MINI FEATURE

RUSS MIZIN’S “RED ROCKET”

Russ Mizin is a heavy equipment and rigging construction worker from Tacoma, Washington. He owns this sweet-looking Victory Red 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD.

He was bitten by the diesel performance bug after riding in his buddy’s 2005 Duramax truck and seeing/feeling what it was capable of with just a few basic upgrades. He was immediately hooked and on the lookout for a Duramax diesel of his own.

Lighting

Mizin wanted to improve the looks and performance of his truck once he purchased it, so he went to work upgrading the truck as he could. He installed a custom grille insert and detailed the headlights and parking lights with painted accents.

Then, he filled the lights with 6K HIDS in the headlights and LED bulbs for the parking and fogs. In the rear, he replaced the factory bumper with a color-matched roll pan for a smooth street truck look, installed Recon smoked taillights and had the third brake light tinted by Smokedouttailights.com.

Stance

To improve the looks and handling, he brought the truck down to Earth by lowering the torsion bars up front, installing 3-inch Crown Suspension drop shackles and removing the overload springs in the rear. After the stance was improved, he installed a new set of 20x12-inch Hostile Sprocket wheels that are wrapped in 305/50R20 Nitto 420S tires on all four corners.

KYB Monomax shocks were installed at each corner to keep the ride smooth, while Kryptonite Stage 3 steering components combine with a Dirty Hooker Diesel center link to keep the front wheels pointed straight ahead under power. To help with traction in the rear, Mizin installed a set of 72-inch MBS Diesel Performance traction bars with Siskiyou Diesel Performance brackets to hold them firmly in place.

Dmax Performance

To improve the performance of the 6.6L Duramax, Mizin installed a Screaming Diesel Performance big single-turbo setup with a Borgwarner S472SXE turbo mounted to a Wagler Competition Products street intake with a twisted pedestal. Fire red-and-black accent powder coating was done by SDP to match the truck and make the engine bay look great.

Fuel is fed to the Duramax from the stock tank through a Beans Diesel Performance fuel sump and Airdog II 165 pump-and-filter system with Baldwin filters. The factory CP3 and injectors are still used but with EFILIVE tuning by Aaron Wiebe at All In Truck Performance in Seminole, Texas. Mizin has dyno’d the truck at 680 hp on the North West Dyno Circuit mobile chassis dyno.

The potent Duramax is backed by an Sdp-built Allison transmission with a Goerend torque converter and Mag-hytec deep pan. Deviant Race Parts transmission lines replaced the factory lines, while a Suncoast transfer case brace and Merchant Automotive pump rub kit rounded out the driveline upgrades.

Never Done

As great as his truck is, like most gear-heads, Mizin doesn’t feel that it is finished. His near-future plans include an upgrade from the Goerend G converter to a K converter and fuel system upgrades, including 100 percent over injectors and a stroker CP3. Then, in the long term, he would like to upgrade to a fully built engine from Socal Diesel or Wagler Competition Products

To help keep the rear axle from twisting the leaf springs when he mashes the “loud” pedal, Mizin installed a set of 6-foot MBS Diesel Performance traction bars with Siskiyou Diesel Performance mounting brackets. The red-and-black beauty has a great street stance, with the torsion bars turned down up front and 3-inch drop shackles and deleted overload springs in the rear. There are also KYB shocks on all four corners for a smooth ride.  With Recon smoked taillights and a smooth roll pan to replace the bulky factory rear bumper, Mizin’s Chevy looks good from the rear too. The interior of Mizin’s Silverado is largely stock, but it is well-maintained and illuminated by LED replacement bulbs. It also has an Edge CTS to help keep an eye on the Duramax’s performance.