2011 Chevrolet Tahoe

When the Tow Pig Ends up Being Number One `

By Phil Gordon

There comes a time in every man’s life when you arrive at  the crossroads and have to make an important choice. For Darrel Brown, that time came when he had to decide between his beloved Chevy Colorado his newly acquired Chevy Tahoe. While he and his wife Sara were putting together an immaculate Chevy Colorado bodied and painted, they began a search for an adequate tow pig. The Colorado was a two-door, which was fine at the time because it was just he and his wife traveling to shows, but the long drives became more a worrisome weekend.

The Browns went to a used car dealership, and that’s when they found and fell in love with a 2011 Chevy Tahoe. This four-door SUV was perfect for towing their custom mini-truck as well as being a more practical family vehicle. Of course, Darrel is known for not leaving anything stock so even at the dealership he had visions of grandeur. The salesman tried to push Darrel on the extended warranty, and he responded to the salesman by saying “I plan on cutting this truck in half.” He asked, “Will the warranty cover that?” Needless to say, he didn’t get the extended warranty.

One of Darrel’s good friends, Chris Pierce, was pushing the durability and innovativeness of the Phat Phabz frame, so he began planning for it. He contacted Jake McKiddie from Phat Phabz and made the trip to Oklahoma to pick up the frame with a now-pregnant Sara in the passenger seat. After finally arriving back home, he began gathering air-ride parts for the eventual suspension work. Darrel enlisted his father’s garage for the work. His father, Wayne, lent a helping and guiding hand while swapping the frame off the stock Tahoe to the new one. All the necessary sheetmetal was cut out. The Tahoe was put on a trailer and brought to paint and body wizard Patrick Reid of Madd Conceptz. Once Patrick began his initial work, he tubbed the firewall, tunneled the transmission and driveshaft, added rear tubs, door jamb tubs and new back seat brackets for the raised floor.

With all the work Patrick added and all the sensors that had to be deleted for the new suspension to work properly, the motor needed to be fine-tuned. Darrel’s friend DW Crawford got it running enough for the Tahoe to be moved around. Tyler Briggs was brought in to help design and CNC cut brackets and install them for the miscellaneous computers, air-lift management and compressors. Once Tyler was finished, the Tahoe was brought to Tito’s LSX Tube Shop to get the motor running flawlessly.

Darrel needed the tow pig to not only change levels, but he also wanted the entire interior upgraded for better comfortability. Patrick Reid went back to work adding all new black carpet and new seats. The front dashboard was swapped with a Cadillac Escalade dash including the gauges. Everyone in the Texas area knows about Patrick’s painting prowess, and as time goes by, he only gets better, so it made sense to have Patrick handle all the paint work. Darrel came up with the idea of making each side its own personality and came up with a few color choices.

Patrick took over with his own creative control, only abiding by a simple suggestion of two sides, two colors.

“I’m always at my best when you remove my restrictions,” Patrick tells Street Trucks. “You wouldn’t tell Picasso how to create his paintings!”

Along with Darrel’s Tahoe, Patrick was working on seven other trucks trying to crank out as much work as he could. The process for MaddHo only took a few months in Patrick’s hands.

“I don’t know how he pulled it off,” Darrel says with a smile. “I’m convinced Patrick doesn’t sleep.”

I’m always at my best when you remove my restriction. You wouldn’t tell Picasso how to create his paintings! 

As a foreman for a high voltage/electrical substation in Texas, Darrel often works what he calls “7-12s” which means he works 12 hours a day for seven days straight. Frankly, it’s hard to monitor a build working those hours so he entrusted his club Committed and Patrick with what we now see as a masterpiece. At this point a choice had to be made, and Darrel decided with a baby due any moment, it was time to sell the Colorado to help financially to finish the Tahoe.

Darrel chose to debut MaddHo at Layin at the Lake in Grapeland, Texas, at the Committed Truck Club’s fifth anniversary. The bonus was that the promoter of the show is Chad Moss, a new member of the Committed club. Darrel wishes to thank Patrick Reid, Wayne Brown, Jonathan Barron, Jake Raleigh, Jason Scott, Tyler Briggs, Chad Rape, Samantha Reid and his lovely wife Sara Brown for all their help and guidance. With the addition of their beautiful daughter Remy, Darrel and Sara will have plenty of room to bring her to shows with all her toys in the spacious Tahoe.

Truck Specs

Owner

Darrel Brown

Humble, Texas
Club: Committed
2011 Chevrolet Tahoe

Chassis:

• Front Suspension:  Phat Phabz full frame chassis
• Phat Phabz control arms and sway bars
• Air Lift Dominator 2600 bags
• Rear Suspension:  Parallel 4-link
• Sway bar
• Firestone F9000 sleeve
• Bags over axle
• Dual Viair 480 compressors

Drivetrain:

• Engine: 5.3L
• 799 heads
• BTR stage 2 cam
• LS6 springs
• Transmission: 6l80e
• Rearend: Narrowed with Dutchman axles

Body/Paint:

• Shaved handles, license plate rear wiper, roof rack
• Aftermarket headlights
• Tubbed firewall
• Wiper cowel
• 4-inch bodydrop
• Frame swap by Wayne Brown and owner
• Sheetmetal work by Patrick Reid
• Drag bar added
• Painted by Patrick Reid with a mix of colors including Tamco Purple Pop and PPG Sheer Silver

Interior: 

• Cadillac Escalade dashboard
• Gauge cluster and console
• Custom stitched seats
• Black carpet
• Dyed all plastic black
• Black headliner
• Custom rear console
• Custom cut billet steering wheel with Madd Conceptz logo done by Kutworks

Stereo:   

• Alpine ILX-W650 head unit
• Infinity Kappa 603cf 6.5-inch front and rear speakers
• Rockford Fosgate T600-4 and Rockford Fosgate T1000-1bdcp amplifiers
• Two Rockford Fosgate T0D412 12-inch subwoofers in custom-made box
• Sky High 1/0 wires all done by Wayne Brown, Patrick Reid and owner

Wheels & Tires:

• Wheels: 26×9 and 26×10 Intro Dakota with reverse lip
• Tires: Durun 255/30R26 and 295/30R26