This truck was designed to stand out in a crowd and make onlookers drop their jaws. On the ground, tuckin' 24s, smoothed from front to back, and an interior that must be seen in person to fully be appreciated, this truck defines big time. Big James DeMouy understood and accepted the challenge to build a truck that would separate himself from the cookie-cutter C10s. With several tricks up his XXL sleeve, we just hope you're ready for the classic-truck party.

In a random turn of events, nine-time UFC champion Matt Hughes ran into Dave Timm and Brian Walker, owners of 2 Brothers Custom Trucks at the SEMA show in 2007. After a short conversation, 2 Brothers mentioned building a truck for the ultimate fighter and instantly a bond was made. After returning home and getting the funds worked out, the guys at 2 Brothers located two donor trucks-yes, two trucks-and began a three month journey, resulting in an eye-catching classic that keeps you guessing.

Pros:
Coil spring rear end improves ride
Top-class, quiet interior
Overall fit and finish is much improved
Improved fuel economy

Apparently 2007 was the year of the first-generation C10s, as builders and customizers (or maybe it was just us) realized the greatness of the nearly 50-year-old body style. The '67-'72 C10 body style has always been popular-even more so in recent years. But for some reason, '60-'66 C10s have remained the best kept secret in classic Chevy trucks. Okay, the early years had odd hoods with turn signals that look like nostrils, but Chevy got things sorted out in time to have several years of great-looking trucks. Like Mark Barbee's `bagged blue beauty, Brian Ellison chose a '63 model for his frame-up build, too.

Once we caught word of what was in store for Mark Barbee's '63 C10, we anxiously awaited SEMA '07 for our chance to finally see it in person. All of our hopes were realized when we caught our first glimpse of the True Blue Pearl Chevy: The truck was everything Mark had promised it would be.

We have been noticing a trend of some cool open-air Chevy/GMC Blazers of the '67-'72 variety at West Coast shows. At last year's SEMA Show in Las Vegas, we were attracted to a solid copper '71 Blazer with '67 front sheetmetal in the Dub booth, outfitted with Dub wheels. We were told there were still some final touches to be made to the vehicle. While attending the Goodguys show at Del Mar, California, we saw it in its final attire of two-tone silver and copper paint and Billet Specialties Magnitude wheels, both of which were major improvements.

Covers are elusive. Much like the "perfect 10" woman, who loves you for your flaws, doesn't mind your stinky shoes, and is a gourmet chef in the kitchen; cover trucks can sometimes be mythical. Whereas, women are one of our greatest gifts, cover trucks can sometimes be our biggest pains. Money, time, frustration, and just getting the darn thing done are the usual suspects involved. Ricky Holly of Houston found his perfect 10 in his wife Sherrie, and when it came time to build his next cover truck, a classic Chevy would fulfill his love of building custom rides. Tracking down a pretty decent '71 C10, Ricky began the search for shops in the area that could bring his newest purchase from bucket to beauty. Talking with Ray at Mind to Metal in Houston, a full build was in order and the sparks immediately began to fly. Starting with 2x4-inch 1/4-inch steel, Ray bent up framerails to make the body rest firmly on the ground. Up front, Western 2-inch drop spindles were bolted onto the custom tubular upper and lower A-arms with horizontal hot-rod styled shocks. After everything was fabricated, each piece was meticulously chromed or painted. Mounted to the spindles are 14-inch SSBC big brakes, front and rear. A Flaming River rack and pinion controls the steering, while Slam Specialties airbags with GC450 valves and Viair compressors provide the air control. The wheels of choice for the front of the C10 were Bonspeed Intense 22x8-1/2-inch billet hoops with Toyo 265/35R22 high-performance tires keeping them protected.

Most consumers were pleased with the increase of the '07 Chevrolet Tahoe's size compared to the previous generation. But as the old saying goes, "you can't make everyone happy, all of the time." Well, we editors at Truckin' aren't usually ones to point fingers, but we do know one guy in particular who thought the revamped Tahoe just wasn't quite big enough. The man in question answers to the name of Greg Brown, and he hails from Pasadena, Texas.

South County Customs in Lake Forest, California, invited us to its shop to snap some photos of the former Kansas City Chiefs football players, Kyle Turley and John Welbourne, Bronco buildups. And they took a lot of photos of their own to help us fill in the blanks. Check out what 30-plus years of rust looks like and you'll begin to appreciate how much bodywork was necessary to get these SUVs looking factory-fresh.

We've done numerous tech stories and shot features built by our friends at South County Customs, so when we learned about the pair of Broncos that were being built in their shop, we were all ears. Former teammates on the Kansas City Chiefs, Kyle Turley and John Welbourn both picked up first-generation Ford Broncos and left them in the capable hands of the guys at South County Customs for total transformations.

The aftermarket off-road community has found itself unknowingly sleeping during the calm before the Fabtech storm. Brent Riley, president of the renowned suspension fabricator Fabtech, from Chino, California, has been deep in concentration while preparing Fabtech and Ford's concept hauler for its public debut. The project truck, which has been affectionately named the 'Power Storm,' has been granted the Ford Design Award, and has been a whirlwind in the making-once the rendering and design process was finalized. In a brief three-month period, Riley and crew were able to transform the already super-sized F-Series into an eye of a hype hurricane.

Have you been wracking your brain to make your S-10 or Ranger look different from the thousands of others? Are you wondering what you can do to your Isuzu or Toyota to make a passionate automotive statement, and maybe wind up on the pages of your favorite magazine? Since personalizing your ride is every customizer's mission, and uniqueness is the goal, we have a suggestion. Start with a clean sheet of white paper, sketch a fresh concept, give it the looks of something you've never seen before (such as a Corvette pickup), then find an easy way to build it. And oh yeah, make it affordable.

Here in the Southwest, there are plenty of 'bagged and static-dropped trucks cruising the highways and crawling over the speed bumps and dips that litter the surface streets. One must learn to drive all over again. Finding detours around the sometimes off-road like terrain of local roads becomes second nature. John Reyes from Cedar Creek, Texas, knows this firsthand, as he has been rolling in his '93 Chevy C1500 for quite some time now, slowly preparing his truck for its highly anticipated closeup. There was no hurry for John to hastily throw his truck together-he is a man of great patience and getting the truck right the first time was a top priority.

Think back to whatever it was that you were driving when you were 19 years old. If you are anything like us, odds are it wasn't even in the same league as Dan Demello's Silverado. We spotted Dan's regular cab at our Havasu Havoc show and gave it a good once-over. We have long been proponents of regular cab shortbed trucks, and the reasons are simple: they're lighter, quicker, cheaper, and they got the look. Dan's Silverado just looked right to us and we couldn't pass it up.

Chris Davis uses Photoshop to alter, manipulate, and create vehicles that would be killer, if actually built. This month, Chris shows us two cool variations of the Hummer SUT. This rendering features a 1-ton almost semi-truck appearance, with huge exhaust stacks, dualie wheels, an airbagged suspension, and H-350 emblems. The stretched bed and dualie fenders add to the custom looks.

Sometimes things don't go as planned. When Robert Sandoval's father bought this '99 F-150 in 1998, it was supposed to be a work truck; and it was, if only for six months. Robert took the reins when he was 16 and had modest plans for the truck. He went through a few paint schemes and was enjoying the pride of owning a custom truck, but one trip home from work changed all that. A broken driveshaft left the truck sidelined, so Robert decided that if he was going to spend some time under the Ford, he might as well body-drop it.

While I had the opportunity to drive the 2008 Dodge Durango Limited AWD for a month, I was able to experience a variety of driving conditions. I live in Huntington Beach, California, and to me a sunset cruise down Pacific Coast Highway while listening to the Beach Boys, or making a day exploring the back roads of Bakersfield while singing along with some ol' Buck Owens and country tunes, was time well-spent. I was even able to squeeze in a desert trip to Las Vegas while blastin' some Bon Jovi and Sammy Hagar.

Miles To Date: 7,000

Custom Looks In Less Than A Day
For this month's Fantastic Four, we recruited an '08 GMC Yukon. Known for great family hauling abilities, the new Yukon is also a well-appointed V-8-powered utility vehicle. Adding some "sport" to that equation, we recruited the latest lowering kit from Belltech. A staple in the world of lowering, Belltech just released a new kit for the popular GM SUVs with multiple lowering options. Billet sleeves serve as spacers around the strut assembly and allow users to lift or lower their SUVs from 1-3 inches. We decided to lower this Yukon 3 inches in the front and 4 inches out back by using a Belltech 2-inch drop spindle, adjustable front shock, drop coils, and new shocks in the rear. We noticed when driving the stock Yukon, its suspension didn't offer the performance we wanted from the new SUV; so we added Belltech's solid anti-sway bars, front and rear, to the order list.

15 Years Strong
Once again, Slammin' & Jammin' delivered hundreds of custom trucks, cars, and even a few motorcycles. Located just a few miles east of Nashville, at Lebanon, Tennessee; it proved to be a great show venue. There was plenty of sun for the whole weekend-minus one late-night downpour.

It's simple to open the magazine and see a truck that makes you go "wow." But to fully understand how much work went into that truck build, you just may say "wow" and "holy crap that took a ton of work." In this story, we'll take you on a quick journey through two truck transformations. One truck went down, one truck went up, but both trucks looked custom when the dust settled.

This year, Brandon and Rachel LeBlanc moved the Louisiana show a little west to the small town of Conroe, Texas, right outside of Houston. Despite the change in venue, the show proved to be a great success and the Texas State Fairgrounds should be the home for the show for years to come. Fullsizes seemed to be the new truck of choice for the show, as rows and rows of trucks from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma made the trip to Gator Drag. Beautiful weather with temps in the mid 80s made the show a great place to hang with friends and catch up with old ones. As usual, the trophies were the main talk of the show, as all Top 75 truck owners received custom belt buckles and the Best Of winners took home small gas pumps painted with flames by the guys at Chaotic. No Regrets left with Club Participation and Joel Gonzales received Best Truck with his immaculate blue C10. Congrats to the winners, for more photos of the show, check out truckinweb.com.