Custom Craftsmanship: Transforming the 2019 Silverado to Perfection

Doing It Better the Second Time

Being in the custom truck world on a daily basis, we see many different truck styles and calibers of builds. Some truck owners are brand new to the scene and knock it out of the park with their first build, for instance, while others like to build, sell, and repeat.

Ricky May from St. Augustine, Florida, falls into the build, sell, repeat category. Ricky is no stranger to the custom world and has built and owned numerous show vehicles over the years. A few years ago, he built a new 2016 Silverado. Enjoying what a new full-size truck had to offer and realizing he could do things differently and go so much further if he started over, that’s exactly what he did.

Ricky went out and bought this brand new 2019 Silverado crew cab with the intention of going above and beyond what he had on any of his past vehicles, which is where the “2.0” name came from. This is his second take on a new Silverado.

IDEAS TO REALITY

As a 12V tech and shop manager at Rollin Sound, as well as an active member of Negative Camber, getting the ball rolling with ideas and shops to complete the work was the easy part. Making sure all the pieces worked together turned out to be the hard part, but with patience and determination, as you can see, the outcome was well worth the journey.

Knowing he wanted the truck to lay flat and tuck massive wheels, Ricky took the truck to Jimmy’s Rod N Customs in Edgewater, Florida, to make that happen. Jimmy and his crew built a full custom plate chassis and all new suspension parts as well as a custom aluminum fuel cell. This allowed the truck to be body dropped and have enough clearance for Ricky to drive the truck wherever he wanted.

Ricky went out and bought this brand new 2019 Silverado crew cab with the intention of going above and beyond what he had on any of his past vehicles… 

Before the chassis was bolted together for the last time, all parts were sent to be powdercoated in Cadillac gray and silver to not only withstand the salty Florida air, but to also look good while doing it. Once back together, custom tabs for the stainless air lines, four Viair 485 compressors, 8-gallon air tank and all the factory wiring, fuel lines, and brake lines were built so that everything under the truck was a work of art in its own right. An Acuair E-Level Plus air management was also added to control the trucks height.

With the chassis fully built and looking its best, R1 Concept rotors were added before a set of 26-inch KMC wheels wrapped in Lexani Tires were bolted on. No rolling chassis would be complete without an engine, so the factory 5.3L V-8 was moved from the stock chassis to this new custom chassis. A custom intake and painted engine covers came next, and a custom Magnaflow exhaust was added to let the engine breath and look better. Jimmy had to modify the firewall, bed floor, and cab floor to clear the new larger wheels as well as several other sheetmetal modifications to make it all fit correctly on the new chassis.

BOLTING, WELDING, PAINTING

Once Jimmy was done with the fab work under the truck, it was time to address the body and paint of the truck. Since GM decided to move the sideview mirrors to the doors, Ricky decided that being in the A-pillar section of the doors was a cleaner look, so he had them removed and bolted on a set of 2018 Silverado mirrors to the doors. (When we say, “bolted on”, that’s far from how it went, but for space in the article, we will say that’s how it went.)

The rear bumper was removed, and a custom-built roll pan was welded in its place. The doors and rear of the bed had to be painted after the bodywork. Even though the stock Bright Red paint on the truck would be fine for most people, Ricky decided to change the color. Glenn Strickland at GG Auto Salon in Orange Park, Florida, sanded down the factory paint and laid down an Orion Silver base before the House of Kolor Candy Apple Red candy coat was added before the clean. This completely changed the look of the truck. The underside of the cab and bed as well as inside the bed all received a coating of Line-X bed liner. Ricky said getting the schedule of the chassis build and paintwork to line up proved to be a challenge, but as you can see, it all worked out.

With the truck back from paint and finally mated to the chassis, Ricky turned to the interior to round out a full build. He gutted the interior to get the metalwork done, which made working on the audio and interior upgrades easy—no need to remove the parts since they were already out. For seats, black Roadwire leather seats with silver stitching were added by 904 Motor Sports. Ricky built a custom dash bezel to house the Kenwood head unit in the stock location, while MTI built his custom A-pillars and door panels to house several Rockford Fosgate speakers. MTI also built the sub box for under his back seat that fits four 10-inch Rockford Fosgate T1 subs. The headliner received black suede and starlight install as well as matching suede on the pillars.

With the truck complete, Ricky has taken the truck all over the Southeast, racking up awards at shows and getting attention everywhere it goes. Unfortunately, the truck was sideswiped by a tractor and trailer that caused a bit of damage. But in true Ricky May fashion, it won’t keep him down. From what we understand, the truck will be back and even better than it is now in what he’s calling “Version 2.5,” and we will have to line up another shoot once it’s finished to show our readers how drastically it changed.

TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Ricky May
St. Augustine, FL
Year/Make/Model: 2019 Chevy Silverado
Club Affiliation: Negative Camber

CHASSIS

• Custom plate chassis
• Acuair E-Level Plus
• Four Viair 485 compressors
• 8-gallon air tank
• Powdercoated Cadillac gray and silver
• Custom aluminum fuel cell
• All built by Jimmy’s Rod N Customs in Edgewater, FL

DRIVETRAIN

• Factory 5.3L V-8
• Custom intake
• Magnaflow exhaust
• Painted engine covers

BODY/PAINT

• Shaved factory side mirrors
• 2018 Silverado mirrors mounted
• Molded in roll pan
• Metal work by Jimmy’s Rod N Custom Edgewater, FL
• Full color change to HOK Candle Apple Red
• Orion Silver base coat
• Paint by Glenn Strickland at GG Auto Salon in Orange Park, FL

INTERIOR

• Roadwire leather seats
• Custom head unit mount
• Starlight and suede headliner

STEREO

• Kenwood DMX598xr head unit
• MTI pillar pods with Rockford Fosgate speakers
• MTI door panels with three sets of 6.5-inch Rockford Fosgate T2s
• MTI sub box with four 10-inch Rockford Fosgate shallow subs
• Rockford Fosgate amps

WHEELS/TIRES

• Front:
• 26×9 KMC with 295/30-26 Lexani tires
• Rear:
• 26×10 KMC with 305/30-26 Lexani Tires
• R1 Concept drilled/slotted rotors

SPECIAL THANKS

Special thanks to my family (my fiancé Melissa and kids Aria and Columbia) for putting up with my passion and supporting me, my father for starting my automotive passion. and my club Negative Camber. I also can’t leave out the great work and help from James Graham of Jimmy’s Rod N Customs, Metra Electronics, Kenwood, MTI, and Rockford Fosgate.