Truck and desert pics

[desertZ71]

Posted a few truck/desert pics. The Bilstein shocks work great off-road. And, after a couple of thousand break-in miles the freeway ride is much more comfortable. The Bridgestone Dueler M/Ts soften the freeway ride a little and have performed well off-road. The white paint doesn't show the scratches caused by stiff, dry brush draging across the body. Ouch! Well, they do buff out fairly easily. Stock ground clearance is acceptable, although the skid plates have scraped on bounces over small ledges. A lift and new rims and tires would be nice, but are not in the budget.

 

http://www.picturetrail.com/desertz71

[Shaners]

Neat pictures!!!  You have to make sure you take plenty of cold refreshing beverages when camping in the desert!!!

[99silveradoz71]

Looks nice...remind me of the desert around my brother's in Vegas.

[doverarjim]

Where are you located?  Those hills look familiar, I spent some time around Phoenix and spent alot of time in the desert playing.

[sincityZ71]

Looks good.  The terrain looks familiar to me, but then again I live in the middle of a stupid desert here in Vegas and it all looks the same after 20 years of seeing it.  ???   Anyways, looks like you had fun, I need to get out and do a little more off-roading, hopefully this summer, and hopefully I'll have my lift by the years end.

[desertZ71]

I live in San Diego, and play in the Anza Borrego Desert about 100 miles east. My wife and I used to camp there with friends years ago, but after living in Japan and Oregon we lost touch with them and with the desert. Well, we're now truckin' in our Z71 and were back. Finding our way back to our old camp site and dry river washes brought back that calm, content desert feeling. We camp near cliffs that have paths to the tops erroded in them from years of rain. Every time I look at the exposed, now slanted layered sandstone and smooth embedded rocks even older, I'm reminded of and humbled by the age of the world and all that's happened before we became a part of it.

 

The last time we camped it was supposed to be in the 70's but was instead in the 100's. We didn't bring enough ice or cool drinks, so we had to go into the local town and restock.

 

I put a tarp over the bed to cover the gear, but I'm thinking of buying a hard cover or making one somehow out of wood. I want something hinged in several places for easy access.

[RyanbabZ71]

Nice pics

 

Check out the link in my si i have the gm soft cover (rollup) paid $269 and it is very nice

 

Also glad you like the bilsteins.  Its amazing how much better they get as the miles go up

[desertZ71]

Nice pics

 

Check out the link in my si i have the gm soft cover (rollup) paid $269 and it is very nice

 

Also glad you like the bilsteins.  Its amazing how much better they get as the miles go up

About the roll-up cover. Does it snap down? Is it easy to roll-up? I would roll it up when 4 wheeling but I'm a little concerned it may become damaged by the brush when getting to the camp-site. It does look nice on your truck. And the bed seems more accessable than with one that is hinged near the cab.

[antig24]

cool pics, looks like fun

[RyanbabZ71]

Its snapless  There is a channel where the cover latches into.  Really hard to explain.  Ill try and get pics later this week

 

Also i have yet to get the bed wet when it rains, pours, and hails.

[01z71]

Nice Pics.  The desert looks like a lot of fun.

[MikeZ71]

desertZ71,

Nice pic's! I am also in San Diego and go to the desert often.

About your shocks, did you just replace the stockers for a better ride? How are they compared to stockers? Any lift on your truck or T-bar tweak?

 

Thanks!

[desertZ71]

desertZ71,

Nice pic's! I am also in San Diego and go to the desert often.

About your shocks, did you just replace the stockers for a better ride? How are they compared to stockers? Any lift on your truck or T-bar tweak?

 

Thanks!

I replaced the shocks primarily to improve the off-road capability and secondarily to improve the city street handling manuevering. They did both, although I didn't test the stock shocks very well off-road. I thought a low production Tenneco mono-tube would not be as good as a Bilstein. I also thought maybe the Bilstein valving would dampen the freeway expansion joint bounce, but the firmness made it worse. Which I accepted as a trade off, and which has improved with time.

 

No lift. Too many other money hungry projects. Plus I bought the shocks and tires soon after purchasing the truck so now  I'd have to at least replace the shocks for the lifted length ones and probably the rims and tires for wider/taller stability and clearance in the desert. And it's a multi-purpose vehicle so having it not raised comes in handy.

 

No T-bar tweak either. I'd prefer not to increase the firmness. And, I like the rear being slightly higher.

 

Hope I wasn't too wordy.

[HillHound]

Looks like fun!

 

One thing's for sure-no deserts around my house!   It's been raining so much here I could plant rice in my back yard!

 

Nice picutres!

[desertZ71]

Looks like fun!

 

One thing's for sure-no deserts around my house!   It's been raining so much here I could plant rice in my back yard!

 

Nice picutres!

Looks like you have fun in the wilderness too, especially with your Yamaha and Honda. Cool. Hopefully you get the chance to play in the mud. I'd like to play in the mud to test my truck and really test my tires.