Blazing A Trail To SEMA

Well, that escalated quickly! What started as a purely fun project, with no deadlines, budgets or pressure, somehow became a rapid-fire SEMA build.

How did it happen? Let’s rewind a couple of months…

Speedhunters-Keith-Charvonia-Trailhunter-FJ60-SEMA-9

Upon learning that Airaid (where I head up Product Development) did not have a SEMA ‘Feature Vehicle’ (those are the ones placed outside the booth), I offered up the possibility of using my Toyota FJ60 project. Seeing as Airaid is known for its off-road truck intake systems and that it would be hosting the Icon Vehicle Dynamics Tacoma in its booth, Project Trailhunter looked like a shoo-in.

What this meant for me though, was having to turn a dirty trail rig built from spare parts (not to mention questionable fabrication by the previous owner) into something I would be proud to display at the SEMA Show with Charvonia Design down the side, and all just in a matter of weeks.

I was in the middle of a couple projects at the time, converting the 14-bolt rear end to six-lug with disc brakes, and installing Holley Terminator EFI and a Comp performance cam. While it’s true that you can’t see the cam inside my 454, it was the perfect opportunity to clean up the filthy old engine, so I decided to stay the course before turning to the more obvious mods that would be visible at SEMA.

16_charvonia_Fj60_FINAL_revised_design

Next came Andy Blackmore, the supremely talented livery designer who helped me win the Scion Tuner Challenge. Andy designed a modern camo theme that would look the part for SEMA, but also look good on the trail after the show lights turned off.

Speedhunters-Keith-Charvonia-Trailhunter-FJ60-SEMA-8

In addition to getting to represent Airaid with one of my car builds, there were a couple of other benefits to taking on this commitment, namely fast-tracking the project and also partnering up with some great companies to elevate the quality of my rig. Aero Advanced Paint Technology, Milemarker Winches and Icon Vehicle Dynamics just to name a few, all quickly came on board.

Of course, I’ll have several build posts to follow that will detail all the work that happened in such a short period of time, but right at this moment I just arrived home after the marathon of building and then delivering the truck to SEMA.

If you’re visiting the show this week you can find the Trailhunter in front of the Convention Center near Ford Out Front, parked up right next to the Hillbank/Superformance trailer. And if you do see my latest build, I hope you’ll come back to this story and leave your thoughts in the comments section too!

Keith Charvonia
Instagram: SpeedhuntersKeith
keith@speedhunters.com

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1

Congrats on getting it together Keith! With so many varied vehicles in your stable do you ever find it weird hopping from one to another? I imagine the step out of the trail hunter is a tad steeper than the kaiser...

2

Wow, when Dino said "coming up next" he really meant it.

3

My Uncle Nastya got a stunning white George  just by parttime work   from   a   laptop. read more.........>>>>>> feed22.com

4

damn, that's such a nice livery on such an old timer offroader. but i love it. i'd love to drive around something like that.

5

These SEMA post are getting me excited. really hope i can meeta few of you guys while im out there. flying out this afternoon!

6

This pleases me. Really like the appearance, and looking forward to more articles about how this came together. 

Soooo... how about producing some TRAILHUNTER stickers...?

7

Yes, we need those!!

8

silveradotx That would be cool! I'll see what we can do.

9

CodyRinaudo We're going to be all over the place shooting cars, if you see one of us make sure you say hi!

10

awesomefearwave Thanks :)

11

DaveT Thanks Dave! I can't say that's ever been a problem, each car has its personality and I know them all haha. Now keeping the Kaiser's white interior clean when I have to move it to work on the Land Cruiser? That's another story...

12

Lol my first reaction to seeing this guy in Dino's last post was, "Shit that escalated quickly!" I go to the next story and that's how you open the article, ha.

13

silveradotx +1 for Trailhunter stickers. I'll take 2 for my 4 Runner...

14

johnbezt Nailed it!

15

The sponsor logos blended with the camo is so cool.  Really really like that. So often stickers just 'stick out' but this is very well done.

16

love this thing doesn't help my desire for a 60

17

Killer build! I really love the 60 series cruisers. Trail hunter stickers would be awesome!! U0001f44dU0001f3fc

18

My Uncle Ben recently got a new green Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive Hatchback 


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19

my Aunty Isabella got an awesome six month old BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe Sedan only from 
part-time off a computer... Look At This>>>>>>>>>>>

20

KeithCharvonia Sweet!

21

bluestreaksti Much appreciated. I didn't want to have a "SEMA build" that would be too in your face for normal driving after the fact. I think Andy Blackmore did a great job with the design.

22

my sister  in law recently purchased Infinity F SUV just by part time work from a laptop
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23

I am in shock that a person able to earn $7711 



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24

You guys should consider creating a Trailhunters.com that would be focused on the off-road scene, I am sure it will have a huge success!

25

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26

KeithCharvonia bluestreaksti it was a fun project to work on and enjoyed creating something a little different from the usual or snow or digital camo.
It is always an absolute pleasure to work with Keith, you just know its going to be an awesome build

27

KeithCharvonia silveradotx I'd love a windshield decal for my Jeep.

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