When you have a business called Rugged USA Imports, importing and selling top-end American-made gear and accessories to take American pick-up trucks to the next level, it pays to have a shop truck that truly showcases your wares.

That’s exactly what Chris Roach and the team at Rugged USA Imports have created with this 2025 Silverado 2500. It’s a truck that stops traffic and has people taking photos of it whenever it’s out and about and, most importantly, onlookers want to know where they can get one just like it. Rugged USA Imports has the answers and the equipment to make their US pick-up dreams a reality.

Chevrolet’s Silverado 2500 HD truck received a facelift and significant upgrades for the 2025 model year and has become a popular choice for anyone wanting to tow large vans or other trailers over long distances and across varied terrain. With a stonking 6.6-litre ‘Duramax’ V8 diesel engine under that huge bonnet, backed by a 10-speed transmission, the Silverado has the hardware to make hauling easy.

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It’s Rugged’s job to tailor the trucks to what individual owners need and want and, of course, make them stand out in any crowd.

To do this, Chris and his team draw on years of experience building trucks like this, along with the enormous US aftermarket industry that supplies everything you could want, no matter how you use your truck or what you can dream up. Rugged USA Imports works with leading US brands to source the best equipment for Australian truck owners. The company imports the gear and keeps it in stock at its Queensland HQ, allowing customers to get the parts they want without having to import them themselves, saving time and money.

On top of that, Rugged is also manufacturing its own bullbars for US trucks, built to suit Australian touring conditions. The bars are made in Australia and feature a removable top hoop, winch mount, a pair of recovery points, a 5mm steel bash plate and a textured black powdercoat finish. On the Chev, the bar conceals a Carbon Tank 20,000lb winch, a mount for the GME radio antennas, and enough KC lights to light up the MCG.

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Of course, their own Chev runs a Rugged bar up front, but it’s only a small part of the build – in fact, it’s dwarfed by the sheer stature of this Silverado. From the ground up, this Chev is big. So let’s start at ground level to see what makes it so impressive. Those tyres are monster 42-inch BFG Krawlers, beadlocked to a set of KMC Grenade Crawl machined alloys, and they make a stunning first impression.

If those massive BFGs didn’t lift the Chevy enough on their own, the McGaughys suspension kit raises the heavy-duty chassis by another nine inches, using the complete kit as imported by Rugged.

The McGaughys kit includes everything needed to get the Chev up into the clouds while maintaining drivability and proper road manners. It comprises replacement front spindles, rear lift blocks and hardware, replacement front and rear crossmembers, a front diff drop kit, torsion bar drop mounts, skid plates, swaybar links, struts, spacers, hardware and M84 remote-reservoir shocks – everything required to achieve such dizzying heights in a pick-up truck.

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McGaughys specialises in lifting American trucks this way, which is why Rugged is happy to recommend and sell its kits in Australia. To take things a step further, Chris ordered this kit with billet face plates as an optional extra, adding some visual punch to the undercarriage, as the ride height means the suspension is fully on display.

“McGaughy’s Suspension combines over 40 years of USA-made suspension engineering experience with a commitment to quality and real-world performance,” said Rugged’s Chris Roach. “They deliver durable, bolt-on lift and lowering kits that outperform stock parts in ride comfort, handling and reliability. Their parts are all built in-house in a state-of-the-art facility, right down to their own shocks. So they don’t just match industry standards, they set them.”

With towing in mind, Rugged added a Loqic AIR IQ rear airbag system to the rear suspension, complete with an on-board air compressor and tank. The auto-levelling system can be adjusted on the run via an app, with pre-set airbag settings for height and pressure depending on load and road conditions.

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With the combination of 42-inch tyres and a nine-inch suspension lift, it’s no surprise that a pair of PowerStep drop-down side steps run along the sills on each side to aid entry and egress.

Another Rugged USA Imports brand is KC HiLites, so of course the Chev wears the iconic lighting brand throughout. Up front, the bullbar carries a quartet of Gravity Titan dual-colour lights, with a pair of Flex Era 4 lamps straddling the number plate and Flex Era 3 units tucked into the outer wings of the bar. Underneath, additional KC HiLites rock and glow lights complete the package.

Up on the A-pillars are KC Flex Era 4s serving as ditch lights, while tucked into the rear bar are more Flex Era 3s for reversing duties. All of the lighting and other electrical accessories are controlled via a Switch-Pros panel inside the Chev’s cab.

At the rear of the Chev you’ll also find a GEN-Y towing hitch. In case you were wondering what the signwriting is all about, the Gen-Y Hitch fitted here is a 7000kg adjustable Torsion Drop Hitch with a 900kg tongue weight rating. When you consider the Silverado 2500HD is rated to tow up to 4500kg in Australia, it more than covers what’s legal here, and the adjustability makes life easier for lifted trucks like this Chev.

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Gen-Y claims the “Torsion Drop Hitch is the best hitch for ultimate control and safety while towing,” and given the heavy-duty construction on show, who are we to argue?

Out of sight behind the tow hitch is a water tank mounted where the standard spare wheel originally sat. A 42-inch tyre is never going to fit under there, so to make use of the space a 52L tank from Trail’d is plumbed in with an electric pump for easy access.

Trail’d is another American brand stocked by Rugged USA Imports. Other brands it carries – though not fitted to this Chev – include Fox, BDS, Camburg, King Shocks, Trailbreaker and Diode Dynamics, among others. Years of travelling to the US, working with these brands and being involved with off-road racing over there have given Chris the contacts and know-how to assemble a strong range for Australian truck owners.

Take a look at the Rugged USA Imports website and get in touch with them when planning your full-size truck build.

Essential information: Rugged USA Imports

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