Just picked up this beauty back in June. It's pretty stock but it's a good blank canvas to start building.
2006 Silverado 1500 LT Z71
5.3l
4wd
Leveling kit
2006 Silverado 1500 LT Z71
5.3l
4wd
Leveling kit
2006 Silverado 1500 build and adventures
- Thread starter Bowtied13
- Start date
Bought the truck in Utah and stopped to go camping on the way back home to Idaho. The leveling kit makes the ride super stiff up front especially on the dirt roads. Right now my plan is to delete the torsion bar suspension and replace it with a coilover conversion from Atomic Fabrication for the front. And Deaver leaf springs in the rear. That should definitely improve the ride quality.
Picked up this used shell for $200! It's not exactly the look I was going for but it'll work for now.
I like this generation Silvy. Some people gave it guff for theb"angry eyes"look. While I'm not fan of those angry eyes Jeeps, I dont see these as that. I see them as a modest move in the market direction everyone was leaning towards at the time - the start of swooping headlights.
Nice looking truck. These are a great platform. Strong motors. Carry lots. Tow more. I dont personally tow, but always prefer having a good tow package for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is "if I ever do decide to."
My 2p14 GMC Sierra 5.3, 8 gets better fuel economy than my 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0, 6. So if things are more open and not too tight around me, I much prefer the truck.
I also have leveled the front. I used Bilstien 5100's all around and set the fronts at the highest setting (1.7 inches). It IS a little rougher. Plus I have a Leer cap on mine, and routinely carry 100 to 200 lbs back there. Its exactly level like that but sometimes it looks a little uppity in the front. And certainly as soon as I load anything substantial back there. I'm thinking blocks or a spring.
Again, nice truck. And I even like the color. I'll be watching
Nice looking truck. These are a great platform. Strong motors. Carry lots. Tow more. I dont personally tow, but always prefer having a good tow package for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is "if I ever do decide to."
My 2p14 GMC Sierra 5.3, 8 gets better fuel economy than my 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0, 6. So if things are more open and not too tight around me, I much prefer the truck.
I also have leveled the front. I used Bilstien 5100's all around and set the fronts at the highest setting (1.7 inches). It IS a little rougher. Plus I have a Leer cap on mine, and routinely carry 100 to 200 lbs back there. Its exactly level like that but sometimes it looks a little uppity in the front. And certainly as soon as I load anything substantial back there. I'm thinking blocks or a spring.
Again, nice truck. And I even like the color. I'll be watching
Hey, the cap can be painted. Looks like it fits OK. We used ours for our cross country trip and slept/ camped in it a lot. Keeps gear or cargo pretty dry and relatively secure
Member III
Thanks a lot. I also love this look of Silverados. Always been my favorite since they came out. Towing is definitely a reason a decided to go full-size instead of anything smaller. I won't be towing much but it's there when I need it.
Ya I should probably look at upgrading the shocks. That may help a bit.
I love having the shell. It's been so dang convenient. I was wanting to get one that was flat all the way across but I couldn't beat the price of this one and can always upgrade later if I want to. Thanks again
MrWright
Rank VI
Advocate III
- 3,196
- First Name
- Daniel
- Last Name
- Wright
- Member #
-
29170
- Service Branch
- US Marine Corps
MrWright
Rank VI
Advocate III
- 3,196
- First Name
- Daniel
- Last Name
- Wright
- Member #
-
29170
- Service Branch
- US Marine Corps
Truck topper camping is pretty awesome. Better than a tent, in my opinion. I use a ShiftPod2 for a base camp kitchen if I think it is going to be nasty weather.
I throw a popup into the mix using it to cover the back of my tailgate and extending out, it works well putting my kitchen under it.
MrWright
Rank VI
Advocate III
- 3,196
- First Name
- Daniel
- Last Name
- Wright
- Member #
-
29170
- Service Branch
- US Marine Corps
That's a good call. I have one I will have to try for that. I'm going camping next week and it's probably going to get a little rainy
I'm trying to catch up this thread with all the updates with my truck. A couple of weeks after I bought the truck it developed a lifter tick which was not something I was excited to spend money on. But luckily that's something I was able to fix myself. So since I was in there replacing the lifters I decided to upgrade the cam and springs as well.
Parts:
Brian Tooley Racing Gen III & IV stage 1 truck cam - specs: 206/212 .553/.553 112+0
Brian Tooley Racing Morel Drop in lifters for LS engines
Brian Tooley Racing Beehive .560 lift spring
The cam should give the truck a longer torque curve and higher peak power.
Doing this kind of repair was not necessarily out of my ability but I hadn't done something like that in years so I was a little anxious going into it. However after studying a lot of the University of Youtube I decided to tackle it. I made a couple of mistakes; the worst being that I cracked my oil pan when I was torqueing the timing cover. So I had to spend a couple of hours in a pick-a-part yard pulling one. That was honestly just really annoying and cost me an extra day of labor. But the price beat buying one brand new.
I've got a couple thousand miles on the truck since the rebuild and it runs great. Drove it to Montana and back no problem. So I think it's safe to say that I didn't miss anything when I put it back together haha. The truck definitely pulls better which is super fun. I can pitch it sideways in the rain with barely any throttle. I towed my parents camper when I went hunting two weeks ago and it did pretty good for a 1/2 ton. Definitely better than stock
Parts:
Brian Tooley Racing Gen III & IV stage 1 truck cam - specs: 206/212 .553/.553 112+0
Brian Tooley Racing Morel Drop in lifters for LS engines
Brian Tooley Racing Beehive .560 lift spring
The cam should give the truck a longer torque curve and higher peak power.
Doing this kind of repair was not necessarily out of my ability but I hadn't done something like that in years so I was a little anxious going into it. However after studying a lot of the University of Youtube I decided to tackle it. I made a couple of mistakes; the worst being that I cracked my oil pan when I was torqueing the timing cover. So I had to spend a couple of hours in a pick-a-part yard pulling one. That was honestly just really annoying and cost me an extra day of labor. But the price beat buying one brand new.
I've got a couple thousand miles on the truck since the rebuild and it runs great. Drove it to Montana and back no problem. So I think it's safe to say that I didn't miss anything when I put it back together haha. The truck definitely pulls better which is super fun. I can pitch it sideways in the rain with barely any throttle. I towed my parents camper when I went hunting two weeks ago and it did pretty good for a 1/2 ton. Definitely better than stock
