I've had the truck for right at a year now, and I have been modding it pretty frequently since the first week... So I guess it's finally time to start a build thread..
Somehow I found a Z71 Duramax CCSB at my local preferred dealership. At the time, I had been leaning towards the CCLB, but after test driving it, I decided the short bed wasn't a deal breaker. (A year later, I've only had a couple instances where I wished I had a longer bed, so overall, I'm glad I went with the short bed.)
She had 16 miles on her before I went for a test drive. A short drive later, I was in love.
Current Mods:
Air Dam Delete
OEM Off Road Steps (Craigslist find)
HIKARI LED High and Low beams (swapped for modded H9 and 9011s to melt snow in the winter)
Looks great. Could you post some more shots of the new winch mount bumper please. Possibly some from different angles, some close, some full shots. I've been waiting for a winch mount and had considered this one. I've almost decided to take the measurements needed and fabricate a design like the MOI ZR2 winch mount. Simple design, but I do like the one you have also, would be easier to buy instead of making. Thanks for your time and sharing your truck mods with us.
I've had the truck for right at a year now, and I have been modding it pretty frequently since the first week... So I guess it's finally time to start a build thread..
Somehow I found a Z71 Duramax CCSB at my local preferred dealership. At the time, I had been leaning towards the CCLB, but after test driving it, I decided the short bed wasn't a deal breaker. (A year later, I've only had a couple instances where I wished I had a longer bed, so overall, I'm glad I went with the short bed.)
She had 16 miles on her before I went for a test drive. A short drive later, I was in love.
Current Mods:
Air Dam Delete
OEM Off Road Steps (Craigslist find)
HIKARI LED High and Low beams (swapped for modded H9 and 9011s to melt snow in the winter)
Illuminated Black "Glow Tie"
ZR2 Wheels
OEM Sports Bar (Craigslist find)
OEM Off Road Lights
BORA 1.25" Spacers
Rally Armor UR+ Mud Flaps
Red Line Colorado Badges
Truxedo Lo Pro Tonneau Cover
Gen5DIY DRL Relocate
DiodeDynamics Switchbacks
GM Accessory Skid Plates
GoFab Bumper with Rough Country Black Series Light Bar and Smittybilt 12K X20.
Future Mods:
Tuning (Not sure if I'll tune prior to deleting it, but at 60,001 miles it's getting deleted.)
AFE Turbo Back pipe
Baja Designs A-pillar lights (on order)
Bilstein 5100s set at 2" (waiting install)
265/65R17s (for a little wider footprint)
Day One:
Currently:
Some of my favorites:
Some of the minor mods that didn't need to be in the main list..
Weathertech floor liners front and rear
Black center caps on the wheels
Marathon Seat Covers (Dark grey and black two tone)
Pro-Clip Phone Mount
Aftermarket switch to control both light bars (because the 'Trail Boss' switch didn't work..)
Plano box in the bed to keep the interior clean(er)
I have a lot of things I'd like to do with this truck and I will do my best to keep this updated as I continue building it.
Looks great. Nice build! I’ve learned owning a truck is like having a house not a apartment. You just keep customizing it until it’s “yours”. I don’t think the work is ever really done.
Do you have a steel or aluminum front skid plate? Is it from SuperSkidz or does GM make it? If GM makes it do you know the part number? I can’t find anything other than the SuperSkids for a front skid plate. Thanks.
Do you have a steel or aluminum front skid plate? Is it from SuperSkidz or does GM make it? If GM makes it do you know the part number? I can’t find anything other than the SuperSkids for a front skid plate. Thanks.
Do you have a steel or aluminum front skid plate? Is it from SuperSkidz or does GM make it? If GM makes it do you know the part number? I can’t find anything other than the SuperSkids for a front skid plate. Thanks.
I got my shackles today for the bumper. I got them put on...ish. They’re on and secure, but I’ll have to sand down the powder coating on the pin as it is currently too tight to tighten down and swing freely.. but that’s a job for a day off.
I didn’t get a picture, but I went with red with red isolators to keep my black and red scheme going.
Got my Baja Designs Squadron (Sport) lights and the A-pillar mounts in today. Pretty nice kit. I felt enthusiastic and decided to spend the night installing them. They went in quicker than I expected.
I’m not 100% where I want to mount the switch, but for the time being the switch that they come with fits perfectly in the empty hole in the bottom of the steering wheel trim.
I couldn’t get any decent pictures of the lights because it’s dark, but...
Crappy inside the garage pic:
I took it for a drive and I’m super impressed with the output! (After I got them properly aimed.)
Disclaimer: the last two are just screen captures from my drone. I’ll have to see about importing the full pictures.
Still haven’t had the time and motivation (at the same time) to get my leveling kit installed...
But I did sand the powder coating off of my shackles to get them swinging freely. I “properly” tightened them to be sure they didn’t walk off on their own.
The leveling kit is still a priority.. I’ve got some tentative plans to take it back out to southeastern MO and do a little more off roading. I’m hoping to be able to get the level on and swap out to some 265/65s in that time to help give me a little more floatation and clearance in the loose gravel of the creek beds.
I've also been debating on plastidipping my fog light surrounds and nix a little more of the "chrome." Or just buy the black OEM ones. I'm just not 100% sold on that look with the silver... (I'm open to suggestions and pictures.)
I had a buddy call in a favor, he started the conversation with, “Hey do you want to try out your winch?” Turns out he was mowing and the ditch was wetter than he thought it was.
Since we were right next to a busy side road, I actually decided to use the winch over a snatch strap. Truck didn’t bat an eye pulling his 2200lb mower (commercial John Deere) out of a steep, muddy country ditch.
I then immediately called in a favor back and he helped me install my front leveling kit. Took us about 5 hours to do the front.
I set the Bisteins at 2” but with the bumper and winch, I’m not sure how much it pulled the front back down.
The truck didn’t pull after the leveling kit install, and surprisingly the alignment wasn’t off that much.
The Wildpeaks look amazing on it! Much better than the stock GYears.
I’m hoping to put the tires and level to the test the first weekend of October. Hopefully I don’t get it stuck in the creek again, but I’ve got the winch should that happen again.
Well my plans to do some offroading was foiled by some scheduled overtime (which I had a feeling was going to happen). Hopefully I can reschedule them before it gets too cold/nasty to want to be out in it. But doing a little back roading, and some curb crawling (moving furniture haha), I've noticed a slight rub on my mud flaps. I think I can fix it by adding a screw and clip "borrowed" from my air dam on the inner most part of the flap. That should gain me about 1/2" of clearance and keep the flap held tight to the wheel liner. Until then, it just scrapes my mud flap clean. 8)
The true test will be seeing if I can drill the hole in the flap/liner without removing the tire..
Prepping for winter, which with the way fall temps hit us, could happen anytime..
I’m going to have to deal with a little contrast for the next few months. But the H9 and 9011s are back in. And it’s nice knowing that I won’t be burning these headlights unnecessarily.
Yikes, somehow I have forgotten to update this thread... Not really build updates, but updates of what I've been doing with the truck..
I recently had a friend contact me and ask for a favor. He inherited a '65 Mustang (inline 200 with the manual 3 speed) and needed assistance moving it from here (Southern IL) to Louisville, KY. Since I've known him for the last 20 years or so (AND he offered to buy me some bourbon), I happily agreed to help. Minus shredding one tarp and putting a small tear in another, the truck did great! I averaged 15.8 mpg (hand calc) on the way down.
Side note, those U-haul car trailers (not the dolly) are a nice setup, with the exception of the hydraulic braking system...
ANYHOW, the part you care about, pictures of the car (and truck) haha.
The next day, he and I went to Lowe's so he could buy a nice tool box since he couldn't fit them in his Focus. Fun fact, a 52" toolbox will JUST fit in the short bed with the tonneau cover rolled up...
After we filled the bed with a toolbox, we went to Harbor Freight and my buddy proceeded to fill the remaining bed space and back seat with (most) everything he needed to fill the toolbox and start working on the Mustang.
Last week we got some snow here, and after fighting the roads all night in the (FWD :sad Taurus, I still seem to always be amazed at how well these trucks stick to the slippery roads.
(Car graphic edited for Work policy reasons)
Took it Black Friday Shopping today. Menard's was my one and only stop. Picked up two 30 gun safes and 2 heavy duty rack systems for my dad. I cheated and pulled a 10' trailer with me. MUCH easier to load the safes onto the shorter trailer than the bed of the truck.
I still have a few projects I need to get to with this truck.. Namely the BMS catch can I NEED to get installed... Making the mount is giving me fits...
Like the title says I'm looking to put seats in from a different model of vehicle. I've driven this truck off the showroom floor have 4k miles on it and cannot stand the seats they are soo uncomfortable. Wondering if there are cars I can do a straight swap out on?
hey everyone, I traded my canyon denali in about 7 months ago for a Zr2 to build into a overland rig. here is my progress so far. thanks for all the helpful information, and I can't wait to meet you local Colorados!
Mods so Far:
Rago Shock Skids
A.R.E Z Series Camper Shell w/ Prinsu TopRack...
Just a few photos of my truck. Added the 2 inch rough country lift the other day and removed the air scoop from the bumper.
Nothing crazy just bombing around on some local trails (near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada).
I've got about 6000 km on it now. Did the Trifecta tune a couple of...
Here is the very beginnings of my build log.
I'm coming from an '01 Tacoma with a full long travel setup and an '06 4runner to this.
A 2016 GMC Canyon SLT 4x4 short bed.
Just picked her up over memorial weekend and I couldn't be any more excited. My overall long, long term goal is to have a...
Taurus, I still seem to always be amazed at how well these trucks stick to the slippery roads.
