Chevrolet Silverado '01 Overland Light Edition

[Niklas.L]

Hello everybody! My name is Niklas and I'm from Sweden. Currently living in Norway though. Bought my first truck this summer and have plans on turning it into an expedition/overland vehicle. Will mostly drive on road so won't be any lifts of huge tires on this one. Off course I wan't the ability to go off road and explore, but it is not the same opportunities to go off road here in Europe as it is in America. So will mostly be on road, but I want a vehicle that feels safe in every weather conditions and terrain. Sadly there won't be much done to the truck until this summer because I now life in Norway and don't have the space to do what I want to it. What I will try to fix before the summer comes is a truck cap so you can sleep in the back, and some new rims and tires. The ones I have now are not the best for on road traveling. So won't be much action on the truck for a while, but will most likely do a few road trips and will of course post pictures of that.

The truck.

What I have done to the vehicle to this day isn't much. Just a few easy things.

First I removed the old mounts for the non-existing running boards.

Then I started to dig out the wiring to the old handsfree phone.

After that I replaced the old speakers in the front doors. Easy to see they needed replacing. Sounded horrible.

That is pretty much what I've done to it so far. Not much, but a few things needed doing. Now we get to the fun part, using the car for its intended purpose; road trips and adventure! Took a road trip in Norway a few days ago with my fiancé. Drove from Haugesund, were we currently live, up to Ålesund. Then from there we took the Atlantic Ocean Road, declared to be the worlds best road trip in 2006 by The Guardian, to Kristiansund and from there we went inwards to Lillehammer, were they held the winter olympics in 1994. After that we started heading back home over the mountains again, but snow storms on the overpasses slowed us down a couple of hours. All but one road back to the west coast were closed due to bad weather, and you had to go in a convoy with plow trucks leading the way. After we made it over we drove through the worlds longest road tunnel, 24.5 km/15.4 miles. All in all a trip of over 1000 miles/4 days and a great time! Now for some pictures...

On top of the first mountain overpass we passed on our way to Ålesund.

The town of Ålesund.

The Atlantic Ocean Road.

A lot of big mountains surrounding the roads in Norway. Easy to feel isolated.

On our way up to the overpass and heavy snow fall.

Waiting in the convoy to get over the mountain pass.

A picture from inside the world record tunnel and an overview of our journey.

The truck handled the trip with no problem what so ever and we had a great time!

Hope you enjoy!

Best regards
Niklas

 

[ATXzombie]

so rad. i had no idea they had silverados there, did u have to import it?

 

[Niklas.L]

Most of the trucks over here are imported. A few are sold through dealerships. Mine is imported in 2004.

 

[CLynn85]

Cool! I bet that gets some looks over there.

Interestingly enough, a friend of mine (Grnson on the forums) just recently sold his 05ish CCLB Duramax to a Swedish buyer and even delivered it to the port for him.

 

[jimi breeze]

Hey Niklas,
check out my Silverado for some ideas. It sounds like you want to build something with similar features. Click on my Overland Quest website to see what I've done so far.

 

[Niklas.L]

CLynn85: It gets some looks, but in Stockholm were I normally live many construction workers and handy men use these vehicles. The most popular one in recent years is the new Dodge Ram 1500 though. I would love to have a duramax, but over here they are twice as much as a gasser. So I went for a well looked after Vortec instead. Love the power of the engine and also how smooth it is. But you can tell that the gearbox is not meant for the winding roads and hills here in Norway. I use the Tow/Haul function quite a bit driving around in the mountains. Btw love the name for your Ambulance buildup. Awesome movie!

jimi breeze: Something like your vehicle is what I'm after. But mine will be less heavy duty, at least so far. Another thing I want to do with mine, which I remember reading about yours, is to install a jump seat instead of the mid console. There are almost no trucks here i Sweden without a mid console so I will have to sort that out, but finding a jump seat is no small task over here.

 

[Jimmy the Heater]

Very cool to see a Silverado there. The Atlantic Ocean road is on my bucket list for sure!

 

[rallygabe]

CLynn85: are almost no trucks here i Sweden without a mid console so I will have to sort that out, but finding a jump seat is no small task over here.

I am sure there are a few people who wouldn't mind helping you find some parts. Post up a couple pictures of your interior and I will see if I can find anything near me. Shipping could be an issue but worry about that later!

 

[elee]

Sub'd!!

 

[Allof75]

Seriously beautiful pictures I like the truck too, as others have said, I hadn't realized we imported the exact same silverado a used here in the states elsewhere. Anyway, keep up the great work!

 

[Niklas.L]

rallygabe: I am in contact with a couple of firms here in Sweden who scrap american vehicles, and have a few trucks on their yard. So I will have to wait and see what they say first, but it is always good to know you guys are willing to help me. Thanks for that!

Allof75: They are getting more and more popular over here. It is hard for the Asian truck manufacturers to offer the same comfort as the US trucks have. Although the Asian trucks are smaller, nimbler and get better MPG, they also are more bouncy and rattle more. And of course the size of the bed and workload the US trucks can handle is also something that the Asian trucks can't beat.

 

[Niklas.L]

A couple a days ago me and some friends went surfing. So loaded up the boards and went out to the beach. Brought some firewood and made a fire after with some hot dogs. A very good day and this is why I love my truck. Five friends and three surfboards, a couple of wet suits, firewood and what not. No problem at all. Then just throw the damp wet suits in the truck bed not having to worry about the mess. Perfect!

And now for some pictures. Enjoy!

 

[Niklas.L]

Its been a while since I last updated. The truck has worked just fine and I can't say I've done that much to it. One thing I have done is to install new seats and my much looked after jump seat. The seats where from a newer model so not exactly the same. The passenger seat went from electric to manual and the harness for the driver seat is a combo of the old and new. A bit of fiddling before I figured out how to do it. Works fine now.

Old seats.


New seats.


Another thing I have done is to repaint almost the whole truck. Removed the fender flares and started grinding of surface rust I have had my eye on a while. When I started grinding on the rocker panel the grinder went through. It had rusted from the inside and the metal was paper thin. So I had no choice but to hand it in for rust repair and a repaint. I'm afraid I don't have any good pictures of the truck after repaint. One thing I have left to do is to put back some of the side moldings and emblems that where removed during the repaint.

Some pictures from the grinding.






Two months after the repaint I got hit by a hit and run driver at a parking lot. Thank god there where a witness, who worked for my insurance company none the less. So now I have to wait and see what the other driver says about the incident. Wasn't that much damage. Some scratches on the panel behind the rear wheel on the driver side. Sucks, but what can you do.


Other than that not much has happened. I'm on the lookout for new wheels and have figured out that I want 17x9" with offset -12. That should push out the tires about 1.2" which should make the tires in line with the fender flares. The tires will be modest 265/70.

Have made a few trips, but not that many I'm afraid. Here are some pictures from one of the trips that went along the southern coast of Norway towards the border of Sweden. Enjoy!

 

[ZMagic97]

Any more updates?