Why are there so few Silverado overland rigs?
- Thread starter Pike
- Start date
Enthusiast II
erg
little bit different now since my last few pics almost a year ago. ive moved to a xl tent and am very happy i did. added an extension to the rack for our clothing boxes to be accessible from the back door of the tent. also love the annex cause with the soft topper i have access to the dry box and fridge from inside it so we keep heat in or hot out. awning added. shortened the roof rack. gained 1.5-2 mpg with the 200w of solar at angle to move air over the tent and rack. on a full standalone battery setup. A full slide out kitchen with fridge stove dry storage even an illuminated spice rack. lighting for the kitchen, bed, and outside. a diesel heater! kept us nice and warm in 0 degree weather on out trip to the moore overland expo in Missouri. weve been on a few small trips and have many more to come. rear bumper, front bumper, and sliders in the works. i would not trade this truck for any other smaller rig at this time. fully loaded with all gear, gas, water, food, 2 people and 2 dogs for about a two week trip and we still have 950lbs to spare on our load capacity!!!!!! and i avg 14.5-15.5mpg fully loaded. this is why i go full size! more to come guys.
little bit different now since my last few pics almost a year ago. ive moved to a xl tent and am very happy i did. added an extension to the rack for our clothing boxes to be accessible from the back door of the tent. also love the annex cause with the soft topper i have access to the dry box and fridge from inside it so we keep heat in or hot out. awning added. shortened the roof rack. gained 1.5-2 mpg with the 200w of solar at angle to move air over the tent and rack. on a full standalone battery setup. A full slide out kitchen with fridge stove dry storage even an illuminated spice rack. lighting for the kitchen, bed, and outside. a diesel heater! kept us nice and warm in 0 degree weather on out trip to the moore overland expo in Missouri. weve been on a few small trips and have many more to come. rear bumper, front bumper, and sliders in the works. i would not trade this truck for any other smaller rig at this time. fully loaded with all gear, gas, water, food, 2 people and 2 dogs for about a two week trip and we still have 950lbs to spare on our load capacity!!!!!! and i avg 14.5-15.5mpg fully loaded. this is why i go full size! more to come guys.
Member III
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- First Name
- Rolando
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- KN6JJS
Awesome build. I like that you fully utilized the top of your rig!
Enthusiast II
thanks man. its actually about to get a few changes up top again. going to a different awning, relocating some lights so there not as blinding, moving the rack to the roof of the truck so i can lower the tent rack closer to the softopper and see if i can get another mpg or 2 out of it. have to fix a few wiring things inside the bed. but ill be heading out to moab hopefully sometime in late may
Member III
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- First Name
- Rolando
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- Nispiros
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17011
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KN6JJS
Yeah I can how those changes would help. Good luck and looking forward to your updates.
Enthusiast II
thats a great question.
so theres a full rail on the inside with two bars that drop inside the bed rail and have 6 bolt points per side the two that are on the outside are for strength for the rack its self since its spaced out so i can still use the softopper and will have a little platform between them about 5 or 6" in depth that will be for standing on to access roof stuff or eat a meal on set you beverage on while airing down/up also will tie in a ladder on the front to access the tent or front roof rack. im just not quite done building yet. coming soon.
Advocate I
Passing this along. One of several reasons there are so few of these IFS overland rigs is the front CVs are a weak link. Below is a cut sheet from NAPA, which now carries the CV shafts Trakmotive used to offer (briefly). I'm running a pair now in my 2001 Tahoe, and have one less thing to worry about.
Other weak links have also been addressed, such as ditching the front torsion bars for Atomic Fabrication coil overs, replacing the front plastic brush guard with a thick diamond plate skid (fabricated), moog heavy duty rear springs and full auto ride delete, and so on.
Still to address- serpentine does not like water of any kind, or the belt squeal from the water pump immediately starts, the horns need to be relocated as water takes them out as well, and dust constantly clogs the air injection system inlet and evap purge valve.
My opinion is GM is catering to the money, which is high optioned driveway queen 4x4s. To make these rigs work day after day in harsh environments it takes work....
Other weak links have also been addressed, such as ditching the front torsion bars for Atomic Fabrication coil overs, replacing the front plastic brush guard with a thick diamond plate skid (fabricated), moog heavy duty rear springs and full auto ride delete, and so on.
Still to address- serpentine does not like water of any kind, or the belt squeal from the water pump immediately starts, the horns need to be relocated as water takes them out as well, and dust constantly clogs the air injection system inlet and evap purge valve.
My opinion is GM is catering to the money, which is high optioned driveway queen 4x4s. To make these rigs work day after day in harsh environments it takes work....
Expedition Master III
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Excellent post,........I bookmarked it. Good info to have, past a specialty aftermarket part that might be difficult to get. NAPA stores are everywhere and their warehouse should be able to get them quick.
Advocate I
Not wide distribution yet, the transition from Trakmotive to NAPA is not fully up to speed. Bought first one at Rock Auto months ago, last one in stock, then the listing disappeared. Found the second out of NAPA warehouse in LA and had it shipped. Bring cut sheet to store and make them dig.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excellent post,........I bookmarked it. Good info to have, past a specialty aftermarket part that might be difficult to get. NAPA stores are everywhere and their warehouse should be able to get them quick.
MrTheKiller
Rank IV
Enthusiast III
I'm building a 1998 Z71 extended cab... I planned on ordering the CV's noted above in the next month or so and want to experiment with relocating the control arm droop bump stops to provide more articulation. I just ordered larger wheels and tires (305/70/16's) to help with ground clearance. I really dont want to add a lift kit as I hate the torsion bar suspension relocation thing. I want to keep my IFS but and am actively researching coil over options but have not really found any information on coil over conversions. I would guess the 99-06 stuff may work with a little work but I would need to see the parts side by side to better evaluate. My truck has the Heavy Half ton 14 bolt rear and heavy rear springs.... it's towing beast. I just wish the rear suspension would articulate better. I installed plus 3 inch shocks front and rear, now I need to get the suspension to utilize them....
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Member III
Doing a atomic fab coilover swap and a 9.25 front diff swap soon and these axles are great news !!!!
Gotta love how the picture is of a '14 -18 K2 model, while the applications listed end at the 13 GMT900.
Bummer. Anyone know if the 13's fit the '14's?
Was once a hard core GM fan. Both trucks and cars. After swinging wrenches for many years and seeing all makes/models I found more and more that the GM products are just lacking basic reliability. All makes have they're own issues. The manufactures will fix many of the things that pop up as time goes by but GM just seems to ignore these complaints. They will eventually change the model and leave the owners of the previous models stranded with their issues. I have a long list of complaints with GM and it products and won't go into it here but I will say that it will take a major shift in business practices before GM is a consideration for me again.
That's my experience as well, as a master tech.
Only the most decrepit awful vehicles they sell are reliable. And that's because we desperately want our Express vans to blow up. ( Irony or Murphys law? )
We really needed to let GM go out of business in 2008. All of those car people would have started a new company, and hopefully not hired the same damn evil CEO's, engineers, and stock holders. It's obvious that they don't actually drive the vehicles that they design and produce.
The guy who designed the Express van interior, has no left leg.
Only the most decrepit awful vehicles they sell are reliable. And that's because we desperately want our Express vans to blow up. ( Irony or Murphys law? )
We really needed to let GM go out of business in 2008. All of those car people would have started a new company, and hopefully not hired the same damn evil CEO's, engineers, and stock holders. It's obvious that they don't actually drive the vehicles that they design and produce.
The guy who designed the Express van interior, has no left leg.
Keep in mind GM is not the only one to cater to "high optioned driveway queen 4x4s". Ram, Ford, Toyota, Nissan are all doing it. Because that is where the money is. Offroaders are very very small percentage of the buy public. They all make a lot more money selling high optioned soccer mom SUVs than anything we would really want. Its all about the money.
As a side note, I just saw that the 2021 Cadillac Escalade with the right options is now just over $100,000!!!!! That will never go off road. CRAZY
Enthusiast III
There is no perfect vehicle. I love in Colorado. There are absolutely switchback trails I'll never be able to do. Yes it sucks, but I have to weigh other factors. Towing, I overland with a pop up camper. I dont want to go 35 mph up the mountain. In my diesel I can blast up to 12,000 feet like nothing. Gear, I have a picky wife and dog. I bring a decent amount of gear for 2 or 3 week overlanding trips. Try jamming all that in a Jeep. Payload/leaf springs. I love not having to worry about payload. I occasionally have to haul an elk back to Denver. Again, try getting an elk out inside a JK. Not happening. When I go solo I sometimes sleep on the back of the truck, nice having that option. Not saying GM is perfect but my wife has a Jeep WJ and it has had nothing but problems. Even most Jeep mechanics tell us Chrysler vehicles are crap.
