From Concept to Reality: A 20-Year Truck Build

An Artist’s Vision Comes True

Building your dream truck can take many directions. Some people find a mostly done build and tie up loose ends to finish it, while others start with a bone stock truck and handle every aspect of the process. For Josh Rowan from Adel, Georgia, starting with a stock truck was the route he took, but it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it took 20 long hard years to get it to this point. There were plenty of ups and downs with the project during that time, but Josh pushed through and knocked it out of the park. Josh is an automotive artist and owns Rowan Conceptz where he hand draws not only logos and other artwork, but also does hand-drawn automotive renderings. This allows him to sketch out his ideas freely to know what his finished product could be.

One of the first things you notice when you look at this Suburban is the lack of a hood and the engine sticking out of the bay.  Being this was one of the key factors of this build, Josh made sure it was the focal point to anyone looking at it.

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Back in 2003, Josh picked up a stock 1987 Chevy K20 Suburban as a daily driver. Having grown up in a gear head household, he knew it wouldn’t stay stock for long, but it worked as-is for the time being. Within the first year of owning it, the factory engine blew up, so a new engine was needed, which started the ball rolling. Josh’s dad was big into the big power vehicles, so that’s what Josh knew and loved. The Suburban had to have more power than it did before, soJosh swapped the blown engine for a late model 454. He also ‘bagged it and painted it orange to make it more his style. Over the next several years, Josh tinkered on the truck from time to time and due to life changes, even lived in it for a short time. Unfortunately, the truck was left sitting for a while and began to deteriorate while Josh focused on life and family. Some of the key parts on the truck were even sold off. In 2019, it was pulled from the weeds where it sat for over 5 years, and the full build finally began.

First thing to do was to stuff the widest tires on it possible to establish the look Josh wanted. He ordered a set of 20×8.5 and 20×16 American Racing Torque Thrust 2 wheels and a set of 245/45-20 front and 33×22-20 rear Mickey Thompson tires. After a call with Mike Losh of  Slosh Tubz, Mike informed Josh he had a twin turbo setup for a big block and he needed it for the Suburban. There was only one problem, Josh didn’t have a big block, so this one phone call set the wheels in motion and led Josh down the road of looking for a new engine. Knowing this was a good decision for his build plans, Josh quickly found a virgin Gen 6 454 to utilize the twin turbos.

Now that the basic look and style for the truck was established, it was time to tear into the truck and completely redo it. In August of 2019, the body was laid on the floor for the first time and it fueled the passion even more. The new 2×6 chassis was fabbed up with a ’96 Impala SS front clip, a wishbone 3-link rear, and stuffed with airbags and controlled with an  Air Lift 3P controller and dual FLO  air tanks to allow the truck to sit like he wanted. Wanting to be different, Josh and his son, Lil Josh, cut the rear barn doors in half to create a 3-piece hatch system. This was a look that Josh had never seen done before but knew it was a must. After attempting to make the pieces fit correctly, he immediately knew he should let one of the pros tackle such a job and reached out to Bob Grant to handle the metalwork to make all 3 sections work correctly. To get the truck done, Josh made a post online to see if anyone wanted to help just to speed things up. He got a message from Dusten Mason saying he was down to help Josh and his son blow through all the work needed to be done.

Building your dream truck can take many directions. Some people find a mostly done build and tie up loose ends to finish it,  while others start with a bone stock truck and handle every aspect of the process.

Once the suspension and fab work was done, they loaded it up and took the truck to Tim Gossett at T&A Kustoms in Newnan, Georgia to knock out the paint work. To make this thing really pop in the sun, Josh got with the team at Revolt Auto Paint to order a cool orange. They stepped up the process and created a Rowan Orange Glo Pearl color just for this truck but wound up making it one of their regular colors after seeing how it came out. To break up the monotone look, a white stripe was added down the center of both sides before  Jerry Dow with Layn Licks joined the project to handle the pinstriping. Alumicraft Street  Rod Grilles built a one-off grille to make the ’73 Suburban front-end swap even cooler while the new AMD chrome front bumper and Xprite 7-inch LED headlights tie it all together.

One of the first things you notice when you look at this Suburban is the lack of a hood and the engine sticking out of the bay. Being this was one of the key factors of this build, Josh made sure it was the focal point to anyone looking at it. This heavily detailed 468 mounted to a Turbo 400 transmission was done by Eric Tillman from Moultrie, Georgia, and is packed with all the goodies to ensure the polished and coated twin 67/70 Precision Turbos would work correctly. Lee Cain built the cold and hot side of the turbos from Wade McGowan using Race  Part Solutions tubing, V-bands and splitter. This massive jewel box not only looks great but sounds amazing and will perform beyond anything Josh could ever need. The 4-corner Wilwood brake set up makes sure it will stop just as quick. Rudy Krutka of ADK fabbed up the fuel cell to fit the frame rails and retain the factory fuel door.

With the interior being the only thing left, it had to fit the same standards as the rest of the build. It started with the door panels from Guy Designz. Slim fabbed up the  door panels and shipped them off. Josh bought the Snowden seats from Braden Jones,   then picked up new foam from Chris Snowden and Gary Pounds ll wrapped them to a flawless finish. Gary then laid down dark brown loop carpet. He fabbed pieces that  were missing and wrapped everything in Apex Leather. He built the headliner and threw chocolate suede on it. Josh cut a ‘59 Bel Air dash and stretched it, made caps for the end and fillers for the sides. Johnathan Wolfe got the bodywork and paint laid down and wrapped up on the dash. Terrell Hart built the console that includes cup holders, Air Lift controller, B&M shifter, door buttons, and the Limitless battery from Christopher Allen.

Josh debuted the finished Suburban in the Air Lift booth at the 2024 Mini Nats show in Maggie Valley, North Carolina and has been killing the show scene ever since.

BUILD SPECS

OWNER

Josh Rowan

• Vehicle: 1987 Chevy K20 Suburban
• Location: Adel, GA
• Club: Xtreme Lowz

ENGINE/POWERTRAIN

• 468 big block
• Turbo 400 transmission
• Eagle rods
• Wisecrack pistons
• File fit Mahle rings
• Howards 640 roller cam
• Holley Terminator X
• Holley Dominator intake
• Custom 3-inch headers
• Twin 67/70 Precision turbos
• 4-inch turbo exit exhaust
• MSD ignition
• Billet belt drive
• High flow water pump
• 102mm throttle body
• Custom cut valve covers
• Trans brake
• 9-inch Ford rearend
• Detroit Locker
• Built by Eric Tillman – Moultrie, GA

CHASSIS/SUSPENSION

• 2×6 tube chassis
• 1996 Impala SS front clip
• Wishbone 3-link rear
• Air Lift 3P controller
• FLO  air tanks
• Air Lift 2600 front bags
• Ridetech rear sleeve bags

WHEEL, TIRES & BRAKES

• American Racing Torque Thrust 2 – 20×8.5 front and  20×16 rear
• Mickey Thompson Sportsman tires – 245/45-20 front and 33×22-20 rear
• Wilwood Disc brakes
• Wilwood master cylinder
• Hurst Line Lock

EXTERIOR & PAINT

• ’73 Suburban front-end swap
• Custom rear hatch and doors by Bob Grant
• Grant Kustoms roll pan
• Shaved door handles, drip rails, body lines
• Alumicraft Street Rod Grille
• AMD chrome front bumper
• Xprite 7-inch LED headlights
• Rowan Orange Glo Pearl paint from Revolt Auto Paint
• White center stripe
• Paint by Tim Gossett at T&A Kustoms in Newnan, GA
• Pinstripe by Jerry Dow “Layn Licks”

INTERIOR

• Guy Designz door panels
• 4 Snowden bucket seats
• All panels wrapped with Apex Leather
• Chocolate suede headliner
• Modified ’59 Bel Air dash
• Full length console
• Flat floor for more leg room
• Handmade rear tubs

THANK YOUS FROM OWNER

“A huge list, but every one of these people are near and dear and I couldn’t have done it without them: Lee Cain, Dan Baker, Evan Steger, Trisha Rowan, Marlee Rowan, Josh ‘Lil JoshRowan, Tim & Amber Gossett, Gary Pounds, Travis Boyd, Dusten Mason, Tito Blueeyes, Will Rowell, Mike Losh, Bob Grant, Chris Root, Ben Osbourne, Brandon Radloff, Red Pollard, Syco Finely, Adam Johnson, Chris Snowden, Kevin ‘Slim’ Guy, Kyle Boring, Jonathan Wolfe, Ronnie Pelham, Katelynn Holden, Robert Messenger, Tammy Miller, Chris Pulley, Dallas Harmon, Eli Pounds, Wade McGowen, Brenden Jones, Terrell Hart, Dominic DeSalvo, John Spence, Clabe Hall, Christopher Douglas Allen, Michael Woodward, Mike Alexander, Chad Raper, Lee Davi, Matthew Scott and I’m sure I’m forgetting some people but thanks everyone who has supported this journey and helped bring my dreams to life!”

Photo Credit: Burrell Images