rdnckhntr94's 2014 Silverado High Country Build

geswek · April 28, 2016

That's a really clean install!!

Thanks! Lew highly recommended it. I wasn't sold on it because it was $100 more than Volant. However, I am ok with it. It is a nice design with aluminum piping that has a heat resistant coating inside it. The air box has heat shielding on it too. It wasn't too difficult to install. The only issue I had was the box isn't fully sealed. The fender and headlight side is open. The lid and sides do seal against the truck.

Plus side is I can reach my headlights without removing the box LOL.

My buddy has one of those SB sealed intakes. I'm going to look at his intake temp and compare it to mine.

LongrangeLauber · June 11, 2016

Well, as some of yall know I wrecked my truck about 3 weeks or so ago. Over 14k in damages, claiming 6+ weeks for repair. Cant wait to get her back, forgot what its like to be without a truck/ your own vehicle for so long.

Anyways, since shes in the shop right now figured itd be a great time to collect some parts for her. So far I have new Bilstein 5100 rear shocks in my possession. Ordering fronts here soon. I will most likely have to reinstall the step lights as well since my bumper was tore up from the accident. Also plan to finally get around to installing footwell lighting, at least in the front footwells. The rears are questionable, not sure if I wanna run extra wire for them or not. Also going to start taking better care of the paint since she'll have a fresh new coat on her when I get it back. Guess that means hours of waxing, clay barring, sealing and whatever else needs to be done. Plan on keeping her a while so gotta treat her right. May end up ordering an HID kit for it as well for the lows and just get a matching LED color for the fogs. The thought of a bigger rear block has gone through my head but since I tow so much the hitch is set up perfectly plus bed access is nice, not too high.

When I get her back Im having my buddy bring home a piece of one inch round stainless tubing as well as some stainless flat bar so I can build a three pole holder down one side of the bed. I'll use the bed tie down anchors to keep it tight. Should look cool and have easy access to my poles. I'll be mounting the stainless steel fishing rod holders to it, think of it as a bath towel holder with an L shaped bracket on each side and the pole holders mounted to it. Should serve its job quite well.

I've also thought about calling and seeing if they have ordered the headlights for my truck. If not, I was thinking about seeing if the insurance company would let me get these instead. Thoughts on them? I think they would look pretty cool, especially if the projectors are actually worth it

http://www.anzousa.com/headlights/projector-headlights/chevy-silverado-1500-2014-projector-u-bar-style-headlights-black-clear-with-chrome-trim-amber.html

I like the DRL U bar running lights, feel like they would look good on a truck with some slight stance to it.

Wheel spacers have crossed my mind, 1.5" all the way around. Give it a nice beefy look. Hmmm

Daryl Z71 · June 11, 2016

I like the headlights. I say fender flares with either the spacers or different wheels.

LongrangeLauber · June 11, 2016

I like the headlights. I say fender flares with either the spacers or different wheels.

Fender flares would be the smart choice since I did say I wanted to keep the paint in better condition than before lol. I just wanted more stance but then again I don't want to chip up my paint. I'll just save the cash and keep it as is. If I were to do fender flares I would lift the truck 6" or so, these trucks look real good with the rivet style flares IMO. Different wheels may be in the future, with a little more offset but don't want to push it past the fender. Gotta remember I'm gonna start looking at getting an LBZ around this time next year so gotta save up [emoji16]

Daryl Z71 · June 11, 2016

Yea it's like any little thing you do as far as wider wheels will make the paint chip even worse. Hopefully the body shop paint will be better. On my Cruze where they repainted the passenger side doors to fix a dent I can't find one single rock chip. Different story on the drivers side with the factory paint.

KMGZ400 · June 11, 2016

Fender flares would be the smart choice since I did say I wanted to keep the paint in better condition than before lol. I just wanted more stance but then again I don't want to chip up my paint. I'll just save the cash and keep it as is. If I were to do fender flares I would lift the truck 6" or so, these trucks look real good with the rivet style flares IMO. Different wheels may be in the future, with a little more offset but don't want to push it past the fender. Gotta remember I'm gonna start looking at getting an LBZ around this time next year so gotta save up [emoji16]

If you want to protect the paint and have less Maintnence I would look into a ceramic coating! It's not cheap but it's like getting a 5 year wax! I got it on my truck and it's way easier to clean, also clear bra the painted front and rockers if you want extra protection

LongrangeLauber · June 11, 2016

If you want to protect the paint and have less Maintnence I would look into a ceramic coating! It's not cheap but it's like getting a 5 year wax! I got it on my truck and it's way easier to clean, also clear bra the painted front and rockers if you want extra protection

Definitely thinking about getting a clear bra on the front, hopefully the auto body paint is better than GM factory chip paint lol

Daryl Z71 · June 11, 2016

It's sad a new vehicle costs that much and you have to pay to have it covered so the paint doesn't look like ass in a year.

LongrangeLauber · July 7, 2016

Well looks like I should be getting her back either tomorrow or early next week. So, here's what I have lined up...

Bought some 5100's off a fellow member here over a month ago, and I just ordered the front pair off Amazon today. So those will go on when they are all here. Interior lights, I think I'll do the fronts only, don't feel like running wire to the back where no one really cares anyways. If they didn't transfer my bumper step lights then I'll redo those even though they are a pain in the rear to access all the bolts.

Besides that, I'm also now thinking about installing some rear bags to help with towing. Yes, I have the helper springs but they are only good for so much. Plus, with the Firestone bags, I can keep the helper springs bc the bags replace the jounce bumper and sits on that pad. Don't need a compressor kit, I normally have a compressor handy, or I can always carry my little porter cable 12v compressor (runs either cigarette lighter outlet or on 18v porter cable battery, pretty nice for $40)

So basically a lot of suspension upgrades lol. Me and the gf were talking about getting both of our windows tinted as well, so maybe do that in the off season and maybe they would give us a multi vehicle discount.

Other than mods, I'm gonna definitely try and work to keep her spotless, keep up on waxing and such, because not having her for 7+ weeks makes me realize how nice it is to have a pickup truck lol

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LongrangeLauber · July 13, 2016

Installed 5100's up front today. Took a lot longer than I expected, first time working with a coil spring. Didn't have time to do the rears, maybe tomorrow. So far, the ride is noticeably better on my short 2 mile round trip to 7/11 lol guess I'll find out how it rides tomorrow on my way to work

Old shock

New shocks for all 4 corners

Few pics of shocks installed

My sweet impact gun I got last week, so excited to put it to work finally. So much torque I snapped a 10.9 grade bolt, which also slowed me down from installing the rears. 45 min round trip to Lowe's really kills time

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Edited July 13, 2016 by rdnckhntr94

LongrangeLauber · July 13, 2016

Installed the rear 5100's today. Total of about 20 minutes from pulling out the jack and stands to putting everything back up. Makes it easy when you don't have to pull out the air hose, really a worthy investment for me

Ride is so much smoother, not as jolty when I hit bumps and such. Worth it more than the front IMO

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Daryl Z71 · July 14, 2016

I love replacing the rears vs the fronts. Really easy job with all that extra room.

LongrangeLauber · July 14, 2016

I also replaced my bumper step light that wasn't operable for some reason. Ordered Sunday evening got it today, not too bad. Thought I was gonna have to pull the entire step which is a huge pain but turns out I just had to remove the top two torx screws inside the pocket of the step and then pull the step down so I could access the nut on the backside. Also replaced the shops crap connectors with weatherproof ones. Just as the old saying goes, if you want something done right you do it yourself

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geswek · July 14, 2016

Hey Red! Love it. What was difficult in front? I put my level blocks in myself and ended up having to drop the lower control arm. I was thinking of these in future. Did you level the truck off and was that difficult?

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LongrangeLauber · July 14, 2016

Hey Red! Love it. What was difficult in front? I put my level blocks in myself and ended up having to drop the lower control arm. I was thinking of these in future. Did you level the truck off and was that difficult?

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I already had a 2" level up front which wasn't hard, and I kept it after I installed these shocks. Kept these shocks at the stock height. The hard part were the coil springs and how they were set up. I screwed up on the first one. Just have to be really careful of how the stock spring and the cap comes off. The notch in the pad where the 3 studs are goes towards the inside of the truck, and the end of the coil spring up top sticks towards the outside

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