Stepside Star, a Homebuilt, LS-Powered C-10

Cody “Cooter” Cravens has owned his ‘68 Chevy C- 10 since 1997 when he was in high school. He back then he was more into street rod-style trucks. Cooter changed his tune and got into the custom truck scene in 2001 and joined Nefarious Truck Club. He tried to ‘bag the truck himself, but he wasn’t happy with the outcome, so it sat dormant in his backyard for about four years.

He ended up purchasing a different truck from a fellow club member that had already been ‘bagged in the front, and he ended up learning quite a bit about working on trucks using his new purchase as a guinea pig. With a little knowledge under his belt, Cooter developed a few ideas for the ’68. Now that he had a nice daily driver, he could afford to get serious with his first truck. He started with the suspension since he now had the skills and the tools, courtesy of the machine shop where he worked.

His goal was to build a real clean daily driver. The full build has been chugging along for about 5 years now off and on where he works, interspersed with work on other projects. This time around Cooter started by Z-ing the frame with help from his friend Koolade Randall. He installed McGaughys drop spindles and Ride Tech control arms and modified the front cross member. The front has been altered to fit a Mustang II rack-and-pinion so that the front can lay out on 20-inch Bonspeed Quasar billet wheels with a decent-size Nitto tire and still be drivable.

Next, Cooter worked his way to the back and crafted a complete back half out of flat plate and 1-inch tubing. Everything was kept in line in the rear with a 3-link wishbone setup with the ‘bags on the bars for the most travel and best ride quality possible. The rearend was narrowed 3 ½ inches with Moser axles and is set up with an Eaton TrueTrac and Richmond 4.10 ring gear.

The body currently wears white primer, but it will eventually receive a simple, clean paint scheme. The cab mounts have been lowered to body drop the truck down to the pinch welds. The drip rails are shaved and 1 inch has been cut out of the roof skin to make the transition from the windshield to the roof more pleasing. The ‘68 has a custom one- off tailgate skin that features the classic Chevrolet script logo. The rear fenders were sectioned and raised 1 inch to accommodate the tires when laid out.

The motor is a stock LS1 5.7L taken from a 2002 Trans Am with a set of Sanderson headers connected to a Flowmaster Hush Power muffler. It’s completely fuel-injected thanks to a Street and Performance wiring harness and custom computer tune. The engine is backed by a 4L60E transmission from the same Trans Am with a Lokar shifter. Currently, Cooter is about to pull his C-10 back in to the shop to finish it up. He aims to have it completed within the year. ST

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CODY “COOTER” CRAVENS
1968 CHEVROLET C-10
ODESSA, TX
NEFARIOUS TRUCK CLUB

TRUCK SPECS

ENGINE

• LS1 5.7
• FLOWMASTER EXHAUST
• SANDERSON HEADERS
• STREET & PERFORMANCE WIRING

SUSPENSION

• 3-LINK WISHBONE
• Z’D FRAME
• RIDE TECH CONTROL ARMS
• EATON TRUETRAC

WHEELS

• 20X8.5 & 20X10-INCH BONSPEED QUASAR WHEELS

BODY

• MOLDED TAILGATE
• SHAVED DRIP RAILS
• WHITE PRIMER

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