Dr1ft3r

My time is very limited. But, if you have questions I'll try to answer them. I know enough for my needs. I'm certainly not an expert though. I was never taught about snatch blocks. I learned by reading on the internet, learning stuff at jobs and some common sense. That strap is plenty big enough for any recovery job I can envision you trying to do. It's just a matter of attaching it. If the vehicle has dedicated recovery points, like the stock red hooks on the front of my AT4 truck, then that's where you want to attach if they are on the side of the vehicle you need to pull from (try to use the vehicle hitch receiver if available as well). If the vehicle has no recovery points, that's where it gets dicey. Know what you are doing or you may damage the vehicle trying to pull it. I know nothing about recovering vehicles without some form of recovery point as I've never tried to do it.

It depends on the circumstances. If they have a hitch, I would use one of those hitch d-rings that you have. You can also use another one of those yellow straps that you have (shorter length) and wrap it around a solid recovery point and connect the loops with a d-ring, then use that 30' strap to connect it to your vehicle. You could also attach a d-ring to the vehicle, if possible, and use the strap between that d-ring and your hitch d-ring. Just make sure that you have d-rings big enough for the straps you intend to use. From the picture it looks like that d-ring is barely big enough to accommodate that 1 strap in the pic, maybe, but certainly not 2 of those. If the straps are bunched up in the d-ring then the strength of the strap is reduced. If you need 2 different straps, or 2 strap loops from one strap, of that width with that d-ring, then another option would be to attach a d-ring to each strap, then attach those 2 d-rings to the main d-ring. That will help keep them from bunching up. The strap loop should sit evenly in the saddle of the d-ring to achieve the rated strength There's a lot of possibilities. It really depends on the gear you have and the circumstances of the recovery. Just try not to bunch up straps, have them twisted up, or be loaded up on any sharp edge. I've seen straps cut/rip in half very easily when used incorrectly. Rigging is a profession for a reason. I'm certainly not a professional rigger. If you think that you will certainly be doing some recoveries, then you should look into some Dyneema rope. It's much easier to work with as it's round rope, not a flat strap. You can get the ends of the rope looped from the factory so that it will work just like a strap. Then use d-rings to attach it to anything else that you need. I don't remember where I got mine. It was online from a place like www.rope.com. It's not cheap, but you get what you pay for. The stronger it is, the more expensive it gets. I think I paid over $400 for my 100' 3/8" rope. But it has a tensile strength of something like 17,500#. I'm sure that you will not need that long of a length nor as great of a strength. Also, snatch blocks could be very useful if the circumstances allow for it. Using snatch blocks can give you mechanical advantage and effectively reduce the load on the the rope allowing a much heavier object to be moved with rope rated for weight less than the object. That's a whole other discussion though and doesn't apply to using flat straps as snatch blocks will only work with wire/synthetic rope, which is round.

Since I have a 12,000# winch the storage bin under my back seat is completely filled with different brands of everything mentioned here, and then some. 100' of 3/8" dyneema winch extension rope, several D-rings, a few snatch blocks, one of those hitch mounted d-rings like in your pic (I have hitches on the front and rear of my truck), a few tree savers, some synthetic winch rope protectors (in case they are rubbing on something), and a few other things that escape me at the moment. Then my ATV also has a 3,500# winch and I have another set of gear for that which stays with my ATV. Recovery gear sometimes breaks or needs to be taken out of service due to wear, it's a good thing to have more than you need.

I'm used to it. I was engaged once, we split up after 5-1/2 years and before we were married. I was 23 then. So I've been single for most of my life. I've enjoyed life in other ways. I also take care of my family, just not a wife and kids. I spend a couple of grand per month just helping out my mother. She doesn't NEED the help, but I'm trying to make her as comfortable as I can. I have nothing better to spend money on, not including myself.

There are pros and cons to being single. Being able to do whatever I want is certainly one of the pros. I spent a large portion of my career travelling, usually to remote locations. So meeting someone certainly wasn't easy, and I was wary of anything serious anyway as it would have an effect on my career. But now I'm not travelling anymore as I am in a permanent location working in such a great position for an awesome company that I can not even imagine how I could possibly move up from where I am. So, maybe I'll finally settle down? Time will tell...

That's why I'm retiring in the mountains of Montana. I stay away from major cities, even now. My job is on the outskirts of a major city, but I don't ever have to go there. I also have wooded property in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas. It doesn't get much cheaper than living in that area. Land can still be bought for $3k per acre. My property taxes are less than $20 per year for that property. That's one of my vacation properties but could serve as a residence if I needed it to. I'd just park my camper on it and live for nearly nothing. Land where I am right now is $50k per acre.

Oh, I know it doesn't take a lot of money to retire. But having a lot of money makes retirement a lot more fun. I own property free and clear. I could retire today if I wanted to, at age 46. I could survive until death, but not as comfortably as I would like. I don't drink coffee at all. However, I do spend money on conveniences because my time is worth money to me. For example, if I can save 1 hour of my time by spending money on a convenience and it costs me less than 1 hour of overtime at work, then it's a no brainer. That 1 hour is better spent on overtime at work in that case. I have access to unlimited overtime. In fact, working more overtime also gets me more bonus stock awards from the company, which is awesome because we are limited to $25k per year of purchasable stock due to IRS regulations. The only other way for me to get the stock is from bonuses, and an annual bonus of $100k is very common. Everyone has different wants and needs. If you've found your niche, then I salute you.

The timing for death isn't as critical if you can minimize your bills. I plan to have no loans/mortgages to pay and will only carry liability insurance on my vehicles. I will have to pay property taxes and food bills mostly. But I'll likely be able to live on $25k per year, or less. If I'm collecting social security then it will be super easy, but I'm planning for that to be gone by then. Depending on how the stock in my company does between now and retirement, I may be sitting on several million dollars by then (since the company started in 2002 the stock value has only decreased twice by less than 1% and increases by 25% yearly, on average). But, I'm also not planning my future on that happening either. Those situations will just increase my quality of life after retirement.

Money is a relative thing. To me, it's only money. I can't take it with me when I die and I've always had enough money to make my ends meet. So why not enjoy life? FWIW, I have 5 vehicles, all 2019 and newer (4 of them are 2023), that are covered with full coverage insurance. I have a clean driving record, as far as insurance is concerned, and I pay $551 per month to State Farm for these 5 vehicles. I'm 46 and single.

Not to detract from the thread, but I have used AA in every vehicle I've had since it was available including my 23 GMC HD. There's nothing else that has ever worked as well as Google Maps for me, and up until August of this year I travelled the country for a living. My new Tesla does not support AA, but the built in nav system uses Google APIs and even says Google in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. However, it is definitely not the exact same as Google Maps has never frozen on me when using AA or even directly from my phone. I've also used them side-by-side just to test and they don't give the same routes all of the time. GMC did not do a great job of integrating AA though. Like stated above it can be a nuisance to use other apps while using AA in my truck. It would also be nice if the HUD would support it as well. I still use AA over the factory nav though, even with these shortcomings.

While I agree with the points made above, I'm also a believer in not buying vehicles the first year they are available after any major changes, especially changes to software and electrical systems. While there are not always major issues, the first year is going to be when most of the issues are going to happen. That being said, I'm happy that my 2023 has not had any major issues and all of the safety systems appear to be working fine. However, I just purchased a 2023 Tesla since I can charge it at work for free. It is essentially free transportation. The monthly payment is about the same as my monthly fuel bill was on my truck ($140 per week). But I've been having some issues with the nav system freezing and I can only unfreeze it by restarting the computer in the car. After looking online I discovered forum posts from 2020 about the exact same issue, and that's also where I learned how to fix it. The point being that some issues persist through many model years.

So having a sun roof subtracts a few inches of headroom? According to that same thread, it appears that the 2020+ has a little more headroom (less than 1/2"). But maybe the seat in the pre-2020 has a little bit more vertical adjustment?

The 2018s must not have as much headroom. I'm not familiar with any differences that may exist between our models. I only know about my 2023. Even with the seat as high up as I can make it go there's still a few inches over my head. I don't recall ever hitting the liner, even when I've been off road.

Sorry, I've been AWOL for a while. 5 PSI is the minimum that's supposed to be kept in most bags to prevent the walls of the bags from being damaged, unless the bags have the stopper inside (which I believe all of the Firestone bags do). Then they don't need any PSI when not under load (I believe, but could be wrong). However, I would still run a few PSI in them for the following reason. The bags with the stopper inside WILL ride rougher than those without the stopper if the truck is bouncing enough to hit the stopper. Will it be rougher than stock? I don't know as I only buy Air Lifter bags without the stopper. But in stock form the truck has rubber stoppers already in the spot where the bags are installed. The stock stoppers have to be removed to add the bags. So, I would guess that at the very minimum, the bags with the stoppers should at least be equal to the stock ride, not worse. As for hitting the liner, are you like 7 foot tall? I'm 6'2" and I have probably 6" or more above my head. Unless you are really bouncing that bad. In which case there is definitely something seriously wrong.

How does adding airbags make the suspension rough? My airbags made a noticeable improvement on my ride when empty and full. I don't lower the air pressure in my tires. I ride around with 70-80 psi all of the time whether under load or not. Nobody has told me that my truck rides rough. Even my 64 y/o mother thinks it rides fine. There is either something wrong with your suspension, the roads you are travelling on are rougher than anything I have traveled on (I've been on and off road between Seattle and Memphis with this truck so far), or there are some soft guys on this forum.

Odd, my driver's mat is all weather and attaches to the 2 tabs that lock it to the floor. However, the passenger side has no lock tabs.

My height is 157" and it works fine on mine. But mine is a 2023, if that matters.

I actually ordered the all weather mats from GM with my AT4. They have no carpet. I have no complaints.

If you install bags on your 3500 it will never touch the overload springs again and it made an immediately noticeable ride quality improvement for me when not loaded down. Obviously, it also improves loaded ride quality too. I run my tires at 70 to 80 psi all the time and the ride is fine. YMMV

If you want a higher trim then you may have to order one. I ordered mine because I refuse to settle for anything less than exactly what I want. But that's your decision. I just made a 9 hour haul over to Seattle, WA. It was all interstate until the last 90 minutes of my trip (I-84, I-82 and I-90). My average MPG varied along the way depending on how rugged the terrain was. But the lowest mpg was 5.7 and the best was around 8. Keep in mind this trip has very little flat ground. I weighed before I left and as you can see I weighed in at 21,120. My truck weighed 9,020 and that's almost empty. So the trailer weighed 12,100. The tongue weight calculates to 1,540. I don't use a WDH and with 1,540 on my tongue my front axle weight only drops down to 4,400. I use bags to keep my rear end from squatting. I would like to see the stock front end weight as I have added a few hundred pounds to my front end. I'm betting that it's close to 4,500 without a 2nd battery. The best part of the trip is near the end (The area outside of Seattle is beautiful), but it was raining pretty hard at that point so I didn't get any good pics. There were a couple of times when I couldn't accelerate any faster due to the grade and the fact that I was towing at very close to the limit of my truck. But at no point did my speed drop below 55 mph (unless I chose to go slower than that). At no time did my transmission temperature get higher than 198 degrees. Those couple of times are when the diesel would have done better. Is that worth the $10k price tag and increased fuel costs with possible reduced reliability? Only you can answer that. For me? No.

I made my own mount, but I'm also not working with the factory bumper. My Ranch Hand bumper system certainly added some more room between the bumper and the radiator than that stock bumper. But it wasn't a winch ready bumper, they don't currently sell a winch ready bumper for our trucks. I used the feet forward winch mount from Warn, but modified it to suit my needs and bolted it to 3/8" cold rolled steel plate that I mounted directly to my bumper frame bolts (over the top of the Ranch Hand bumper steel plates that were bolted to the frame). That being said, there still wasn't a lot of room to fit my 12k winch in there. I don't think you can fit a winch that big behind the stock bumper very easily. You may have to use something like that Warn mount to install the winch on the outside of your bumper. The best option is to get an aftermarket steel bumper that accommodates a winch.

I tow a 13k# bumper pull toy hauler with my gasser in the Rocky Mountains (with a 6-speed). Unless you are towing that much, or more, weekly and over long distances then you don't need a diesel. Even then, a diesel isn't really a need. The gasser tows what it's rated for just fine. I daily drive my truck and definitely prefer the fuel savings.

If you need a drop only then this (they only have 8" drop in 2.5" receiver): https://www.amazon.com/CURT-45955-Rebellion-Adjustable-Receiver/dp/B08QMDDLJ6/ref=sr_1_1? I needed a rise for my toy hauler so that Curt wouldn't work. I went with this B&W since it can drop or rise, but no cushion (you can get it in various drop lengths): https://www.amazon.com/Trailer-Hitches-TS20043B-Adjustable-Receiver/dp/B07Z8HS5MQ/ref=sr_1_10? My toy hauler weighs about 13k# fully loaded and the tongue weight varies between 1,500# and 1,900#.

I've had dealers ask for a deposit and dealers that didn't. I didn't put down a deposit on my 23 Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve. But I did put down a $1,000 deposit for this 23 GMC Sierra. However, I don't think they would have kept the deposit if I didn't pick up the truck. It's not like they can't sell it. The dealer even told me that they had 3 different people trying to buy it before I got there to pick it up (I was working a few states away and had to come home to get it). I put down a $1,000 deposit on a Lexus RCF a few years ago, but bailed on it when it arrived. They still gave me back my deposit even through the paper I signed said it was non-refundable.

I've always used Safelite too. My sheet quoted $1,400 for OEM replacement. I paid $0, but that's the most expensive windshield replacement I've ever had. Since your sheet quoted a lot less I was wondering if it was the same windshield. I have the Lane Departure Warning System which required the tech to connect his computer to the vehicle and I also have the HUD. I don't know if those options would be the reason for the difference in price of the windshield between us. Location could be another factor. I'm out here in the boonies of the Rocky Mountains. I contract all over the country and the fast food here is even more expensive than a lot of places. It takes a week+ for the local dealer to get my windshield shipped in.