Big Enough for Ya? Massive High Country Pickup Is Road Tested

This lifted and bagged Chevy Silverado 3500 HD High Country barely fits through the garage door, but it rides like a dream.

If you want to build yourself a high riding, luxury pickup truck, the Chevy Silverado High Country is a good platform to start out with. Modifying a pickup truck with a lift kit is certainly not a new concept as people have been doing that for years. However, this lifted and bagged High Country is massive and has the road presence of a locomotive rolling down the highway.

This video comes to us courtesy of the YouTube channel Street Speed 717, run by Mike Holt. In it, you will see this amazing Silverado roll out of the garage for the first time. When you see folks standing next to it, you begin to realize just how big this thing is. Even Holt was blown away when he first laid eyes on the finished build: “Absolutely massive guys, holy crap. It’s wide and it’s about ten feet tall.”

This was no low budget build that goes for the big looks but suffers in the drivability or functionality departments. The lift kit is from highly regarded Kelderman Manufacturing and produced right here in the USA. “You would think a lift kit this size would ruin the truck but honestly this lift is so good it might ride better than stock.” Says Holt during his first test drive. No expense was spared with this build and it can be seen and felt.

Fueled by McDonald’s bundle boxes, the crew puts the finishing touches on the truck as it makes its way out into the world for the first time. Up front the truck is sporting a Fab Fours bumper with integrated LED lighting which is functional and looks great. On the corners are Mickey Thompson 38×15.50R24 Baja Boss tires on 14-inch-wide JTX Forged wheels which give the truck an aggressive stance. The star of the show, however, is the aforementioned Kelderman air suspension.

Time for the first road test. In order to do a road test, you have to be able to actually get to the road first, and that means leaving the garage. That is not usually an issue but in this newly lifted truck it is a tight squeeze to say the least. What does Holt think? “Oh my God. Holy crap. I mean look at how big, it almost hits the ceiling. Oh my God.” Yup, that about sums it up. It does manage to eek its way out of the shop and hit the road for the first time and it rides as impressive as it looks.

Using a High Country with the Duramax engine allows this beast to still perform well. As Holt says, “Doing this to an ’05, it’d be so slow, but this truck has so much power, so much torque, the truck still gets up and goes.” The suspension soaks up the bumps with aplomb and it handles reasonably well considering it dwarfs everything else it passes by. This is an impressive build any way you look at it. Holt says it may be his favorite truck build ever. We cannot say we blame him as this massive truck performs well and looks amazing doing it.

Join the Chevrolet Forums now!

Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.