2005 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 2WD

Performance :
Air Intake

Cosmetics :
Custom Front/Rear Off-Road Prerunner Bumpers
24″ LED Light Bar up Front
2XLED Pods in Rear Bumper
Bed Spare Tire Mount

Interior :
Painted Interior Inserts
Red Suede Headliner

Rollers :
15″ XD’s KMC Enduro Wheels
35s Mickey Thompson 35/12.50R15

Stiff Stuff :
3.5″ leaving kit one
Stock

Sounds :
Leather Wrapped Spearker Box

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Photos by : Ricardo Reyes
Story by : Bobby Villarreal