John Mata Jr.
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November 05, 2026
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Features
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Joe Acevedo Jr.
AS SEEN IN OUR OBS BUILDERS GUIDE FALL 2026 ISSUE – Buy Now!
Meet Payton Marie and her 1999 Chevy Tahoe. She’s been a fan of these trucks, specifically 2-door models, since she was a teen. Her admiration for OBS SUVs was heavily influenced by her pops, who was always into customizing his rides. “My love for two-door Tahoes started when my dad bought a super rusty, maroon, and black 90s model with a body lift and 35s for his work vehicle,” Payton says. “My dad was notorious for buying old vehicles, and I was fascinated with every one of them, but something about that Tahoe really stuck with me.”
Payton, who was 15 years old at the time, tried her best to convince her dad that his Tahoe would be the perfect first vehicle for her, but he didn’t go for it. “He told me that it was too unsafe and would cost too much to make it safe for me,” she adds. “I was absolutely crushed—until he found another one two hours away from us. It was a ’93, and once we got it home, we put a 6-inch lift on it, and dad donated the 35-inch BFGs from his work truck. I named my Tahoe Becky, and she was as amazing as I had always dreamed my first custom truck would be.”
After a solid run with Becky, Payton felt the time was right to sell her to help fund her first home purchase when she turned 19. “Looking back, I wish I would’ve kept it, but I’m happy for the direction that it pushed me into becoming an adult,” she admits. “I’m 22 now and have had multiple vehicles since Becky. I had dreams of building a lifted 2015 GMC Sierra dually for SEMA 2024, but my world got turned upside down in July of that year. My husband, Luke, and I got into a motorcycle accident, and I was in the hospital and out of work for months. Everything I had planned got put to a dramatic halt while we healed and tried to find our new normal.”
The feeling of uncertainty was rough for Payton, but she eventually found her way back to work and back in the game of finding another truck to build. “During that time, I realized that instead of building something to impress everyone else, I needed to work on exactly what I wanted, which was another 2-door OBS Tahoe. I drove from central Wisconsin to Knoxville, Tennessee, to pick one up, and it went straight to my engine builder, Sam Young of Young’s Garage, in Merrill, Wisconsin. He performed an LS swap with Brian Tooley Racing parts and so much more to give me exactly what I wanted.”
Even though Payton’s story sounds like it has reached its climactic happy ending, there was still so much more work to be done. The engine swap was only the first stop on a series of events that would ultimately turn the Tahoe into the object of her wildest dreams. “My Chevy was then transported down to my builder, Cameron Caldwell at RKB Built, in Florida. This is where my truck took a turn for the absolute best. Cameron installed Locked Offroad lift components and created one-off parts to elevate the ride height enough to fit 30×16 American Force wheels with 44-inch Venom tires!”
This Tahoe’s heavily modified chassis system is honestly what steals the show wherever Payton rolls, but Cameron was still not done with the truck yet. He then applied a fresh coat of a custom-mixed gunmetal paint, some graphics under the hood, and a few bolt-on additions in the way of headlights from 742 Industries and enough undercarriage lighting from Infinite Offroad to sear the ground below. The plan was to allow the natural OBS charm to shine through—nothing over-the-top was needed on this front.
That same target was set with the interior as well. Payton’s Tahoe now features a full leather interior swap from a 2020 Chevy High Country, so technically it’s still “stock,” but not really. That subtle creative touch has been improved with the inclusion of a full JL Audio sound system to make driving this truck that much more satisfying.
Just 9 months after pivoting from one of the most trying times in her life, Payton finally has the truck she has always wanted so badly. “Building this Tahoe to honor the first one that I worked on with my dad has made the process even more special,” she says. “I am so blessed to be in the position I’m in and to have the people I have in my corner always cheering me on. I’d like to give a special thanks to my build manager, Josh Miller at Maxxed Diesel. He has connected me with such amazing brands and companies that have given me lifelong business connections that have turned into friendships.”
Owner: Payton Marie
1999 Chevrolet Tahoe
La Valle, WI
Team Billet & Maxxed
Engine & Drivetrain
CHASSIS & SUSPENSION
Wheels, Tires & Brakes
BODY & PAINT
INTERIOR & STEREO
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