New Silverado Comes Home (kinda Long)

[dbozman]

Last Friday I brought home my '10 half-ton LT. I was strongly shopping price here in the Phoenix area. I've owned several Chevy trucks previously and had always had 4wd. In thinking about it, I realized I'd never actually used 4wd and the 4x4 trucks are premium priced. Ended up getting a 5.3/6-speed/2wd/3.42/tow package G80 extended cab (did not want crew).

 

White wasn't my first choice, but I wanted a 2010 so I had to take what I could get in some regard. Ended up buying from Freeway Chevy in Ahwatukee and had a good experience; about $26.5k out the door (that's with $500 for registration and our insane ~9% sales tax).

 

Very pleased with the truck overall. The new powerband with the 6 speed takes some getting used to, but I have no complaints. Fit and finish are fine and typical Chevy. Ride quality with the front coilovers seems superior to my last new truck ('05 Z71).

 

Got a couple mods done in short order. Installed the RC 2-inch leveling kit yesterday. Man, very easy mod to accomplish. I mostly disregarded the instructions as they seemed overly complicated. I simply removed both swaybar extensions, unbolted both front coilovers at the bottom only, then placed a small bottle jack between the upper A arm and the coilover mount. This pushes the A arm assembly down to slip the spacer in. I then used a prybar to guide the lower coilover into position and bolted it all together. It would be easier with an extra set of hands.

 

From pulling the truck into the garage to bolting the wheels back on, took less than an hour. Probably would've pushed 45 minutes with a spare set of hands.

 

The photos still appear to have some rack. According to the tape measure, the run is up about 1/4-inch, which is about perfect. I think the white rear wheelwells fool the eye a bit.

 

Then had some new tires installed on stock 17-inch wheels. I don't love the wheels, but I'm not particularly enamored of most aftermarket wheels, either. Shopped around a little and found a nice deal on a set of Falken Wildpeak ATs in 285/70r17. Had them installed at Big O for about $850 out the door.

 

The installer said they tires took a little more weight than he expected. He also said they seemed a lot heavier than the typical 33-inch D-load tire. They look pretty nice and really fill out the wheelwells properly. I've got about 50ish miles of mixed surface and freeway driving. You can actually feel the additional weight, but it's mostly a positive thing. The tires are quiet and perfectly balanced.

 

Today I went over to my favorite exhaust shop (Mad Hatter in on 7th St. for locals). I typically run Magnaflow mufflers with great success. After talking with my regular guy there, I ended up going with a Flowmaster Delta 50 welded into the stock pipe. Touch more aggressive than the Magnaflow, but not obnoxious. I didn't note any droning in the cab on the freeway.

 

This may just be wishful thinking, but the muffler did seem to make a small improvement in part-throttle driveability for me.

 

Anyway, pretty happy overall with how the truck is sitting. My only other real current plan is to Line-X or Inyati line the bed over the rails. Oh, and the rear wheelwell liners are on order. Here are a couple pics:

 

 

 

 

[426ted]

Nice truck. love the extended cab look.

[matt_philips]

nice aggressive looking setup w/ 285's. I agree on the wheels, but there are more lousy looking aftermarket wheels out there than stock, so i kept mine too for now.

[Stevens03]

Looks great... Congrats!

[Black02Silverado]

Sweet! I would think white would be the color of choice in the heat you see there.

[SJP12]

looks nice, i like those wheels. I need to get my RC kit installed....you make it sound very easy....I have had it for almost a year.

 

 

BTW, Can you post a picture and or video of the muffler and how it sounds?

[Big Whiskey]

Looks great! Congratulations on the purchase. Makes me want to trade my 20's for some 285's on 17's

[AThomas7782]

Nice! Been a busy man with the mods. I agree with you on the wheels. I liked the way the 07 - 09 17"s looked, but they changed them in 2010. The GMC 17s are decent looking too.

[oldmann]

Great truck. I don't get it. You lifted a. 2*4? And added ATS. Why not drop the rear and call it good?

[hockeypro1411]

Great truck. I don't get it. You lifted a. 2*4? And added ATS. Why not drop the rear and call it good?

 

Because 2wd trucks can venture off the pavement too.

[FRANKD3TANK]

Looks, nice. If your looking for line-x go to the one on deer valley rd, off the black canyon highway they will take care of you, thats where i went. .

[Daryl LBZ]

Looks good! Nice tires too!

[jblakeney]

White is the appropriate color, in any climate. They do not show water spots bad, like color's do.

 

Nice truck dude.

 

Jbo

[KMGZ400]

looks great.. yeah probably dont need 4 wheel in arizona

[dbozman]

As I said, it was a tough decision. After being honest with myself I realized I had never once used 4WD in any of my trucks, other than to confirm it worked. Here's a couple pics of previous rigs:

 

This was my '05 Z71, 5.3/4L60/4x4/4.10 gears. Leveled on 285 BFG ATs. Really loved this truck. Selling it was a significant error in judgment on my part:

 

 

This was my '02 2500HD, 8.1/Allison/4x4/LT, leveled on 35s. This era of 3/4 tons was my favorite Chevy truck of all time from a looks perspective. The 8.1 gasser was likely the worst Chevy motor known to man. Loved the truck, hated the motor.