2005 z71 build

[expomazda]

Ive been a long time lurker but I think it is finally time to join in on the fun. My wife and I have always talked about camping in all 50 states. The biggest thing holding us back was my 89 mazda b2600. It was a turd! smoked, knocked, and you had to look to find an area not rusted through. We finnally got enough money saved up and found a good deal on an 05 silverado with 80k miles on the clock.

Here she is on the way home from the stealership!

Threw a set of 285/75r17 Nitto Terra Grapplers on it and found a High rise camper shell off Craiglist for $100! (No pic of instal)

I am the shop manger at a Love's Truck Stop, on my way home from work one day, a wonderfull driver decided he no longer wanted to leave and started backing up into my truck!

Turns out there are a ton of plastic peices in the front end and they add up really fast. They company cut me a check so now I had money to play with.

Started the bumper build....

Badlands 12000lb winch

The finished Product

The weather finally broke here is Northern Missouri so the misses and I went and explored the country side.

So far I really like the truck and think it will suit us well in our camping adventures. We hope to knock out close to 15 states this year. Next weekend I plan on starting on the sleeping platform.

 

[shopkins]

Interested in seeing the progress!! You will be happy with the truck I'll swear by my '04 z71.


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[goodwaves]

like that bumper, wish i had some welding skills!
I have an '05 GMC its, been a great truck so far.

 

[mizeide]

Great looking truck! Just a few notes from being involved in owning/maintaining/modding 99-06 GM half tons.

- Installing a corvette 2nd gear servo and billet 4th gear servo can add a lot of life to the transmission if done in time, once they start slipping, it's too late.

- If you start getting weird wear on your front tires and sloppy steering, it is most likely caused by worn idler and pitman arms. Consider adding the Cognito Motorsports brace kit when replacing these items. Makes a world of difference in wear life.

- Cranking the torsion bars does work quite well and ride nicely but there are a few downsides: 1) the extra angle of the cv shafts can cause premature wear on the cv boots and joints and will also cause the axle seals to leak more quickly. 2) when getting an alignment to fix the static camber so your tires wear evenly, your dynamic camber through your suspension stroke will change causing changes in handling (more noticeable with more crank. not everyone will notice this change in handling either). 3) can cause premature wear on the upper balljoint (non serviceable).

-When the need to replace the upper balljoint arises, consider getting aftermarket upper control arms with serviceable/replaceable ball joints.

Anyway, love the truck and I'm sure you'll get many happy years and miles of service out of it. Well over 200k on mine and still my favorite vehicle I have ever owned.

 

[docb14]

My 04 Z71 has been a great truck. Keep up with routine maintenance and you should be fine. Mizeide is right on with the torsion crank and its side effects. Might not hurt to flush the transmission (if it has not been done already). If a lift is in the future, do it right the first time. You really do get what you pay for so save up and get a quality kit. My rancho has been great. Doing it cheap first will create more problems later.

 

[mizeide]

Agree with docb14. If you do a lift I would recommend the non torsion drop lift from BDS with the Fox Shocks. Great package and leaves the torsion bars up so you don't lose any breakover angle.

 

[shopkins]

Rough country's new lift is also non tie ruin drop.


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[expomazda]

I plan on doing a 6 inch lift sometime next year. It just doesn't it the budget right now.

We have a 2000 mile trip planned for April so It will be getting a lot of maintenance in the next week or two to get it ready.

 

[mizeide]

Are you going to be able to do much exploring/off pavement driving on this 2000 mile trip?

 

[expomazda]

We are gonna try to. I have another post in the expo planning about it. Nothing too extreme, mainly some off-road trails and remote camping. We will be traveling along the southern edge of kansas and Colorado, into Utah and up to Moab/arches national park.

 

[rayra]

They're good motors in that series, general maintenance will suffice. Watch / listen for some wear in the bearing on the S-belt tensioner, it's coming. Or just go ahead and replace it before it fails, easy inexpensive preventative fix.
If / when you change the water pump, watch for air lock / overheating. When you get it back together, start the engine and hold it at a high idle, 1500rpm plus for several minutes, thru the thermostat opening. Otherwise the pump generates a trapped air pocket and doesn't move any coolant and it will overheat.

 

[Bushcoat]

Very nice! How do you like the tires? I run the same size terra grapplers on my 07 C1500 HD and really like them, its a great "in between" size I guess since I think 315/70s are a bit big. You are giving me ideas for my bumper build and winch mount also.

 

[expomazda]

I really like the tires so far. I've only got about 4000 on them so far. I really wanted some 285/75's but couldn't find any.


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[aero]

Truck looks good, I like the bumper.

Great looking truck! Just a few notes from being involved in owning/maintaining/modding 99-06 GM half tons.

- Installing a corvette 2nd gear servo and billet 4th gear servo can add a lot of life to the transmission if done in time, once they start slipping, it's too late.

- If you start getting weird wear on your front tires and sloppy steering, it is most likely caused by worn idler and pitman arms. Consider adding the Cognito Motorsports brace kit when replacing these items. Makes a world of difference in wear life.

- Cranking the torsion bars does work quite well and ride nicely but there are a few downsides: 1) the extra angle of the cv shafts can cause premature wear on the cv boots and joints and will also cause the axle seals to leak more quickly. 2) when getting an alignment to fix the static camber so your tires wear evenly, your dynamic camber through your suspension stroke will change causing changes in handling (more noticeable with more crank. not everyone will notice this change in handling either). 3) can cause premature wear on the upper balljoint (non serviceable).

-When the need to replace the upper balljoint arises, consider getting aftermarket upper control arms with serviceable/replaceable ball joints.

Anyway, love the truck and I'm sure you'll get many happy years and miles of service out of it. Well over 200k on mine and still my favorite vehicle I have ever owned.

Great advice... I had a 2005 Silverado that I sold with 160k that was basically brand new, and I currently have an 02 Tahoe Z71 with 200k. I did some research on the corvette servo and just replaced it. Shifts do happen quicker instead of drawing them out slowly.


One piece of advice that I can add is, if your steering wheel feels loose or wiggly over bumps, its probably your intermediate steering shaft. They make a replacement that costs about $150 last time I checked. Or you can fix it for free... this is what I did and it worked great on my Tahoe and an Escalade. I had the same problem on the Silverado that I also fixed instead of paying for the new one.

 

[expomazda]

How exactly did you fix it for free?