Project Silverado: The Plans

May. 01, 2001 By Kevin Gorzny

Email
Print
Discuss

What good is a four wheel drive truck that can't really go anywhere off-road? The ORC crew was thinking the same thing. In its third year of production, the latest body style Chevy Silverado is not the most common truck to receive off-road worthy mods, like the ones that we are about to tackle. Thus the perfect reason for the project, not to mention the numerous questions and requests we get concerning what can be done, and what is available for the latest Chevrolet.

Previous to moving to the southwest desert, I had no idea how rough and grueling the desert could be. The rocks can be bigger than a two story house and sharper than my Chicago Cutlery. Cactus? Yeah there is a little bit of that out here, too. Since moving out here, I have been to Baja numerous times, and all over the Nevada and SoCal desert. My reason for the descriptions of the desert is simple. You must have a tough truck that is able to deal with the high temps and the unforgiving terrain.

After talking with the guys at 4 Wheel Parts Wholesalers, it was a slated deal to build the ORC Chevy. They decided to be the exclusive provider for many different types of products, from Weld wheels to Qualitex seats. As of publishing time, the product schedule is still tentative and open to ideas and concerns, but for the most part, we know what is going happen.

Have you ever noticed that you almost have to look at the 4x4 or Z71 decal to be able to determine the difference between the two wheel drive and the four? I say this because in stock form, the four wheel drive trucks almost sit as low as the two wheel drives. After receiving the first Pro-Comp 4-6" suspension lift to come off the production line, that won't be a problem anymore. That's right, Pro-Comp is finally developing a four to six inch lift that will allow for 305/70/16 Pro-Comp ATs (the metric equivalent to a 33x12.50). When running the full six inches, you can actually fit 315/70/16s (equivalent to 35s).

The main objective is to have a clean, professional looking truck, period. This truck will also see its fair share of highway miles, so the Silverado stills needs to be practical and efficient.

Here is what we tentatively have slated in so far:

Suspension - New Pro-Comp 6"lift
Tires - Pro-Comp ATs 305/70/16
Wheels - Weld Forged two piece
Exhaust - Jardine Cat-Back
Intake - K&N
Chip - Hypertech
Prerunner bumpers - Fabtech
Lights - Hella
Fender Flares - Bushwacker (OEM style)
Hitch - Drawtite
Grill - Steel Horse
Seats - Qualitex
Entertainment - Steel Horse
Floor Mats - Nifty
Nerf Bars - Genuine Steel

We are open to suggestions from you on why, how and what we should put into this project. Like I've said before, the ORC Silverado will accompany the Off-Road.com staff to many of the events that we cover, from Baja races to the Chevy Trucks US Motocross Championship Series, so you'll get the chance to have a first hand look at how our truck is coming along. As of now, the project Silverado will be solely dealing with 4 Wheel Parts Wholesalers. If you would like to be a part of a major project after this series is over, we would like to hear from you. For all future sponsors, we will provide a complete full-feature article that will include full-color photo galleries and detailed descriptions of your product, along with step-by-step installation instructions. PLUS, we will also provide a link from the project vehicle page to your web site.

Interested in becoming a SPONSOR? Contact Kevin