Lee's '04 Chevy Silverado 2500HD and Radica MoonLander camping shell

[Lee]

@Jacobm some follow up notes on the ARB bull bar.

Overall I really like the ARB bull bar but there are a few points to consider (this is the stuff I could not find on-line).
There are some significant gaps between the bumper and the body work.
I suspect this is to accommodate the Chevy and the GMC variations over several years.

Here you can see the lower valance around the grill the bumper dose not follow the body line but is in front of the valance.


Under the headlights and under the front fender there is a large gap.

Also, the marker lights that come with the bumper took me a minuet to figure out.
The OEM light cluster has a separate turn and marker light right there, once you find the correct wires its all good.

On the inside of the fender wheel opening the back side of the bumper follows the line of the inner fender really well.
I'm running 33" tires with no problems.


I pulled the truck in to the barn to show how the lights shine on the upper hoop.
This is most noticeable with the high beams, it's a little annoying but I suspect any bull bar will do this to some level.


There is recess that makes a flat mounting surface for the winch fairlead.
The recess is 12" wide, sufficient for most roller or hawse fairleads.
I was wanting to fit a Yankum Rope Grooved fairlead that allows for elimination of the hook.
But the Grooved fairlead is 13" wide and it needs space to loop the rope over the end.
For now I'm using the stock Warn hawse, I may revisit this in the future.


Overall I'm pretty happy with the ARB bull bar.
My intent was to provide a hoop in front of the radiator so (hopefully) a deer strike would not strand me and to provide a winch mount.
It dose that and it looks good too (yes I know, needs an aluminum skid plate).

 

[Lee]

Made a little bit of progress getting ready for a trip.
We trailered the SxS down to Tennessee to for a couple of days riding.
I know, SxS and ATVs are the devil but the SxS cost less than the tires, wheels, bumper and winch on the truck and it will go places the truck never will for the kind of money I have.

When the shell was installed Radica used a trailer plug to wire the marker lights and a high mount center stop light.
I needed to be able to use the trailer socket on the rear bumper for the trailer so I ordered a 5th wheel trailer harness / socket from e-trailer.
The harness has a male and female plug at one end, and a socket for a trailer at the other.
So it plugs in between the OEM trailer socket and the harness in the truck with a 6' lead to mount the new socket.

I drilled a hole in the inner panel of the bed in front of the wheel well.
Deburred the hole with a Dremel.
Painted the exposed metal, spray some paint in to the spray can cap and use a Q-tip as an applicator.
Note, roll the Q-tip between your fore finger and thumb, don't try to drag the Q-tip or the cotton will rip of in a big blob on the first rough spot.
And yes I did all this laying under sleeping platform because I was in too much of a hurry to remove it.



Installed the new socket with a little Sikaflex to seal the hole and plugged in the wiring to the shell.
Clean way to deal with the wiring and the trailer plug will support a key on 12 volt, 10 amp circuit for something in the bed.


This was the first time towing my 17' enclosed trailer with the Moonlander shell.
The trailer is 8' 6" wide and has 6" extended height - there is a lot of parachute factor going down the freeway.
Before the shell my numbers say we where averaging 9.72 mpg, on this trip we got 10.5 mpg.
So filling the gap between the cab and the trailer is a net positive.

View of the rig, I turned the running lights on - if you squint you can see the marker lights on the Moonlander.
(It was more dramatic in person, the sun had just gone down - not a photographer, just a cell phone warrior)

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Those are great trucks!

 

[Lee]

Those are great trucks!

Preaching to the choir there bro.

When I decided to hang on to the Duramax I read up on any build threads of GMT800 platforms i could find, including yours 'Yetti .
Seams like most have graduated on to a new platform now but I appreciate the wealth of information made avalibe to me.
I may be one of the last to pour money in to this platform but hopefully there is some general pick-up information that will help some one.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

I still have her, start it up and drive a loop every few weeks. My brother still uses his, the one that went to Argentina as a shop truck in Reno. I am chasing a gremlin in mine, which is part of the reason I have not loaded the camper up and gone anywhere.

I still enjoy seeing them out and about. And being used as trucks should. Still great value with them.