RUINED.

So, Dan Hamilton is shopping for a tow rig for his road-race Integra and comes across the perfect candidate: a 2014 GMC Sierra SLE Z71 4×4. But wait – it’s a standard cab short bed? While not exactly a unicorn, it certainly isn’t something you see every day and definitely warrants a serious look, even if the short wheelbase isn’t ideal for towing a loaded car trailer. Well, Dan ended up bringing that truck home, but it didn’t end up doing any towing, as the more he thought about it, the more he saw the potential in building the truck as his newest performance vehicle. 

It wasn’t too long after that Dan ended up parting out his Integra, which he had built and rebuilt time and time again over his 14 years of ownership. It was bittersweet to be sure, but the appeal of a high-horsepower sport truck that could make it to the track and back under its own power was too great to ignore. Things started out in somewhat usual fashion, with the suspension and wheels being the first to get swapped out. However, Dan didn’t go with an off-the-shelf drop kit. Instead, he installed Calvert Racing split monoleaf springs out back with Viking Crusader shocks, which were mounted on relocated shock mounts for improved performance. With some added modifications, such as a DJM flip kit and McGaughy’s shackles, the rear drop totals eight inches! The front received DJM tubular control arms with 850-lb. Viking coilovers, yielding a six-inch drop. 

Of course, this drastic reduction in altitude wasn’t just for looks, as it also lowered the center of gravity and improved handling greatly. With the squared 20×9.5 Cosmis Racing XT-006R wheels and 295/40ZR20 Nitto 555G2 tires, Dan’s truck was off to a great start! Over time, the truck received other carefully planned upgrades, such as C6 ZR1 front brakes, C7 Stingray rear brakes, and front and rear sway bars, but things really started getting out of hand once Dan decided to pop the hood and get serious about power. 

A turbo kit set at 7psi quickly got the L83 engine up to 500 wheel horsepower on 93 octane fuel, but as Dan admitted, “the glass pistons were on the edge of melting!” Still, he kept things as they were until the stock 6L80E transmission’s torque converter started acting up, at which point Dan decided that he might as well pull the engine and build it up! An LT4 Camaro ZL1 crankshaft was stuffed in the block, with Callies Compstar rods and Diamond 11.0:1 pistons filling up the cylinders on either side of the Brian Tooley Racing custom-ground camshaft.  

That setup (which included a larger, oil-less Comp turbo), once tuned by Matt Sanford, netted 725 wheel horsepower on E85, and all was well and good until… the tranny went out again! Not looking for a threepeat, Dan pulled it out over a Christmas break and dropped it off at ATI Performance Products for a full performance rebuild. Rated to handle 1,000 horsepower, Dan should be set for a while! 

Dan is currently about six years into the long-term build of his Sierra, and he says he has plenty more planned ahead. He recently upped the boost to 12psi to squeeze about 750 wheel horsepower out of the 5.3, and he’s working on some more tweaks to make the truck even more competitive. 

But make no mistake about it: this truck is already a winner, taking home top honors at the drag race portion of the latest C10 Nationals in Nashville, while also doing extremely well on the event’s autocross course (while detuned to about 620 horsepower in 2WD mode)! With the truck exceeding expectations, Dan is excited to see how it will do at next year’s C10 Nationals, and so are we!