My 2012 Chevy 2500HD Build

[KaHuNaZ]

This is my new to me Silverado 2500HD I picked up about 6 months ago. I traded in my 04 Tundra DC for this truck because I was in the market for something with a higher tow rating. I was looking at either the Ford F250 or Chevy 2500hd and I came across this one that happened to be in my budget. I don't need the tow rating for work anymore, but I plan on keeping the 3/4ton for a while because I love it. I know its a heavy truck, but hopefully I can get it beach worthy. I plan on doing a lot of fishing and camping on the beaches here on the Texas coast.

First thing I did was replace the factory intake with an S&B Cold air intake and installed new silicon radiator lines.

 

[KaHuNaZ]

I planned on popping the rear diff open to check it out before I changed fluids so I figured id replace it with an aftermarket diff cover while I was at it. That turned out to be an expensive mistake. I ordered a G2 gear and axle diff cover and it turned out that it was slightly too big to fit correctly. I noticed a small leak after I torqued it down and added fluids. I ended up seeing the metal deforming on the edges. It was late so I figured id remove it the next morning but it ended up getting worse. I took a gamble and expedited a Mag-Hytec cover that ended up fitting perfectly.

G2 installed. Dont mind the brake lines its just temporary.

G2 after it sat for a day

Here is the Mag-Hytec sitting on top of the G2 cover. You can see the size difference on both sides.

Mag-Hytec installed. You can see the clearance it now has.

I don't know if It was the G2 cover or my particular differential, but the fit was impossible. What a waste.

 

[KaHuNaZ]

Next I swapped the wheels. I went with Tinted Fuel Vapor 18x9 20mm offset. I kept the tires as they still had good tread. They are BFG ko2's 275/70r18 (33.2" x 10.8") I get some rubbing in reverse at full turn. I need to lift or level, but Im not sure what path I want to go yet. Looks kind of low to me.

Swapped out the factory headers with Gibson performance.

I went with a bolt on Gibson Dual Extreme exhaust kit. I love the sound as Its pretty mild except when towing.

Next up for me was to swap out the car mirrors with some tow mirrors. I went with the Boost Auto mirrors with the led smoke strip turn signal and running light options.

Here it is with the running lights on

The mirrors have the built in high output led reverse light option. I wired them up to my trailer reverse, but I was afraid they would be obnoxious so I installed an illuminated kill switch on the dash to give me the option to disable them.

 

[KaHuNaZ]

This is the first vehicle Ive purchased from a dealer. I had always purchased private party in the past. When I was at the dealer, I did the usual and inspected for oil leaks and rust and visible damage. The salesmen had mentioned that they had just installed a new drop in bedliner the day before. I thought to myself hey cool, I got a free bedliner. About a week after I brought it home, I noticed that part of the bedliner wasn't sitting flush to the bed rail so I folded it up and saw that the bed rail was cracked. I check the other side and sure enough they were both cracked. There were aluminum brackets drilled into the bedrails to help support it. I pulled the bedliner recently to have a friend weld and repair the bed rails and it was worse than I thought. The truck must have had some kind of toolboxes or maybe a drop in service body previously installed. The paint was worn off, the bed was full of rust and the the bed rails were actually missing chunks of metal. I know I should have been more thorough at the dealer, but it seemed pretty dishonest to me that they concealed the damage.

Anyways, I had the bed rails welded/repaired and luckily it was mostly surface rust that I was able to take care of with an orbital sander. I primed it up and had it rhinolined. I didn't take any pictures of the damage, but Its a night and day difference. Its like the damage never existed.

Here it is all ready for a Decked system.

I ordered the Decked storage system and the Leitner ACS rack. I shopped around and ordered both from Truck Brigade. Those guys are legit. I got the rack and decked system discounted through the online chat function. They saved me so much that I was able to pick up some rotopax water tanks, all the necessary brackets, hardware, and a few decked D-boxes with my original budget.

I got the Leitner rack installed and was just waiting on the Decked. It had been sitting in Dallas for 7 days. I figured it was damaged or something so I contacted Truck Brigade to see if they can follow up on it. A few minutes later I got a call from the freight company scheduling the delivery for the next day.
The box showed up opened, but after double checking the parts list we were all good.

Drawers fully extended.

I was worried the Leitner rack would interfere with the Decked system with my particular model. I couldn't find any info online about the compatibility with my 2500HD, but sure enough it fits. This is how it sits today and probably for a while. I have depleted my overlanding funds.

Future upgrades:
lift/level
Hardshell RTT
Leitner Gearpod XL's
Maxtrax or similar
Alucab shadow awning or Kinsmen Rapid deploy awning

 

[Hackopotomus]

Nice truck! I've got an '08 LTZ DirtyMax. It had a CST leveling kit on it when I got it so it sat pretty high. I installed cutout flares which opens the front wheel wells 1&1/2" and 315/70-17s. I still had some rubbing and the leveling kick made it ride like a Mack truck! Wash board roads had me limited to a crawl otherwise it would rattle my teeth out. On pavement it wasn't too bad until you hit a pot hole or rough pavement. Just the overall stiffness would wear you out on a long trip.

I went with a CST 6" lift and now I hve no rubbing at all and a much smoother ride. It is a pleasure to drive and I don't have to worry about rubbing when flexed off road. I would definitely recommend a lift over a leveling kit.