2005 Chevy Colorado Build Up

[opie]

that is the idea of the rear bumper for me. My reciever will be behind the plate. The plate will be on a stinger for removal. The tire will be moved as well so my rear departure angle will be greatly enhanced.

Never thought there woulds be so many guys here with these trucks. I always liked the Colorado/Canyon but thought it was looked at by most as a black sheep, such as most aftermarket companies. What's cool though is that things do have to be fabbed and it gives more oportunity for our trucks to be uniqe and not look like another truck to be coppied.

I agree.

Its bad for the tinkerers wife though!

I like how you worked your front recovery points/hitch into the existing tow hooks mounts. Ingenious.

[T.Low]

that is the idea of the rear bumper for me. My reciever will be behind the plate. The plate will be on a stinger for removal. The tire will be moved as well so my rear departure angle will be greatly enhanced.

Never thought there woulds be so many guys here with these trucks. I always liked the Colorado/Canyon but thought it was looked at by most as a black sheep, such as most aftermarket companies. What's cool though is that things do have to be fabbed and it gives more oportunity for our trucks to be uniqe and not look like another truck to be coppied.

Ahh, no, don't know what you mean at all...Black Sheep? Fabbed? Hmm. (ha ha)

Just incase sarcasm doesn't traverse the internet too well, yeah, I know exactly what you mean. My new full size spare, at only 30", barely fits underneath. I want to mount it on the rear for a few reasons, one of which is to put a water tank underneath in that same location for an exterior shower, but talk about fab, sheash.

Your trucks are looking good.

[Northern Explorer]

I got my truck back from the body shop today. They fixed the hail damage from the hail storm last June 20th, the rocker panel that I crushed on a big iron pipe that was hidden in the tall ferns, and touched up the scuff marks from the plastic bed liner that I removed when I got the topper.

Tomorrow I will be calling the local off road shop to set up an appointment to have the 4.10 gears installed, color match rhino line the rocker panels/lower door/fender area, and have the rock sliders welded on. I may have the rock sliders rhino lined black as well.

For the last several days I have been driving my Dad's GMC Canyon (crew cab, red, off road package). It felt like a low rider compared to my truck. It's amazing how only a few inches make such a big difference. This truck was equipped with the newer 3.7 liter engine and being stock, it was properly geared (3.73:1 ???) for the tire size. The power difference between his truck and my truck was definitely noticeable. I can't wait till I get the 4.10 gears in my truck.

[Northern Explorer]

One more thing to add to my to-do list.


I will be taking the 2 inch lift shackles off and installing the Skyjacker add-a-leaf along with the oem shackles. The Skyjacker add-a-leafs will lift the back end by about 2 to 2.5 inches over stock. They should also help significantly with payload. I'm hoping this will be the only suspension modification I will need to make in order to carry my new camper! Summit Racing forgot to send me the longer center pins that are needed with the thicker leaf pack. Not sure if that was Summit's fault or Skyjacker's fault.

The truck goes in Monday (April 28th) for the gears and rock sliders.

[opie]

One more thing to add to my to-do list.


I will be taking the 2 inch lift shackles off and installing the Skyjacker add-a-leaf along with the oem shackles. The Skyjacker add-a-leafs will lift the back end by about 2 to 2.5 inches over stock. They should also help significantly with payload. I'm hoping this will be the only suspension modification I will need to make in order to carry my new camper! Summit Racing forgot to send me the longer center pins that are needed with the thicker leaf pack. Not sure if that was Summit's fault or Skyjacker's fault.

The truck goes in Monday (April 28th) for the gears and rock sliders.

I did the AAL thing about a month ago...Very nice. Not to stiff...

Here it is after install. Its settled in a little bit...



Here it is with about 2.5 yds of wet compost...

[Northern Explorer]

Opie,
Thanks for the reference pictures. I'm guessing my camper won't weigh as much as the compost but with my crew cab truck and the overhang of the camper we'll just have to see what the affect will be.

[Northern Explorer]

The “empty wallet” mod has been successfully executed.

I’m really happy with the results and that’s all that should matter. In addition to all the work I had planned, my truck also needed new break pads and axel seals.

4.11:1 Yukon Gears

I’ve wanted to do this ever since I put the 265/75 16 tires on.
This is my math.
Stock gears = 3.42
Stock tires = 28.9 inches in diameter
New tires = 31.7 inches in diameter

31.7/28.9 = 1.097
So if my math is correct, with the new tires I was geared 9.7% to high. This lead to a lot of downshifting on small hills and a reduction in fuel economy.

More math.
3.42/4.11 = 28.9/x cross multiply and divide gives me 34.73

So in other words, with the new gears, I could (in theory) put 34.73-inch diameter tires on my truck and have a stock tire size to gear ratio.

31.7/34.73 = .91275554
100% - 91.275554% = 8.7%
So this makes my gearing 8.7% lower then stock. Just on the short drive home I can tell that being geared 8.7% to low is 100% better then being geared 9.7% to high.

Being geared to low also gives me the ability to size up to 33-inch (32.7”) tires in the future and still have a little low end left.

Rhino Lining and rock sliders

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Color matched on truck and black on sliders.



The color looks goofy in this picture but the match is good.



I also had the shop make some spacers for the differential. No more washers.

[02TahoeMD]

I would have to say that project " Empty Wallet " was a resounding success! Looks good....REAL good. Where did you get your rock sliders from?

[opie]

Looks real nice.

I just scored a full set of H3 wheels, all 5, for $300. I was wondering what the BFG in 265 75 looked like on them..now I know. Thats the direction Ill be heading.

Everything else looks good. Real nice. I think Im going to look into dropping my rack much the same way you dropped the front diff. Way to much variance in toe with and without load due to such an angle of the tie rods.

[Northern Explorer]

I would have to say that project " Empty Wallet " was a resounding success! Looks good....REAL good. Where did you get your rock sliders from?

Thanks, I got my sliders from a shop called BigRocks Offroad. http://bigrocksoffroad.com/index.html Unfortunately they are going out of business. I think they made a good product.

Looks real nice.

I just scored a full set of H3 wheels, all 5, for $300. I was wondering what the BFG in 265 75 looked like on them..now I know. Thats the direction Ill be heading.

I think you will be happy with those rims.