Why are there so few Silverado overland rigs?

[dp454so]

IFS sucks. There I said it. I've had a smaller IFS SUV, it's nice and dandy. I had a 1500 truck too. I now understand the hype about solid axles. Chevy went and stuck IFS on their 3/4 ton trucks too.

That's a big turn off for anyone who isn't a "ME TOO" overlander and actually knows something. You can make IFS perform with a bunch of money. But no one likes fixing a broken tie rod or a CV axle on the trail.

**note - abridged re-quote here...

I agree with everything you posted but am curious, from your experience, what is needed to make 1/2 ton GM truck "IFS Perform with a bunch of money." I'm wrestling with the same thing on my '16 Silverado. I've spent hundreds of hours researching the kits out there and the magic will happen when the desert guys make a long-travel, short arm, kit for the GM's. If you don't need 4wd, they're already out there... for consideration ;) Go fast and go far!

Regarding the GM's, the desert racers long arm kits make it wider - not good for trails but great for speed over terrain. "Short-arm" or UCA swaps keep price and market POI (point of entry) low but mechanically do not get the articulation needed for rad trails because of the frame - hub - wheel geometry relationship. I feel like the rear-end can be sorted once you know the load you'll be carrying, chassis squat, tire size, gearing, and shock travel. Order custom springs, overloads on air if needed or for towing, established max shock travel, order king/fox/icon shocks, order bump stops... fabricate.

sorry OffroadTreks, question was in the first paragraph.

Appreciate ya.
DP

 

[dp454so]

While not a bowtie, it's a close relative and does well off road. I've not done a lot of off roading but the little I have done she performed well and I love my truck. 2017 GMC 1500View attachment 76233

RickLB, great looking truck man. What lift did you go with there?

 

[LONO100]

I think it has to do with the perception that Chevys aren't as reliable as say Toyota, or Wranglers or Ford trucks for that matter. When it comes to this overlanding game, everyone wants to be in the most reliable rig they can get their hands on. Especially if you want to be way out in the middle of nowhere. And if you are starting fresh in this game, the first thing you're going to notice is that everyone is in a Taco or a Wrangler so you might start out looking to get into one of these rides as everyone is in them.

With that being said, I myself am not a big fan of Chevy, but I think they make solid trucks and if it works for you and your needs represent for the bowties! Head over to Hollister Hills, or any OHV park or rock crawling trail and you will see plenty of chevys running around. I think they just haven't caught on in the overlanding world yet.

For me personally, I love seeing vehicles that you wouldn't expect out on the trail. Don't get me wrong, I love toyotas, and I own a JK, but I love seeing old Bronco II's, Canyons, Rodeos, and other less common rides out in the dirt. My all time favorite rig I ever owned was my 03 Sport Trac. It was the perfect size, was super capable and was bomb proof. It made an issue of Off-Road magazine and everywhere I went in it, people wanted to stop and talk about her.

 

[KWDavis]

As far as the discussion on Chevy or GM trucks for overlanding. I'm new to the group and still a green-horn in the overlanding world but I do know American made trucks pretty well. I really don't think quality is as big an issue as market. Most owners of American made trucks (especially new purchases) tend to be old school blue collar, and buy based and how they will be used, such as work truck, farm/home use, lifting up and strutting-my-stuff, etc... the overland world seem to be coming on strong now and most after market gear providers target the industry and demographic. So the bulk of the off road gear revolves around Jeep and Dodge for US made (for obvious reasons) and then Toyota and other non-US varieties. The non-US vehicle market takes off roading into greater consideration by addressing entry and departure angle into design consideration. All things considered the American made trucks are not designed for or supported in aftermarket arenas as well keeping them limited in the Overlander world. I would love to see a few builds though.. because I feel if someone is creative enough to build their own gear to fit it would be a solid rock.. despite being generally heavier trucks they provide some bullet proof power train components such as transfer cases,, transmissions, and even easy to beef engines. Just my ramblings.

 

[MidOH]

I think it has to do with the perception that Chevys aren't as reliable as say Toyota, or Wranglers or Ford trucks for that matter. When it comes to this overlanding game, everyone wants to be in the most reliable rig they can get their hands on. Especially if you want to be way out in the middle of nowhere. And if you are starting fresh in this game, the first thing you're going to notice is that everyone is in a Taco or a Wrangler so you might start out looking to get into one of these rides as everyone is in them.

With that being said, I myself am not a big fan of Chevy, but I think they make solid trucks and if it works for you and your needs represent for the bowties! Head over to Hollister Hills, or any OHV park or rock crawling trail and you will see plenty of chevys running around. I think they just haven't caught on in the overlanding world yet.

For me personally, I love seeing vehicles that you wouldn't expect out on the trail. Don't get me wrong, I love toyotas, and I own a JK, but I love seeing old Bronco II's, Canyons, Rodeos, and other less common rides out in the dirt. My all time favorite rig I ever owned was my 03 Sport Trac. It was the perfect size, was super capable and was bomb proof. It made an issue of Off-Road magazine and everywhere I went in it, people wanted to stop and talk about her.

Gm's are for Gm fans.

Nothing wrong with that. But if you are a new overlander with no bias, have your dealer line up a Ram 2500, GMC 2500, and a Ford F250. Many of my dealers carry all three brands.
Grab a piece of card board and a tape measure and get to work.

Things that you'll want to check and measure:
Wheel well size. Diameter and width.
Sway bar to tire clearance.
Rocker height
General break over height
Ease of suspension modification, to optimize for overlanding
Spare tire locations amount of room, will a 35 fit?
Front axle CV size, type, and strength.
Fuel tank skid plate?

Bumper clearance with trimmed dams and/or removed Prius catchers, consider also clearance from an aftermarket front bumper. How high could it be trimmed before vital components are too exposed.

Naturally, I prefer the largest solid axles that I can get.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Stop me if I've said this before, but full sized trucks kind of already ARE overland rigs almost right out of the box. Especially so if you simply level the front, remove the "chin strap" (I like Prius Catcher...I may use that from now on) and put some 33's on them. Throw everything in the back and secure it down. Done. Or put a Leer cap on the back and sleep back there.

Toyotas Tacomas are legendary for their reliability. Yes. But that reliability gap has narrowed significantly to the point of statistical moot. Perception has not kept up with reality.

Smaller vehicles are more nimble. Also true. But they cant carry as much and we are generally not rock crawling.

Fuel economy? Um, my full size GMC Sierra 8 cylinder, with Active Fuel Management (deactivates 4 cylinders at highway speed when not under load) gets the same or better fuel economy rating than a brand new Chevy Colorado or GMC Canyon 6 cylinder, so, that measurement is going out the window unless GM also applies AFM to the 6 cylinders, which I presume would give them 4 cylinder fuel economy.

I would guess that a big GMC Desert Fox would do just as well in a desert setting, or out on the northern plains than any Tacoma. And be more roomy and comfortable at that

 

[ThundahBeagle]

 

[ThundahBeagle]

^^^^ if you can't overland on the plains or in the desert with THAT, I think you're doing it wrong

 

[ThundahBeagle]

So theres the desert fox concept that is a throwback to a special edition GMC had in the late 70's.

Personally I'm waiting for the DESSERT fox, where apple pie and brownies can be made in a small oven in the back seat and given over to the driver on a whim. Big smile.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Seriously though, that baja bar on the back of that concept Desert Fox did become an option. But I feel that so often, GM makes a try on something really cool and gives up on it too easily if it doesnt take off like lightning. Kind of like any Info-commercial for a "revolutionary" knife, where they ask "tired of knives that dont cut?" And show an actor "struggling to cut a slice of bread", giving up in anger and frustration, tossing the break and knife aside, and looks at the camera.

That's GM on so many good ideas that they had, like the EV1, and various special editions...

At least they gave the Avalanche an 11 year run, and we gained better tonneau covers and footstep bumpers from that

So, for all of us Silverado/Sierra owners who complain there are not enough offroad or overlanding accessories for them, how many of us bought things like the baja bar...not many. And I even see them for sale now and again

 

[Clrussell]

To be fair I didn’t read the entire thread. I run a full size Sierra 2500hd diesel crew cab short bed as my adventure rig. I also daily drive it literally every day.

Anything that gets you out of the daily grind and out into NEATure is good enough for me and I’m glad it’s what gets you out. I’m not saying one is better than the other. I just know the full size fits my needs better. I tow almost daily, I have two kids, a girlfriend, and two dogs that go with me. I can take everything we need and never worry about being over truck capacity. I also get better fuel mileage, have higher repair bills (I do my own work though), and have limited trail capabilities.
I also know that if I’m super stuck I’m screwed and a taco isn’t getting me out more than likely lol.

I’d love to have a taco, but it would never work for me unless it was a second rig.

I also bought my truck salvage, repaired it, and built it myself. It was way cheaper than I could even look at a taco for. Like 10% of the cost of a decent Tacoma.

I’d love to see more full sizes out there, but there are limitations, but I embrace them and step outside the norm.

 

[dp454so]

dog, I'd have to agree with you on the parts issue. There is very little aftermarket support for Silverados. No lockers, sliders, skid plates, winch mounts (new models). I'm planning on installing a hidden winch on my 17 Silverado. In order to do this, I'll have to do some cutting, welding and general fabrication to get that winch mounted behind the stock bumper. The aftermarket winch-bumpers are really quite distasteful (in my opinion) as they give the trucks a large fat-lip, and decrease approach angles dramatically. There are some nice after-market rear bumpers, but they are pricey.

Might be an option for you regarding hiding the winch: GM Hidden Winch Mounting Plate 14-18 Silverado/Sierra 1500 PU Rough Country #11004

I've been looking into this for the same reasons, I don't want to add weight and massive "bubba gump" front appearance & profile. Trying to keep it clean.

 

[dp454so]

I ditched my ranchos before they had a chance to break in but the RC shocks arent that bad. I think a set of king coilovers and shocks are in my future

BC, if you are going Kings (or Fox for that matter), lead / fab times are terrible right now. I got lucky and scored a set of King's from down south motorsports https://downsouthmotorsports.com/ (ask for a guy named Mika & tell him Daron sent ya) but lead times are approaching no less than 6 weeks, as of now. It might only get worse as 2020 continues to bring us her continual curse.

 

[dp454so]

I will say, without a proper shop or a wall-mounted heavy duty spring compressor, swapping out the front coil-overs is best left to a professional. So, while I removed the front, I did ultimately have to bring them to a shop for compression and swap out. By the time I paid for that, I maybe should have gotten something that comes with the spring already mounted on the shock.

here ya go boss: Bilstein 6112 Strut & Spring Assembled + Rear B8 5100 Shocks Set for 2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4WD RWD

see also, their youtube channel - it's full of info - little of which pertains to GM 1500 series ;)

 

[rho]

Those baja/chase/sport bars continue to make ZERO sense to me...

Like, if they were part of a bed cage and tire/jack/shock mounting then i could see it but just as an appearance thinng? Doesn't make sense to me..

 

[dp454so]

I refuse to let this thread go gently into the good night, lol.

Anyone running AFM/DFM disablers on their Silverados? I'm curious as to what the consensus is amongst the Overland community.

intentionally not running it. I'm at 92k miles on a 6.2 and have no reason to monkey-wrench the GM vodoo.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Those baja/chase/sport bars continue to make ZERO sense to me...

Like, if they were part of a bed cage and tire/jack/shock mounting then i could see it but just as an appearance thinng? Doesn't make sense to me..

That type of thing was originally for affixing offroad lights. Some made them into real roll bars

 

[ThundahBeagle]

intentionally not running it. I'm at 92k miles on a 6.2 and have no reason to monkey-wrench the GM vodoo.

I've got the 5.3 and I'm of the same mind...I'm not messing with the powerplant. I take it to the dealer for the oil changes so that they cant come back at me if the AFM / DFM screws the pooch.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

here ya go boss: Bilstein 6112 Strut & Spring Assembled + Rear B8 5100 Shocks Set for 2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4WD RWD

see also, their youtube channel - it's full of info - little of which pertains to GM 1500 series ;)

Thank you, 454. A good choice. Next time I wont be penny wise and pound foolish. Saving the money on the 5100's...well, I'm happy with the 5100's, but next time I'll spend the extra cake and get them pre-assembled so I can do the installation myself

 

[dp454so]

I've got the 5.3 and I'm of the same mind...I'm not messing with the powerplant. I take it to the dealer for the oil changes so that they cant come back at me if the AFM / DFM screws the pooch.

roger & same

Honestly, I'd love to bolt a low PSI procharger to the 6.2 to make my inner Hoonigan happy but the reality is that these motors are great as-is. Yeah, factory throttle response may lag a little but do I really want my 5.5klb truck abusing the tranny (which is known to be weak) all the time just to amuse my right foot? probably not. I feel like a good route is to conserve the integrity of the 5.3/6.3 & trans and save $ for mods that get you and your loved ones out more. For me, that started with the (previous owner) lowered suspension. I'm building from there!