2013 Silverado Adventure Build

[wrmmt]

Been out skiing most of my free time recently, but we've had some really mucky warm, wet weather this week so decided to take a break and do a little repair work in the back of the truck. Fixed up one of the side racks in the back that was coming loose and shored up the jerry can mount. Did a little cleaning and also mounted up my winter grain scoop shovel in case I need to dig myself (or someone else) out of the snow bank. Did some measuring for my rack set up and think I am ready to get going with that next! Here are a couple more pictures of my storage system at it is now.

 

[wrmmt]

Been working on the sleeping deck off and on as I have time, got part of it mocked up in the truck this weekend. Thanks to my helper of course...

View attachment 387623

 

[wrmmt]

Been a little while since I posted up, but have a few updates. Had been having some pretty sluggish starts and I knew the battery was going out, so I decided it was time to upgrade from the stock. Went with an Optima red top and definitely can see (and hear) the improvement. It really was a pain in the a** to replace though, Chevy did not make it easy to get to the battery... The finished product:

Finally committed to the sleeping/storage platform and got that put together. Tested out a couple weekends ago on a nice little spring camping trip and it worked great. Need to figure out how to best organize all the gear underneath, but it really is nice not to have to re-organize so much each night. Right now I have the spare tire relocated underneath as well as a couple Frontrunner boxes. One is for recovery gear/tools, the other is for food. I plan to get a third set up for my cook set up.

Today just got a couple tie down tracks put in the back under the platform and got an S&B intake put in. Excited to see how it drives with the new intake!

 

[PapaBlunt]

Awesome build. I've been thinking about doing the same sleeping platform in my truck. Taken any recent trips?

 

[Tiki]

My truck lives vicariously through this thread, we need some updates @wrmmt

 

[UltraHDGames]

Really like what you've done with the sleeping platform, just built something similar but in a much smaller Ranger box, keep up the great work!

 

[wrmmt]

Thanks for the kind words, glad you all are enjoying it! Sorry for being a little MIA recently, been busy with work, travel, and a few trips out with the rig. Haven't gotten a whole lot of progress on the build unfortunately, mainly just working on fine tuning the camping set up and my storage. Hopefully that will change soon though, the next project is the power system. Right now I am planning on putting together a dual battery system with a slightly customized National Luna set up and a 100 watt solar panel tied into the house battery. Planning on running my existing lights in the topper to the house battery, as well as power outlets into the cab and the shell for general use. Once I get that set up I am thinking of adding a small fridge to help out with cold food/beverage duty. Definitely a little intimidated by all the wiring in my future, but hopefully it will all turn out well.

Anyway, here are a few pictures to update on the recent adventures and progress. The first big trip of the summer was into the Tobacco Root mountains to one of our old favorite campsites for Memorial Day weekend. We had been planning on a quick trip down to the Utah deserts, but I had just gotten back from two weeks in Scotland, was getting over being sick, and we just couldn't put it all together in time. It worked out though and we had a great relaxing weekend! Even got a little show from the northern lights to top it all off! Have had a couple more recently, hopefully will have some more pictures soon! Overall I am really happy with the new bed platform and the camping set up. It has been working really well and has made the daily set up/tear down easier and quicker. Definitely some trade offs, but have no regrets having gone this direction. Now to get going on the rest of the build...

Also finished putting together my camp cook box with some custom homemade trekpak inserts.

 

[wrmmt]

Been busy as usual and haven't gotten started on the power systems yet, need to get the parts and then get moving on it!

In the mean time, I got some MaxTrax and mounted them on the rack this evening. The holes on the MaxTrax don't really line up with the slats on the rack all that well, but it doesn't look like its going anywhere. Need to fine tune it a little, but it looks like it should work well!

On another note, looks like Photobuckets all broken, ugh... don't know why I ever went that route, guess Ill be fixing some photos soon...

 

[ajmaudio]

Took a short camping trip with some friends over the weekend. Turned out to be pretty rainy and wet all weekend, but good times were had! Managed to rig up a pretty rickety tarp set up to keep us as dry as possible, but definitely want to get an awning for the roof rack in the near future. Otherwise truck worked great, the Kings have definitely been a good addition, more suspension in the dreaming phase, but waiting for the job situation to work itself out...

Anyway, here are a couple pictures from the trip:

Where is this? Looks great

 

[wrmmt]

Where is this? Looks great

It was in the Tobacco Root mountains, a little to the west of where I live in Bozeman. Its a great place to explore, been having some great trips there the last couple years!

 

[wrmmt]

Took a lot longer than I had planned/hoped, but finally got the dual battery setup all together and running. Have a little wiring clean up to do, but it is all ready for the solar panel now. Haven't really tested it out, but have had a weekend camping trip with it and it worked as expected. Definitely nice to have somewhere to charge the phone and tablet for maps while out adventuring. Next step is to set up the solar panel, need to figure out where to put the solar controller and get it all wired up, hopefully I can get that done sometime in the next few weeks. Then need to get an inverter wired up to the bed, also have a small fridge coming soon, so it seems to be all coming together! Ill try to get some more/better pics, but here are a few for now:

New console insert/control panel setup:
Tablet for maps/navigation
Blue Sea dual battery switch
Dual voltage monitor, both sides wired to on/off switches
USB outlet
12v cigarette plug outlet

Dual Battery Setup in engine bay:
Blue Sea ML-ACR relay
Blue Sea fuse boxes
Blue Sea auxiliary fuse box
Optima yellow top battery

 

[SipSipKikimo]

I just went through your entire build. Nice job and looks good. I do have a question......I have not seen one picture where you have anything on your roof rack, besides the back awning?? Do you actually use the rack or you have it just for looks? If you have used the rack, how do you like loading/unloading?

 

[wrmmt]

I just went through your entire build. Nice job and looks good. I do have a question......I have not seen one picture where you have anything on your roof rack, besides the back awning?? Do you actually use the rack or you have it just for looks? If you have used the rack, how do you like loading/unloading?

Thanks! Haha yeah, I don't think I have many pictures with the roof rack up... it has been pretty underutilized so far, but I have been using it a little. Right now I have the awning attached and some MaxTrax stored on it. The solar panel is also going on it in another week or two. I also plan to use it for transport of paddle board/canoe/kayak(s), but so far that hasn't really happened. Right now that's about the extent of my storage plans, I may add a little more in the future as I expand my kit, but I am trying to keep as little big/heavy stuff up there as possible. Mainly I got it for mounting of the awning/solar panel with the added benefit of easy transport of large things as needed.

As for loading and unloading, it is pretty easy if you set it up right initially. There are plenty of options from frontrunner for tie downs/storage. The main inconveniences I would say are reaching the middle of the rack, getting heavier things up there due to the height, and you are limited in your mounting locations lengthwise along the rack as you can only attach to the middle of each slat. However, I have found these to be only minor inconveniences, and are primarily due to the nature of roof racks being on top of the rig, the height of the top of the truck, and are just general things you have to deal with on a roof rack... That got a little long, hopefully that answers your question?

 

[SipSipKikimo]

Thanks! Haha yeah, I don't think I have many pictures with the roof rack up... it has been pretty underutilized so far, but I have been using it a little. Right now I have the awning attached and some MaxTrax stored on it. The solar panel is also going on it in another week or two. I also plan to use it for transport of paddle board/canoe/kayak(s), but so far that hasn't really happened. Right now that's about the extent of my storage plans, I may add a little more in the future as I expand my kit, but I am trying to keep as little big/heavy stuff up there as possible. Mainly I got it for mounting of the awning/solar panel with the added benefit of easy transport of large things as needed.

As for loading and unloading, it is pretty easy if you set it up right initially. There are plenty of options from frontrunner for tie downs/storage. The main inconveniences I would say are reaching the middle of the rack, getting heavier things up there due to the height, and you are limited in your mounting locations lengthwise along the rack as you can only attach to the middle of each slat. However, I have found these to be only minor inconveniences, and are primarily due to the nature of roof racks being on top of the rig, the height of the top of the truck, and are just general things you have to deal with on a roof rack... That got a little long, hopefully that answers your question?

Yeah man, Thanks. I have been thinking about adding a cap to my truck and debating if I want to spend the extra cash for something similar. If it is a giant pain to load/unload.....I was going to skip. Many thanks.

 

[wrmmt]

Well, haven't really gotten anything else done to the Raven since putting the console together. Been busy with work and getting out and exploring with the rig. Still have the solar panel waiting in the wings. Next up though I need to do a little clean up with the console wiring, also want to get an inverter set up in the topper. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the rig and from some recent trips.

Drove down to Wyoming with a couple of friends to take in the full eclipse. We went down through Yellowstone and Teton parks before working our way over to the north end of the Wind Rivers to Union Pass. There were quite a few other people out there, but we managed to find a pretty secluded place to set up camp for a long weekend. Had a great time exploring and taking in the eclipse. It was definitely a great experience, and it was totally worth the drive to experience totality!

Driving through Yellowstone is always an enjoyable drive.

Haven't gotten down to the Tetons in a long time, was fun to go through there again!

Followed an Earthroamer briefly on the way in, saw a few pretty intricate set-ups over the weekend, over kill for me but always interesting to see...