A new beginning. 2003 Silverado

[8520]

Well hello gentlemen.

This is my first build thread here so bear with me. In an effort to have a more useful vehicle for myself and have something more utilitarian I bought an 03 Silverado with 146k last weekend for $7500. I plan to make this vehicle as functional and go anywhere as possible without compromising comfort and daily drive ability. I am an install technician by trade so a lot of this will be geared towards electrical/ electronic upgrades. Anyways. Here is the truck as I bought it.

 

[8520]

Guess I have to wait until I've been here a while before I can link Photobucket images, oh well. Pictures won't be very organized until then.

Done a few things so far. Added an alarm and remote start, as well as homelink (paranoid about people breaking in and stealing a garage door opener)



Debadged everything including the ugly side moldings and the pin stripe



Removed the billet grill (helllo 90's)



Added a second battery in the factory location using a factory tray, as well as added a solenoid hidden under the cowl for the second battery.



Second battery will run all accessories so if they kill the battery I can still start the truck. Going to run a 150amp breaker to 4 gauge to feed a rear fuse box I will install in the bed. Fuse box will feed all rear accessories including canopy lighting. These are the canopy light I've ordered, should be able to fit them this week.



Going to use forklift disconnects for the 4 gauge power and ground feeds from below the bed and then rig up a disconnect for the canopy as well.



I am attempting to make everything as future proof and accessible as possible so that canopy and bed will both be easily removable should I need to. Eventual plans include a rear winch mount and possible second gas tank so this important to me.

 

[chilliwak]

Welcome to the site 8520 and thanks for posting pics of your fine GM rig. I am sure you will fine lots of helpfull people here so dont be scared of asking questions. Larry is our GM guru as are a lot of other people here. I look forward to seeing what you do with your rig and seeing some pics of your truck out playing in the bush. Cheers, Chilli..

 

[8520]

Thanks chili. Hope to have better luck showing what I've to the truck once I figure out how to load pictures better. Is there a post counter I need to hit before I can post links? I.e. Pictures?

 

[mccustomize]

I use postimage.org for image hosting, it's free and easy

 

[8520]

I use postimage.org for image hosting, it's free and easy

Photobucket has worked fine for me for years, but I think I'm limited to what I can post because I'm new here.


*edit* added pictures to second post through pc. Kind of a hassle but will work for now.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Done a few things so far. Added an alarm and remote start, as well as homelink (paranoid about people breaking in and stealing a garage door opener)

Except now if you park on the driveway, the Homelink is a key to the house (or at least the garage).

But a buddy of mine had a theory on locking his car doors. He didn't see the point. He figured that if someone wanted in, they'd just break the window and he'd have a broken window to add to the list of crap to deal with. But one day someone did "break" into his car- but they didn't need to bother with the noisy window breaking and just opened the door. They then took his garage door opener and some mail (his interior rivaled the cleanliness of most dumpsters) with his address and went to his house. They stole his laptop and a bunch of guns. The police figured his wife walked in on them because the front door was wide open with a bunch of stuff staged near the door.

 

[8520]

Except now if you park on the driveway, the Homelink is a key to the house (or at least the garage).

Well homelink only works when the key is turned to ignition so not quite. Only way they could use it as a key to the house is if they hot wired my truck, and that is incredibly unlikely considering that an alarm system would be blaring in their face. That, and I don't park our vehicles outside

The whole idea is to prevent someone stealing a garage door opener and registration when I park down town Seattle, etc. Homelink gives me a lot of peace of mind.

But a buddy of mine had a theory on locking his car doors. He didn't see the point. He figured that if someone wanted in, they'd just break the window and he'd have a broken window to add to the list of crap to deal with. But one day someone did "break" into his car- but they didn't need to bother with the noisy window breaking and just opened the door. They then took his garage door opener and some mail (his interior rivaled the cleanliness of most dumpsters) with his address and went to his house. They stole his laptop and a bunch of guns. The police figured his wife walked in on them because the front door was wide open with a bunch of stuff staged near the door.

Exactly this. An installer friend of mine always said "locked doors only keep honest people out". He would go so far as arming his alarm in a shady area, then unlocking his doors so that a thief would in theory open the door, trigger the alarm and then run away without breaking anything. Seemed to work okay for him.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Well homelink only works when the key is turned to ignition so not quite.

The homelink in my Escape works with the key off.

 

[kojackJKU]

weird, in my 05 z71 suburban home link works whether the key is in or not. BTW the new style wheels look awesome. I am in the process of getting a set of those for my burb. great rig.