Daily Driven with Candied Metal and 26s

A quick 20-minute trip from the Seattle airport and a glance inside of Shawn Altermott’s Bothell, Washington, garage and you can tell that he’s been heavily involved in custom trucks for the past 20 years. He was hooked even before he could drive. He picked up a custom truck magazine in 1989 and instantly knew it was a hobby he would maintain for the rest of his life. In 1995, he purchased his first truck and proceeded to lower and paint it. From there, a string of classic Mazda mini-trucks would follow, including a clean orange and silver ’89 Mazda that was very influential in the scene. Shawn has kept it in pristine condition and on full display in his garage. As his family grew, with wife Coleen and daughter Cora, regular cab mini-trucks wouldn’t cut it, so he fixed up a mild Avalanche to take to shows.

Soon Shawn decided that he wanted to build a clean late model with its rockers on the ground and plenty of room for the family that could be driven daily to and from his job at Les Schwab. The first step was the suspension. He picked up the ’11 Silverado factory fresh and took it to Buckwild Customs where a new frame from the firewall back was created from 2 x 4-inch tubing for a 5-inch body drop. He took the rearend to Piercy Enterprises where it was narrowed 3 inches before being outfitted with an AVS 4-link and a Watt’s link with Slam Specialties SS8 airbags and Gabriel shocks. A setup from AccuAir handles all of the air needs from Viair compressors. Up front, a set of Choppin’ Block control arms and McGaughy’s drop spindles take care of the geometry needed to tuck a set of 26 x 9.5-inch DUB Triton color-matched wheels wrapped in 275/25 Pirelli rubber. In order to stop the massive rollers, a disc brake setup from SSBC was installed. Fourteen-inch rotors with four-piston calipers were added to the rear, while the front received 15- inch rotors with SSBC six-piston calipers. The brake pedal assembly was sectioned to work with the body drop, and all of the brake lines were hard lined.

The 5.3L engine was hit with a few power mods and some paint and goodies to help the audio system perform. A K&N air intake was installed with color-matched covers and wheel tubs by Buckwild Customs. A DC Power high-output alternator and Kinetik 1800 power cell take care of electrical needs. A few custom touches were added to the interior, like a custom center console created by NW Creative Customs and pinstriped by Josh Jones. The factory seats had their headrests tossed aside and were covered in Katzkin black leather with ostrich inserts and silver stitching. Black Bentley carpeting was installed, and the interior panels and headliner were wrapped or painted. The audio system consists of JL Audio subwoofers, component speakers and amplifier with a JVC head unit and 11-inch monitor in the console for the backseat drivers.

The exterior was kept functional with just a few custom touches. After the truck debuted at Sittin’ Pretti’s show, Summer Slam, it headed to the paint shop at Brand X Customs in Lynnwood, Washington, for Brandon Knowles to work some innovative paint touches onto the brand-new truck. A billet grille was installed, the tailgate handle and stake pockets were shaved and the headlights were blacked out. Inside of the bed, black Line-X was sprayed over the notch cover featuring the Sittin’ Pretti logo. The factory paint was ground down to bare metal so that Brandon could spray candy red over the graphic that flows from front to rear on each side. The truck was resprayed in its factory tone using PPG Carbon Flash Metallic before Dave Austin added some red and silver pinstriping, and Josh Jones airbrushed classic Chevrolet and Silverado emblems throughout. Brandon then cleared the truck, sealing in the bare metal graphics.

No truck is complete without the help of close family and friends. Shawn would like to thank his wife Coleen and daughter Cora, Chris Buchanan, Ryan Anderson, Brandon Knowles, Josh Jones and Sittin’ Pretti. ST

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SHAWN ALTERMOTT
2011 Chevrolet Silverado
Bothell, WA
Sittin’ Pretti

TRUCK SPECS

ENGINE

• 5.3L V-8
• K&N air intake
• DC power alternator

SUSPENSION

• Stock floor 5-inch body drop
• AVS 4-link
• Choppin’ Block control arms
• McGaughy’s drop spindles
• AccuAir eLevel

WHEELS & TIRES

• 26 x 9.5-inch DUB Triton wheels
• 275/25 Pirelli tires

BODY & PAINT

• Candy Red bare metal graphic
• PPG Carbon Flash Metallic
• Airbrushed emblems
• Shaved tailgate

INTERIOR

• Katzkin black leather and ostrich seats
• Custom center console
• JL Audio sound system

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