An Exercise in Destiny

DESTINY IS A FICKLE THING. The choices people make are often genuinely surprising because life throws curveballs when you least expect them. Nevertheless, some things never seem to change. Certain people, places and things become part of our consciousness and can never be sloughed off. Sometimes this is a problem, but often these connections are great and life-affirming.

Texas native Trae Baxter feels this way about his ’98 Chevrolet Silverado. The Low Intentions Texas club member has had a multi-year, multi-ownership connection with his Silverado. The Chevy has developed quite a reputation throughout its custom lifetime, and is well known in the truck community.

Trae’s first connection with the OBS came after his nephew purchased it in basic, ’bagged form. The original suspension work on the Silverado was carried out by Ektensive Metal Works and was already sitting plenty low on its own custom ’bag setup. Nevertheless, Trae’s nephew didn’t waste a second, and he got to work with help from the crew at Chaotic Rods & Customs on a traditional body-drop to take the build even lower. That’s when Trae bought the Chevy and used it as a fully customized daily driver for a couple of years. Then he sold it to his good friend, Spot Thomas, before ultimately repurchasing it and adding the finishing touches on his build sheet.

For the final stage of Another 48 Hours, a set of Coys five-spoke wheels were tucked deep into the Silverado’s wells. The rollers measure 20×8.5 inches and were wrapped in meaty 255 Nexxen tires. The wheels were powder-coated charcoal gray by Maxxed Performance. The finish color contrasts beautifully with the lighter gray body and black accents. Motivating the wheel-and-tire combo is a Chevy 4.3L six-cylinder sporting a K&N intake and custom Flowmaster exhaust.

What truly sets apart Trae’s final look with this famed OBS is the aggressive styling and color scheme. In addition to the body-drop, the exterior customization consists of a Grant Kustoms smooth wiper cowl, black mesh grille and smoothie front bumper. A Grant Kustoms roll pan adorns the rear of the truck. The third brake light was shaved and the tailgate handle was relocated. Additionally, the door handles were shaved, the gas neck filler was relocated inside the bed, the headlight housing was blacked out and smoked, the taillights were smoked, and the bed was completely smoothed and reinforced. The extensive custom bodywork and style additions are accented by an ultra-smooth coat of PPG Lexus Atomic Silver. The black and gray color scheme, with its varied, subtle finishes, makes for an absolutely timeless look.

One of Trae’s final major undertakings was a complete revamp of the truck’s interior. When the truck was built originally and known as 48 Hours, it sported a high contrast tan interior. This time he opted for a black interior redesign to extend the color scheme to every last inch of the truck. Brent Davidson at Sculpt Garage handled the interior makeover starting with stretching Symphony Classic black vinyl over the custom bench seat. Black loop carpet covers the floors and a custom black headliner insert with an imbedded LED strip was fabricated and installed. The dash was painted, and the Colorado Customs steering wheel was powder coated to color-match the Coys wheels along with a hidden AVS switch box. Final custom touches on the interior were door panels with speaker inserts, sub box, Billet Specialties pedals and a Low Intentions rearview mirror. Brent and the Sculpt Garage crew also built the completely custom stereo system and it integrates perfectly with the redesigned interior. The sound passes to a Powerbass XMA five-channel amp, then on to Powerbass 2XL speakers and dual Powerbass XL10T subwoofers.

The circle of ownership that Trae shares with this truck is equal parts irony and destiny. It’s certain, though, that he shares a unique connection with the machine. Since having reacquired 48 Hours, he’s rechristened it Another 48 Hours. Trae has put his signature styling and finishing touches on the classic Chev, and he continues to use it as the shop truck for his business, Kustomz Ink Klothing. He enjoys the build thoroughly. No matter where Trae or his truck end up, their destiny is permanently linked.

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Trae Baxter
1998 Chevy Silverado
Lumberton, TX
Low Intentions

ENGINE

• Chevy 4.3L V-6
• K&N intake
• Custom Flowmaster exhaust

CHASSIS & SUSPENSION

• Ekstensive Metal Works front and rear custom ’bag setup, front arms and rear links
• McGaughy’s drop spindles
• Air Lift Dominator ’bags
• AVS switch box

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20×8.5-inch Coys Wheels powder-coated charcoal gray by Maxxed Performance
• 255/35R20 Nexxen tires

BODY & PAINT

• Traditional body-drop by Chaotic Customs
• Grant Kustoms smooth wiper cowl
• Black mesh grille
• Smooth front bumper
• Grant Kustoms rear roll pan
• Shaved handles, third brake light, gas filler and tailgate handle
• Smoothed and reinforced bed
• Blacked out headlight housings
• Smoked headlights and taillights
• PPG Lexus Atomic Silver paint by Sean Cooley

INTERIOR & STEREO:

• Symphony classic black vinyl upholstery by Sculpt Garage
• Custom bench with inserts cut down 3 inches
• Black loop carpet
• Custom headliner with insert and LED strip
• Air Zenith digital air gauges
• Colorado Customs steering wheel powder coated by Maxxed Performance
• AVS three-switch box with custom removable holder
• Converted to lap belts
• Wet Sounds Bluetooth head unit
• Custom iPhone holder
• Powerbass 2XL 60.3C three way components and 2XL 63C component speakers
• Powerbass 2XL 10T thin mount subwoofers
• Powerbass 1 XMA5900IR fivechannel amp
• Hidden bass knob
• Billet Specialties pedals
• Low Intentions rearview mirror by Kevy in Australia

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