The 2003 Chevy 2500 is about 44-inches from the bottom of the door seam to the ground, and with lockers front-and-rear, it will crawl over almost everything no matter what the angle.
DAILY DRIVER
Every day is a good day to go four-wheelin’!Growing up with a father that loved to work on his own cars and swap engines, as well as go camping and four wheeling, really peaked George Szabo’s interest in these pastimes. Young George and his father would go camping two or three times a month in the mountains near their home in Bend, Oregon. As he grew up with cars, a sprint car racer/friend got him even more interested in muscle cars, and gave him the bug to build his own 4WD vehicles. By his mid-20s, he had gone through four Suburbans and a couple of Chevy pickups, all of which he built into hard running 4WD mountain climbers. As an electrician in his early-30s, George was still building and driving 4WD Suburbans to work and to go rock climbing on the weekends. It was during this period that he started a business called Extreme Dyno Tuning and Performance. A company called Suspension Specialties shares the same building. They build a lot of serious, body-off 4WD trucks with custom lift kits, install aftermarket lift kits and do custom 4WD chassis modifications. When George finally stepped-up to the 2003, 2500 long bed, crew cab 4WD Chevy you see in this feature, he wanted it to be the best he’d ever had. He enlisted the help of Suspension Specialties to accomplish most all of the chassis and suspension modifications.
This new vehicle really provided George with a platform where he could put all of his experience to work. There were a few things he wanted to accomplish to make this the “badest” 4WD pickup he’d ever owned. First of all, he wanted to have more horsepower out of the stock 496 cid GM BB, so he added a Whipple supercharger with a 12 lb. pulley, K&N air filter and a 200 hp Nitrous Express system. He also added JBA custom headers that flow into a 3-inch exhaust system. This gave him 500 hp without nitrous and about 700 hp when he hits the bottle.
With the 200 hp Nitrous Express system available at the push of a button, on top of the supercharged 500 hp, spinning tires is not a problem. On the highway, this is his passing gear.
Of course, the OE GM automatic transmission couldn’t possibly take this kind of power, so it was replaced with a modified Allison 5-speed that has extra clutches. A modified custom driveshaft with Spicer U-joints and a lengthened yolk took the power to the thirdmembers which couldn’t handle it either. So they were replaced with Rock Crusher Dana 60s equipped with 5:13 gears and lockers (front and rear). The front brakes were also upgraded to Super Duty disc brakes. For wheels, George chose Weld Scorpio 16.5x12 with 44x18.5x16.5 TSL Super Swamper tires. He also keeps a set of 49-inch tires mounted and ready for special occasions.
The 18-inch lift kit was custom built by Suspension Specialties using King shocks with remote reservoirs (front-and-rear) and 2-inch diameter 4-link bars front-and-rear. Notice in the photos the huge diameter rod ends attaching the 4-links in a staggered pattern to the bottom of the frame both front-and-rear. Longer Panhard bars (front-and-rear) and a lengthened steering draglink with a custom Pitman arm were fabricated by Suspension Specialties and Full Throttle Suspension.
The body remains relatively stock except for the smooth fiberglass Gaylord Tonneau cover, tinted glass, Keystone fiberglass Good Hood, Bushwacker fender flares, flamed grill insert, Billet Iron Cross door handles, 12-inch electric Kodiak steps and an ARB front bumper with 9000 lb. capacity T-Max winch.
What a complimentary business to own when your love is high-powered off-road and muscle car vehicles. Owner, George Szabo can test his truck any time he likes on this 1600 hp dyno. It will recognize speeds up to 200 mph and give 1/4 and 1/8th mile times and will take two, four, or all-wheel powered vehicles as well as motorcycles.
In the interior, George has added a few creature comforts and some good four wheeling safety devices like a fire extinguisher, shovel and GPS Navigation system. The stock GM bucket seats feature black Wet Okole water proof seat covers made from wet suit material with custom embroidered Chevrolet scripts. George carried the “flamed” theme (from the grill) over into the interior as well. The instrument’s backgrounds have been changed to Nu-Image Glo Flame graphics behind the number-and-needle style gauges, while the gas, brake and E-brake pedals have also been swapped for polished metal, flamed style pedals. In the back of each front seat head rest there is a 6-inch DVD screen for the back seat passengers, and another DVD screen is on the dash for the front seat passenger to watch movies or check turning instructions from the Pioneer GPS navigation system. A Panasonic CD player, connected to a pair of 800-watt JL Audio amps, pushes the power through six interior speakers.
Left: The adjustable dual-coil, remote reservoir King
Shocks keep the crew cab long bed 2003 Chevy
high off the ground. The hoses hanging down
operate the AGR Rock Ram power steering
assist to the GM power steering. Notice, the
anti-sway bar is connected for all the highway
use George gives this truck. Suspension
Specialties in Bend, OR, fabricated most of suspension
parts with some components coming
from Full Throttle Suspension.
Right: In this view looking forward, you can see the
additional crossmember that holds the front
4-link bars, and you’ll also notice the second
battery attached to the frame (upper left).You
can also see the mounting brackets for the
Kodiak 12-inch electric steps at each end of
the crossmember. The steps looks great on the
outside of the truck when they pop down, but
you still have to step up another 32-inches to
get to them!
While George’s motivation to build this truck really started at an early age, he still says it’s all that sand, mud, speed and fun out there just ready to be taken that keeps him motivated! His offroad involvement goes beyond four-wheeling. He also sponsors, through his business, (Extreme Dyno Tuning and Performance) the Auto Cross of Central Oregon. Even though George has a number of muscle cars, a dyno tuning business, and is a member of the Deschutes County Mustang Club and the Classic Chevy Club, he still prefers to drive this 18-inch lifted street giant everywhere he goes, even traveling state-to-state on hunting trips and vacations. It’s his daily driver!
Left: The fresh gloss-black paint job was sprayed
by Paradigm Autobody in Bend, OR. The beefy
front bumper is an ARB item with a 9000 lb.
capacity T-Max winch. The dual-intake hood is a
fiberglass Good Hood product. At this angle,
you can see the extra coverage provided by the
Bushwacker fender flares. That’s about an $80K
smile on the owners face, but standing next to
the truck will really give you an idea of just how
high this truck really is off the ground. Notice,
the bottom of the door seam is above the 44-
inch Super Swampers.
Right: These Wet Okole water proof seat covers are
embroidered with Chevrolet scripts. They are
easy to clean and great for real mud and sand
trips when you get nice and muddy and then
have to sit down for the drive home.
Left:The stock 2003 BB Chevy is only 496cid, however to boost the horsepower to around 500, George
added a Whipple positive-displacement screw-type supercharger that puts-out about 12 lbs. of pressure.
The inter-cooled BB has a backup of 200hp Nitrous Express, to produce around 700hp wide open.
Right: Looking into the rearend, you can see the Nitrous
Express bottle mounted up high, under the bed
next to the 3-inch exhaust system. The Dana 60
Rock Crusher thirdmember has been rebuilt a
couple of times, too.