2003 Chevy Silverado

This straight-axled beast of a Chevy Silverado is the personal play toy of Frank Bertad, owner of Full Throttle Suspension. You might recognize the Full Throttle name because it's a company that specializes in fabricating hard-core lift kits for hard-core trucks. The crew at Full Throttle routinely performs straight-axle conversions using its own line of parts, and creates trucks that are not only tall, but capable, too. Full Throttle is just as adept at building IFS suspensions, although you won't find a hint of the factory IFS on Frank's Chevy. Frank's personal ride is the epitome of that passion: a standard cab pickup that towers above a set of 40-inch tires and is still agile enough to romp mercilessly through the dirt, crushing everything in its path with the strength of a rhino.

We admit that the first time we saw this truck, we pegged it as just another big lifted disco truck that would fall on its face the first time it hit the dirt. Boy, were we ever wrong. Frank takes great joy in driving this rig from his hometown of Bakersfield, California, to not-so-nearby Pismo Beach for long weekends of climbing the dunes and runnin' the hills. By the time we finished our photo shoot in Barstow, California, Frank had proven us wrong by flogged his truck over and over again for our cameras. Credit the clean and well-designed suspension system that his company crafted for the truck's off-road prowess and durability. Let's take a look at how this truck gets it done.

The first thing you should know is that this truck is lifted 18 inches front and rear from the factory ride height. This would seem to be an overabundance of lift, making for a gangly vehicle, but it's not. Full Throttle went the extra mile to add things such as antisway bars to keep the truck on all four wheels when roosting around obstacles in the dirt. The factory front and rear suspensions are a thing of the past; they were replaced with new axles, housings, and shocks.

The frontend received a Dana 44 axle with a Detroit Locker and Precision Gear 4.88:1 cogs. To make the front wheels operational and the four-wheel-drive system complete, an NP208 transfer case was installed between the framerails using Full Throttle's custom brackets. A dual CV-joint driveline connects the case to the front drive yoke. The housing is located by an FTS four-link system with a Panhard bar. FTS also installed its disc brake conversion kit on the axles, adding a full hydraulic steering system to make turning the huge rolling stock easier. To control the motion of the suspension while underway, FTS installed a set of 2.5-inch-diameter King Shock Technology coilover shocks at the corners of the axle tubes and to a pair of bolt-in upper shock hoops.

The rear suspension is just as trick as the front. Again, a custom four-link was installed to locate the GM 14-bolt rearend. The rearend is outfitted much the same as the frontend, with another Detroit Locker and 4.88:1 gears. The link bars pivot on huge 1-inch Teflon-coated rod ends and were chrome-plated by Walley's Custom Chrome of Fresno, California. The rearend also received a dual CV-joint driveline, which is partly responsible for the beast being able to put the power to the ground no matter how far the rear end of the truck droops out. In keeping with the high-end suspension theme, another set of 14-inch-long King coilovers found a home at the rear of the truck.