2005 Chevy 2500HD weekender expedition_light build.

[mesquito_creek]

I am the original owner of this 2005 Chevy 2500HD 6.0L gas truck CrewCab Longbed with factory 4:10 gears and the locking rear diff. Stock drive train with 175K miles on it. I have built many DIY projects over the years like rock crawlers and go fast desert trucks with lot of fabrication out of my garage. But this build is my "almost 50", I am gonna buy a lot of bolt on stuff project, but I did have to build the carpet kit/sleeping platform. Not meant to be a real expo truck, but more of a get out of the heat in Arizona weekender. Hopefully, capable enough to get far enough away from the masses....

Suspension Front: Cognito Motorsports upper control arms, steering upgrade, green keys, and fox 2.0 shocks.
Suspension Rear: Removal of the overload spring replaced with a Deaver progressive on AirLift air bags , with fox 2.0 shocks.

It is just the wife and I, so I am not maximizing space, but rather maximizing comfort. With the longbed and empty rear seating of the crew cab I am hoping to get away with the room I lost with the cargo glide and sleep platform.

 

[justbecause]

I see a ton of GM trucks with the front tires worn severely, and unevenly. Did you ever have an issue with that?

 

[XJLI]

I'm interested in hearing your feedback on the Deaver mini-pack. I'm interested in getting those for my 1500, but I don't want the thing to sag to the tires with a light load.

 

[justbecause]

I'm interested in hearing your feedback on the Deaver mini-pack. I'm interested in getting those for my 1500, but I don't want the thing to sag to the tires with a light load.

I ran that set on a 2011 nissan frontier, my experience mirrored most of the reviews I read. They went flat within a couple of years and squeaked like crazy . They do not offer any additional weight carrying vs the overload spring.

 

[SOLAMF]

He has Deaver Progressive springs with Airlift airbags on top of them. No sag will ever happen with a load because it’s going to be supported no matter how heavy he goes.


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[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Mine’s just a bit shorter (x-cab) but essentially the same platform and with similar goals. Subscribed!

 

[mesquito_creek]

I see a ton of GM trucks with the front tires worn severely, and unevenly. Did you ever have an issue with that?

Yes, I had problems with tire cupping for the first 120k miles before I upgraded to the Cognito Pitman/Idler Kit. What happens is that the stock idler arm isn't stout enough and there is slight movement in it. The more worn or old it gets the worse the tire wear issue is. The cognito kit replaces the idler arm with a double sheer hiem joint. Since I have upgraded, I have put 50,000 miles on a set of Toyos and the wear patterns is perfect. I am afraid I will age out the tires before I wear them out. I have no doubt I will get 70K miles out of these tires.

 

[mesquito_creek]

I'm interested in hearing your feedback on the Deaver mini-pack. I'm interested in getting those for my 1500, but I don't want the thing to sag to the tires with a light load.

The deaver kit replaces the overload, so you don't normally get into the overload spring even with a moderate load. Even with the deaver I have put a scoop of sand into the rear from a loader and dropped the back of the truck down with a load and it handles fine. Mine is a 2500 so maybe a 1500 is significantly softer in the rear? I couldn't comment on that.

I have about 50,000 miles on my deavers and they still work great for me. I did add the Air Lift Springs so that I can maintain a ride height of slighly taller in the rear regardless of load.... IF your goal is to maintain 100% of factory payload capacity, you may want to leave the overload as it. I was never really able to use the overload spring but for a few occasions when I would haul sand/dirt...

 

[mesquito_creek]

A few updates. I mounted a Thule Rack system with the Thule Awning.
Homemade "water tube"
and a picture of how I haul the taller items with a panel removed from the sleeping platform

 

[mesquito_creek]

And finally an ACTION shot! I have two weekend trips on it!

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Awesome, Its great to see another full size Chevy on the Forum! Looks great, these are really good trucks. My 6.0 just hit 240kmiles

 

[Buliwyf]

Is the water tube just PVC pipe?

My garden hose (150') makes red hot water in just and hour of sun.

I see a ton of GM trucks with the front tires worn severely, and unevenly. Did you ever have an issue with that?

All of our trucks have feathering and uneven wear. Tires must be rotated every 10k for street/rain tires. And every 5k for MT's.
Reasons why:
-impossibly bad ackerman settings on all trucks
-toe issues
-IFS only makes it a little worse, not enough to completely blame the IFS, unless the IFS has caused increased wear the tie rods, making the toe issues worse. (usually the toe improves with age, as it's toe-in that's usually the problem)
-complete lack of decent shocks due to America's poor taste in suspension and dampers. Proper shocks are a bit harsh, you can mitigate that with proper tires and springs.
-OEM tires often aren't too good. Hardly even round. Fords nice Mich tires have had tons of warranty replacements.
-Excessive corner speed. Trucks are understeer city.
-And of course the simple fact, the rear axle doesn't wear tires smooth, as fast as the front axle wears them jagged.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Is the water tube just PVC pipe?

Yes,.... just a gravity feed 5 gallon tube of water. Not really meant to be a hot water system. Just to get the water out of the way and not have to always be moving a 5 gallon jug out of the way. I had a nice spot on the rack without any purpose...

 

[Klutch7]

Crew cab AND long bed?? Nice! I've always been curious how the longest wheelbase works - any issues with turning radius or center ground clearance? I have been on the prowl for an extended cab long bed for a few months.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Crew cab AND long bed?? Nice! I've always been curious how the longest wheelbase works - any issues with turning radius or center ground clearance? I have been on the prowl for an extended cab long bed for a few months.

No U Turns unless there is 3 lanes in the opposite direction... On narrow roads you may have to execute a 15 point turn to reverse directions. I have used it all over Baja and the southwest without issues. But it is not a rock crawler by any means. Super comfy in the rear sleeper with two full sized adults! The two thermorest pads are the equivalent of a Queen size mattress. I have drove trucks this long daily for 20 plus years so I don't know any different.