Over a year later! Wow.

So my wife and I have been having a lot of fun camping, but a little over a year after purchasing our Silverado 2500 HD, I did something a little crazy.

The 2500 was EXCELLENT for towing.  In fact, the truck weighed MORE than the travel trailer itself.  Nothing moved and it was super stable.

HOWEVER

Driving around town, driving to work, in parking lots, etc.  The 2500 was a pain in the behind.  It had a huge turning radius, it was long, it was wide.  It was also very tall and Sandi had a hard time getting in and out of it, and she would never drive it.

A few weeks ago I made a snap decision to "downgrade" my truck to a 2026 GMC Sierra 1500 Elevation model with the Duramax 3.0 diesel engine and the Max Tow Package.  The result of this was:

1. Much much easier to drive when NOT towing.
2. WAY better mileage (my current tank is at 29 MPG).
3. My wife can not only get in and out of it easily, she is willing to drive it!
4. Has lots of amenities (more than I would ever need but, nice nevertheless).

The drawbacks are minimal.  I had to rejigger my weight distributing hitch for the trailer, that was a little bit of a process.  I had to adjust the trailer brakes, still not sure they are where I want them.  I can feel the trailer behind us now.

The GMC tows with great power, that is not the problem, and the hitch stabilizes trailer movement, but I can still just feel it a little more than I could with the 2500 HD.  BTW even towing I got 14 MPG on one trip.  That is crazy to me.

I also added Timbren's to the rear, to assist with stabilization.  But I added those to the 2500 HD as well.

After a couple outings towing, and about 1000 miles, she has not burned a drop of oil.

Now I just need to worry about the current thrust bearing issue (bad parts) some people are seeing.  It seems to have come in specific batches of trucks and if I see the issue, it will be in the first few thousand miles.  But so far no one with my build date has reported the issue so... that is comforting.

Been awhile!

 We've had a fair number of fun trips with our pull behind... local, up North, Colorado, etc.

I also started playing STO (star trek online) and have wasted umpteen dollars and hours on the game.

Got our new Forest River pull-behind!

 

Signed the final paperwork, worked out additional protection, purchased a few additional bits to get us started, and took her for a test drive.

The truck doesn't even feel the weight of it, very much unaffected.

I did feel, even with the special hitch, some very minor buffeting while traveling on the I-17.  Not bad though.  So we are ready to get into it...  our first trip is next Thursday at Wickenberg.

"BEASTMODE" 2500 HD

 So when I was installing the "Chevrolet Onstar" application on my phone I had to name my truck.  It is so much larger than my Colorado and so much larger than my 1500 I just typed Beastmode without thinking.  Then the saleswoman said "let me see your app to make sure all the functions are working correctly"... it was so embarrassing.

No modifications for this truck, yet.  I am thinking about filling in the CHEVROLET letters in the tailgate like I did with the other truck.  I thought about roof running lights but I was not 100% satisfied with the job that was done the last time.  The lights themselves were good, and worked, but when he put everything back together he missed guides for the seatbelts.  That was kind of disappointing and I don't want that to happen with "Beastmode".  So I will contemplate adding them later.

One nice thing this truck has is SiriusXM.  Love it.

It does NOT, however, have a full suite of speakers.  Just the three up front.  I would like to add at least two speakers in the front doors.  Will see how that goes.

Silverado Part Deux

 Well, while I REALLY REALLY liked my 1500 WT model, I felt like I made a mistake because it really wasn't the level at which I wanted the truck to be at.  So I made the decision, with my wife's permission, to go back to the dealer, trade in my 1500 and move up to a 2500 HD with 4WD.

So the NEW new truck is a 2500 Custom with the 6.6L L8T gas engine, 4WD, 20 inch wheels...  it is a beast, if I am honest.  Part of the deal was that they would install running boards, but that has to wait until next week when they get the parts in and can schedule service time.  Meanwhile getting into her is like climbing Mount Everest.  This truck is so tall that the HOOD is above my shoulder level, and I am a 6 foot, half inch tall man.

We are also starting to look at campers and trying to figure out how to make that work and for Sandi and I to be able to wander off for days at a time (with the dogs).

Diablo IV ...

 OK.  I am terrible at this game.

I've beaten Diablo III a number of times at varied difficulties.  It is to the point that I can fire up any character and beat Diablo then go on to beat the angel of death.

I CANNOT beat a SINGLE (mid-level or above) Boss character in Diablo IV.  I can beat some of the early on ones but as soon as I get a decent level, say 20 or so, I am doomed.  You get locked in some little room with nowhere to go, and you just cannot take the bosses life, and the longer you go the more offensive attacks it hurls at you.  I've died about 5 times now trying to beat just a mid-level boss.

Starting to not WANT to play the game.

Silverado

 LED lights are in, but I am not super-confident of the fit for the guard... but time will tell.  Got my arm stuck on the driver side headlight.  :D  The windshield washer reservoir took up a lot of space, making it hard to get in there.

I ordered a flush guard for the hood, looking forward to getting that.  Still looking at running boards.