What Color For '04 2500HD?

RC ALLOYS INC · March 21, 2004

Hello all:

Just trying to get some input........need some before 3-22-04. Ordered a new truck Friday nite and have a few days to decide if I want to change the color. Couldn't take it any longer, had to upgrade to the 8.1/Allison combo

Wanted the charcoal (dark metallic gray) but now am thinking maybe white. I am a clean freak and wondering how much trouble the darker color will be to keep up with. I wax once a month so it would be well taken care of. My concern is the dark color and heat. I have a shell (topper) on my current truck now and transport my dogs in it. Have installed exhaust fans (12V automotive fans) and can keep temps very comfortable back there. During 95+ degree days, I can pull temps down to 80 or better in the shell. However, current truck is pewter. That is why I am thinking of going with white to keep things cool. Just curious what the pros and cons are of each color and your experiences. Any input would be great as I have to let the dealer know by Monday. To see what my current vehicle looks like, check out the link.

Thanks in advance

My Current 2500HD

99silveradoz71 · March 21, 2004

I'm partial to the dark colors mainly due to how good they look when washed/detailed up. My last vehicle was black, the current ride is blue. I tossed around the idea of upgrading a few weeks back and of the colors I saw, I liked the silver birch...now with you having pewter, I don't think you'd want to go that route as it's not a great deal of a change. White looks nice when kept clean, but it obviously shows everything. The grey isn't too bad, but I prefer the older grey that didn't look almost black.

XTOAK · March 21, 2004

Can't beat that Silver Birch metallic as it's easy to keep clean and even when dirty looks good. I've got a pic of mine when it was dirty posted at http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?...showtopic=26869 and you can see that it's not that bad looking. I've had both white and black vehicles, and love this silver birch as it seem to hide the dirt best of them all.

04-silver · March 21, 2004

Mine is Sandstone Metalic, hides the dirt very well, along with everyone else's and there dog................lol

The rail guys must of crashed a couple of paint tankers at GM.

Anyway pewter hides dirt well alongg with the scratches so I've heard.

John

right, I forgot pewter no avaialbe any more, sorry

RC ALLOYS INC · March 21, 2004

Hello all:

WOW, thanks for the speedy replies/opinions. This color choice thing is going to keep me awake for the rest of the weekend. As stated, my current truck is pewter. If that was still offered I'd go for it again. Had a 2000 ZR2 S-10 that was pewter as well before I got the big truck. Anyway, I am leaning towards white but man if I do, I might end up in a looney bin. I am very very particular about my vehicles and keeping them clean. White would almost for sure drive me nuts but you have to agree, it suuuuuuuure is pretty when it's detailed. The new gray is a bit on the dark side, they changed it from 2003 I think and it's got more black in it. The silver birch is ok but after having pewter it's just not the same. Gonna talk to some of my friends and see what they think. If anyone that runs across this post has a 2004 2500HD in the gray color, pics would be cool. Thanks for the input everyone!

mmayo · March 21, 2004

I had the same problem when I bought my truck..... My previous truck was black and it was a PITA to keep clean....I had always told myself I would get a white truck when it was time for me to buy a new one......this was before I had a garage to park my truck in......well, me and my wife built a house and I made sure I would have a garage big enough for the truck I wanted......so when the time came for me to get a new truck I went back & forth with what color I wanted, charcoal or white....I ended up with getting the charcoal and couldn't be happier! I still love white, it would have been easier to keep clean but when my truck it clean I think its the best color choice I could have made.....You'll be happy with either choice....btw, only complaint I have on my color is that it the paint seems to chip more so than other colors...... .......check out my pics and see what you think....

HendyPhoto · March 21, 2004

G O G R E E N!!!! LOL I love the green, especially with the light interior color. The dark color wont matter a whole lot unless you live in Vegas or somewhere with 112 degree days. As long as you have a light interior and a window shade! Through the summer it is always between 90 and 100 here or more and I havnt had any problems. The green is easier to keep clean than you would expect, its dark but not too dark. I get compliments on the color choice all the time. White looks a little too much like a work truck to me, although it does always look clean. (sorry white truck owners!!)

Good luck!!

c5vetteman · March 21, 2004

Go with Silver Birch(my old truck was Pewter). My Vette is black and it is the first and last vehicle that I will ever own in black. It is such a PITA to keep clean, luckily it is not my daily driver. Any dark color will be difficult to keep clean and impossible to prevent all the swirl marks from showing.

Shaners · March 21, 2004

I have Pewter right now, and it is the color of choice for hiding the dirt. If I were to order another one it would be the Silver Birch for the exact same reason.

I've had several white trucks and cars over the years, and they are nice, but for some reason they seem to attract flies and other flying insects that like to land on them and poop. That leaves alot of yellow and black spots on the paint that has to be cleaned off....

Firetiger(MN) · March 21, 2004

I had a Pewter '99, then got a Black '02, and now I'm back to a Pewter '03. Black obviously is impossible to keep clean, but it probably was the best looking truck of the three when clean.

When shopping for my current truck, I though that the Carbon gray was going to be the one I wanted until I test drove one that was pretty filthy after sitting in the saleslot. It was close enough to black that I decided to not go with that headache again. Not to mention the rock chips that show up like crazy on those dark colors.

I got my first closehand look at a Silver Birch truck the other day and although it is different, I wasn't really impressed. Maybe it was the overcast day, but it looked like a watered down Pewter. No shine. I'll have to check it out again on a sunny day and then maybe it'd appear better.

BTW, I'm curious as to what brand/model topper you have and how you rigged the fans? I'm looking at a new topper myself and also will have a pooch back there.

chevyagogo9 · March 21, 2004

I have had just about every color know to man.

I also fight heat down here in New Orleans. Black is OUT. Hard to keep nice and HOT as hell.

Last truck was white with light grey interior. This was a great color combo. The truck was easy to clean, cooled down real quick, and stayed pretty cool compared to my green and dark blue vehicles.

MY 04 HD is Silver with tan interior. Also very nice and stays cool, easy to clean, etc.

RC ALLOYS INC · March 21, 2004

Hmmmmmm, this is getting interesting. I've gotten a lot of votes for white via friends and family. Wife wants the dark gray but she doesn't want to have to visit me in the funny farm. White is starting to look good but everyone made good points about it. It will show bugs, tar, etc. very easy like. The dark color will show rock chips and all that . I think I might take a ride to the local Chevy dealer today and look at a silver birch truck, see what that looks like. Have to decide by Monday no exceptions

FireTiger.............if you want I can send you pics of the fan install if I have any left on the hard drive. Wasn't too tough to get a fan back there. Just ran 12V power right out of the engine bay, through the firewall to a rocker switch then back out to the bed. My topper is an ARE Z-Series with a headliner so it stays pretty nice back there. The fan is mounted on some 3/4 x 3/4 aluminum bar that is bolted to the front window frame in the shell. The fan is then secured on that. The fan is set up to exhaust and with the rear wings open and everything shut (minus front slider for the fan) it will suck the hat off your head if you get to close to the intake portions of the shell. Works out great and like I said, on a hot day I can pull temps down to 80-85 degress and it's breezy back there.

Thanks for the input everyone. Keep 'em coming. Got a few hours left before Monday

HendyPhoto · March 21, 2004

Yeah, I guess looks arent everything!! LOL

dogzapper · March 21, 2004

I own a pewter 2003 Chevy Silverado Z-71 and a white 2004 Tahoe. The Silverado gets washed whenever I start to feel bad about it (maybe once a month) and the white Tahoe has a bath twice a week.

My across-the-street neighbor has a 2003 Tahoe in Dark Grey Metallic. He washes it twice a week (at least) and it looks like crap the day after being washed.

Given this experience, if I were ordering a new rig, I'd opt for either the Silver Birch Metallic or the Sandstone Metallic.

Steve

99silveradoz71 · March 21, 2004

I'm not too big a fan of that newer darker grey. It's too close to black for me. Now that old school grey...if they had it, it'd be getting a strong look when purchase time comes around for me.