2000 Chevy Silverado Z71 build

[cssimeur]

I have a 2000 chevy silverado 1500 Z71. The original and only other owner was my brother, so the truck was maintained and is in good shape. I've been wanting to build it out for overlanding, nothing too crazy. I'm new to this whole thing from a practical standpoint, though I've been lurking about and dreaming about doing a mostly DIY build like this for a long time.

Here's what I've got on it:

Locking rear diff
skid plates
aluminum stock wheels
265/70R/16 AT tires


So far I've:

Put a Leer 122 topper on it. We actually got the topper after we took it out on the maiden voyage. Our topper wasn't ready so we used a loaner from the dealer (an aluminum topper w/o windows :::no bueno:: for that trip.
Built a platform and drawer system in the bed, photos below. It has quite a bit of storage. Two drawers on 60" heavy duty full extension slides. Access panels in front of and behind the wheel wells for smaller items. Heavy duty screw gate carabiners to retain tie downs in the bed.

What I'd like to do:

-Upgrade the suspension. Originally I was thinking Deaver leaf springs in the back. Maybe U182 or M27? I'd love to run a slightly larger tire and level the truck as well as maybe get a 1.5" overall lift (2" max). I'm having trouble figuring out what to do for the IFS torsion bar front end. I've had people tell me to just get forged torsion keys, front shock extensions, and beefed up shocks and I'll be good, but this is coming from people who don't actually overland and just like the look of lifted trucks. Personally I don't want to get much lift if I can help it except to fit a slightly larger tire (32 or 33" max). I don't plan on doing any crazy rock crawling, I'd just like to upgrade twenty year old suspension and gain some added capability and peace of mind for decent overlanding. Any ideas are welcome. Other than getting a new rig! LOL

-Solar, internal led lights, and exhaust fan for the topper.
-Back seat delete to build storage for lithium battery/ies and components (inverter/charger, controller, etc.) possible fridge/freezer, and dog bed.
-DIY 270 awning
-Rear bumper (possibly DIY if I can be confident in the design. Still playing with this) with swing out arm for spare and camp meal prep table.
-Back up cam
-Upgrade headlight
-Maybe long term replace the front bumper and add a winch. This is way down the road, if at all.







That was the loaner topper.



Used flex seal to coat the top of the platform.




Went from 100 degrees in Utah to a blizzard in Wyoming. That aluminum topper was not fun.


Montana was a little more comfortable but not much. Still had a lot of fun. This was up a ways off a forest service road near Hungry Horse Reservoir.



Prepping the bed for our Leer. I bolted it on so we could use the side access panels. The original C-clamps overhang too much and I'd have had to notch the platform side access doors. I don't plan on taking the topper off much, if at all, as the platform can be removed w/o lifting the topper. With the access panel doors flipped up the whole thing slides between the wheel wells. I have it attached at two points to the bed but those are easily accesible and the weight of the platform also prevents it from moving.


Sorry for the quality. Hopefully it's still obvious. Just putting the Leer onto the bed of the truck. We've been able to take it out a few times. Have started to introduce the new puppy to some day trips in preparation for camping and in the back. So far so good!

 

[XJLI]

Looks good so far!

I had deaver AALs on my 05. You’re gonna want more payload than you’d get with the full deaver packs. Pick up a set of new 2500 leaf packs from whatever online or local shop, pop out the overload spring and then add the deaver AAL in its place without the “zero rate” stacks or the factory block. You’ll be about 2-3” over stock. Crank the keys up front so you are level FULLY LOADED. Pick up whatever shocks you fancy... bilstein 5100, fox 2.0, whatever. Figure out if you want digressive valving, linear, whatever for the type of driving you do.

33” tires will fit no problem. If you have 3.73 or 4.10 gears you can step up to 35s without much penalty.

 

[cssimeur]

Looks good so far!

I had deaver AALs on my 05. You’re gonna want more payload than you’d get with the full deaver packs. Pick up a set of new 2500 leaf packs from whatever online or local shop, pop out the overload spring and then add the deaver AAL in its place without the “zero rate” stacks or the factory block. You’ll be about 2-3” over stock. Crank the keys up front so you are level FULLY LOADED. Pick up whatever shocks you fancy... bilstein 5100, fox 2.0, whatever. Figure out if you want digressive valving, linear, whatever for the type of driving you do.

33” tires will fit no problem. If you have 3.73 or 4.10 gears you can step up to 35s without much penalty.

That's a fantastic idea and didn't occur to me. I do have a 3.73 gear ratio. I looked around a bit and found some info about this. Most of it on chevy sites and they mention getting a helper spring rather than upgraded springs, but all that seems to focus on towing issues. I rarely tow anything and when I do it's nothing heavy--I'm not concerned about towing. It looks like there are four options for the 2500 leaf springs with number of leaves/spring capacity being the deciding factor. One guy who did this exact swap said it requires no mods of any kind except "...longer U Bolts and the mounting bolt at the front of the drivers side requires you to either drop the fuel tank or cut the bolt off and pound it out".

So much of the advice and recommendations I get outside of places like this are from people who don't really know much about overlanding. I don't think I qualify yet as a complete novice in this, but some of the recs I've gotten just seem...counter productive.

I'm thinking of the bilsteins right now for reliability and cost. Ideally I'd like a linear valving (I think) for all around performance and it seems like, based on reading only, the bilsteins might end up being a rougher ride than I'd prefer, but I'm not sure about that.

It's very important but only moderately urgent that I get this done soon. I think I can pull the trigger within the next month, in the meantime I'm doing a lot of minor projects like a back seat delete and welding/building a storage area behind the drivers seat that can lock into place while mobile but slide toward the 3rd door in the extended cab and over the dog's area. I'm adding a cooler/freezer, and AGM battery, DC to DC converter, etc.

 

[XJLI]

I can't remember if I had to lower the fuel tank or not (I had to do it for another project, its easy and can be done by one person if its nearly empty). I did do it all in my driveway in an afternoon. For U bolts, I recommend picking up a ruffstuff axle swap kit with real u bolts and plates, and throwing away the stock square ones and the plate.

The deaver AAL will take some of the harshness out of the rear, and give you more progression during that long gap from "no spring" to "spring" since the first leaf is quite long. You don't need the 2000lb+ payload rating of the big trucks, so losing that overload isn't a big deal. It's THICK too, so you really aren't gaining a lot of height when you add the AAL, and remember the HD trucks had a 2" body lift as well, which is why they look a lot higher up. these trucks have big wheel wells anyway, so you don't need a lot of extra height for bigger tires. adding more suspension tho, will go a long way.

the bilsteins are digressively valved, so if you're looking for on road and dirt/washboard comfort you'll want the Foxs. I had 4600s and the on road ride was a bit harsher than stock.

I'd stick with a 33-34 even with 3.73s, to keep it as 'close to stock' as you can.

 

[ratled]

Anyone know if 33s will fit in the spare tire well?

 

[toastyjosh]

255/85r16 will fit stock, good tire size its like a 33x10. Lifting the front you have a few options, crank the torsen bars, put in lift keys, or a coil over conversion. https://atomicfabandperformance.com/product/99-06-torsion-bar-coilover-package-lifted-trucks/

Whatever you do for the fronts, invest in some good shocks, Bilstein 5100 I would say is the lowest I would go.
You listed some good options for the back, don't forget about airbags. Cheap and easy to install.

 

[cssimeur]

Anyone know if 33s will fit in the spare tire well?

My tentative plan is to weld up a swing arm to fit onto the back bumper that has an additional camp table, maybe water, and spare. It's ambitious and probably foolish, but I'd like to put in an auxiliary fuel tank in the current spare space.

 

[cssimeur]

Anyone know if 33s will fit in the spare tire well?

But also, come to think on it, it's not going to happen before I do the suspension, so...does anyone know if 33's will fit in the spare well? LOL

 

[ghillie21]

But also, come to think on it, it's not going to happen before I do the suspension, so...does anyone know if 33's will fit in the spare well? LOL

I have a 1999 Chevy Silverado 1500, regular cab that I installed a rough country 3" front x 2" rear lift kit on. I run B.F. Goodrich 285x75 on 16" stock rims (ends up being about 33") I had to trim the bumper and wheel well but I was going to cut the bumper anyway.

 

[cssimeur]

ghillie21 I want to replace my front bumper so this doesn’t sound like it would be too hard. I could modify the design if necessary since I’m doing the suspension and tires first. All it sounds like I’d need to do is trim the wheel well.


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[Smileyshaun]

I have a 06 Sierra that I did run a 35x10.50 on 2” of lift with no rubbing and the spare fits just fine . I just went 6” so I can swap in a 9.25 front diff and do a coilover swap .

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

May I ask: what was the issue with the aluminum canopy? I have a Leer 122 and am unimpressed with it. I’m looking to move to more of a commercial cap, probably aluminum.

 

[Chevrolado]

That box looks legit. Nice work. Following along on this thing.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Nice looking truck and your box looks fantastic!

Can't help you much with the rear suspension but up front look into AtomicFab coilover kit. You can get the brackets, shocks and coils for around $750 and it will be the best suspension modification you can possibly do to your truck that's within a reasonable budget.