Pretty excited about writing this post. My 4 month quest for a pickup was finally realized a couple of weeks ago. After considering all the import and domestic brands, GMC came out on top for me, especially from an aesthetics stand point. Now, I may be different than many of you truck enthusiasts..........I've been driving BMW's and Audi's for the past 15 years, with my most recent being a 2014 Audi RS5. Wicked car, amazing power, fit and finish etc, but it just didn't offer the utility I wanted for pulling a trailer with sport bikes on, shuttling mountain bikes up the north shore mountains here in Vancouver, etc......
So my search for a 2014 Sierra RCSB SLE spanned across Canada and in to WA and OR. Hard to find to say the least. I looked at the 2016's but I wasn't sold on the new grill design, and the prices for a 2015/14 were just too attractive. I ended up finding a 2015 on a dealers lot, with the right wheels, right color, Navigation, etc etc.
First order of business was to decide on a tonneau. Holy crap was that ever a big research project. I wanted a really good design that allowed me some kind of trunk. I landed on the Fold-a-Cover with the caddy. Super sweet design.
Next up was leather. I haven't driven a vehicle without leather for 20 years, and I was impressed with some of the Katskin interiors I had seen. Ordered up black, perforated leather, with silver stitching, and had the local installer add heated seats with a Hi-Lo-Off switch. We had a cold rainy day here in Vancouver today, and I'll tell ya, on hi...........you will be sweating after 20mins. Love it
Suspension was next, and after agonizing over lowering options, and reading everything I could for about an hour a day over 4 months, I decided to "lame out" and go with a non-invasive 2/4 drop. I just couldn't bring myself to cutting the bump stop brackets off a brand new truck with zero miles on it. In the end, it measured 1.75" in the front, and 3.25" in the rear.
I am a bit of a suspension junkie, at least with all my sport bikes, so handling was more important to me than ride height. I chose to spend the money on a Helwig sway bar, and I gotta tell ya.............it transforms the truck. Sure, it sits flat railing around a cloverleaf on the freeway, but you can really feel the difference all the time, even just pulling away from a light and turning left or right, it feels way tighter/flatter. There are three stiffness settings for the sway bar, and they set me up at the least stiffest of the three to start. I'll have them adjust it to the stiffest and let you folks know how it feels.
Here is a before pic measuring (from ground to wheel arch) 36.25" front and 40" rear:
After pic measuring 34.5" front and 36.75" rear. My air dam was 9" off the ground, and now its 7.5":
Another pic for good measure:
Components:
Helwig Sway Bar
Belltech front adjustable struts
Belltech rear shocks
Belltech rear lowering kit (shackles, U-bolts, plates etc)
Consistent with many other owner's feedback, the Belltech's are a huge improvement in ride quality over the very harsh Ranchos that come on a Z71.
Here's a shot of the Katskinz perforated interior:
