THE SUNKEN SHREDDER

There are some built-up vehicles out there that are so incredibly nice, that you would never know that at one point, they had been seriously thrashed or almost destroyed. In some cases, fully submerged in a lake, like Anthony Cully’s 2009 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ. Anthony went looking for a truck to build and got his hands a Silverado that would later be lovingly named Sunken Shredder, from a gentleman that bought it from an auction house. The truck had gone to auction because the original owner was launching his boat into a freshwater lake in Northern California, when the whole package went straight into the water. Before the watery mishap, the truck had been built by Mazzulla Off-road, a Southern California based performance products manufacturer. All the goodies made it appealing to a builder and Anthony was all-in. Immense time and care were taken to replace all the wiring, every light bulb inside and out and even rebuilding the engine. Over the course of the next two years, Anthony polished the once soggy truck to the performance play toy of his dreams. At the core of the pre-runner is a Mazzulla long travel front suspension system, boasting 10- inch travel on Fox 2.5-inch coilovers, paired with matching 10-inch travel 2.5-inch triple bypass shocks. The hubs are Mazzulla’s

Above: A series of events on what was likely a really bad day for the original purchaser, became a great off-road rig for Anthony.

Mazzulla’s 2-inch 4140 heat treated snouts with aircraft grade aluminum hub body and 5/8-inch wheel studs. So the back end can keep up with the front, Deaver Spring’s G85 leaf springs are suspended by custom Mazzulla hangers and shackles. Fox was again enlisted for 18-inch 3.0-inch triple bypass shocks. Transferring power to the wheels is a Currie Enterprises Fabricated 9-inch rear differential assembly loaded with 40-spline axle shafts and a Strange Engineering 3rd member with a spool and 4.57 ratio gear set. Traction hits the ground via 37x13.50x17 Toyo Open Country M/T tires wrapped around custom powder-coated KMC Enduro Beadlock wheels. A custom bed cage was built by Mazzulla to hold two full size spare tires, as well as provide long travel shock mounts and a place for the CBR Performance Products Transmission Cooler.

Above: Mazzulla’s long travel system was on the truck before it took a swim. The powder-coating was redone but otherwise, the parts held up fine.

A custom bed cage and rear bumper system was fabricated to support the upper shock mounts, two spare tires and a CBR Transmission cooler.

To give the tires plenty of room, Fiberworxs read bedsides and one-piece front end were fitted and paint matched.

Fiberworx was sourced for wide clearance bedsides and a one-piece fiberglass hood. Under the hood is a full custom engine cage that surrounds the 5.3L V8 engine. When Anthony rebuilt the motor, he had it bored out, bumping the displacement up to 383 cubic inches. He also added an aFE Power air intake, custom headers and a Y-pipe that feed a 3-inch exhaust system with a Black Widow Exhaust Widow Maker 10 muffler. The front and rear bumpers were custom built specifically for the Sunken Shredder, including the aluminum skidplate. Lighting up the trails and campsites are a pair of Black Knight 52-inch curved LED light bars up front with a pair of KC HiLites Flex Dual lights out back.

Left: The interior of the truck is mostly stock. Anthony did add an Alpine 7-inch head unit with wireless Apple Car Play, JL Audio amps, subs and speakers and a handheld race radio mount. Photo Credit: Anthony Cully

For a truck that has seen the bottom of a lake in its life, Sunken Shredder sure does clean up nicely.