TWO-WHEEL-DRIVE SURPRISE
It's hard to believe, but Maurice's "Red Addiction" Chevy began life as a two-wheel-drive truck. After years of doing more solid axle swaps than anyone else, the one thing Maurice has never been completely satisfied with is the New Venture Gear transfer cases that the '01-and-newer Duramax trucks come with. Since Maurice knew he was going to ditch all of the factory four-wheel-drive components, he figured he should just start with a two-wheel-drive truck instead.
Maurice ordered an '07 Silverado 2500HD with the LMM Duramax and Allison 1000 transmission. His solid axle upgrade kit is designed to work with both two- and four-wheel-drive GM truck frames, so that only left fitting the truck with a transfer case. For that, Maurice made a call to Advance Adapters, in Paso Robles, California, and ordered an Atlas II transfer case with a 3:1 low-range.
Now, the Duramax's torque is transferred through the stock two-wheel-drive Allison 1000 six-speed transmission and sent back to a divorce-mounted Atlas transfer case. From there, the power is sent through a pair of driveshafts to the AAM 1150 rear and a custom-built Dynatrac Pro 60 front axle bolted in with ORU's latest four-link front suspension kit.
HOW STRONG IS IT?
The gross axle weight rating (GAWR) of the GM 3/4-ton independent front suspension is 4,600 pounds. That means the front end is rated to support a little over 2 tons, which gives an indication of the strength and durability of GM's IFS. A Dana 60 axle, on the other hand (one built to the specs of the Dynatrac Pro 60 in Maurice's truck), has a GAWR of more like 5,500 pounds, giving it 900 pounds more capacity to take a pounding without breaking so much as a sweat.
We can attest to the strength of Maurice's 2500HD as we drove it 200 miles to our cover photo shoot, watched Maurice beat on it, and then drove it 200 miles back home. Nothing we could do to the truck phased it in the least, and the truck came home needing only a new rear bumpstop, a fresh tank of fuel, and a good truck wash. Now that's what we call heavy duty!
Until the 6.6L Duramax came along, Maurice had always owned trucks with big-block Chevy gas engines. The torque of the Duramax won him over, and with the help of Pacific Performance Engineering's new Xcelerator tuner, Maurice's truck now has 525 hp and 885 lb-ft of torque. | 
The Pro 60 axle is located by Off Road Unlimited's new four-link solid axle conversion kit that features 21/2-inch King coilover shocks, hydraulic bumpstops, a sway bar, and limit straps. | 
Off-road lighting technology has come a long way since Maurice built his first truck. The six Hella Rally 4000 high-intensity discharge (HID) lights mounted on the Defender light cage and front bumper turn night into day and produce more illumination with 35 watts than conventional 100-watt lights do. |