Every custom vehicle needs a cool nickname, and as far as nicknames go, it doesn’t get much better than this 2011 Chevy Colorado dubbed “Crawlorado”. We spotted this badass rig at the 2015 SEMA show in Las Vegas, and it immediately caught our eye with its burly 37-inch mud tires, straight axle conversion, and roof-mounted kayak. With its increased suspension travel and articulation, it looks like it would have no problem crawling over rocks and other obstacles.
There are plenty of trucks at SEMA that appear to be trailer queens, but the Crawlorado doesn’t seem to be one of them—this Chevy looks like it gets down and dirty on a regular basis. In fact, the sheetmetal bumpers even showed some scuffs and scratches. The truck was built by Pacific Fabrication in Gilroy, California, in partnership with BDS Suspension and a variety of other aftermarket parts vendors, and sports some of the industry’s best purpose-built off-road parts.
Lending to this truck’s off-road credibility, it was designed for the 2015 4Wheel & Off-Road Magazine Ultimate Adventure. This world-famous “road trip” actually doesn’t involve many roads—but it does involve brutal trails, river crossings, steep ascents, and lots and lots of mud. BDS was the Ultimate Adventure event’s title sponsor, and they weren’t looking to put their name on a vehicle that would end up stuck and embarrassed, so the Crawlorado was built accordingly. Since it was able to handle the Ultimate Adventure and still show up to SEMA in one piece, we figure that’s worthy of the OG seal of approval.
The biggest thing we liked about the Crawlorado was the fact that it’s not just a show truck. There are patches of surface rust, scuffs on the rock rails, and its suspension components aren’t tricked out in flawless chrome. Also, we like the custom fabrication involved—anybody with a big checking account can buy a bunch of off-the-shelf parts for their truck and call it “custom”, but it takes more skill to weld up bumpers, rock sliders, and a chase rack from raw metal. Overall, the Crawlorado is a very cool build, and one of our favorite trucks at SEMA 2015.
