Brightwood

Congratulations! I just joined you. Finally all mine.

@UofAZCats this looks incredible! You described exactly what I'm looking for out of an upgrade and I haven't done it yet for the same reasons. Could you provide some links for the specific products you got? Would also love more detailed write up if you're up for it. Great work!

Appreciate it! Hope it's not too much to ask, but the American Trucks site site has like no pictures. Any chance we could get a view from inside the cab?

After too long in Georgia, finally got my tags updated and I'm legal again. Really like how these forestry ones look - nice and subtle - also doesn't require me to broadcast what county I live in

Do you have a post where you talked about installing those headllights? They look great! Also, gonna need more details on that deflector

Wow, surprised to hear it's so easy. Thanks for the write up!

Was getting a "low battery" notice and the truck was taking 3-4 attempts to get started on really cold days, then failed to start altogether. So, I took the opportunity to upgrade to an Interstate AGM battery from what I'm pretty sure was the original. Apparently, the battery wasn't the only problem though because it still wasn't starting after the swap even though everything else worked. $600 later (w/ towing), it's got a new starter and is firing like a dream every time regardless of the weather. Annoying and a little too much of a coincidence that these both failed at the same time, but I guess that's just my luck. Details in the build thread.

Being from a colder climate, batteries have always been top of mind for auto maintenance. I don't think I've ever lived through a winter where someone I know (or I) didn't have battery struggles on a particularly cold morning. I've had my eyes on AGM batteries for some time for their long list of benefits, so in outfitting the truck, I was just waiting for the original flooded lead battery to show signs of weakness. A little over a month ago, it started showing some difficulties remote starting. It would click, die, and I'd have to start it again. Then, it started taking longer and longer to start, especially on cold days. I started shopping around for an AGM a day before I got the "low battery" warning on starting up. I've always had great experiences with Interstate Batteries, so in this I went with their MTX-94R/H7 AGM battery, it cost me a little under $200 after core exchange. When I went to go pick it up, the truck wouldn't start. A little electric whirring, then nothing. Of course. I borrowed the wife's car, grabbed the battery, and made the swap in what happened to be the last snowstorm of the year stuck out in the driveway. Probably the most complicated battery install I've ever had to do, but once you figure out how to maneuver the big battery into the small space, it's not so bad. I got in, all of the accessories fired up, my "low battery" warning was gone, but that was all. It still wouldn't start. Not sure how I got lucky enough to have a dead battery and starter at the same time, but that's what it ended up being. A cool $600 later (including towing), I've got a new starter and the truck is back to normal. It kinda blows me away how fast it starts now. Guess I got used to the slow cranking over time and didn't notice.

I have Verizon, and this is their Orbic Speed device - costs about $80. I was originally looking at their Hum product which is actually meant for use in a car, but that thing collects a TON of data about you and your driving - and I wasn't really interested in Verizon having even more of my personal info than they already do. Might be a good option if you don't care about that though. I've only had the device for a few days but it works great so far. I also have unlimited data - which is probably a must for this. I think you'd burn through your data pretty quickly otherwise. Costs $13 or $23 to add to your plan depending on what else you have going on

Mounted a wi-fi hotspot to the upper glove box using some command strips. Pretty neat having rolling wi-fi!

Swapped out the intake and cabin filters... gonna go ahead and assume that cabin filter is the original

Improbably, both of my windshield wipers failed yesterday at the same time in the exact same way - and it hasn't even been below freezing for more than a week. Oh well, these were on the truck when I got it about a year ago so I had no idea how good they were anyway. Upgraded to Bosch Icon based on the recommendation from The Wirecutter; they've never steered me wrong in the past. I used to do the Rain-X Latitudes, so it'll be interesting to see how these compare.

Just coming back to the forums after a long winter and noticing I forgot to post that I added railcaps to close off my stake pockets. Huge fan. Full details in my build thread: https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/239297-turtl3ups-2018-silverado/?do=findComment&comment=2506628. I also had my first oil change with the Fumoto valve and my. god. I feel like I've discovered fire. What barbarians we all were with simple plugs in the past. I'll be installing these on all my vehicles and recommending them to anyone who'll listen. Can also say that after a winter of using this washer fluid mix, I can highly recommend the Prestone. It cleans well, doesn't freeze, and there's a lovely subtle orange scent that makes its way into the cabin every time I spray, it's great. I really don't think the rain-x additive added anything and if I were you, I'd just skip it.

It's a small nitpick, but I've never really liked the look of my empty stake pockets just being out there all naked. I know some people like to use them as handholds for climbing into the bed and most sane people can probably just ignore them. It's also possible that I was itching to do something to the truck and $20 never got anyone in trouble. Mysteries of the universe. I poked around a bit and found these laser-measured and texture-matched caps at Engineered by Schildmeier for a cool $25. You get exactly what it says on the tin. They go in easy with a few taps of the palm and lock in tight. They sit flush and look factory. No complaints at all.

Got really lucky and caught this number just before I pulled out of the driveway the other day. Hard to believe it's been that far already.