1996 Chevrolet Suburban - Head Of The Pack

Head Of The PackNFL Player Makes Noise On and Off the Field

By Mikey Cajayon

Photography by Reinaldo Robinson

"Getting around town poses a problem for a man of Dotson's size. He needs a larger than normal mode of transportation."

At a massive 317 pounds, Earl Dotson of the Green Bay Packers is one of the premier right tackles in the NFL. In his nine-year career and at only 30 years old Dotson has played in close to a hundred games and has been an integral part of the offensive line for Green Bay. His contributions helped lead the Packers to the "big dance" twice, in consecutive seasons (1996 and 1997). One of the two visits earned him and his team the Super Bowl trophy. That in itself is quite an accomplishment for a player whose NFL career isn't over yet.

Dotson splits his time between Green Bay, Wisconsin and Longview, Texas. In the off-season, or whenever he has some down time, the big Texan is usually found in the Lone Star state. Getting around town poses a problem for a man of Dotson's size. He needs a larger than normal mode of transportation. In other words, as is the case with most athletes, owning an SUV is practically a necessity and only after the fact a matter of fashion. That doesn't mean he is indifferent to the way his vehicle looks. That's clearly not the case, as is evidenced by the pictures seen here.

At first Dotson wasn't thrilled with the way his 1996 Chevrolet Suburban looked inside and out and was prepared to make some modifications to it in order to make it fit his style. In order to accomplish what he had in mind, the Suburban went to Rick's Detailing in Corpus Christi, Texas. Dotson's choice to take his vehicle to Rick's Detailing had many benefits. It is an A to Z shop that does stand-out work. As a company that has been in business for over a quarter century, car audio is not their only specialty. Rick's offers many services covering various areas: customizing, restorations, paint jobs, interior work, wheels & tires, drop kits, air rides, billet grilles, body work, TV installs, alarms, body kits, hot rods, and performance upgrades. Having all of these capabilities in one place was a bonus for Dotson, allowing him to take care of a lot of the work in one place. Of course, the top priority was the stereo system. Something special was planned and the people that would handle the project were Billy Robinson and William Skinner.

New Interior
Getting rid of the OEM GM radio was the first step. It was replaced with an Alpine CVA-1005 Mobile Multi Media Station. It acts as the main source (controller) for the entire system. Equipped with a 6.5-inch motorized monitor, its capabilities are tremendous; moreover, Dotson can easily see what is happening on the screen without having to guess. Several of the Alpine sources are controlled through the CVA-1005. The first, residing directly below it in the dash, is an Alpine DVA-5200 Mobile DVD player (also capable of playing CD's). Minor modifications were performed to accommodate both pieces in the factory location. This portion of the dash remained black while the rest of the dash was sanded smooth to take away the texture then painted white.

An Alpine NVE-N851A DVD-based navigation system was nestled into the factory CD slot. Since the DVD nav unit is two inches wider as well as taller than the factory OEM opening, the hole was made larger and formed to fit the unit. A new console was constructed and runs up between the two front seats, meeting the bottom of the dashboard. In the console, you can see that Rick's went as far as including smaller tribal designs for an added touch. The new console was constructed using MDF, body filler, fiberglass, and required a lot of sanding and carving. After the console was sanded, it was primered, and painted "Diamond White" to match the exterior of the SUV. With the new console in place, enough room was made to store the brain to the CVA-1005 and Rockford Fosgate Symmetry EPX inside. The controller (RDAT) was mounted just below the dashboard and accented with aluminum. This unit adds life to the system because of its extensive crossover and equalizer capabilities.

Filled With Sound
Using the floor as a mold, kick panels were constructed out of MDF, fiberglass, and body filler. Polk Audio EX 6.5" drivers with Polk Audio Momo tweeters occupy this location. Rick's made sure that before the actual construction took place, various angles for the tweeter were studied for optimal imaging and staging. Rockford Fosgate FNX 6.5" drivers were used in the door while the tweeters to the component set were molded into the A-pillars. With all these drivers, Dotson can be assured that the front stage is bold! Protecting the kick panel and door speakers are Billet aluminum grills. Not only does the aluminum make for a stellar look, it also protects against an accidental kick!

The same Rockford components were used in the rear, with the 6.5" speakers in the rear door and the tweeter molded into the rear pillar. The tweeter sometimes adds too much for the rear seat passengers so a switch was added in line to turn them off.

Motorized
In the rear cargo area are six Polk Momo 10" subwoofers. There are three enclosures with two of them exactly alike. These two enclosures are for four of the woofers in the rear portion of the cargo area (two on each side) mounted upside down. The enclosure is made of several small pieces of MDF to form a shape. Fiberglass was applied and sanded smooth with body filler. Each woofer has a volume of .6 cubic feet of airspace. The last enclosure is behind the rear seats, featuring Plexiglas on one side and aluminum inserts. This enclosure is unique because the woofers can rotate 180 degrees with the help of a windshield wiper motor. At shows, you can easily demonstrate the magnets or the cones of the remaining two woofers. Blue neon rings highlight the woofers. Between the four subwoofers in the rear are three air reservoir tanks to operate the air bag suspension. It is protected and finished in Plexiglas.

Powering Up
Five Lunar amplifiers fuel the mega sound system. Three LX100's power the six subwoofers and a pair of Lunar LX60's provides power to the three sets of components. Since the entire floor of the cargo area was already used up, Rick's looked to the roof when mounting the amplifiers. That's correct, the roof. All five amplifiers hang from the ceiling. The base of the amp rack is made of 1" x 1" square steel tubing, and is bolted to the frame of the roof. Each amplifier is mounted into smaller frames and hinged. The five amplifiers fold up and down through the headliner using steel cable attached to a six-inch linear actuator. Two more components were massaged into the headliner. Two Flexvision 6-inch flip down monitors are used for the rear seats and a larger 9-inch KEC monitor is installed in the center console. All three were molded to conform to their respective area to follow the installation theme of the vehicle. A Rockford Fosgate 1-farad capacitor, and two distribution blocks also share space in the headliner.

Under the Hood
The presentation of the entire vehicle extends into the hood. First of all, when you open the hood, you will notice that it doesn't lift up like an ordinary hood. Rick Cruz, owner of Rick's Detailing calls it a "suicide hood". Hinges and mounts installed almost halfway up the hood were manufactured to have the hood lift and open. For a cleaner appearance under the hood, the electrical fuse and relay box once located on top of the wheel well, were moved to the inside of the vehicle underneath the center console. To accomplish this daunting task, it was necessary to extend all the wires from both electrical boxes.

Dual yellow top Optima batteries located on each side of the hood and a chrome 200-amp Stinger alternator keeps the electrical system running with ease. For added power, a Whipple Supercharger and custom air intake were added under the hood.

More than a Suburban
At first glance, the SUV looks more like a Cadillac Escalade than a Chevy Suburban. Here's why: extensive modifications were made to the exterior. The front end of the Suburban was replaced with a one from a 2000 Cadillac Escalade. This process was no easy swap since the Suburban is 18 inches longer than an Escalade. Special brackets were fabricated and work on the fenders was needed in order to massage the new bumper into place. The rear taillights are from a 1993 Cadillac Deville. The third brake light also comes from a Cadillac, a 2001 STS. The running boards and the all the moldings on the side of the truck were molded to look like one big piece. To give the truck a unique look, all of the side moldings were made from scratch.

All the handles on the doors were shaved, and are opened using a remote control from a Viper ESP 800 (which also protects the vehicle). All the doors are opened using a six-inch actuator. The rear doors are suicide doors, like the hood. Special hinges and brackets were manufactured from scratch to have the doors open this way (backwards). Rick's even went as far as relocating the gas cap above the left side taillight. The pillar slides up and down to reveal the gas cap. The rear two doors are also opened and closed using a six-inch actuator.

Rolling down the street, massive chrome 20" Lowenhart GS-1's wrapped in Michelin 275/40-20's get the truck instant attention. Air ride Technologies provides the air bag suspension. Normally four bags would be used, but this truck has six bags to give the heavy SUV a more stable ride. With the air bag suspension, Dotson can easily dump (lower) the vehicle so everyone can see what's inside. (Better leave it down for a while, Earl, there's a lot to see.)

It took six months to complete the work on the Suburban. And Dotson is very proud to drive it around (as he should be). A lot of careful planning and labor has turned this into a serious hybrid showstopper. So that makes us wonder what Dotson enjoys more, leveling opponents on the football field or rolling around in his SUV slammed on dubs? But then, when you can do both you never really have to choose.