Chad Louque’s 1997 Toyota Tacoma

LOUISIANA IS A STATE FILLED WITH AMAZING TRUCK BUILDS; MORE AND MORE SEEM TO APPEAR WEEKLY THAT SET THE BAR HIGH FOR BUILDERS. Chad Louque, out of Gonzales, Louisiana, is definitely one of those builders who is creating the standard for up and comers in the scene, as well as for owners with trucks that have not been updated in awhile and are beginning to age. However, Chad did not build his ’97 Toyota Tacoma, named “Identity Crisis,” to impress today’s truck enthusiasts, he built it to pay tribute to his mini-truck roots. Having built full-size trucks and SUVs in the past, he wanted to simplify things and build a project that he could drive and show simultaneously.

It’s a story like many others. Chad says that he bought the truck to be a “simple and fun work truck,” but it’s plain to see that things snowballed. One detail led to another, which justified writing a few more checks to pay for parts. It’s a feeling many of us know all too well.

Three years ago, when Chad had just purchased the truck from a Craigslist seller, it was very low mileage—52k on the odometer to be exact. Unfortunately, it was no showroom-condition jewel, and the body, among other aspects, needed plenty of TLC. Originally, Chad finished the bodywork, painted the truck silver and installed a completely red leather interior for sharp contrast.

He received an abundance of attention and positive feedback at a few events where he displayed the truck, and that was all the encouragement he needed to put it under the knife again and push the build to the next level, full show quality. He sold his newly redone red interior and called upon a few good friends to help him take his truck to new heights.Lance Leblanc at Bayou Boogie Interiors got to work on the inside, and Chad ordered a new set of wheels that were fitted with help from Jason Powers at Auto Works. Chad and his buddy Jared Nowel at Poo’s Chop Shop redid the suspension, switching to the then newly released Airlift 3H management system and revamping the setup to fit the 20-inch wheels to lay full frame.

When the suspension was complete, Chad placed a few calls to the painters he trusted most. Jeff Brignac at Solow Customs fixed minor imperfections in the silver paint and prepped the surface for Joel Cangiolosi at Full Blown Paint to lay down graphics that matched the new interior. In a blur of less than four months, the truck was transformed from a clean daily driver to the showpiece you see before you today. Though he completed the build relatively quickly, the road to success wasn’t smooth. His biggest struggle was finishing the full truck in time to debut it at Scrapin’ the Coast. When finishing means a total repaint with graphics, adding new custom sheet metal under the hood and installing a new audio system and all new interior built from scratch, you can imagine there were more than a few sleepless nights. Because he’s a perfectionist, Chad hopes to address a few small details, like installing Wildwood disc brakes and adding a supercharger, in the near future.

Chad wants to give a special thank you to his understanding and beautiful wife, Trisha, and his two amazing sons, Caden and Cole, for allowing him to take the time to get out in the garage and build the truck of his dreams. He also wants to thank Joel Cangiolosi and Jeff Brignac for the paint work, Donald Plumber and Lance Leblanc for the interior work, as well as Bobby Martins, Jared Nowel, Michael Louque, Scooter Spidoni, Jeremie Leblanc, Chris Stafford and everyone else who came over on the weekends to lend a hand or put up with him during the build process. Most of all, Chad wanted to thank his father for fighting cancer every single day like it was his last; for teaching him to be the man and the father he has become; for raising him to always do things to the fullest and to never give up on anything, because, in Chad’s words, “Dad never raised a quitter.”

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 TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Chad Louque
1997 Toyota Tacoma
Gonzales, LA

ENGINE

• 2.4L 2RZ four-cylinder engine
• Custom-made aluminum intake with K&N filter
• Custom stainless steel engine covers designed, bead rolled and painted by owner
• Single stainless exhaust with Dynomax muffler
• Auto Transmission
• 1988 rearend narrowed 4.25 inches

SUSPENSION

• Performed by Jared Nowel of Poo’s Chop Shop/Chad Louque
• Airlift airbags
• DJM tubular front control arms
• QA-1 shocks
• Stock spindles with machined spacers
• Pete and Jake’s triangulated 4-link with ’bags over axle
• Airlift 3H management system

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20×8.5-inch Niche M886 Concourse in silver finish with stainless lips
• 225/30R20 Duron

BODY & PAINT

• Shop: Full Blown Paint & Solow Customs
• 1998 PreRunner grille with billet inserts
• Shaved corner lights on fenders
• Custom removable sheet metal bed floor with stainless strips from a Jeep Wagoneer roof
• Rear roll pan and tailgate combo skin
• 1968 Camaro rear bumper sectioned and tucked
• Shaved door handles
• Diamond clear headlights
• 1996 Cadillac taillights
• Shaved body lines on cab window, rear bedsides and antenna
• Custom stainless steel wheel covers and engine covers designed, beadrolled and painted by owner
• Matrix Mazda 26A Silver, Mazda Aroura Blue and various shades of paint for graphics and airbrushed areas

INTERIOR

• Shop: Bayou Boogie Custom Interiors/Lance Leblanc
• Custom bench seat wrapped in blue leather, blue suede and perforated silver leather
• ACC carpet with 80/20 loop
• Suede headliner
• Leather-wrapped dashboard
• White-face gauges
• Billet Specialties steering wheel
• Door handles by Clayton Machine Works
• Smart Parts armrests
• Color-matched blue seat belts with aircraft buckle
• Painted plastics on dash
• Kick panels by Extreme Liners and Customs
• Pioneer x5700b head unit
• Stinger wiring
• Boston Acoustic s50 5.25-inch component speakers
• Two Polk Audio DB 8-inch subwoofers
• Rockford Fosgate fourchannel amplifier
• Kinetic battery
• Audio by Adam at MST car audio

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