Ryan Dodd's passion is flying-but not in an airplane or hang glider. This 23-year old can launch himself 35 feet in the air at about 70 mph off a floating ramp, and travel 230 feet pulled by a 400hp powerboat, before floating back down to the water. He's been water skiing, jumping and executing tricks in mid-air competitively since he was 17, and the long, long list of records and championships attests to how well he does it.
To stay in top form, he commutes between the mile-long lake his father built in their Alberta, Canada cow pasture and the bayous of Louisiana. Considering those long hauls with a customized Mastercraft Nightmare edition Prostar 190 in tow, the truck he chose must be one hell of a crazy ride.
Before getting into all the tricks he put into his '07 Z71 Off Road Edition Suburban, we should explain his connection to the bayou. Dodd attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe and, for obvious weather reasons, this choice allowed him to spend his winters in warm-weather states to compete. The bayou that serves as the water ski team training ground divides the ULM campus. "You can be sitting in the library, look out the window and watch water skiers fly by," he notes.
Getting back to the Suburban, the Dodd-mobile started life as a plain, refrigerator-white SUV. Of course, that type of treatment just wouldn't be fitting for a high-flying, high-profile pro. After all, he was no novice to the customizing process, having just retired a Chevy Avalanche that served as both a long-distance driver and traveling billboard for his stable of sponsors. Not only that, Dodd just graduated with a degree in management and marketing, so he knows the meaning of a promo vehicle, in every sense of the term.
"I had to spend hours and hours looking at artwork and trucks in magazines and online, really scoping out what I thought would be hot for the next years in the truck industry," Dodd points out. "I knew I wanted an aggressive looking and driving vehicle with an insane interior."
With a 5.3-liter Vortec engine, a sound system that consumes the cargo area and a full-body vinyl package from ApeWraps, the Suburban lives up to his intention to create one crazy attention-getter. This insane SUV took best of show in the 4x4 SUV category at the 2008 World of Wheels in New Orleans and was selected as a feature vehicle at 2007's SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) Show in Las Vegas.
Dodd's choice of a 4x4 was both cultural and practical. He grew up near a feedlot in Alberta. And in cattle country, a truck is always four-wheel drive. Plus, if you've ever experienced or watched a 2WD try to maneuver a heavy powerboat up and down a slippery, wet boat ramp, you know how practical that extra grip is. Today, instead of prowling around the pastures, Dodd's schedule has him around lakes and other large bodies of water on a regular basis. With his rig and lime-green skull graphic Mastercraft, a 4x4 is as much of a necessity as any rock crawling, mountain exploring, mud wrestling Jeep.
Of course, this Suburban's transformation extends far beyond what most 4x4s would normally have. The ApeWrap custom job (think really big decal) starts at the front fender and swirls up and around the tailgate and back window in varying shades-all of them bold. You can't miss Dodd's Suburban in broad daylight, and at night he can flip on hundreds of little Varad LEDs so the SUV glows like a big, blue Christmas tree.
For some rockin' tunes that get him ready for takeoff, Dodd put the "sub" in Suburban. The bed area was sacrificed to enough high-voltage stereo equipment to stock a sound studio: six Kicker subwoofers, four 1250 watt amps, a JVC DVD, two flip-down TVs. All this cool ICE was installed by Prestige Customs, along with a navigation and alarm system. He doesn't worry about the loss of storage-that's why man invented the roof rack. Stow your gear on top, and use the cargo space for the really important stuff. And up front, for a touch of class he added a blacked-out mesh sport grille.
Besides audio performance, Dodd also appreciates other kinds of performance upgrades. These include an Airaid intake and throttle-body spacer and Edelbrock exhaust system to enhance the Vortec engine. On the suspension side, he installed Pro Comp two-inch leveling kit, and a set of Baer big brakes, which roll on KMC 22-inch Monster wheels in matte black and Toyo Proxes 305/45s.
Both form and function are keys to Dodd's success in ski jumping, and the same is true on Suburban. It not only has the right look, but also performs well. "Overall, I love this truck," he says. "It gets the job done for me above and beyond my wildest dreams."
