Let the hatin' begin. You are no longer the bomb if your mini lays flat on 18s. The days of being the shiznit because you have dubs out back and 18s up front are over. You are now required to go bigger than that if you want to compete in Kevin Scheile's world.
Kevin's Isuzu, known as the Bone Collector, is draggin' body on 20s all the way around. We wondered what it took to get his mini flat on the big rollers, and Kevin let us in on his secret. Kevin said that he had to swap out the five-speed manual transmission for an automatic one out of an Amigo and convert the frontend to wider, Isuzu Rodeo and Amigo sheetmetal. Then the rear bed sides had to be flared 2-1/2 inches to accommodate the new rim and tire combo. Kevin is a self-proclaimed mini-truckin' addict who says his favorite things in life are big rims and draggin'. Obviously, he takes care of both of his addictions every time he rolls his Isuzu.
His mini's drop measures a full 13 inches down from stock when it is laid out over the deuces. Throw a clean hydro setup, a bitchin' interior, and a thumpin' stereo into the mix and you have a recipe for greatness. The paint is pretty original too. This is not just another clean two-tone truck. Breaking up the void between the VW Bug Green and DuPont Black paint are pencil-drawn bones that were done freehand and then cleared over. Talk about different. Once again, we are amazed by the seemingly unknown places that bring forth customs like this. Utah isn't exactly known for droppin' bombs like this, so we were really excited to find out where this pavement-pounder came from.
You might think that Kevin would be content to clean house at shows in his home state, but this boy likes to travel. He and his truck have attended runs in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and California while scoring plenty of trophies along the way. For all the details and the list of the guilty parties involved in the buildup of this truck, check out the spec box.
THE LOWDOWN
Suspension
Juiced and body dropped by Trick Kustoms of WVC, Utah. The front is dropped using AIM 2-inch drop spindles and 8-inch cylinders. The rear features a triangulated four-link and another set of 8-inch cylinders. If you look close, there are no coil springs or shocks. Four nitrogen-charged accumulators that are plumbed into the pair of chrome pumps damp the suspension. The rear bridge crossmember and rearend are HPC-coated pieces.
Wheels/tires
20x8.5-inch KMC Tramps and 225/35ZR20 Pirelli rubber Interior Trick Kustoms installed a new center console to conceal the automatic tranny. The company also wrapped the entire interior in gray and black tweed.
Audio/video system
A Kenwood CD head unit signals a pair of Alpine V12 amplifiers. They power a pair of MTX 8000 subs and Alpine component speakers. The subs are mounted in a custom enclosure housed in the extended-cab portion of the truck. The Alpine component speakers reside in the doors and vents. Trick Kustoms is once again responsible for the awesome work.
Paint/graphics
Kindig-it Design of Salt Lake City performed all of the bodywork, drew the graphics, and sprayed the DuPont VW Bug Green and Black paints.
Body mods
The stock P'Up front end was swapped out for Rodeo parts, and Amigo fenders were installed for more clearance. The rear bed sides were also flared 2-1/2 inches to clear the 20s. The antenna hole, the door handles, the gas door, the tailgate handle, and the bed seams were all shaved. A roll pan was molded in, and clear taillights replaced the stock units. Trick Kustoms also cut and welded up the floor of Kevin's ride to execute a 3-1/2-inch body drop.
Engine/drivetrain
The factory 2.6L four-banger has a bunch of parts HPC-coated to look like chrome. An aftermarket air intake and filter speeds up the airflow into the motor. The tranny is an overdrive piece that was donated by a '93 Isuzu Amigo. Owner's quote "I love this sport and I'd like to thank my girlfriend, Jen Austin, Eric Bostain, Dave Kindig at Kindig-it Design, High-Performance Coatings, and all the boys back home."