Druder's 2014 Sierra Build

[Druder]

I wanted somewhere to document my truck's progression to the ultimate daily driver. Up until I bought my Sierra I was a car guy, I could never justify the MPG hit for what I used my vehicles for. Fast forward to this year and I started working for a company that does a lot of forestry and off road work. I found myself parking my car precariously on the side of major roads or walking through the woods to get where I needed to go. I bought my Sierra 3 months in and I've had it 2.5 months now.

Here's the day I picked it up. It came with a hard tonneau and everything else was stock.

[Druder]

The first mod I did was a 32" lightbar, I had it sitting in my Amazon cart just waiting to find a truck so that went in almost immediately. It's hooked up to a remote that I was hoping would work with my homelink but unfortunately didn't. In the future I would like to either get grill inserts or change the grill completely so the light won't be as obvious but I'm very happy with the results. The only con is that I can't adjust the angle without taking the grill off so I may need to cut down an allen key in the future for that.

The second mod was half a need and half a want. I needed something to keep 5 gallon jugs of hydraulic fluid at the back of the bed because straps weren't cutting it and I was hauling them all over only to find them flipped or sliding around. I also wanted somewhere to mount a shovel and axe for when I go out to Cape Cod and visit the national seashore. The shovel is a requirement, but I bet the axe comes in handy since I always kept a small saw in my car and used it many times. I cut a 2x12 the width of the bed making sure to slope the bottom in and used galvanized joist hangers to reinforce the ends. I then painted it with bed liner and used quick fists to mount the tools. I normally run with the tools towards the front to utilize the space better but it's quick and easy to spin it around were I to go off roading.

[Druder]

I've recently debadged everything except the grill, bought a Diablosport Intune, installed an Airaid intake tube, added Husky Liners floormats to the front, made a dog seat cover out of a Harbor Freight moving blanket, and installed a front and rear dash cam. I still need to tap for switched power for that project.

I just got in Husky Liner Mud Dog mud flaps that will be installed shortly. I was looking at Gatorbacks but I ended up getting their no drill bracket and buying the USA mud dogs instead. Zero reviews that I could find so I will be doing a full write up on the installation and a review.

Future plans include getting rid of the awful Wrangler tires, getting tint and rain visors, buying Bilsteins to level it and replace the subpar Ranchos, eventually getting rid of the crappy bed liner and getting Line-x installed, Denali LED headlights since I have a hookup and one of my high beam shutters is sticking, and possibly vinyl wrapping the chrome bumpers and the window moldings.

[Druder]

Threw the Falken Wildpeak ATW3 tires on in 265/70r18. Huge upgrade from the stock SR-As.

[Druder]

Also installed a Tekasha P3, after going through all the usual options I decided to remove the cubby door and install it there. Within easy reach and from the seated position it looks like it belongs.

[jshrubs]

On 9/30/2018 at 3:21 PM, Druder said:

Also installed a Tekasha P3, after going through all the usual options I decided to remove the cubby door and install it there. Within easy reach and from the seated position it looks like it belongs.

Looks good. I've been contemplating putting something in there as I never use that cubby.