"The Overado" 2011 Silverado Overland Build

Overado

Observer
I figured I should start a build thread before I got to far in to the build to start one!

I have a 2011 Silverado that was new to me last year. Previously I drove a 5spd 4Runner that took me all over the north east and as far west as Moab and Montana but she met a sad end in the middle of Missouri on a sad Friday evening...

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A picture of me and the 4Runner the year I bought her in all its glory in the fall in western Maine

I got a screaming deal on this Silverado that I couldn't be pass up. Wasn't sure I was gonna keep it but I have started to fall for it. First order of business was suspension, originally I bought a rough country 3" kit but immediately rethought the decisions because I wanted to upgrade drivability and performance not just looks!

So after a lot of research and time at my local off-road shop I went with the fox shox 2.0 on all 4 corners I give them 2 thumbs up!

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Next was tires the stock highway tires couldn't drive in a snow dusting never mind a trail so I found a deal on some Cooper Discoverer RTX tires and am happy with them so far, they are supposedly almost as good the AT3 tires.

Before
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After
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With the lift and tires the front end still didn't have any clearance so popped off the front wind valence

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After popping it off I gained another 2"-3" of clearance and decided it was good time to test the articulation of the suspension and found this perfectly shaped rock to flex on!

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Next I bought an LED bar (knockoff light bar from a guy on Craigslist...it works!). Had to make a wiring harness for it and I took it apart and sealed it but got it installed (holy bright) no pictures of the install.

Last weekend I took a quick trip to Freetown State Forest in MA with my brother to kick off adventure season!

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My brother waiting for dinner to be ready

More to come! I have some stuff on the way and will be fabbing some protection when I have time. I Am also planning on building a pop up bed camper for adventures and surfing this summer, busy busy busy! Stay tuned
 

Overado

Observer
Nice! What kind of price tag are on those front strut assemblies and how much lift do they give?

I think i bought them for about 415$ish at my local shop. They come fully assembled and preloaded from the factory ready to bolt right in to the factory strut mounts. The struts brought the front up about 2-3" they are adjustable but i am perfectly happy the way they sit. The front currently sits a bit higher than the rear. I have not compensated in the rear yet and the truck does sit pretty level though i haven't fully loaded it up since i put the new suspension in
 

Barb The Yeti

Observer
Looks great! I'm doing an Overland silverado as well. I have a few questions, if you don't mind:
Do you have a link to those shocks?
Did you have to have anything else done to your upper/ lower control arms for the lift?
After removing the wind valence, have you noticed a drop in gas mileage?
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Welcome to the site Overado and thanks for posting pics of your fine:drool: rig! I always wondered about you guys with new truck and if you are worried about scratching:Wow1:the paint? I look forward to seeing what you do with your truck. Cheers, Chilli..:)
 

Overado

Observer
Looks great! I'm doing an Overland silverado as well. I have a few questions, if you don't mind:
Do you have a link to those shocks?
Did you have to have anything else done to your upper/ lower control arms for the lift?
After removing the wind valence, have you noticed a drop in gas mileage?

Sure ask away.
This is the link to the shocks on Fox's website
http://www.ridefox.com/product.php?make=Chevrolet&model=Silverado 1500&t=shocks&year=2016-2007&position=Front&m=truck&p=8&ref=filter
After installing them the angles were fine and I drove it as is with no problems for a couple thousand miles before I got new tires and got an alignment done. I had no issues before the alignment I could do 70 on the highway without issue. You can email Fox (at the bottom of the website click "Contact Fox" I emailed back and forth with them for a bit they were pretty helpful and can answer any technical questions or general questions you have!
Removing the wind valence I have not really noticed a major gas millage drop the front end sits much higher now then before the major millage killer is around town a) I have a bit of a lead foot b) Im running 33" tires so around town mpg is pretty low but I can get 18 on the highway when not going up hill. I think because the front end no longer sits on the ground the wind valence wasn't doing much for mpg anyway I think it makes the truck a bit more streamlined (looks that way anyways)


Welcome to the site Overado and thanks for posting pics of your fine:drool: rig! I always wondered about you guys with new truck and if you are worried about scratching:Wow1:the paint? I look forward to seeing what you do with your truck. Cheers, Chilli..:)

Thanks for the interest, glad you like the build so far!
Well I bought the truck already a bit broken in haha the front bumper had/has a good size dent in the front and the bed is a bit beat up (scratches and dents nothing major you have to really look for them). I will take the all the pinstripping and (minor) dents in the world over not going exploring and adventuring. I was mostly carless last spring and summer so I'm ready to get out into the woods again after a year off!


also this showed up from ups last night!
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Stay tuned more to come!
Cheers
 

01BURB

New member
I live about 15 minutes away from where those are made. They have a huge one(roughly 30' tall) out front in their parking lot
 

Overado

Observer
I live about 15 minutes away from where those are made. They have a huge one(roughly 30' tall) out front in their parking lot

Holy ******* that is huge if you think of it next time you drive by grab a pic would love to see that!:Astrologist:
 

Overado

Observer
Well got some work done on the truck tonight! Wired up and mounted some communication and navigation.

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Here is a picture of the cockpit (sorry it's a bit dark with black on black also not sure why it's sideways).

Firsts as navigation/convenience I mounted the ram mount for my phone. I have had this in my truck for a couple days trying to figure out where to mount it. I finally decided this was the best spot as it allows me easiest eye access without having to look away from the road to view it.

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Next i mounted and wired the CB. After a few hours of ripping the dashboard and consol apart I ended up mounting it below the heater next to the switch for my light bar. I may end up building a new middle section of the dashboard/console to flush mount the CB and accommodate a switch panel, as more switches are inevitable! For now I am happy with the location. I still have to mount the mic bracket, but I'm not sure where I want it.

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And a shot next to the switch
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I will try to get some better pictures tomorrow. Also the antenna should be in tomorrow so hopefully if it's nice out I will get that mounted as well!

In other news I've been elbows deep in maps lately getting adventures planed for the coming months! Planning trips is half the Fun!
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Overado

Observer
Short update from this weekend. Changed the oil which anyone who has changed the oil in a Silverado of my generation knows how much of PIA it is to change the oil filter.

Also threw on this front diff skid. I like how strong it is, could definitely take a beating however it is designed to be used with a diff drop it that I do not plan on using so it hangs a little low for my liking, I may remove it and fab something later but for now it's protection I didn't have before! Sorry pics are sideways not sure how to correct it if anyone's knows how feel free to leave a comment

Before
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After
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It's really to bad these trucks don't offer more protection or even have an after market for under carriage protection. My old 4runner sr5 came with steel skids on everything but the rear diff and drive line.

More to come soon adventure season is starting to get into gear and I have a few things I want to get done before going to wild! Stay tuned!
Cheers
 

Overado

Observer
Latest and greatest!
Finally got around to mounting my CB antenna so that I can actually use my Uniden Bearcat! however I am having trouble getting my SWR down currently reads well over 3 the digital readout says im at 4.5 and 6 on channels 1 and 40 respectively. If anyone has any experience with fixing such things I would appreciate any imput.

I mounted the antenna opposite the stack radio antenna on the hood wanted it to look like it was supposed to be there. I wanted it on the back bumper but the coax cable doesn't reach so I settled for the hood.
I popped off the rubber/Plastic cover and found a perfect place to drill out to mount the stud
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next I ran the Coax cable through to the stud
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and here it is closed up with the coil poked through the plastic looks almost stock except for the 5' long firestik (I for some reason don't have a pic of the antenna actually on the truck I will have to get one later but for now here is how it looks with just the coil
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Pleased with how it turned out but annoyed with the fact that I cant get it tuned properly. If I cant figure it out in the next day or 2 I may have to take a ride to the closest CB shop I can find (45ish mins from my house)
I used sand paper to bring the bottom side of the mount to bare steel and ran copper wire to a body panel to try to ground and I still have not been able to get the SWR readings down to an acceptable level. if anyone has any tips I would really appreciate it!
Cheers
 

jpop8807

Observer
Nice bro looks great. I was thinking about getting those for my Ram but wasn't sure how they were. I am currently looking at the adjustable bilstien tubes. Yet those Fox 2.0s seem nice, and are cheaper then the Icons I was looking at before.
 

Overado

Observer
Sweet ride man. I just bought a 16 and am looking to level it out a bit and make it more capable. Great thread!

Thanks! glad you like it, look forward to seeing your build! nice too see what other people are doing on the same platform (couple other good silverado threads on here as well!)

Nice bro looks great. I was thinking about getting those for my Ram but wasn't sure how they were. I am currently looking at the adjustable bilstien tubes. Yet those Fox 2.0s seem nice, and are cheaper then the Icons I was looking at before.

Thanks! I love these shocks. I had bilstiens on my 4runner and liked em but they were a bit stiff not very forgiving kind of stiff regardless of how compressed or decompressed they were. these Fox shocks are great they are leaps and bounds over the factory suspension and the truck sits a good bit higher in the front i would definitely recommend these shocks, bang for buck this is some of the best money I've spent on a vehicle! worth every penny.

Quick update on the truck sliders are half fabbed up (thanks to Barb the Yeti changed up his design a bit, but based on his sliders) need to add legs to the frame and do a bit more welding and then paint and I am in the planning process of a rear bumper with a swing out for the spare tire and Hi-lift Pictures to come soon (I can't upload pictures from my computer unfortunately) but these projects will hopefully be wrapped up in the next few weeks as i have a trip in the works for memorial day weekend at the end of the month so stay tuned!

Cheers!
 

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