Congrats! Nice writeup.

Curious about the near miss on suspension tuning.

 

As am I, it is not bad, but it's rougher in these situations than my Land Cruiser and 4Runner, granted the Land Cruiser is on 35's and both are 5 Link rear suspension on coils and that could be the issue, I am hoping some other ZR2 owners may chime in with their thoughts.

 

I'm also a former 'yota guy. Just sold my FJ80, had a Tacoma for ten years. In fact this is the first time since 1998 I haven't owned a Toyota 4x4. I'm over on the free side of the state, if you're out this way send a PM and I'll show you some cool trails.

 

I hit up that side of the State whenever I can, someday I’ll move over there but for now I’m here where the money, and my Business is.

I bet the leafs are a big part of the stiffer feeling. Coils are just so much nicer from a ride quality standpoint. Supposedly the ZR2 leafs are softer than the other Colorado models too. Larger tires and airing down will definitely help. FWIW the Duratracs are a pretty soft tire so there's that. I wonder how the KM3 will ride.

That could be it, and yeah the duratracs seem squishy I’ve been thinking about bumping the pressure up.

Nice looking truck. Did I happen to pass you South Shore Lake Oswego today?

I passed a white Zr2, first one I have seen in my area, I was in a blue Zr2

Nope I almost never get up to Portland glad to see I’m not the only one in Oregon though!

 

Nice looking truck. Did I happen to pass you South Shore Lake Oswego today?

I passed a white Zr2, first one I have seen in my area, I was in a blue Zr2

 

I am adding an additional miss to my list in the review, fit and finish. These are two examples of un finished plastic parts that where installed in the interior of my truck. The plastic trim piece under the driver side headlight is also loose.

 

"Zulu Romeo" Cool name, I like it.
Congrats on your new truck, looking forward to your mods.

 

Thank you, me too probably doing the boring stuff first.

Nice ride, how are things down in Eugene?

Pretty good, just a village full of idiots.

 

Nice ride, how are things down in Eugene?

 

An important update, finally got the wife to drive the Colorado (she didn't exactly want me to buy it...) and got her to admit she likes it, now to twist her arm to get started making it better >

 

That is funny... I have not talked to my wife on this much... same situation with the buying approval from her :laugh:...


Will see if she warms up to it, lol.


Came to your thread to read on the bed cover... I see you moved away from it due to the different setup you have now. Was attracted to the Peragon for the value/price but was concerned with stuff sliding to the front and making it difficult to open it... (see above post)...


Any additional feedback from when you had it?

 

Had to work a little today and couldn't resist being a poser. I was surprised it didn't lift a tire, gotta love the diesel, no skinny pedal was used in the making of these photos.

 

Got a chance to do some exploring today and hit up Santiam OHV area. Didn’t find anything technical but still a good day, love the way the diesel chugs through the slow stuff in 4 lo.

First stop, Mrs. Zulu Romeo, and our landlord Turbo the Dog

Ran into another ZR2 at the top of Potato Hill, only other truck we saw on the trails.

Top of Potato Hill

Random view along the trail

Big cinder butte where I got to test out 2wd lockers and full send, which is awesome! I don’t think I got stability control fully off though as it cut power on a couple tighter slides.

 

Route we took highlited in yellow.

 

Let the mods begin! Ordered a Peragon cover, and Bed Rug XLT Today, apparently the Bed Rug should be here tomorrow, but the Peragon is a couple of weeks out. I am going to do some measuring tonight and draw up plans for my cargo rack look for pics tomorrow.

 

I loved my Perragon cover but eventually got tired of not being able to open it if a box slides to the front of the bed.
Sold it and bought the Bakflip Revolver.

 

Nice truck! I bought mine at the same dealer here in Eugene in December and paid a bit more.. at the time it was the only one in stock, and not many in the region. For the most part I love it.. I've also had some issues with loose rattling plastics. Kendall fixed the panel under the steering wheel and a USB port that died before the first oil change, a few weeks later the silver trim panel on the doors started squeaking anytime I rest a knee against it.. I'm due for the second oil change, so I'll have them check it out later this week. My only real complaint, is I wish I would have waited for a lighter color.. the dark metallic paint on mine shows the brush pinstriping all too well!

..a cheap and easy solution to the paragon box problem is to put one of those load bars across the bed just far enough forward to keep things from blocking the opening / closing of the cover; I considered one for my wife's ram truck, but ended up with the Revolver as well, as we found a display of both while traveling in AZ and she found the Revolver easier to operate. On the downside; it has needed to be re-aligned about every 9 months to maintain smooth operation, as it seems to gradually shift / slide over time. It also seems to let a small amount of water in at the corners during the rainy season.

Nice, the salesman I worked with was great at the dealership. And a loadbar, or low profile box for infrequently used items is my plan for keeping the Peragon clear to operate. That or, I thought about keeping a hook secured with a quick fist that I could use to pull stuck items to the back of the bed.

 

Nice truck! I bought mine at the same dealer here in Eugene in December and paid a bit more.. at the time it was the only one in stock, and not many in the region. For the most part I love it.. I've also had some issues with loose rattling plastics. Kendall fixed the panel under the steering wheel and a USB port that died before the first oil change, a few weeks later the silver trim panel on the doors started squeaking anytime I rest a knee against it.. I'm due for the second oil change, so I'll have them check it out later this week. My only real complaint, is I wish I would have waited for a lighter color.. the dark metallic paint on mine shows the brush pinstriping all too well!

..a cheap and easy solution to the paragon box problem is to put one of those load bars across the bed just far enough forward to keep things from blocking the opening / closing of the cover; I considered one for my wife's ram truck, but ended up with the Revolver as well, as we found a display of both while traveling in AZ and she found the Revolver easier to operate. On the downside; it has needed to be re-aligned about every 9 months to maintain smooth operation, as it seems to gradually shift / slide over time. It also seems to let a small amount of water in at the corners during the rainy season.

 

Concept renderings of the cargo rack, will probably be some time before I do the rear hoop but the rest of it should be in the next month or so.

 

Looks good.. how tall, and how much room for the paragon rails? ..might also work with my soft topper! ?

 

I haven't settled on a height yet, I want to make it taller than the cab but I'm affraid it may look weird, as pictured it is about even with the top of the cab. I'm also toying with the idea of making removeable longitudinal bars out of 45 mm 80/20 slot rail wich would allow me to mount load bars on top. The primary goal is to be able to haul mt bikes or kayaks. As for the peragon rails there should be room, but I'm going off pictures wont know exactly how much room I have to work with until I get the cover, which is supposed to ship Friday and I'm guessing I will get it the following Friday.

 

Got the Peragon cover and the bed rug installed. I have mixed feelings on the cover, while the installation instructions and videos are great it has to be aligned perfectly to function properly which took a few tries to get right. The top rail of our beds is not flat either which made getting the height right tricky. I have 100 days to return it not satisfied.

 

Installed cargo lights using a home made harness that plugs into the factory plug. My truck only has the factory lead on the driver side which may be a 2018 and up thing as the gm kit shows plugs on both sides.

Bed harness with 2 light strips per rail, one to be aimed down one to be aimed in to eliminate shadows.

Chassis harness, the plug is a tyco electrics part that I had to order as an engineering sample from Tyco as no wholesaler carries it, I ordered a different part number from mouser and will post that number when it arrives if it is a viable alternative.

Detail of the lights mounted under the bed rail.

Results, left the junk in the bed to show how well this works to eliminate shadows.

Materials usedinspired by another thread)
LEDs
Wire Sleeving
Marine Heatshrink
Generic Waterproof Plugs, I would probably use metripac or weatherpac if I did it again
Better Stick Em for Lights
Striped Wire that matches vehicle wire color any wire would do but I’m particular especially with wiring.
Tyco Electric Plug That Matches Factory

The hardest part was soldering the wires to the strip lights due to the small contact on the strip.

 

Got this little guy to dress up the office as well.

 

Where I can get one of those?!

 

They don't have a black CCSB anywhere

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

I couldn't find a crew cab at all, some enterprising forum member went to the trouble of painting one so he could have a blue one, still an Extended Cab though.

Thread Here

 

3000 Mile Review
So far so good, can’t get any pics to upload for some reason. Getting about 25 mpg average mixed driving and 19 mpg towing the camp trailer. Only issues so far are interior quality issues, namely mold flashing on trim pieces and rattles, one from the passenger b pillar, one from the center of the dash, and two from each door panel seems to be the silver trim piece. The Duramax is fantastic just enough power and great economy. The only other thought that comes to mind is that the short bed is small and a long bed would have been nice but so far I’ve been able to make it work.

 

Got started on the cargo rails, these are what the rear bed rack will slide on eventually, they will also be powdercoated black when the rack gets done. I bent up a prototype bed rack but somehow made it 2" too wide, should have a proper one bent up Sunday, I'm also working on sliders that will attach to the frame that will offer a step for easier access as well. Total time to remove everything and stow was 2:50 which makes me very happy.

 

Fuckin' Bambi...

 

Damn he hit you good. That sucks man

 

Well after talking to the body shop they are going to replace the driver rear door, and the driver bed skin, which is good I think...

 

Added a Baja Designs 30" S8 light bar. Had to cut the air ducting on the radiator to make it fit. I didn't take pictures of the cuts but they where significant, on the plus side if you botch it the parts are not overly expensive to replace. I willn probably move it out and up a bit later which will require trimming the grill a bit to clear the mounting bolts on the side of the light bar. I made a wire patch harness for the headlights to create a place to splice in for the drl light as well as a high beam signal for when I wire up the high power lights which will be hooked up to a factory offroad light switch run through the bcm and a series of relays that will require the high beams and offroad lights be on on order to activate the light bar.

The poke and loop splice method, supposed to be better than soldering, time will tell.

Female moles mx 150 connector, this connector is used in many places including headlights and taillights .

Female moles mx 150 connector, this connector is used in many places including headlights and taillights .

Splice extension so I can tie into the factory wiring without damaging it

Brackets I made that attach to the radiator shroud, slotted holes are not easy to make on a drill press but allow for some fine tuning of position.

Mock up of light mounted with zip ties.

Mock-up with grill removed

Approximately 8000 bolts and see to secure bumper cover and grill.

Bumper cover and grill come off as assembly at which point they can be separated. Assembly is easier after separation as is mock-up.