WHY I Built an Escalade ESV Into a Drag Truck! (LSXcalade Was Originally My Dads)

I sat down and made this video to answer a question I get all the time... Why did I pick an Escalade ESV to build into a ridiculous twin turbo 427 race truck? Well... I didn't exactly pick it and I had to keep it a secret too. The whole process is actually pretty funny and I can't believe I did it sometimes. I don't exactly condone not listening to your parents but sometimes you gotta take chances and believe in yourself. This is my story of doing just that!
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[@lordoftheturps9337]

Had to rewatch to try and help ease my wife’s mind on building another race car 😂😂😂

[@irideyamaha1]

LsXcalade: A Video Confession

[@Stapleton42]

😂

[@jamesmartin9997]

Mitchell, you rebel you. I only wish I was able to do the stuff you did. I loved this episode. I may be 50 years old, but this has made me wanna build my truck. Not into a race truck but I want to be able to play with some of the younger guys on the road. Thank you.

[@BlàckÐèàth]

Amazing story - glad I found this!

[@GS-cy8iy]

This is the reason I subbed your channel in the beginning. This is different and you are truly having fun with that beast of a track car lol. Keep doing you and we will enjoy the ride👍.

[@Stapleton42]

thanks man its gonna be a good one!

[@justingriffith2991]

@@Stapleton42 he

[@TheMactools]

This video is soo cool !! The roots.. love the LSXcalade .. can't wait to see it

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man

[@jh1867]

What a great story!!! Can’t wait to hear how it runs this year.

[@LoganFord91]

I just found your channel/content from watching Raceweek 2.0 and subbed immediately. Congrats on the 9:50 at Tulsa man! Great backstory on the LSXCALADE and yourself.

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks dude

[@johnnypop5235]

Love the story and your dedication to doing what you love. I have several Escalades with minor modifications. My 2002 just has an air intake ,custom tune and full high flow exhaust ,it has ran 12.8. My other 2006 has a custom tune. The 2002 just kept getting faster and faster the more miles I got on it. Not sure how it's so fast for as little I have done to it ,but it is.

[@BBradford1825]

Great video! 🏎👍🏾

[@jdboone4735]

Awesome video! I have a reverse situation. I live in Minnesota so I can't tear down our 2007 Tahoe..was my son's first vehicle he bought himself with a Lil help from myself but she has been one of the best vehicles I've ever owned..getting a bit of surface rust in spots..anyways I want to build a 4l80 swapped 6.0 since the 5.3 is at 260,000 right now..dod failure is munching up a lobe right now..definitely inspired by this video and will have a bunch of questions for you soon.

[@opz5193]

I’ve bin watching for a little wile now .. I’ve herd you mention you were from p.a. Well this picture of my benz you see as my profile is on ruth st. Kensington Philadelphia we just moved out of the city to Jersey in December.. but I spent the first 10 years of my childhood in San Antonio/Austin Texas , me and my wife are planning a Travel vacation in July some time , we don’t know we’re we are going to go but I’m trying to some how get to YELLOW BELLY FOR A HIT OR TWO , on this road trip some how .. and it’s all inspired by the videos you put out

[@redubskie]

Nuts 🥜 that takes 🥜

[@kmw3ut]

Great video definitely do a part two

[@DaPuddin78]

Watching this video was a trip down memory lane for me. I was the same way far as trying to hide my street racing from my dad in the end he was like whatever just don’t die lol

[@Stapleton42]

😂

[@user-sh2mk8ew4c]

I've never learned anything except by necessity. I had no choice if I wanted a desired result with no $. Now when you get $ you must keep the will to want to learn. The pride of "doing it yourself". My dad was smarter than your dad because HE was a racer as a kid. In the muscle car era. So he would go to the drag strip and catch me. He would get a schedule and now when I was going unbeknownst to me. Lol.

[@Killian665]

Crazy, my dad had ‘98 suburban that my brother and I grew up in, then I drove it, got a BMW sold it, and now I have an 04 suburban.

[@Stapleton42]

They are great vehicles. It seems like once someone has one they're hooked for life lol.

[@LsxDenali]

Would love to show u my 03 Denali parked side by side with ur truck and walk them both down to trade war stories!.....im so happy you started a channel😎

[@GibsonLP07]

I live in PGH (Allegheny County) and have made my fair share of passes at Keystone too. Very cool story man. Keep chasing your dreams!

[@Stapleton42]

thanks man!

[@jeffjohnston3504]

Morning Mitchell and Logan. Cold as shit in Indy. Just listening to videos as I haul rocks lol

[@kenjohnson765]

I have an 04 Suburban z71 i have been thinking of doing something with but it is 4wd.

[@racingmikey1]

This is inspirational. Good job man!

[@Stapleton42]

Thank you sir

[@cheynejones2126]

Hell of a story brother! Caught my attention! keep up with the vids man.

[@Stapleton42]

I will!

[@jonathanbrowning8005]

Do you think if you did not know Jeff Lutz you would be where you are today

[@ohsnapp8379]

Love the early pics of uncle rob. To think watching this video where you would be at now. It's crazy man. Congratulations on everything. You really seem like a genuine good person in all your videos. I'll always watch your content. Btw love the car history content lately.

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks John that means a lot 💪🏻 we are glad to have you here

[@vr6swp]

So you moved from PA to Texas. Have you talked about that in any of your other videos? Asking because where I'm at now is getting pretty stale, but I'm not really feeling moving back to where I lived before either. FL kinda sounds like a bad idea too.

[@Stapleton42]

PA to Oklahoma to Texas

[@nickholashaney9289]

Is this the 4x4 or is it some kind of AWD system

[@ronaldcollins3634]

Your Dad knew EVERYTHING you were doing. I believe he was Happy you were Happy and doing something Cool and Constructive. Us Dads want 3 Things: 1. You Happy 2. Doing something you Love 3. Some Grandchildren

[@plsdonttttt]

loved the text message hahaha cant to drive to bum fuck michigan

[@arthurfricchione8119]

Thanks for sharing. Excellent video explaining how it was all coming together. 😀

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man

[@jaylineberry7230]

Keep it up. Your content is really good. Your a real person where others seem fake.

[@Stapleton42]

Thank you sir I will. the term "KZbinr" used to really have a negative connotation in my head for that exact reason. I never want to be grouped with those artifical people lol

[@beddamade]

That is a pretty cool story. I can't wait to see her back on the track.

[@StankWilliams]

So where did you get the Escalade tuned the first time? I also live in central Oklahoma and want to find someone good at tuning GM ecu's.

[@Stapleton42]

Dude back in PA did it. Bring your stuff to Shelby Killer in Edmond

[@VibeGolfCarts]

Great story watched the whole thing! Looking forward to new content man!

[@Stapleton42]

I appreciate the feedback. Its long but if people actually watch the whole thing I can get more detailed with these stories.

[@glampstronzartonalbee3097]

this was awesome dude, really digging what you are putting together as a whole. you are onto something special, just keep you head in the game and keep it level.

[@jerrygarcia2178]

ILOVE ur story & its good to see just how much passion you have for this WHY in the heck would ur ??? Friends wouldn't let you stay in there room but DETERMANATION BUILDS BAD ASS PEOPLE & THATS YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TurboWorld]

Small world, cool story!

[@TakushiMotors808]

This is such an awesome story. Thanks for sharing this Mitchell.

[@jlmorris]

This is a great story. A lot of the trepidation involved in keeping things secret to developing a skillset is super relatable. I laughed a couple times.

[@JohnRoberts71]

Great content thanks for sharing

[@racetruckron]

I’ve heard a lot of this story throughout your other videos but had to go back before I started following for more on this thing. I’m starting to pick up some parts to turbo my 03 Yukon XL Denali.

[@chrisdeal3170]

I'm looking for an Escalade currently...07-14. Plan on a headers and Cam/tune. If you had you pick...would you go with AWD or 2WD? There are many more AWD's available. My LS Buddy says go with the 2WD... thoughts?

[@daniellopatin567]

What’s better a 2012 Cadillac Escalade regular or ESV? I have a 2005 Cadillac Escalade ESV at the moment and I have everything for a big turbo kit, was just wondering which body style is faster/better for mods for the newer one.

[@Itsjustgaming859]

Love hearing about the story on you Escalade, I mean it’s really the vehicle that I saw once in the 1320 channel that pushed me to modify mine. The story on mine is I was in a bad spot, I had just totaled my 2003 Nissan Frontier, wasn’t my fault but since i had rear ended the person (the lady was sitting in the middle of a dark road at 10 o’clock at night on a rainy night with no hazard lights on and that’s how I rear ended her.) screwed me over hard cause at the time I was using my vehicle for work and I had like no money what so ever. Anyways just totaled my frontier and I needed a vehicle so I ended up contacting my father, first time I had asked this dude for anything and he owed thousands on my child support and I struck a deal between him and my mother. Basically said if he bought me a vehicle she would get rid of my child support for him, and he jumped at that opportunity. My father ended up paying basically nothing for my 2006 Escalade and I flew down to where he lived to pick it up and drive it home. On the way home after picking it up it developed a valve issue like no joke 100 miles from home after 1,600 miles of traveling. It was smoking really bad every time i would go to start it and it was using oil so often I kept like a full 5 quart jug in it for that reason. After I got back home I was offered a job for a bus company as a service tech and I took that as soon as I was offered to me, I still had absolutely no money was living with my mother at the time but eventually I got myself into a sport were I could get my own place. The Cadillac was still smoking, was smoking for about a full year before I could actually do something about it. At one point I decided that I wanted to get rid of it because I had no use for it and it was smoking so in my head I’m like I need to sell this thing before something happens, so I posed it on Facebook market place and no one even made an offer on it, was on there for about 2 months and I really wanted something fast like a car of some sort. Then I ran into a 1320 video of this blue Escalade your Escalade and was like that’s bad ass! After watching your Escalade haul ass down the strip on that video I immediately took my Escalade off face book market place and started looking at cams and superchargers and stuff. Eventually I figured since I already needed to pull the heads I might as well do a cam so I ordered a stage 2 texas speed cam, got my heads done, ordered short headers for it and threw it all together, my first actual in depth motor job which actually after it was done my boss promoted me after all that to a full tech position. After all that I did a dual cat delete on it and I’ve got a stage 2 4L60 upgrade for it, got a full exhaust put on it and a nasty street tune. I’m keeping up with camaros, chargers, challengers, hell pretty much every thing I’ve raced with it so far I’ve either left in the dust or kept up with. Eventually I will be getting a supercharger for it and if the 6.0L blows in it I’ll be upgrading to a 6.2L with forged internals and probably either supercharge it or twin turbo or even both and do a 4L80 swap of corse. But your Escalade is really what started my project off on mine and honestly I thank you for that man, if not for you i would of probably just traded it in for basically nothing on another vehicle or something. As of right now I’ve since left that old job of mine and I’m now working for a dealership as a full time engine tech but eventually I want to move into more performance related shops, I’d like to move away from just doing everyday maintenance on things. Either that or starting my own business, and I usually use the Escalade as proof of what I can do since I’m so young people think I’m still just some kid with no experience in the automotive world but since moving into that first tech position I’ve rebuilt several engines mainly Cummins and stuff. I’ve still got a lot to prove but I’m getting through things a lot easier now a days then I was.

[@hughstephenson2957]

First world problems: trying to slip a cold air intake onto a brand new escalade. Normal kids in HighSchool/college: having to put 2 different brands of plugs in their rust bucket international pickup cause they don't have the money for a real tune up

[@edwinclark322]

Inspirational video man. I recently purchased my very first LS Yukon and would like to mildly build it while retaining the daily driver status. I love your truck I look forward to your videos

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man! Go make it happen!

[@Thunderer0872]

A midway comment commitment :) I do like the blue, as well as the noise!

[@shutup822]

I just want to disable the traction control on my 02 5.3 Suburban so I can do burnouts. ? Which fuse do I pull ?

[@sandychoda9544]

This story encompasses my favourite saying.. “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission“ 👍🏽🥳🥃

[@callmemike__1]

Make more content. Subscribed with notifications

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man I won’t let you down!

[@joshwynn457]

Man, hit me up if you're coming to FL2K. I'm about 90min. south of Bradenton, planning on coming up there.

[@Stapleton42]

I am going

[@ATVer85]

As others have said already, this video is inspirational as hell! I plan to eventually do a 4x4 rcsb, and watching this has me ready to get stuff going! I like hearing how everything came to be, you just don't see anyone else taking the time to talk about it so thoroughly. Keep up the awesome work!

[@Stapleton42]

Hell yeah. Im planning on doing more sit down story type videos like this one in the future

[@TheHologr4m]

Bro, this is gold.

[@andrewhentges3237]

Sorry Dad! Lol

[@oldchevytruck4428]

I have a 2007 Escalade I have modified as well you truck has definitely motivated me to keep going and put a LSA I hope to have my truck supercharged just like yours was. It's already got the goodies under the hood for as much as I could afford but I just hope to have a good experience as you did with your build. Definitely inspired Me forsure.

[@joecampbell606]

Living my dream. Hard work and a bit of luck worked out.

[@bendavis2652]

Wait so your from the Butler PA area? You talked about the Lutz's. Im from Grove City PA

[@Stapleton42]

Yeah I’m from Butler. Went to knoch high school

[@rashad6509]

So wait a minute I have a 2007 yukon Denali xl and a tune,cold air intake will make that much of a difference with the 0-60 from 7.3s to 5.8!!!???

[@Stapleton42]

Possibly. Depending if you have a good tuner and run e85

[@gafrers]

This was very interesting and inspiring. Thank You for sharing your story.

[@Stapleton42]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ldtenenoff]

great vid awesome story thanks fer hittin me back awhile back ,didnt catch wat u studied in school ur vid r always an inspiration thanks fer ur time.

[@Stapleton42]

Corporate communications. I actually dropped out with 9 credits left and dipped out to Oklahoma. Thats a story for another video lol

[@marti74f]

Nice job brah

[@elcocoreyes]

awesome...i love your start up story.

[@Stapleton42]

thanks man

[@kraig7777]

Ha! Cool stuff! I'm here just because KZbin suggested your Cooper Bogetti video. I'm a fan of Cooper from being a sort of long time fan of Cletus (like about a year) and a fan of 1320 Videos before him. I can't wait to see Cooper finish his drift car ("show car that I'm going to crash into walls") and to see your truck run 8s!

[@clarkkent4385]

When it's 2AM and you've made it this far, but you're surfing for old videos *because BAYLOR has done anymore runs!* Thanks again for the awesome content. *edit*

[@332jatc]

Cave I didn't have this how much would the car of custom build is my next question how much do these To take a car and make it into AMA 10 secular 8 legs oculus a 8 second car where does it cost $20000 you can do 10 sec and 30000 the 9 sec and 40008 seconds would you save the money is be able to do that make any money at these races

[@switz10]

Very cool and interesting thanks for sharing

[@mitchkale7074]

I miss my 95 suburban. When me and my wife of 6 years got together i spent over $100 a week on gas lol

[@cecilfrench2238]

People are drawn to you because of your personality they help the ones that love what you do just luke you im sure you would do the same for the next kids have a dream about being a great mechanic

[@waynedalearchery9621]

Great way to learn to work on cars... JUST DO IT.

[@gopherchoker]

You should link this in your latest video or your next one. Had a bit of trouble finding it

[@gopherchoker]

Man that is one hell of an awesome story. I had no idea. Your poor dad lol.

[@InfamyAutoTowing]

Man i watch the hell out of all your vids and it just blew my mind your from my area sorta i love by New Kensington Pa

[@Stapleton42]

I went to penn state new Kensington lol

[@InfamyAutoTowing]

Stapleton42 your from western pa and i heard you say that in the vid you motivated me to do a 4wd Durango something way different

[@stevekinney729]

I like the content keep it up man

[@v4yt126]

I find this Video after seeing the PFI tune video, your story is engaging and entertaining and inspirational

[@haydenreyes4621]

25:18 where can I get that lsx cooler

[@igabfbrn]

Extremely impressive!

[@stevelangford194]

Badass vid man love the story

[@TiaShaw.]

Wow.. Awesome..!!! new sub.. i saw you on 1320 vid years ago..then i am here as a New sub from boosted bois channel. and I am building a 6.0 for my 07 tahoe

[@Stapleton42]

Killer 💪🏻💪🏻

[@alecweinstein4990]

I've always loved this build, since I'm in the camp of "it's not about winning, it's about embarrassing the guy in the other lane". Sure, it's a cool Mustang/Camaro/Supra/Whatever, but getting walked by an Escalade? ESV? With full interior? No coming back from that.

[@Stapleton42]

Right lol. Best part about this thing is it can still do that even if it loses. “Like you barely beat an Escalade ESV” 😂

[@cagercager477]

Seems like you were a dweeb!

[@truthtimetv4575]

Man @stapleton42 i can relate to sooo much of this stuff its great. When i was 17 i got my ass beat for doing a cat delete on my honda accord LMAO my dad took my car and sold it and gave me a geo prism instead because "i couldnt fuck with it". I ended up turboing it with all my friends old dsm shit and it was glorious. I took it on a 3 hour trip to the track and of course i destroyed the transmission my 3rd pass after getting into the 14s lol i lost every gear but 1st and 5th. I still got it back home but i didnt have a job to support fixing it. Told my dad who i had been hiding the turbo from (no intercooler etc) and i got kicked out. Anyway long story short im now over 30 over 100 cars later (literally) with 2 kids ive been running an automotive performance shop for the past 11 years and have a 2012 yukon xl denali (so same era as your caddy) that started off as the family hauler while ive built evos, STI's, hondas etc etc the usual tuner shit over and over with a few oddities thrown in like an srt jeep that got repossessed due to bad blind choice making trying to get one but youve been a great inspiration to modify my yukon. Ive never had so much damn fun in anything before! Its crazy to me because my evo ran 9s lol its just not as fun and i cant place it but people think im crazy. Granted im just simple bolt ons currently with my tune in it, it makes me feel good about the platform watching yours perform. Ive brought it out several times and i ALWAYS get people saying what are you trying to be the next lsxcalade or stapleton or something LOL. Its always that or hey did you see that escalade on 1320 or at this place racing and it always goes back to you. Thank you for paving the way hopefully i can make my own path as well as ive never been truly serious about the platform in any way but since this past summer ive planned to minimize and sell the race cars to buy another daily. Daily aqiured as of last week and its time to go ham on bertha. Maybe one day we can line up the long boiz haha, keep doing you man! **edit** just realized my son was logged into KZbin on this computer and I posted from his lol oh well hope you still see it.

[@Stapleton42]

Thats awesome and I really appreciate you taking the time to type all that out. Its really cool knowing that what I have been doing is legitimately shifting the general perspective of this platform. Thats exactly what I set out to do. Let me know when you dig into your XL! Longboi gaaaang for lyfe

[@shanemcclaran3012]

I was scrolling around on KZbin and came upon your channel. Watched a couple of your videos. But then I hit on this one. Man. What a story you have to tell. Very awesome. I think your a very rare breed of person who can make a huge difference in alot of people's lives if given the right opportunity. And I hope your future reflects that good luck to you and thanks for sharing your story.

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man. The opportunity is right here right now. I’m doing it the best I can. Every day.

[@cecilfrench2238]

You should have a slogan dont be lazy all of this is happening for you because you worked so hard and did not give up make a shirt lsxclade go get it because that is what you did

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks man

[@cecilfrench2238]

@@Stapleton42 thank you im loving the real shit my self another t shirt slogan lol i will watch something real before i watch someone or something that is fake you know what i mean i feel im getting the same dude on the video if i was riding beside you brother just how i see it

[@cecilfrench2238]

I was think about what you said about the motorhome comment on 1 of your videos we dont mind because i love to watch passion real life love for different things car van wagon coach when you see the love you had for tha coach i felt like i was looking at it with you and that is called doing your job old son

[@ButBigger42]

Hell yeah, Magicwave is the best welder on the planet.

[@realestatehelpsite]

Turbo Tom torque specs everything 😂

[@392Cherokee]

Such a cool story....props for all the hard work!

[@billgagnon4670]

You are a hustler that's the drive it takes to get some where.Love It

[@XVNDXR]

I like this alot my dad is the same way i had to sneak in the middle of the night to put my cold air on so my dad wouldn't find out and beat my ass lol so funny

[@Stapleton42]

gotta make it happen somehow lol

[@titanstudioproductions335]

That's a badass story! Can't wait to see more content from you and hopefully meet you someday!

[@Stapleton42]

Come out to a Street Car Takeover and ill be there!

[@captslick5557]

will you be talking about how you are making money to fund your life style now ?

[@Stapleton42]

I live in my race trailer next to the shop and work for SCT..so if I don't break something often times I can come back in the green after a race weekend. Living next to the shop I have no commute so I don't use much fuel. I don't party. I don't have a gaming console or even use the tv in my trailer. I'm all in all the time and it'll stay that way for the foreseeable future

[@timmyt964]

Man you should do a video on what your dad thinks of the lsxcalade now!

[@Stapleton42]

I could next time I see him. Unfortunately I’ve only seen him twice in the last year

[@greggilbertson3313]

Love all your content!

[@DeanSchumacher]

Love the story nice truck

[@WhistleTeets85]

That Monte Carlo though. 😍

[@captslick5557]

cool man love the story

[@theangryitalianscottypiffi1048]

Watched the entire video

[@Stapleton42]

I hope you learned something useful

[@theangryitalianscottypiffi1048]

Stapleton42 I could totally relate to you just “going to college” after high school not because you knew what you wanted from life and college but because of possible pressure from home or possibly just life in general to use that as the “next logical step”. I too escaped home to try to just wing it.. and learned after about three years of throwing a lot of money down a well.n. during a recession and only maintaining a C- average in most of my classes... it was clear I just wasn’t going down the right path. Unfortunately my parents weren’t very understanding at the time (2006-2010) and were even less understanding about my passion for cars and tuning. Instead of supporting my passion to watch it flourish I too- had to sneak modifications around “Dad”... or moreso often my mother.. she always had the same eye for detail that I do. It’s my goal when I can climb out of some of the college debt I have is build a car. I’ve never had anything more than “quick” street cars.. I owned a couple of turbo 2005 legacy GT’s that used to have everyone sleepin on.. and am trying to find a third now to build because I miss them so much. I think that’s why I love his build so much. You just did your research and figured out how to make the best of what you had and god damn is it impressive. Keep doing it for Dale buddy Anyway, my story wasn’t one of success.. I got hurt, got myself stuck on some pretty serious narcotics in process and threw away my degree and my 20’s to the merry go round of addiction hell. Now I’m in my 30’s and trying to stay humble and try to insert myself back into the hobby and sport that I love. And watching videos like yours are inspirational.

[@kevzav12345]

Great story time! Keep that hard work going. 💪

[@Stapleton42]

We will!

[@jclauri100]

Great story !

[@steveandstaciepoythress4204]

So great that you recorded this, awesome story

[@Stapleton42]

Thank you. I will be doing more stories like this soon

[@Trrhep]

new to your content. Awesome man!

[@Stapleton42]

Thanks dude glad you’re here 🤟🏻

[@synt4x.93]

Great video dude, keep it up.

[@Stapleton42]

I will. Thanks man

[@332jatc]

Viewers races they don't pay you money to go there you have to pay them in order to get big at it and he had sponsored what do they pay you to do it in his give you the parts right you still have a get your car to and from there you have to buy stuff for the car and how do you pay for that and when that's what he'll just work for your Car in gear and they told that you're talking people that give you a 1/2 million dollar engines do not 1st 2nd and 3rd or 4th place you not gonna get sponsored that's impossible to get it in Daytona drag reason doesn't pay anything