Qwank's 2017 Regular Cab Z71 build

qwank · November 5, 2016

Ordered this truck from the dealer I work at towards the end of September and it came in on Monday. 2017 RC Z71. 5.3 flex fuel engine.

Not sure what I plan to do with it yet. I want to lower it and put 22" Z28 replicas on it, but it rides so nice I hate to do anything to the suspension right now.

First thing I need is an exhaust. Not many options for a regular cab. I either want it to dump or have side exit. It's gotta be loud though. Any recommendations?

smrr1 · November 5, 2016

Looks very nice. Congrats. I have owned a lot of regular cabs back in the day and would love another but a 19 month old gets in the way. I see you already did a black bow tie but i would recommend tint and de-badge/sticker it. As far as exhaust and loud go ahead and get long tubes and a tune maybe??? I like it!

Also personally i would run chrome or polished wheels on it if lowered and going for a sport truck kinda look.

Edited November 5, 2016 by smrr1

15_silverado · November 6, 2016

Sweet...Race truck!!!

That would be so much fun lowered with a 6 speed Manual transmission.

Also I wish they would put that xm shark fin antenna centered on the rear back; I hate how they are up front and to one side. Congrats on the new truck.

paullgj · November 6, 2016

Sharp looking ride!

qwank · November 6, 2016

Yeah, I'm not sure why the antenna is where it is but I'm sure there is a reason for it. I had a brand new gloss black antenna in my tool box do I swapped the black grained antenna it came with for it.

Doobs41378 · November 6, 2016

Are you planning on buying it at the end of your lease?

LongrangeLauber · November 6, 2016

Would you like me to rename this and move it to the vehicle builds thread?

slee3247 · November 6, 2016

I have the same truck in a 2016 WT. RCSB all black everything. The Corsa 14871 or 14871BLK will fit your needs perfectly. Not sure if you like the look of a black chrome tip or a plain-Jane polished setup. The system is a perfect balance of volume and tone, but don't let it fool you - it makes a hell of a racket above 3500rpm. Cylinder deactivation will be much more prevalent with an exhaust, however.

I've also seemed to notice that the short wheelbase newer trucks ride worse than the longer wheelbase options. Stock to stock, my fathers double cab rode much smoother than my rcsb. It got even more noticeable after throwing a set of 2" drop shackles in it. If you do put shackles in one of these trucks - be prepared. I'm a mechanic by trade and it was still a PITA. The hitch has to be removed which is fine, but what makes it a slight problem is it shares all of the same bolts as the rear bumper. Be sure to have an extra set of hands. I also had to unbolt the bed and move it upwards about an inch or two to get the shackle to leaf spring bolt out. After fighting all of this, I still had to take a plasma cutter to the little pinch weld seam that is under the bed to make sure the shackle could clear in its elliptical travel.

After lowering even just 2", the rear of the truck is much more prone to becoming a basketball over light bumps. Can't complain much, these trucks ride much better than my '97 Sierra rcsb. I'm looking forward to going down another 2" in the front and 2" in the rear come springtime. I'm also searching for 22" z28 replicas, however the stock wheels on the 2014 and 2016 GMC sierras seem to be near identical. Replicas can be found on Ebay for pretty affordable prices if you want to go that route.

Anywho, beautiful truck. A little jealous of your painted front bumper, but don't want to fork out the cash to get it done.

Donstar · November 6, 2016

If it is a lease as someone suggested earlier, I would enjoy it stock until the lease and warranty are done. Then if you decide to buy the truck, all the modifications will belong to you. Your truck looks fabulous as it is and will receive many envious looks!

Edited November 6, 2016 by Donstar

qwank · November 6, 2016

Would you like me to rename this and move it to the vehicle builds thread?

If that's a better spot for it then yes. I can add all my mods in here then.

qwank · November 6, 2016

Are you planning on buying it at the end of your lease?

Unless they offer the 6.2 in a regular cab in the next 3 years or come out with some sort of SS model I will buy it out.

I'm not worried about mods under the lease. Anything I do I can easily swap back to stock if I decide to return it.

qwank · November 6, 2016

I was going to do the gmc replicas but it seems everyone around here has them.

The new 22" Tahoe Premier wheels are pretty nice too.

qwank · November 26, 2016

Ok, first rounds of mods showed up this week.

I've been checking out other truck's exhaust systems and noticed the older body style trucks ('07-'13) used the same exhaust hanger locations as '14+ So I went ahead and ordered the Flowmaster Outlaw exhaust from the older style. They only sell it for the extended and crew cab models but I figured it would be easy to make work since it's just a muffler, turndown, hangers and a foot or so of pipe. I didn't take a pic of mine but it's part number 817706.

http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/exhaust-sytems/817706-cat-back-system-409s-sod-outlaw-extreme-aggressive-sound/

Since it was a few inches too short to mate up with my stock exhaust, and I really didn't want to cut the stock exhaust I ordered an intermediate pipe for a '13 extended cab and cut everthing to fit. The pipe I used was Dynomax 54720. I got it at Advance Auto and with the 30% off coupon it was only 47 bucks. It's stainless steel and 3". I measured everything out and cut both pieces and it fit perfectly. It sounds great, not too loud but not quiet like most of the exhaust kits for our truck. I plan on adding a Flapper valve down the line when I find one for sale that will work.

While I was under there I removed the blocks under the rear leaf springs to drop the rear down a little.

I also ordered a drop in K&N filter when I ordered the pipe from Advance to take advantage of the 30% off. I did the air box mod and installed an Airaid MIT I got from a member on another Forum. Now I can actually see the front of the engine.

PICS:

Here's the pipe I ordered before I cut it. It would be a good front pipe for any muffler I think to make your own system.

test fitting eveything

Intake pics:

And this emblem I had in my toolbox that I was saving for a special occasion LOL

Edited November 26, 2016 by qwank