This Chevy Silverado 1500 Compound-Turbo Duramax Is The Single-Cab Chevrolet That GM Never Built

Among the sea of lifted half-tons and high-dollar showpieces at the 2025 SEMA Show, this clean blue single-cab Chevrolet Silverado 1500 powered by a compound-turbo 3.0-liter Duramax stopped show-goers. Anyone familiar with GM’s lineup knows that such a thing doesn’t exist; the baby Duramax diesel doesn’t come in a single-cab configuration.

But that didn’t stop Josh Chambers and Micah Howard of Top Notch Garage. They started with a wrecked double-cab six-foot-bed auction truck, stripped out its entire Duramax drivetrain, and transplanted it into a single-cab short-bed frame. The transformation wasn’t just a swap—it was the creation of a layout GM doesn’t build but diesel off-road diehards have dreamed of for years.

The finished truck made its public debut in the UniAuto booth, quickly becoming one of the most recorded, shared, and talked-about builds of the show. The videos from Edge Products and Instagram’s walk-around captured exactly why: an aggressive stance, flawless paint, long-travel presence, and that unmistakable compound-turbo whistle echoing across the convention center.

Long-Travel Engineering For Real Desert Capability

The truck’s silhouette gives away that something special is going on underneath. Instead of adapting heavy-duty hardware, Top Notch Garage opted for LSK’s 2019+ GM 1500 bolt-on long-travel suspension kit, a system engineered to dramatically enhance off-road performance while staying friendly enough for daily use.

The kit transforms the Silverado’s front end with custom upper and lower control arms, machined tie-rod extensions, coil-bucket adapters, and weld-on bypass hoops. The geometry sharpens steering feel, widens the stance by roughly 3.5 inches per side, and delivers a true 12–13 inches of usable wheel travel. Everything is supported by a set of King Off-Road Racing Shocks, pairing 2.5 coilovers with 3.0 bypasses to keep the truck composed whether it’s floating across desert chop or creeping through technical terrain. The additional width makes perfect use of Fiberwerx fiberglass fenders, creating a stretched, trophy-truck-inspired profile without compromising the clean, original aesthetic.

Compound-Turbo Power The Factory Never Provided

What really sets this build apart is the heart hidden deep within. Top Notch Garage collaborated with J-Star to equip the 3.0-liter Duramax with a compound-turbo setup, utilizing an S300 atmosphere turbo to feed the stock VGT charger. The pairing gives the inline-six a savage yet manageable powerband—fast spool down low, massive airflow up high, and notably lower EGTs for sustained off-road abuse.

Supporting hardware from PPE improves cooling and durability, including a performance differential cover, transmission pan, and air-to-water intercooler. A billet intake manifold replaces the restrictive plastic OEM piece, cleaning up the engine bay and allowing the compounds to breathe more freely. Inside the cab, an Edge Insight CTS3 with full EAS temperature and pressure data ensures the diesel’s vitals stay in check, no matter how hard the truck gets pushed.

A Clean, Purpose-Built Exterior That Matches The Performance

The visual tone of the truck is a blend of desert-runner and OEM concept. Chamber’s Paint & Body handled everything from fiberglass fitment to the flawless final finish, delivering a single-cab shell that looks crisp, straight, and intentionally understated. The clean bodywork only amplifies the aggressive stance created by the suspension and tires.

The build uses ADD bumpers for clearance and protection, paired with Baja Designs lighting to ensure the Silverado stays functional long after the sun goes down. The wheel and tire package brings everything together: 17-inch Threat Precision Series beadlock wheels wrapped in giant 40×13.50 Mickey Thompson Baja Boss tires, a combination that fills every inch of the widened fenders and gives the truck its unmistakable pre-runner presence.

SEMA Showpiece Meets Real Off-Road Potential

While many SEMA builds lean heavily toward aesthetics, this Silverado delivers legitimate capability beneath its polished exterior. The spool, whistle, and exhaust note—when paired with the long-travel suspension cycling over the massive tires—were enough to draw crowds all week long.

Top Notch Garage didn’t build a truck to sit under lights. They built the truck that enthusiasts wish Chevrolet would. Between the long-travel geometry, compound-turbo power, single-cab conversion, and desert-bred stance, this Silverado stood out as one of the coolest unicorns of SEMA 2025.