2011 Chevy Silver A Dough build

L337TurboZ

L337TurboZ

World Class Truck Squatter
Silver Member
This is going to be the start of my build thread for the new (to me) 2011 Chevrolet Silverado Z71 I just purchased. This vehicle was owned by my mother for a few years after her last Silverado got rear ended and totaled. Here's some more information about how it currently sits.

175,000 miles, original 5.3 motor with AFM. Burns oil, has broken exhaust manifold bolts, needs ball joints, door latch/lock actuator, a GOOD detalining (my mom never really cleaned this thing) and some other maintenance. The instrument panel is cracked (normal condition for these trucks) The truck has a leveling kit, regular all season tires on 17" factory wheels and aside from a low profile tool box, side step rails, and F/R dash cameras is completely stock!

My plans are fairly simple. Either get myself a another 5.3 core or slap some pistons and rings with new lifters, cam bearings etc into this engine. Or get a 6.2 core and build that up. Not looking for power, but this has to be able to tow my Miata to track events. I'll be getting a good bed cap eventually, adding a deep cycle battery or two and some solar panels to the bed cap with a foldable cot so I can camp at the tracks to save money.

I will NOT be doing that gay ass Carolina squat bull shit that everyone in my area seems to do (Charleston, SC) I cant stand it, cant stand working on their trucks. Just throw the damn blocks in the back to level out your truck lol. This weekend I will be doing a massive detailing on the truck and will get some pictures of it then. Gotta start clean and fresh before anything else can happen.
 
Raider said:
But it's a shitbox Chevy. Rear suspension is going to fail. Stop resisting
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How do leaf springs and two rear shocks fail? I'll be adding air bags to the back for trailering later on. Y'all are just hating. It's like the Haters Ball in here lol. I hate you, I hate you, I especially hate you and hope all the bad things in life happen to you and no one else but you.

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I broke the leaf springs in a car once

It may have been overloaded with beer

Thankfully I only broke the main leafs and was able to drive home on the remaining leafs
 
Busy day today! I got the windows tinted this morning. Then pulled off the door mouldings since they were peeling. I wanted to get that done before I do the detailing tomorrow otherwise I'd have had to do the buff/wax twice. I also replaced the Drivers Door Latch Actuator since my RAP (Retained Accessory Power) wasn't shutting off when I opened the door.

Ordered new LED headlamps and am going to call GM TAC so I can have them update my VCI information on their end to calibrate for correct flashing speed with LED bulbs. My coworker gave me some cool black Silverado badges so I can swap out these chrome/silver ones once I get some wheels and a grill to match.

Meanwhile here are some pictures of the truck. I still need to register this lol. I have been driving around on my old tag with the title on. me. I also found more issues with the truck:

Leaking Oil Cooler lines, valve cover gaskets, A/C belt isn't in great shape.



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Easter Bunny said:
How is that much stuff broken or bad on a car that's not that old?
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Neglect/Lack of funds. My dad was in the telecommunication industry and he had been laid off. He was a sub contractor for AT&T/Singular but when his contract was up the stipulation was he couldn't be rehired by AT&T for X amount of months. He is right at retirement age (62 at the time) and he tried finding jobs elsewhere however no one was really willing to hire someone at that age even though they have their Masters degree and 30+ years experience.) My brother and I had been supporting our parents since their income got slashed. They moved from Atlanta to Charleston since they were able to sell their house and live off those funds until my dad draws Social Security/his stashed retirement funds.

Now that I bought the truck from them I can really fix it and keep it on the road in good condition.

As for how the stuff went bad. The driver's side motor mount went bad and my mom never realized it until I said something a year or two ago when I was at a training class in ATL. She got it fixed but it had been stretching the oil cooler lines so they began to leak slightly. They aren't dripping but I can see residue on them so the crimp connection is bad. I will most likely run steel braided lines to a cooler separate from the radiator. Same goes for transmission cooler and lines as well.

I'm not sure how the AC belt is bad. It's a short stretch belt. If it made it 175k miles then that's ok.

Today before I left work I decided to check the refrigerant charge. Turns out it was a little low by about 0.3lbs. I cleaned the throttle body as well.
 
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I wasn't trying to pick on you all I was saying is that if it was a Ford a brake job and oil change would be all it need lol

#fuckgm
 
Easter Bunny said:
I wasn't trying to pick on you all I was saying is that if it was a Ford a brake job and oil change would be all it need lol

#fuckgm
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I know you weren't. Just explaining how the truck got to that condition. With me living 5 hours away from my parents it wasn't feasible to work on the truck for them.

If it was a Ford it'd need new hubs or hub lines, probably a turbo or two if it's Ecoboost, and definitely brakes cause those trucks seem to go through brakes quickly.
 
Cleaned the truck today. Just the carpets and washed it. Still need to clay bar the truck, wax it, polish the rear bumper and side steps. I spent 2.5 hours cleaning the carpet and I still feel like they aren't 100 percent where they need to be.

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Look at how much crap came out of the carpet. There was so much dog hair and loose carpet fibers I was thankful I had a Lilly brush to get them up.
 
Raider said:
I love the side molding delete.
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Thanks! My mom had put a piece of red duct tape to try and hold the mouldings down. Needless to say it didn't work. I used Acrysol to get the residue off and a rubber buff pad to get the old double sided tape off.

Today I went and used some Blue Magic metal polish on the chrome pieces. The passenger rear corner of the bumper was the worst. It had caked on exhaust soot. The side steps hadn't been polished ever from what I could see.

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I also got a few parts in today. Nothing major. Just LED lights for the dome lamps, sunshade lamps, and fog lamps.

I ordered an Android head unit and Rough Country CAI yesterday. My LED low and high beam bulbs should come a few days for now.
 
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