Replay | Bodydropped 2011 Chevy Silverado

Boredom can hit anyone, but maybe not quite as fiercely as it hits those who have “finished” their project truck. Sure, there’s the enjoyment of finally being able to drive it, or possibly even the excitement of getting props at a show, but then what? I mean, half of the fun is the build process itself, isn’t it? Once that part is done, it can often feel like something is missing. 

In some cases, an owner will just sell the truck off in order to fund a new project that has caught their interest, but sometimes they’ll come to the realization that a revamp is what’s really in order. After all, there’s no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater if a few tweaks here and there will result in falling in love with your ride all over again! 

Elias Haroun of La Puente, California, knows the struggle. As someone who has already built his fair share of custom rides, he hit a crossroads when he started to get bored with his 2011 Chevy Silverado. Should he unload it to build something else, or redo the truck? We should mention that at this point, it was already bagged and bodydropped with a ton of other custom work put into it, and Elias had bought the truck brand new off the lot in 2011. As you can see, he ended up keeping it and making it better than ever! 

The chassis backhalf was hand-built by none other than Chassis by Aaron Iha out of Covina, California, and features a trick cantilever airbag rear suspension with a 6-link. All of the work is visible through the custom sheetmetal bed floor, which was also fabricated by Aaron during the truck’s update. 

The front sports custom upper and lower control arms, with another set of airbags in between providing plenty of lift. This was of utmost importance considering that Elias would occasionally need to untuck the 26×9 and 26×12 Hot Rods by Boyd Switchback billet wheels, which were polished front and back for additional style points.   

The amazing Aaron Iha went absolutely wild with the suspension on Elias’ Silverado, fabricating a trick cantilevered, airbagged 6-link setup that utilizes four billet Fox shocks for damping.

There’s a whole lotta smooth goin’ on here! 26-inch Hot Rods by Boyd Switchback billets and a smoothed rear end by Aaron Iha that included a tailgate/rollpan combo skin fabricated by Grant Fab of Oroville, California

And speaking of style points, Elias tells us that the wheels and new paint job are the parts he’s most proud of. “I got to enjoy the previous paint and wheels for about a year, and it was great. Now that I had enjoyed them for a while, I had the opportunity to make it into something that’s still going to look cool 10 years from now — something timeless.”

It’s pretty safe to say that he totally accomplished that with the addition of the HRBB wheels and the killer paint, which was applied by Josh at California AutoWorx. But before the new finish was sprayed, Aaron Iha had shaved the fuel filler door and antenna, and skinned the rear (in addition to the aforementioned bed floor work). The silver metallic paint is perfectly set off by the Burnt Orange and Graphite Metallic graphics, with Lime Green pinstriping adding the perfect contrast.   

The interior remained as it was, as some things simply can’t be improved upon. California Upholstery in Bell, California did such an amazing job with the Mazerati Camel and black interior that it would have been sacrilege to change any of it, and the same goes for the masterfully constructed sound system from Audio City in La Puente, California. 

Actually, hold up. Elias did change one thing, and that was the steering wheel. Since the old one didn’t match his new billets, he had Hot Rods by Boyd mill out a solid billet Switchback tiller to go with the 26-inch rollers and finish up the latest round of mods! 

The interior is custom top to bottom, from the black suede headliner to the Maserati-hued leather-clad seats. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find the console-mounted iPad and RE Audio speakers.

With its fresh, new look, Elias is happy with his truck once again, but how long will his happiness last this time around? We guess we’ll find out sooner or later! 

The 5.3L engine remains internally stock, but a custom intake manifold, air intake, and headers by Aaron Iha were installed, as was an engine-driven air compressor for the suspension.

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