Jeff McHaddad is a big fan of Chevy trucks from 1955-1959, and so was his son Jeffrey McHaddad. Jeff is the creator and Jeffrey is the builder. Jeffrey and Jeff had just finished what they thought was their last project together, when Jeffrey received a phone call from a good friend who offered to sell a 1997 Dodge, one owner, manual diesel, for only $3,000! It was a deal that couldn’t be passed up, and kicked off what would become the insane race truck you see here.
Cheap Truck to Race Truck
How did a Dodge Cummins purchase become this insane custom 1958 Chevy race truck? Well, here’s how it came together, in only four months.
Jeffrey immediately called his dad and said; “we already have a cab, and I have a Tahoe chassis laying around, let’s build one last truck.” What the duo had was a 1958 Chevy Apache Cab and front sheet metal — from the truck Clint Eastwood drove in the movie “Every Which Way But Loose —, a 1964 Chevy C10 bed, a 1973 Chevy C10 front bumper, and a 2004 Chevy Tahoe frame.
The build was low-budget because 90% of the parts were already on hand. They wanted “something that we could hop into and drive to the store and not worry about locking it or getting a door ding from the person parking next to us.”
Parking Lot Design
Jeffrey used to be employed at Mayhem Metal Works located in Simi Valley in California. In exchange for helping out around the shop, Jeffrey convinced the owner of the shop to allow him to build this truck on their parking lot. Jeffrey didn’t have a good spot to build to truck at the time, so this arrangement worked out perfectly, even more so in the end.
Jeff had the idea to create a wide-body look with this truck, as it would have massively wide tires and they didn’t want to narrow the axle housings. Clinched, which makes late-model auto body kits and is only 30 minutes away from the father and son’s home, was found through online research. The father and son took sheet metal from their build to Cinched’s warehouse to test fit kits until they found one that was close enough to work. The Clinched wide body kit for the 2019 Mustang was modified to fit front 1959 Chevy and back 1964 Chevy sheetmetal.
Cummins Power
After the body looked good, it was time for the drivetrain. Jeffrey installed the 1997 Cummins 12 valve motor from the truck he bought for a cheap price into the chassis. He then decided to use a 6-speed Allison transmission behind it. CA-Conversions of Milton, Florida provided him with the parts he needed to make this happen.
A stock motor wasn’t going to cut it, so he also started looking at bigger turbo options. Initially, he was thinking of going with a single big turbo. Then, a compound setup was considered. Finally, a triple compound setup was chosen.
Chassis Setup
Jeffrey had a problem with his rear suspension. Jeffrey was looking for something that could offer huge performance improvements and also look really cool. The stock Tahoe frame was just an eyesore, so he went all in and chopped the frame just behind the cab and built a full 1.75” DOM tube chassis for the rear of the truck.
This setup looked great and allowed for a trailing-arm rear suspension in the off-road style. Sway-a-way 2.5×12” coilovers were used in the rear, with a Sway-a-way 2.5×8” coil-over setup up front. The upper and lower front control arms were custom-built, allowing for a 1.75 inch wider track width per side.
Park Lot Build to Showtruck
Clinched was following the progress of this build which had been ongoing for only a month and offered a place at The SEMA Show. Jeffrey and his father were thrilled, but they still had three months to go before the show and a lot of work to complete the build.
They needed to get help and luckily, it was just across the parking lot. Mayhem Metal Works was the next stop for the truck. It was all hands on deck to finish it in time.
Not so Budget Anymore
The build was taken to the next level at SEMA by a number top sponsors. The biggest change was the switch from a 12-valve Cummins to a 6.7L Cummins. This was done in order to increase the strength of the vehicle and to tune it to match its excessive triple turbo setup.
AEM CD-7 digital display in the cab and a variety of sensors on the Cummins engine keep the driver updated on its performance. Mishimoto keeps things cool with a trans cooler and intercooler.
Wheels are so important for the overall look and functional setup of a vehicle like this, and there wasn’t time for custom wheels to be made, so a wide range of wheels from TIS Wheels were tested fitted before landing on a 20”x10” front and 20”x12” rear setup. Toyo R888R racing tires were wrapped around the big wheels.
Wilwood brakes are race ready and ensure this truck will stop quickly. It features 14” rotors with 6-piston calipers up front and 12” rotors with 4-piston calipers in the rear. With a hydraulic handbrake, you can enjoy steep angle drifting with a simple lever pull.
Continuous Upgrades
The SEMA Show may have been a huge success, but a build such as this one is never finished. The car is waiting to be sent to Darkside Diesel, in Wilder Idaho, to get 200% more injectors and a 14mm CP3. Jeffrey will swap out the Allison 6-speed transmission after the engine upgrades for a 48RE built with manual valve bodies and ratchetshifters.
Jeffrey realized after the SEMA Show of 2022 that he could create a product that people wanted. His new custom vehicle building shop, Killer Creations in Middleton Idaho, is where you can find him with this truck. You’ll also likely see it at Idaho Truck invasion and SEMA 2023.
A second similar build is also currently in the works, this time with a ’59 Chevy body and a Duramax Diesel.
Visit @killer_crestions_id for more on Instagram and Facebook.
’58 Apache Diesel Race Truck
Body: ’58 Chevy Apache Cab w/ front sheet metal, ‘64 Chevy c10 bed, ’73 Chevy c10 front bumper, ’19 Clinched Mustang Wide Body Kit
Chassis: ’04 Chevy Tahoe Frame, Custom Rear Tube Chassis, Custom Upper & Lower Control Arms, Custom Trailing Arm Rear Suspension, 2.5×12”and 2.5×8” coilover Sway-a-way Shocks
Drivetrain: 6.7L Cummins Diesel ( bored .020 over, Wagler street fighter rods, Hamilton 188/220 cam, Hamilton pushrods and valve springs, ported and polished head, 100% over injectors, 12mm CP3, 73mm turbo feeding 2 68mm turbos), 6-Speed Allison Transmission, AEM CD-7 Monitor & Sensors, Mishimoto Intercooler & Trans Cooler, TIS Wheels, Toyo R888R Tires, Wilwood Brakes
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