SSRRRRR!

The Build Plan: A Nod to Racing Heritage

They nabbed one of the limited-production vehicles and promptly put together a very impressive build plan. Working with Jason Hulst of Hulst Design, the team came up with a plan reminiscent of the Duntov/Chevrolet racing glory days, but with plenty of street smarts to keep this thing street legal.

Power Upgrades with a Supercharged V8

The first order of business was to make sure the vehicle had so much power that it truly needed a product like the Truetrac. That mission was accomplished by installing a Magnuson intercooled supercharger on the 6.0-liter V-8 LS1 engine in this ’04 SSR. Then they added a set of Dynatech headers and a MagnaFlow after-cat exhaust system. Dyno tests showed it made just under 500 horsepower. The truck is built with some massive side pipes, but they are yet to be functional, something that is planned to happen soon. With all of these power producers on board, you can bet that the truck needed some traction help.

The Detroit Truetrac Limited-Slip Differential

The Detroit Truetrac was the first gear-type limited-slip differential in the industry. The patented design of parallel axis planetary helical gears provides a quiet, automatic splitting of torque. Power transfer goes literally unnoticed by the driver; all he knows is that the car or truck is accelerating fast with no dramatics.

Performance Benefits of the Truetrac Differential

The Detroit Truetrac performs like an open differential under normal driving conditions and automatically transfers torque to the wheel with better traction when ground conditions warrant. The limited slip responds instantly to torque feedback any time, at any speed.

Enhanced Suspension with Belltech

Another item that needed attention for this project was the suspension. Project manager Don Johnson (of DJ&F) turned to Belltech suspension to get the truck riding at the proper height, and with the proper firmness. The SSR already comes with a sophisticated five-link rear suspension that uses two upper and lower links which attach to the frame at four points, and a transverse link (or track bar) to help provide lateral stability. In addition, there’s an antisway bar. The Belltech kit lowered the truck 3 inches in the front and 4 inches in the rear.

Wheels, Tires, and Track-Ready Style

A set of two-piece Halibrand Performance aluminum wheels with billet knockoff hubs really sets the tone of performance for this truck. Toyo Proxes tires are wrapped around the wheels for the ultimate in road traction.

Interior Upgrades and Hidden Audio Features

In the cab, the Truetrac truck has a gaggle of Auto Meter gauges installed on a pod, and the driver and passenger are held firmly in place with Mastercraft seats and five-point harnesses. It’s interesting to note that the passenger seat was built without a headrest in order to leave room for the tonneau cover. A Rawlings Audio stereo system is so well hidden that you would be hard-pressed to find any of the components without using a screwdriver or a wrench. An Alpine head unit is paired with a Tru Technology four-channel amplifier, an Image Dynamics wide-dispersion lens, an 8-inch midwoofer, a 10-inch subwoofer, Scosche wiring, and Mogami interconnects.

Exterior Styling by Axiom Design Solutions

All of these performance parts might go unnoticed if the package were plain vanilla, but Axiom Design Solutions made sure that wasn’t going to happen. The guys at Axiom assembled a collection of bolt-on body parts to really jazz up this pickup. They tweaked the look by starting with the front fascia, and then they added the rear fender brake cooling inlets (they’re functional, by the way) and a rear exhaust panel that covers the OE dual exhaust outlets. The rear wing is an obvious item that creates its own sort of buzz and gets a lot of attention, along with the 4-inch side exhaust pipes. A bolt-in competition rollbar adds some safety and certainly contributes to the racy look of this SSR. The grille bar set was finished off using Alsa Mirra chrome paint, and it looks sweet.

Custom Tonneau Cover and Convertible Roof

Last, and certainly not least, the Axiom crew put their creative minds to work and came up with a composite half-tonneau cover that’s removable and can be stored in the bed. This item really screams “sports car” even though this is a pickup! You can still open the passenger door with the tonneau installed (which makes tossing in the briefcase a lot easier). The SSR has an electrically operated, removable hardtop. The top folds down with the push of one button. The side windows go down and then the roof panels move independently on steel linkages to vertically stack and store in the bulkhead behind the passenger compartment. This unique storage arrangement allows the cargo area (the bed) to remain completely available.

Finishing Touches with Custom Paint

To top off everything, Custom & Classic sprayed on the white BASF paint with contrasting blue along the bottom. The addition of the classic racing circle on the door with a number for extra drama is a nice “Duntov” touch.