LokJaw started as a one-dollar rust bucket, but the real story is what it took to make a supercharged Duramax belong in a 1966 Chevy C20. Once you put that kind of diesel torque in an old truck, the frame, rear axle, brakes, suspension, and instrumentation all become part of the engine package. We built this truck around our supercharged Duramax with a Roadster Shop chassis, a full-floating 9-inch rear end with custom 8-lug axles, big Wilwood brakes, custom spindles, and air suspension. Inside, Banks iDash Pro keeps the important pressures, speeds, and temperatures visible. That’s the point of this build: not just appearance, but a truck engineered to support the load, control the power, and show real data while doing it.
The video gives a rapid overview of Banks' 1966 Chevy C20 project truck, a heavily reengineered build that began with a severely deteriorated vehicle purchased for just one dollar. Although the truck started as a rusted shell, the goal was not a cosmetic restoration. It was rebuilt as a high-performance technical showcase centered on a Banks supercharged Duramax diesel powertrain and supported by extensive chassis, suspension, brake, wheel, and instrumentation upgrades.
Because the truck was designed to handle the torque of the Banks supercharged Duramax engine, the original structure was replaced with a Roadster Shop chassis. That change established the foundation for the rest of the build, giving the C20 a frame capable of supporting the drivetrain and the performance targets. The emphasis here was durability and control under high torque rather than simply preserving stock architecture.
At the center of the truck is a supercharged Duramax diesel engine, a defining feature of the build. The recap specifically emphasizes that the engine is supercharged, underscoring that this is not a conventional diesel swap or a mild custom truck. The engine bay and surrounding fabrication were important enough that the bed was later modified to help display the metalwork and the supercharged diesel package itself.
To complement the chassis and engine, Strange Engineering supplied a full-floating 9-inch rear end. The assembly uses custom 8-lug rear axles, matching the heavy-duty character of the C20 while supporting the truck's custom wheel and performance package. This rear-end choice reflects the same engineering logic seen throughout the build: each major component was selected or fabricated to cope with the demands of the diesel powertrain rather than for appearance alone.
After stripping the truck down completely, the team fitted large Wilwood TX6R brakes. Those brakes were mounted with custom spindles from KP Components in order to package the braking system with the wheel setup and maintain the intended suspension layout. The truck rides on Schott 22-inch custom billet wheels. Each wheel reportedly began as a 500-pound chunk of aluminum before being machined into its final form, highlighting the scale and custom nature of the parts. The custom billet spindles were also chosen to deliver favorable suspension geometry, so the front-end design was not just about making large wheels fit but about preserving handling and mechanical function.
The suspension system uses air suspension, giving the truck adjustable stance and contributing to the overall custom chassis package. In the context of the build, the air system works alongside the custom spindles and chassis to create a truck that is both visually dramatic and mechanically engineered, rather than relying on appearance-driven modifications alone.
One of the more distinctive fabrication elements is the split bed. The team modified the bed and built custom hinges so it can open and reveal the workmanship underneath. This feature was specifically intended to showcase the metal fabrication around the supercharged diesel engine and related components. Rather than hiding the engineering, the truck was designed to expose it, turning the bed into a display element for the mechanical and fabrication work.
Inside the cab, the truck uses Banks iDash displays to monitor a wide range of operating information, including pressures, speeds, and temperatures. The video makes a point of saying the truck is not just about visual impact; data collection and system monitoring are central to the build. That instrumentation reinforces the project's technical focus, showing that the truck was assembled to observe and manage real operating conditions, not merely to present a finished exterior.
The build was completed under a tight deadline for the SEMA show, and the team had to scramble to get everything finished in time. Despite that compressed schedule, the truck was completed just before the event. The final result is presented as a fully integrated custom C20 that combines a Banks supercharged Duramax diesel, a Roadster Shop chassis, a Strange Engineering full-floating 9-inch rear end, Wilwood TX6R brakes, Schott 22-inch billet wheels, air suspension, custom fabricated bed hardware, and Banks iDash instrumentation into a single cohesive showcase vehicle.
