2004 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Duramax - Maine Event

Then there’s Derek Roberts of Windham, Maine. Last August, he bought his second eight-lug, diesel-powered Chevrolet Silverado with the intention of taking it to the next level.

Less than eight months later, he had the ’04 ¾-ton Duramax-powered Chevy lifted, putting out extra horsepower, and customized with a stepside bed. In true Maine fashion, he bought some parts, bartered for others, and wound up with a hot truck that stands out in a state known for its conservative side.

“I bought it completely stock and knew I was going to put money into it,” said the soft-spoken recent graduate of Windham High School. He’ll attend Southern Maine Community College in the fall majoring in construction management and plans to drive the truck to class every day.

The approach taken with the truck, however, belies the typical anxious, impatient persona that you might expect would come with an 18-year-old. Maybe it’s because his dad Brian is a top-notch mechanic, or maybe it’s because Roberts is wise beyond his years, but he took a methodical, well-thought-out approach to tricking out his truck.

“This one is legit, it’s all done right,” said Roberts, adding that his dad checks his work on every upgrade. If you’re wondering where an 18-year-old who works at a woodworking shop five days each week finds the time and space to work on a big truck, you only need to look in the Roberts family garage, which has a full twin-post lift.

Prior to this truck, the younger Roberts had an ’02 diesel-powered Chevy and he’s stayed as loyal as Tony Stewart to the vaunted Bow Tie. “I’ve always had diesels,” he explained. “It’s cheap money to make big horsepower and torque with diesels.”

Taking the practical approach, he swapped the Banks Monster 4-inch-diameter exhaust off his ’02 Silverado and installed it on the new truck. He could have gone with a dual-exhaust system, but said he actually prefers a single pipe.

This was followed by a Banks Six-Gun tuner to help Roberts coax more power out of the stock 6.6L Duramax diesel. With its six-position power-distribution system, the Banks Six-Gun lets the teenager light up the tires in four-wheel drive—but he wasn’t done yet.

After the Six-Gun was in place, Roberts followed up with a Bully Dog Triple Dog, stacking the two systems. The Banks system requires remapping the electronic control module for the engine and is controlled manually as you switch via a rotating knob through six settings. The Triple Dog, on the other hand, is wired directly into the ECM and you toggle through three different settings. Instead of going with individual analog gauges mounted on the door pillar, he upgraded to the Bully Dog Outlook, which provides all the engine information on an LED screen. It’s a cleaner look and takes up less space. In the final step, Roberts downloaded the Crazy Larry upgrade to the ECM. Fortunately, that step was free because to this point, he had dropped $2,200 for the fuel-management system.

To answer the demand created by the ECM upgrades, Roberts replaced the stock fuel injectors with Dynomite high-flow versions that added another $1,000 to the tally. All told, he estimates that the truck is making about 600 hp.

You don’t jack up the power without giving the transmission the ability to put all those ponies to the road. Once again, Roberts handled the wrenching duties himself. He went with clutch-pack upgrades from ATS to improve lubrication and power distribution, and the result was that his tranny could now handle 280 pounds versus 80 pounds in the stock configuration. He has the ATS control unit tucked between the driver seat and the center console so he can ensure that the tranny is ready to take the brute force when he cranks up the power on the Banks Six Gun and Bully Dog Outlook.