2015 GMC Sierra z71 Half ton Expedition Build

mlmeans

Adventurer
Thanks Mike. My wife loves hunting but this was her first time filing any tag. Now she has a bear. Wow. I think I am more excited than she... In all honesty probably not but I am excited for her.

Along the back roads we saw a 6 point buck, a turkey, and a red fox. For me sitting out seeing nature exploring is some of the best things you can do as a family. I'm loving my rig so comfortable I feel embarrassed hahahah.

I've read the posts on here about a way add a little lift to the truck and that's where I have go next. I enjoy the process of research decision order install. Keep kids around so they pick up something hopefully.

Funny thing after filling the tag my wife said she felt the differ nice with the new tires and wheels. We went down from 20 inch wheels to 18 and a much bigger tire. I told her I think we need some sliders (stock steps catch and drag sometimes) and maybe a upgraded suspension. She was like "ok". Talk about time huh? Hahah

I often recycle parts and was wondering if anyone has idea what I could get for my oem cool over A arms ands rear ranchos? Just few thousand miles on them. This may off set costs of icon. For purposes of repair etc I often like stick with similar front back if possible.
 

mlmeans

Adventurer
Took over nighters with my 4 year old try out tires wheels truck etc. head up mud flat road to antelope road back to Oreana loop rd. Spent night out among deer owls and coyotes in back of truck. We had a great time. Truck tires handled rough rocks quite well.
 

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Bushcoat

one trail at a time
Looks great! I've had my bronze alloy '15 sierra crew 6.5' for a couple weeks now and have been loving it. Decided on a hard tri fold tonneau this time rather than a cap as my wife will be driving most of the time. I really wanted the 5'8" bed like yours, my dealer dosent order them anymore.
 

shopkins

aka Glitch
great looking truck. i've been eyeing up the new ones at work (chevrolet - just the less fancy version) and am getting close to biting the bullet on a new one haha. have fun with it and keep up the progress :clapsmile
 

mlmeans

Adventurer
Hey guys I've been sitting on my hands for a few weeks. I built a wood drawer system for one side of my bed slide. Need fine tune the two drawers but I go back and forth between boxes and drawers. I am about to take plunge get some aluminum boxes... The plastic Pak ones cave when we use as seats... Any thoughts or recommendations? I do like this truck a lot handles well is quiet few rattles decent mpgs over all like the half ton rig.

Oh I did add kn air drop in air filter to keep it simple it's about half thickness of stock one. Feels little peppier if that's a word with kn filter. It pays for it self after just a couple changes.
 

mlmeans

Adventurer
I don't think you would go wrong with the Chevy. They seem built well and easy repairs from what I have learned
 

catfish1312

New member
It's been awile...

I know its been a while but I figured it wouldn't hurt to show this. I went fly fishing with a buddy yesterday morning and on my way out I decided to do a little flexing ha. Anyways this is maxed out flex in the rear with about 150lbs of gear in the bed --> drivers side is 1" off the ground and passenger side is compressing the bump stop.
IMG_9124.jpg
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IMG_9129.jpg
You can see how little the frame flex's (1/2") when looking at the pinstripe.
IMG_9130.jpg
The only modification I've done so far is the Bak Industries RollBak. Stock tires, Magnaride suspension...
Any updates to yours?
 

FireLaw

New member
Glad I found this thread! We have twin trucks (aside from mine being an SLE) and I'm building it out right now to be a noobie "expedition" truck, will definitely be following your progress.
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Cool:Wow1: looking flex pics Carfish. Now all you have to do is to learn out to rotate your pics...:ylsmoke:
 

mlmeans

Adventurer
Had have tranny rebuilt at 17k ;(

Hey guys finally got leveling kit on front... Added cold air intake, and tinted from Windows.

Trucks been great EXCEPT had to have dealer rebuild transmission. Yes transmission. Truck has 17k on it and had to have it rebuilt. Something about torque converter and pump not working. Dealer was good got me a rental but disappointing to have to have that major work done on my truck.

Other than that seems like a good rebuild feels smooth truck runs well etc. these things happen I guess
 

watrboy

Observer
Hey guys finally got leveling kit on front... Added cold air intake, and tinted from Windows.

Trucks been great EXCEPT had to have dealer rebuild transmission. Yes transmission. Truck has 17k on it and had to have it rebuilt. Something about torque converter and pump not working. Dealer was good got me a rental but disappointing to have to have that major work done on my truck.

Other than that seems like a good rebuild feels smooth truck runs well etc. these things happen I guess

I run these trucks in a fleet and don't see the problems other brands have. Just happens, always amazes me how few problems these trucks have when you look at the amount of mechanical things going on behind the scenes. We do change fluids in all our transmissions, diffs, and transfer cases at 50K. Run them up to 175K before trading. Been really dependable pickups for the most part.
 

mlmeans

Adventurer
I'm glad to hear that. Seems well built but this is my first gmc truck so little nervous after This issue. Hopefully that is only major issue for awhile.
 

Bushcoat

one trail at a time
Too bad to hear about the trans. I drove a SLE 2016 the other day, seemed pretty much the same as my 2015 as far as the options go, but I was a bit frustrated when I saw the message center had a trans temp. I scrolled through and also noticed the timer feature (basically like a stop watch).
Would be nice to have the trans temp feature, I tend to keep a close eye on it in my 07 when towing.

Have not really heard of any trans issues with these trucks, they do have radiator issues (and water pumps also) and all of the coolers are in the rad itself. Might just be with subjecting the vehicle to the harsher climate up here, not sure how common of a problem this is.
 

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