BDS SEMA Build – 2015 Chevy HD

15HD-SEMA

Along with prepping the booth displays, prepping new products, and scheduling meetings for the week of SEMA, this year the BDS team is working on a last minute truck build to serve as one of the featured booth vehicles for us at the show. While SEMA is full of over the top builds, crazy paint jobs and and more LED lights than one could ever need, the BDS team was looking to build a capable, practical, and  reliable truck that is at much at home on the trail as it is on the road. While the BDS F250 and Project Slate have been excellent trucks, able to tackle the terrain or reliably tow a trailer across country at a moments notice, we had a need to show off some of our newest components for the GM trucks.

Last month we picked up the newest vehicle to join the BDS fleet, a black 4 door, short bed, 6.6L Duramax-powered, 2015 Chevy Silverado 2500HD dubbed Project Raider. Along with using this truck to prototype and test new products, it’ll be used as our primary tow vehicle for events getting displayed all around the country. While we offer the 4.5” and 6.5” high clearance, no torsion bar drop kits for the ’11-15 GM HDs, we wanted to show off some of the new developments we’ve been working on with FOX. This truck will be running a prototype 3” Coilover Conversion System with FOX 2.5” coilovers with DSC adjusters, upper and lower control arms, and FOX IFP bumps (more on this prototype kit to come in the future). For wheels and tires we wanted a tire that would be excellent on the highway, preform in the dirt, and has a heavy load rating with all the towing this truck will do. We turned to Nitto for a set of their 35×12.50×20 Exo Grapplers and mounted them on a 20×9 (5” BSing) Fuel Hostage III wheels for the aggressive styling and gray with black beadlock color to match the truck. Up front we’re swapping the factory bumper for a N-Fab RDS series bumper and mounting a 40” curved zRoadz LED light bar to light up the trail. All the chrome was colormatched and vinyl graphics were installed. The factory projector H/Ls remain and the stock LTZ grille is getting upgraded to a X-Metal unit from our friends at T-Rex. With the larger tires installed we’re adding a set of Bushwacker extend-a-fender flares for extra coverage. Additionally N-Fab wheel-to-wheel steps will be bolted on for extra rocker protection and ease cab access. The bed will feature an Extang revolution tonneau cover and spray in bedliner. In the the BDS team fabbed up a matching rear bumper to allow the factory hitch to be retained. AFe supplied a high capacity aluminum finned differential cover as well as a cold air intake system. A Bully Dog diesel GT tuner is also on the docket to bring this Duramax to life.

At this point the team is working feverishly to prep the truck. It his the road on Monday for the 2000+ mile road trip hauling SEMA displays and a Jeep for our sister company JKS Manufacturing. Stay tuned to see how it turns out and fore updates from the drive out to Vegas. We’ll be posting updates on the BDS Blog, Facebook and Instagram pages, #projectraider

17 comments

I would like some information on the 2015 chevy hd coil spring .Conversion kit the 4.5 inch kit and what would be the cost ?And is the ride a big difference Thanks Scott

Hey Scott, thanks for your interest in BDS. The coilover conversion we have on this truck is a prototype at this point which we expect to have available to the public by Spring 2016. I’ll say first hand after driving the torsion bar HD then driving our C/O equipped truck across country to SEMA and wheeling it in Moab the C/O is hands down a smoother, better performing truck both on road and off. That said unfortunately our company policy dictates we can’t get into specific details, price point, etc until the kits make it to our shelves available for sale. We’ll have more info, pictures, and videos available in the Spring.

Thanks for the reply this is good news.I like the look of the level 3inch lift .This is something I would like.Im currently runnining 35/12.50/20 s leveled .But a inch higher would look nicer .I hope that you offer the 3inch kit to.If possible would you let me know when this is available Thanks Scott

Hey Scott, Thanks for the interest. The plan is to have the kits available by this Spring. Company policy dictates we won’t release specific kit details, pricing, or other info until the kits are one the shelf ready to sell.

Hey Scott, the kits aren’t available quite yet, but will be available very soon. We’ll have more info on the kits, available options and pricing once they are on the shelf released for sale.

When is the projected release date for this?! I want to be notified when it hits the shelves! This is exactly what I have been looking at doing to my 2015.

We’ve been saying all along Spring 2016 and kits are almost ready, we’ll be sending out an official new product announcement once the kits are on the shelf and ready to ship

hey I was curious what’s going on with this product, I swear I seen it listed this morning for a moment then it disappeared

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At this point we’re only offering the 2-3″ coilover conversion system for the 2011-2016 Chevy/GMC HD trucks. The 4.5″ lift kit we currently offer retains the factory torsion bar style IFS. As other kits come available we’ll be making new product announcements and sending out more information. For more information on the 2-3″ Coilover Conversion System head to https://blog.bds-suspension.com/?p=12050

Hello, The truck looks fantastic, I have the same truck 2015 Silverado 2500HD 6.0L 3 inch lifted. Id like to upgrade to 6.5 inch. The job done to your truck great. id like more information on how to purchase the 6.5 lift kit. Please advice

Hey Ali,
The coilover conversion is designed for the weight of the 6.6L Duramax, but we have had customers install them on 6.0L gas trucks and adjust the preload on the FOX coilovers for the correct amount of lift. We offer the coilover conversion in 2.5″ and 6.5″ lift heights, as well as our standard high clearance torsion bar systems in 4.5″ and 6.5″ lift heights. For more information head on the kits head to our website at http://bds-suspension.com/product?kid=727FDSC. You can purchase right off our website for US orders or go through one of our BDS distributors. To find your local distributor head to http://bds-suspension.com/distributor-lookup

Hello, on Project Raider when it originally debuted the truck came with a rear bump and rear 2.5 reservoir shock, now that is on the 6.5″ is there any upgrades for the rear? Such as a new leaf pack instead of a lift block, or a remote reservoir shock?

Hey Austin,
We do have some additional accessories in the works for the HDs, but can’t discuss details or expected release dates (company policy). At this point the front/rear FOX IFP bump stop kits aren’t offered, same goes for a full replacement leaf springs on the 6.5″ kits and FOX remote reservoir shocks for the rear. As accessories come available we’ll be adding them to our website and starting to promote on media outlets

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