Strider Colorado ZR2 Duramax Explorer Build and Trips

[coastalcop]

Building nets with magnets is the way to go IMHO. I loved my skeeter beaters when I had my "Minibago" Xterra. Not so useful now with my f150 (alu body construction) . Buying a bunch of neo magnets on amazon is a great way to go, grab some pet rated screen and fit as one part per side and they could adhere to both the Tube frame of the GFC and each other, or two longer pieces that split at the center line of your tent access, allowing them to "re close" with little effort.

Just a few thoughts

 

[transalper]

Weekend in the hills west of Fort Collins! Did a bit of wheeling and camped near Lost Lake. Swung through the Black Hills on the way home.

 

[Explorerinil]

Can you post some pics of lost lake?

 

[transalper]

We camped on the north side Laramie Lake, northeast of Lost Lake off of the Green Ridge Trail (I think that is what it is called).

Moose was nearby off 14.

 

[transalper]

GFC Installed two days ago. Winter is coming to MN, so I need to head south soon.

 

[chilliwak]

Thats a nice looking rig you have there Transalper. I like your mods and upgrades and the camping pics. Seems like you have a lot of rust going on underneath for such a new vehicle. Maybe it is just some kind of optical illusion but a good undercoating might be a good idea. Keep posting those pics. Cheers, chilli... ?

 

[transalper]

Thanks. No rust yet. Just dirt. Previous owner paid for a THICK undercoating - so much so I cannot see the pretty ZR2 shocks.

 

[transalper]

More GFC shots.

 

[transalper]

And now it is winter. I am storing the GFC (to avoid salt exposure) and put on a tonneau for winter driving. Now I can park under the suspended GFC. The color-matched Leer Topper is for sale!

 

[Ratman1979]

Could you post pics/explain how the winch is powered from the battery? I have a '19 diesel ZR2 and the battery/fuse situation on these trucks is a bit intimidating to me.

 

[transalper]

I simply wired the controller directly to the battery per Warn winch installation instructions.

https://www.warn.com/Attachment/DownloadFile?downloadId=960

I do not have an isolator or fuse. I have used the winch to pull down three trees and rescue one jeep so far with no issues. I have thought about upgrading the wiring (and also adding a dual battery system), but that has not risen to the top of the priority list.

 

[Ratman1979]

Thanks. Mine looks like this. With other rigs I've owned, I just wired straight to the pos. clamp on the battery. All the other wires and 100A, 400A, 250A tags gave me a little pause.

 

[dman93]

@transalper If you don’t mind my asking, how has the reliability of your truck been? I have a short bed Tacoma, 3rd gen with 3.5V6 and it’s not a great powertrain but has been a very reliable truck over 70K miles. But I really want/need a longer bed, and pricing on 2.8 Duramax crew cab long beds Z71 trucks is pretty decent (no CC long bed ZR2 unfortunately). I drove Duramax Colorado and liked it a lot, torque and fuel economy are two things the Taco doesn’t do well, but, no offense, as a long time Toyota guy I worry about some of the Duramax issues I read about (injectors, holed pistons, ???). Of course there’s lots of bad press on the 3rd gen Tacoma also, so I know not to believe everything I read online. Thanks.

 

[transalper]

@transalper If you don’t mind my asking, how has the reliability of your truck been? I have a short bed Tacoma, 3rd gen with 3.5V6 and it’s not a great powertrain but has been a very reliable truck over 70K miles. But I really want/need a longer bed, and pricing on 2.8 Duramax crew cab long beds Z71 trucks is pretty decent (no CC long bed ZR2 unfortunately). I drove Duramax Colorado and liked it a lot, torque and fuel economy are two things the Taco doesn’t do well, but, no offense, as a long time Toyota guy I worry about some of the Duramax issues I read about (injectors, holed pistons, ???). Of course there’s lots of bad press on the 3rd gen Tacoma also, so I know not to believe everything I read online. Thanks.

I don't mind at all! I have 54,000 miles (30k are my miles) on my ZR2 with zero problems. I have mostly owned Japanese-made vehicles (some of my old builds are linked below) and am very happy with the Colorado so far. But to be honest, if Toyota had a diesel 3rd Gen 4Runner (or a diesel Xterra??), I would probably be abusing one of those.

 

[transalper]

Rear Baja Design S2 worklights installed and wired to second auxillary switch.