Owner: Shane Albright
Hometown: Plainfield, Illinois
Ride: '97 Dodge Dakota
Club: Twisted Koncepts
Shane Albright, a member of Illinois' Twisted Koncepts, told us the inspiration for the latest variation on his body-dropped '97 Dodge Dakota didn't come from our fearless leader, Lance Martz, but rather from one of his club members. It seems Shane was kicking around the idea of a color change on his Dodge when, on the way to Indy Truck Bash, one of his fellow club members rear-ended his truck. We'll keep his name out of this story to avoid any further embarrassment. (His friends have probably already made him feel bad enough.) The bright side of the accident, though, was that it gave Shane the opportunity to change his ride yet again. He brought his Dakota back to Hue-Phoria Autobody to have Rick Gonzales repair the bodywork on the bed of the truck and add some other cool custom touches.
The first change was made to the cab by shaving the stock third brake light from the rear of the roof. Perhaps the coolest change made to the truck was when Rick completely shaved the body line off. The missing body line and complete color change really sets this Dakota even further apart from the competition at the many shows Shane attends each year. When we attended ITB number nine this summer, the new mods and paint were enough to grab Lance's attention and prompt him to shoot Shane's ride for yet another feature in MT. That's right, this is the second appearance for this sick and twisted Dodge from Illinois. For the complete list of mods, check out The Lowdown and jock the pictures.
The Low Down
Chassis/Suspension Firestone 2600 airbags are situated at each corner of the Dakota. The 'bags and Gabriel gas shocks were installed by Shane and his dad, Perry. There are 14 gallons of reserve air capacity beneath the bed, and the twin air tanks are fed by a pair of Thomas air compressors. The leaf sprung rear suspension was updated with a ladder bar setup that allows this truck to sit flat on the pavement and prevents axle wrap when the go pedal is mashed to the floor. Shane widened his personal selection of wheels by having the front hubs and rear axles machined to accept a 5x4.5-inch lug pattern.
Wheels/Tires Shane chose to roll a set of 18-inch Rozzi Detention wheels with a 42mm offset and had them wrapped in 215/35R18 rubber bands.
Body Mods The most obvious body mod has to be the 4.5-inch body drop that Shane and Perry performed in their home garage. The body drop sets the rockers down even with the frame and flat on the pavement whenever the air is released from the 'bags. Rick Gonzales of Hue-Phoria Autobody shaved the tailgate, taillights, body lines, emblems, and fuel filler door. He also built the inside of the bed out of smooth sheetmetal. Before he put away his welder, he executed our favorite mod on this truck: the suicide doors. The cool hood was built by Glasstek and features a Mustang Cobra scoop built in. Autobahn Wholesale provided the chrome lower valance for the front bumper.
Custom Paint Rick also sprayed the ICI Apache Orange paint at Hue-Phoria Autobody in Naperville, Illinois.
Interior The dash was sanded, primered, and block-sanded smooth so that Rick could color-match it to the outside of the truck with more paint. A pair of '90 Honda Prelude bucket seats was stitched in creme-colored vinyl and tweed, while the floor was recarpeted with carmel-colored carpeting. The headliner was rebuilt in vinyl and outfitted with 3-D flames. All of the upholstery work was completed by Shane's friend, Shane Cassin. Sean Chapman built the smooth center console and Action Car Audio of Hanover Park, Illinois, constructed the new door panels.
Audio System The backbone of Shane's musical enjoyment is the 1/2-inch MDF subwoofer enclosure that Matt "Flossin'" Stevens constructed to house the Audiobahn 12-inch subwoofers. Aside from the bass notes coming from the subs', Kicker Resolution 6.5-inch component speakers and MB Quart 6.5 inchers reproduce the mid and high notes. Audiobahn amps supply the necessary wattage to make this system audible from a block away. An Eclipse flip-face CD head unit controls the volume and other functions on this awesome system.
Engine/Drivetrain The 318cid Mopar V-8 is bone stock, save for the 2.5-inch Flowmaster exhaust system and Auburn 3:55 Posi unit that was stuffed into the rearend for killer traction.
Owner's Quote " I'd like to thank my dad for all of his help and the use of his garage. Also, I'd like to thank Rick Gonzales for his help, my club members for their support, and ICI Paints and Single Source Paint Supply."