We've been showing you a lot of expensive extreme 4x4s lately. They're all cool and we hope they've been a source of ideas when you're trying to make your own 4x4 better. The problem is some of them have to be towed to the trail because they're not street legal, and some are only good for driving off-road when the weather is nice. Don't get us wrong; those rigs work awesome in their element and we're going to keep bringing them to you. But from time to time we'll show you some clean well-built rigs that you could drive every day without wishing you owned something else and/or attracting negative attention from local law enforcement.
Damon Psaros' '01 Silverado 1500 is the kind of truck we're talking about, and even though it's got that pretty-boy look and a better stereo system than some of us will ever own, we won't hold it against him. Damon has been building this truck for the past two years and he finally got to the point were it is more fun to drive it than it is to sink money into. Think of this as a show truck gone bad and it's time for Damon to enjoy it. The truck was almost entirely owner-built, and though you'd never know it from the flawless paint, it has been off-road on some intermediate trails.
When we caught up with Damon he was doing some "CV shaft testing" on a loose hillclimb. Now we know how much abuse the 1/2-ton parts can handle, proving you can learn from clean trucks.
There's been a drought for a while--but we're starting to see more trucks out there with enough power to turn the tires without being in low-range all the time. Damon wanted the most reliable power increase he could get for his 5.3L, so he had a Magna Charger supercharger (running 5 pounds of boost), a K&N air filter, Gibson headers, and Magnaflow exhaust installed for an owner-estimated 400 hp at the flywheel. This combo makes for a lively little small-block (enough to do damage) that we wish GM would offer us from the factory. | 
An owner-installed Rancho 4-inch lift drops the front suspension down and the 3-inch body lift jacks the sheetmetal up to make room for the 37s without any rub. Damon added the optional Rancho dual-shock kit that bolts on top of the stock upper A-arm. He upgraded to 2-inch-diameter reservoir Fox shocks for fade-free dampening on any terrain. It all looked good and worked well until.... | 
Damon Psaros had to have 37x12.50R17 SSR Swampers on his Chevy Silverado, but there was no way he was going to let them rub the body or they'd ruin his Victory Red and ghost-flames paint job. That meant using 17x10 Weld Racing wheels with a 35/8-inch backspacing, combined with a 4-inch Rancho suspension lift with Fox reservoir shocks, 3-inch body lift, and some minimal fender trimming. Out back Damon still has the Gov-Loked 8.6-inch AAM 10-bolt, but it's been upfitted with 4.56 gears to spin the taller tires. He plans to keep the little axle until it breaks. |
Crunch! The weak link on Damon's 1500 (and maybe yours too) is the front tripod joint in the 1/2-ton CV shaft. The cup split from the torque produced by the blown 5.3L and caused the shaft to drop onto the A-arm. The axle grease made a mess and Damon lost four-wheel drive, but he was still able to drive home (50 miles!) with the shaft lying like you see it here. | | |