Phat Dually Stuns at SEMA with Groundbreaking Engineering and Style

Neck-Breaking Bow Tie

Go big or go home” is a saying many of us have heard or said to one another. For Jake McKiddie, these have always been words to live by. As the owner and fabricator of Phat Phabz, the builds that go on in his shop are never for the weak hearted.

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The 6.6L Duramax engine had to be re-engineered back into the custom frame and still fit under the stock hood. That required all the factory sensors and modules to be remounted to make the engine and 10-speed drivetrain work together as one.

From Jake’s personal past, he has always been around some sort of custom vehicles that he has built, ranging from a custom Chevy Impala and a Chevy Silverado to a body-dropped 2021 Cadillac Escalade. Once Chevy released the new body style Silverado 3500 Duramax dually, the gears in Jake’s head started to spin. Living in Choctaw, Oklahoma, duallys are the norm on the streets in and around the city, so if he was going to build another custom truck, it would have to stand out. Plus, he didn’t want to have just a truck that was only a showpiece; he wanted to prove that you can make it fully usable while still being able to clean it up to show off at any truck event.

Once the local dealership received its first shipments of the newly designed Duramax-equipped pickups , Jake was off to purchase one. It wasn’t long after the decision was made when he had a black dually sitting in his driveway. With his newly purchased truck in his hands the ideas started to turn into reality.

One item on Jake’s to-do list was a custom red interior to make it stand out from all the others. The crew at his shop started stripping out all the interior pieces that would be sent over to Curt Enoch’s shop (Curt’s Creations) for his magic on the basic factory Silverado interior.

To make this massive dually lay flat on the ground, Phat Phabz removed the factory frame from the body and made a custom tube frame that would make the truck lay rocker yet be able to tow a gooseneck trailer at any time.

To make this massive dually lay flat on the ground, Phat Phabz removed the factory frame from the body and made a custom tube frame that would make the truck lay rocker yet be able to tow a gooseneck trailer at any time.

The 6.6L Duramax engine had to be re-engineered back into the custom frame and still fit under the stock hood. That required all the factory sensors and modules to be remounted to make the engine and 10-speed drivetrain work together as one.

As the body/bed were placed back on its custom frame, an insane amount of sheetmetal work had to be done to make it all fit together and still fit the 30-inch American Force wheels planned to be tucked under those big fenders. Additionally, some custom touches were planned to be done to the truck including shaving the bed steps, bumper steps, bed rail/tailgate cap. One item of this build that took hours to make was the factory-inspired Duramax hood. Jake’s crew finished the hood out to make it look like it still had the factory ram air function, but underneath it was custom sheet work that looked factory so the motor intake piping would fit.

This was one big task for Jake and his crew at Phat Phabz, but seeing it lay flat on the SEMA show floor displayed out for everyone to see was the best moment for them to be a part of as a team.

Once all back together, the truck’s first major road trip was to the 2023 SEMA show in Las Vegas. After the long trek from Choctaw, Oklahoma, to Las Vegas, the dually was driven into the central hall at SEMA and placed in the Spyder booth. This was one big task for Jake and his crew at Phat Phabz, but seeing it lay flat on the SEMA show floor displayed out for everyone to see was the best moment for them to be a part of as a team.