Nitro Gear and Axle 05 Kodiak Build

[nitro-gear]

Since we are finding ourselves at more and more trade shows with the Nitro Gear and Axle trailer, we figured it would be time to invest in something a little more heavy duty then our Megacab. Jeremy and Carl spent some time researching and looking around at some different rigs and decided on an 05 GMC Kodiak with the Duramax/ Allison combination. With the heavy duty axles, larger cab, and larger brakes, it should be perfect to pull just about everything that we can fit in our enclosed trailer.


We brought it in and added some goodies to hold the power we were planning to make. The motor has ARP head studs, EFI live tuning, K&N air intake, Dynamite Diesel twin turbos, and a Banks speed brake. The transmission is an Allison 1000 built by Mike @ Lee Myles Transmissions Marysville, WA. It has billet torque convertor, PPE pan, and all of goodies inside.


Here is what we were starting with:























Pretty bare bones, but that is great since Jeremy had planned on modifying it fairly heavily to move the enclosed trailer!

 

[nitro-gear]

We brought it in, added some larger 40 inch tires and a few inches of lift. Since we added larger tires, new gearing was in order. The Dana 70 high pinion front is plenty strong for what we will be doing so we added some 5.13 Nitro gears and will be adding an ARB air Locker soon. The rear Dana S135 was modified with a set of Nitro 5.13 gears and Truetrac limited slip differential to give us a good mix of towing traction and equal power delivery to the rear wheels. The lift was made using custom Atlas rear leaf springs, Deaver front springs and King 2.5 remote red shocks:





One of our other mods was a DC Custom Fab tube winch bumper on the front with a Milemarker 15k winch, Master Pull rope, and Factor 55 thimble:








We then decided to paint the cab black prior to adding our graphics to it:

 

[nitro-gear]

Here is an overview of how we want it to look once complete:





We used a custom Braverman aluminum flatbed and added our graphics:














Once it was completed we hooked up the trailer and headed across the state for the Northridge 4x4 open house:











We recently added a ARB twin compressor, and will be adding the front ARB in the next few weeks, as well as some 42 inch tires soon.

 

[Xfactor]

Truck looks awesome. I have an 07 mega cab dually. I'm thinking of lockers. What's the best email to use to get info and pricing.


Can you give more info on the tire and wheel combo you have there?


Thx.

 

[Larry]

Very cool! :drool:

 

[redthies]

The Kodiak must have been designed by the same guy who did the Aztek. Not sure why GM needs to make their recent trucks so darn ugly, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beerholder. Looks like a capable rig though. Still love the mo-ho more:sombrero:

 

[nitro-gear]

info@justdifferentials.com

 

[seriousseries]

What was involved in converting from dual rear wheel to super singles?

 

[TooTall'sTruck]

40" tires????

Are those standard on-highway tires that you guys grooved to be like NDT old school tires? I know lots of people modify Boggers by removing lugs for wider lug seperation. I was just curious what you guys did?

Nice rigs....I wonder if you guys might want to come out to Port Angeles,WA? We have a new sportspark where they do sprint boats and my buddy has the plans to add a rock crawling park as well. You might have already dealt with him before, he used to be out of Duvall, WA.

 

[Xfactor]

What's the specs on the wheels and tires? Maybe manufacturer links?

 

[BBslider001]

42" Tires? I think it will run the really excellent look it already has. Bigger isn't always better, but that's just me. Nice rig though!

 

[nitro-gear]

What was involved in converting from dual rear wheel to super singles?

All we did was use some International MXT wheels and continental military tires.

 

[78Bronco]

Nice truck but not sure why you would single out the rear axle. What is the advantage?

 

[Letsgomoreplaces]

More pics of the Nitro Gear Kodiak Crewcab

Sorry we have been slacking on the finished pics!

 

[SDR]

The Kodiak must have been designed by the same guy who did the Aztek. Not sure why GM needs to make their recent trucks so darn ugly, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beerholder. Looks like a capable rig though. Still love the mo-ho more:sombrero:

Kinda looks like a late '90s overbuilt Dodge, wouldnt ya say? LOL. With the van body and medium duty front clip, not too shabby....