Zane

But in practice, 99% of the people walking the show are there as enthusiasts, not actual buyers. Don't get too tied up on the "industry only" language.

Every time GM finishes one of these buyouts and new hires are brought in, the quality and consistency of my ability to communicate with GM as a whole drops significantly. The difference in the last 10 years is STAGGERING.

Come visit the Chevy booth! There's lots of room to walk around! Zane Merva Executive Editor / Publisher , GM-Trucks.com 11/02/18 The Answer We're killing Betteridge's law of headlines. Yes. The Setup Arrive at SEMA and the first thing you see and hear is the sound of Ford Mustangs and F-150 Raptors in the front parking lot giving hot laps and jumps to convention goers. All in front of a HUGE crowd. In the back parking lot, Kia was also offering hot, tire squealing rides in the new Stinger. Both events had long lines and awestruck crowds. From the outside, SEMA could have been seen as a Ford and Jeep Show. Ford product was everywhere. Wranglers were in every booth. PPG's booth changes every single year and dazzles with detail and color The Competition Inside, Ford's display included dozens of cars, concepts, tricked out race Mustangs, and super lifted F-150s. Toyota had a lineup that attracted attention and whispers SEMA wide, a lineup of every generation Supra, including the new one. Mopar's booth (Chrysler, RAM, Dodge) was vibrant, alive, and interactive. And packed. Rich, interesting, vibrant. The booth pulls you in. MOPAR always kills it. The Home Team Then, there was Chevrolet. No interactive experiences, same booth from the last 10 years, no true concept vehicles, and the predictable COPO Camaro. Sure, there was a few 2019 Silverado and Colorado with Chevy Performance Accessories, but you'd be hard pressed to know that unless you looked at the detail card in front of each vehicle. The redesigned Camaro was showcased next to the COPO Drag Camaro and eCOPO electric Drag Camaro. But everyone was confused. Was this the actual production look? Or would Chevy change the design again? The all new Blazer made an appearance but in pre-production trim only and looking way too good to come off an assembly line. Chevrolet canceled it's 10+ year streak of Pre-SEMA kickoff parties this year, leaving media and enthusiasts in the dark about what the company was truly proud about. I personally attempted to get a rundown of the vehicles that would be on display weeks ahead of the show. My request was only replied to after three follow ups. Even then, the company representative only told me there wasn't a kickoff event and nothing about what the brand was showing off. Okay then. Before we even touched down in Vegas it was apparent Chevy didn't care too much about the show this year. The crowd trying to photograph the line of Supra was intense The Show Vibe Aside from manufacturer's efforts to wow and dazzle SEMA-goers, the amount and types of vehicles on display in the independent booths also set the vibe for the show. In years past, Chevy killed it in this regard. During the launch of the 5th-gen Camaro, the new model was in almost every booth. Same with the 2014 Silverado. Independent accessory manufacturers wanted and needed to have those new models in their booth to attract customers. This was the coolest thing in the entire Chevy booth. A 1978 "Silverado Concept" This year, despite the biggest truck launch of Chevrolet's existence, the 2019 Silverado was a rare beast to find in the halls of SEMA 2018. Only twenty 2019 T1XX pickups were to be found in the Truck/Off Road section. Now, compare that to hundreds of 2019 RAMs and Jeep Wranglers. (The 2019 Wrangler killed it this year and was EVERYWHERE). Large companies like Truck Hero and Lund had one or two 2019 Silverado but three or four 2019 RAM and maybe ten Wranglers. Yay, we found one! What Should Have Happened Chevrolet missed a giant opportunity this year at SEMA 2018. At minimum, the brand should have: Taken Toyota's cue and had an "every generation" lineup of pickups. The photo opportunities would have been amazing and the foot traffic would have been through the roof. Never canceled the customary kick-off welcome event for enthusiasts. Just omitting that one opportunity to pump up the brand gave no room for excitement to take off before the show. Expanded or embellished the booth. Chevy's footprint was underwhelming and pedestrian compared to even smaller industry players. Continued to offer their Camaro/Corvette hot lap experience to get show goers excited. Pushed 2019 Silverados out to independent companies for display like candy is given to kids on Halloween. "It's a wide non-descript wall of parts with super high prices" could have been Chevy's theme this year. Did Chevy botch this year's SEMA Show? Yes, I think so. But.... Only the brand can tell you if they got what they were looking for. As an enthusiast, I left wanting more. Much, much more.

Thanks for joining alone everyone!

More on the way!

Zane Merva Executive Editor, GM-Trucks.com 10/30/18 Day one of SEMA 2018 is almost already in the books and we've barely made it through the South Hall (which houses the Truck/Off-Road section) trying to get our eyes on every customized 2019 being shown inside exibitor's booths. There's no way we'll see everything but what we have seen already is impressive. Accessories for the all new Sierra and Silverado are coming out in force, even if the trucks are still trickling into dealerships. Although the new fullsize pickups are GM's hot new thing, the automaker has not made it a focus of this year's show. That means, while we're seeing a ton of 2019 Silverado and Sierra, there are 2x as many 2019 Dodge Ram and 5x as many Jeep Wranglers. Here's what we've seen so far. We'll add more photos to this thread as we take them.

When we get back from SEMA we'll have a full introductory post. We definitely got sidetracked over the last month, so it's taken longer to put together than we wanted.

Zane Merva Executive Editor, GM-Trucks.com 10/26/18 General Motors is moving farther along the process of testing the forthcoming 2020 Silverado HD and we've got photos to prove it. Our spy photographer recently captured what looks to be work truck style trim level 2020 Silverado HD's testing on public Michigan roads. He notes: ------ We caught Chevy engineers testing prototypes for its work-spec Silverado 2500 HD WT pickups, conducting towing testing and standard unladen tests on Michigan highways. The latest prototypes have dropped a little bit of camouflage, revealing some LED lighting details on the prototypes' towing mirrors, consisting of twin LED strips. The truck shows Chevrolet's WT-spec's stripped-down, budget-minded functionality. The Silverado HD's WP trim will feature a grille design similar to the Silverado 1500's WT models, with "CHEVROLET" emblazoned across the grille's crossbar (as seen in the teaser image earlier this year). The prototype also shows the simple, blacked-out trim and blacked-out front and rear bumpers. Simple steer wheels are also on display. Inside, expect to see and HD WT with vinyl or cloth interior, and a simple 7-inch LED touchscreen on the dash. The new Silverado 1500 lineup has more model designations than ever before, and we expect a similar roll-out for the 2020 HD model-range. The stakes have never been higher in the Detroit 3 truck wars, and the combatants are all readying new, or updated assaults. In addition to GM's heavy-duty prototypes that are undergoing an expansive testing regimen, Ram is readying extensively updated HD trucks in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. To round things out, Ford is working on mid-cylce updates for their own Super Duty Range to counter the oncoming HD onslaught, just as they did to counter the all new 2019 Ram, Silverado and Sierra 1500s from Ram, Chevy, and GMC. ------ What do you think? Are you excited for the next generation Silverado HD? 2020 Chevy Silverado HD Spy Shot Photos

That's up next.

Zane Merva Executive Editor, GM-Trucks.com 10/25/18 GM-Trucks.com will be making our annual trek to Las Vegas next week for the 2018 SEMA Show. We're excited to be going back to Sin City after our trip last year was sidelined by a freak windstorm. What is the SEMA Show? It's the largest business to business automotive trade show in the world. Over 150k industry buyers, media, and representatives are slated to attend the three day show next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The public isn't invited, so getting into the place isn't as easy as most would like. Inside, the SEMA Show is an verified automotive candy store. Custom cars, parts, aftermarket accessories, paints, wheels, and anything automotive is on display for your viewing pleasure. Experts are on hand to answer any questions you have about anything. For many automotive industry giants SEMA holds the key to another year of sales contacts and business success. It's the only time of the year where all of their suppliers, distributors, and customers are in one place. The SEMA Show is LIFE to many automotive companies. Which is exactly why we attend every year we can. To sample the industry vibe, see the new products, and say hi to old friends. Join us next Tuesday and Wednesday as myself, @Josh and @Chris walk the show floor and share with you the best of the automotive world. While you're excited, head on over to our YouTube channel and subscribe! We'll be going LIVE from the show and bringing you along for the ride. The GM-Trucks.com YouTube Channel Here's some photos from SEMA over the past few years. Research SEMA and the SEMA Show on Wikipedia

Zane & Josh, The Merva Brothers Co-Founders, GM-Trucks.com October 2018 Pickup utility racks have been an option for anyone looking to haul around longer objects for decades. They've gotten the job done when stuff like ladders, wood, and canoes needed moved from one place to another. With the options of bed sizes shrinking over the past few years, a stylish and functional utility rack can add, well , a lot of utility to your full size or midsize truck. Unfortunately, not many racks look as good as they function and take away from the aesthetics of our vehicle. So, when we found a new aluminum utility rack that looked as professional as our truck, we wanted to try it out. In an effort to find a stylish utility rack we're reviewing the Agri-Cover ADARAC Aluminum Series. What is it? Agri-Cover ADARAC Aluminum Series Model Number 4001238 For 2007-2013 Silverado/Sierra 1500 with 6' 6" bed MSRP: $491.30 / $578 MSRP (as of October 2018) Manufacturer Website: https://www.agricover.com/truck-bed-racks/ Installation Time: 1-hour Installation Difficulty: Easy with basic mechanical skills and a helping hand Main Features Rust resistant aluminum construction No drill installation Compact and narrow upright designs Four load dividers included Compatable with Access-Cover bed covers What We Like Modern and stylish brushed aluminum design Thick stamped upright supports are super staunch Modular attachment points and accessories Uprights can be removed or installed with one person 500-lb capacity What We Don’t Like Stamped parts have sharp edges out of the box Can't re-position uprights without tools Rack as a whole can restrict what you put in the bed unless removed Tie-down holes are only barely bigger than a standard hook ADARAC Aluminum Series Unboxing The ADARAC came securely shipped in a long and moderately heavy box. One person can move the packaging around but two would be easier. We started out by unpacking our rack, laying out all of the parts and reading the manual. We found hardware packaging was excellent with no missing parts. The manual was clear and easy to understand. Nothing was scratched or damaged. The stamped aluminum uprights came covered in a protective sheeting/fabric and looking as if they were straight out of the forming machine. We almost cut ourselves on the uprights because no clean up work had been done to remove burrs or sharp edges. A smooth edge would have been a lot better and easier to handle. Once everything was organized and we had familiarized ourselves with the installation manual, we started to get to work. ADARAC Aluminum Series Installation We installed this rack at the same time as our Access-Cover Lorado Roll Up Cover. If you're doing something similar, don't make the same mistake we did and try to install the rack before the cover. It won't work, as the ADARAC blocks the bed-stake holes when installed. The same stake holes you need access to for installing the Lorado, so install your bed cover first. Speaking of...check our our full review of the Access-Cover Lorado here After getting ahead of ourselves, we detoured and installed our cover before coming back to the ADARAC. The first step was to lay down the side rails and secure them to the stake pockets on the bed using compression style fittings. The attachment method is slick, requiring no drilling or cutting. It's also fully reversible and doesn't damage your bed. Best of all, the rails are never going to move. The first step is to drop the compression plates into the stake holds and tighten down the rails with two clamps/bolts per rail. Then we measured the distance between the installed rails on the bed and set the uprights at the same distance on the floor. We used some old shop towels to prevent scratching the pretty aluminum. Next, we attached the crossbars at the measured width making sure to center everything up. We then tightened the assembled front and back racks on the ground before lifting them up to the truck bed. A few bolts and adjustments later... our racks are on the truck. The best part about aluminum racks is that the front and rear sections are light enough for one person to install or remove them without help. The rear upright mounting bolts are in a tight space when installed with a bed cover and we couldn't use a socket wrench to tighten them down. And before we knew it, our Sierra had a new utility rack and bed cover. Total installation time took right around one hour and was easy enough to do with one person but would be quicker with two. ADARAC Aluminum Series Final Thoughts An entire summer has gone by since we first installed our ADARAC Aluminum Series Utility Rack and we've been extremely glad we've had it as a tool on our GMC. We've used the ADARAC to help build a new bathroom, take our canoe to the local lake for a relaxing afternoon, and moved our ladder around to help with projects at home and work. The ADARAC has conquered every task we've thrown at it. It's never bent, felt flimsy, or failed to hold our cargo firmly in place. Basically... exactly what you want from a utility rack. The brushed aluminum finish and sleek stamped uprights also look good too. If the $500 price tag is too much, Agri-Cover offers the standard version of the ADARAC which is constructed with steel instead but uses the same basic design. Or, if you need a little wider load, the ADARAC Aluminum Pro Series is designed for larger objects and capacities. If you're in the market for a good looking, well functioning and indestructible utility rack for your truck, we recommend you look at the Agri-Cover ADARAC Utility Rack. Editor's Note: This product was provided at no cost for the purposes of a review. We only publish our honest opinions and give no consideration for the gratis product. ADARAC Aluminum Series Installation Gallery

Zane Merva Executive Editor, GM-Trucks.com 10/5/18 General Motors has moved further along in the testing regimen for the all new 2020 Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon full-size sport utility vehicles. The SUV pair were recently spotted on public roads, still camouflaged, but showing off significant details and clues about the new vehicles. Our spy photographer reports: 2020 Chevy Tahoe & GMC Yukon Spy Shot Photos