Fox Factory opened a Performance Vehicle Development arm to create turnkey trucks that can hang with the best off-roaders out there, the upper limit of performance in direct proportion to a buyer’s checkbook. The PVD branch has already laid its wand on the Ford Bronco to presto up the Fox Factory PVD Ford Bronco KOH Edition, and on the Jeep Wrangler to produce the Black Widow Edition Wrangler (Fox also owns Jeep specialist Black Widow). Next up is the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 RST, its transformation into a Fox Factory Edition giving Bowtie lovers a chance to run the dunes in the ways of the Ford F-150 Raptor and Ram TRX.
First up for the changes, a Whipple GenV 3.0-liter supercharger and billet aluminum air-to-water intercooler, blowing the 6.2-liter V8’s standard 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque to about 700 hp and 640 lb-ft. That mountain of momentum forks one way through the Silvy’s stock 10-speed automatic transmission and two-speed transfer case to both axles. The front and its 3.73 gearing have been reinforced with RCV Performance CV axles, while a JE Reel custom driveshaft spins 3.73 gears in the full-width, semi-float Dana 60 axle in back that’s upgraded with an ARB locker. At the corners, forged 17-inch Method wheels with Bead Grip technology — street-legal beadlock-like rims — on 37-inch BFG KO2 tires. The other fork for the engine’s waste products is a Borla cat-back exhaust.
Home team magic is in the electronically controlled, semi-active FOX 3.2 Live Valve coil-over shocks, their various damping programs selected with a button in the cabin. The shocks flex Brenthel Industries’ long-travel Baja Kit front and back, the rear leaf springs replaced by a multilink arrangement with long-travel aluminum trailing arms. Fox says the usable suspension travel (the wheel arc, not the damper’s extension) is 14.5 inches in front, 15.5 inches in back. That beats the Raptor on Fox shocks and 35-inch tires by a half-inch at each end (the Raptor R on 37s gets less suspension travel than the Raptor), and outdoes the TRX and its Bilstein shocks on 35s by 1.5 inches front and back. When using every bit of that travel at speed, the Fox Factory Silverado softens landings with hydraulic bump stops.
The undercarriage work has widened the pickup’s stock track by six inches, which translates to a 7.5-inch width extension when counting the body panels, to 88.5 inches. Designers dressed up the internals with carbon fiber muscle all over, from the bed to the front fenders and rear bedsides. Powdercoated steel bumpers repel enemies at either end, and 60,000 lumens’ worth of Nacho lights illuminate the road ahead. Another unicorn among the standard kit is a single- or dual-spare-tire setup in the bed.
Inside, naturally, one finds heaps of Alcantara and carbon fiber, and a natty little pattern on the seat inserts.
Each rig comes with a three-year/36,000-mile warranty. Fox is ready to build these now, its super truck going for a super truck price: MSRP starts at $209,999, and reservations for a place in line demand $20,000. It sounds like there’s more to it than mere money, though, Fox adding, “Our team will contact you within the next 7 days to provide you more details about the full application process.” Luck be with you.
