Why are there so few Silverado overland rigs?
- Thread starter Pike
- Start date
Oh, sure. I agree a short bed is no good for a slide in. Then again, a half ton isnt really good enough for a slide in anyway. Really those single cab short beds are very good for residential and commercial plowing. Short and stubby enough to make smaller turns and not get slowed down quite as much as you clear out spaces between fows of cars and such.
They may not be great for overlanding, but I sure enjoyed mine while I had it. It was a 90 or 91 K1500 Chevy Cheyenne with a 3 speed manual transmission on the floor, another shifter for 4x4, crank windows, slider rear window, bench seat. I think the only option in it was tilt wheel. Had to put in an aftermarket radio as it didnt even come with that.
Loved that truck
Doesn't Ram still have them?
Ford still makes these, but good luck getting a driveshaft to work if you lift it:
Ford still makes these, but good luck getting a driveshaft to work if you lift it:
Doesn't Ram still have them?
Ford still makes these, but good luck getting a driveshaft to work if you lift it:
Hilarious! I've never seen one in person.
Expedition Master III
Flightline/ airport use. Notice the 10 lug wheels/F-450 drive-train. A specialized rig for sure. Used I believe in place of specialized 'tug'(plane movers) in light duty applications. At one time I was involved with airport overnight delivery operations, and we used a open seat tug for moving DC-9 aircraft. Very heavy steel construction for traction issues (super low geared). Later when we had Boeing 767's make periodic stops at the airport, we had to borrow a big-boy tug, capable of pushing a DC 10 aircraft or bigger.
I have a Detroit True Trac in my Nissan Titan 4x4. I highly recommend it!
Just came back from an off-roading trip in Arizona, one trail we went on is a 12 mile long Jeep/ATV "Moderate" trail and pretty much did 75% of it in 2WD. Only needed 4LO to smooth out the climbs steep stuff, I probably could have done most of it in 2WD but the low-range reduces the drama. Keeps the wife happier.
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I've been looking at either a F-150 or Nissan Frontier. The availability of off-road stuff is ridiculous.
Yes, you can get a "single cab". But neither truck really offers the GOOD stuff from the factory in single cab.
On the F-150 the "Tremor" caught my eye. Problem is, it is only available in Crew Cab short bed. I would love a Extended Cab 6.5' bed Tremor, but nope.
On the Frontier, I want the "Pro-4X" package. Again, same as Ford, you can only get it as a Crew Cab short bed. IF I really want an Extended Cab Frontier Pro-4X, I need to go to Canada to buy it. And, supposedly there'd be no warranty on it. But yeah, it's available in Canada.
We currently have a full size 4x4 Crew Cab short bed. Bought it 13-14 years ago. Served us well, our son is getting old enough we no longer will be needing that big back seat when he moves out. An extended cab would be best, and a 6.5' bed ideal since we sleep in the bed.
Does everyone really want a 4 door truck these days still? I would guess people would start outgrowing them eventually, like we did.
I have a 14 GMC "double" cab a/k/a extended cab. People sometimes marvel at how big the truck is, UNTIL they get in the back seat. A mid size sedan seems to have more leg room.
So, as much as I can romanticize the idea of a regular cab, I sure am glad I have the extended, and sometimes wish I had a crew. FWIW
The F250/350 Tremor aren't anything too crazy. You can order the extra cab, Fx4, short bed, with black wheels. Then add 35" tires and a front locker yourself.
Although, I'd reconsider. The CC short bed is the perfect overlanding wheelbase for that type of truck. The extra cab room is priceless. I've even slept in mine. I'd also recommend a lower trim package. The new Ford Vinyl seats and Rubber floors are better suited to overlanding. I try to stay under XLT.
I've been asking Ford for an XL trim 5.0 Raptor with Fx4 for years. No stickers, no turbos, no leather, no carpet. Just good engine, e locker, wide fenders, Raptor wheels, tires, and running boards. I think it doesn't exist, because it would be way too close to the Raptors cost. Those fenders are expensive, the leather and doodads only costs them $0.75 extra.
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The F250 Tremor is a great option for those who want a big truck that is also capable. The Tremor package for that truck is very configurable.
Unfortunately, for those of us who prefer a moderate sized truck like an F150, the Tremor is locked to only one body style and one engine option.
You can buy a base F150 in multiple styles with 5-6 engine choices. But, if you want a Tremor F150 there's only one choice. Such a weird marketing move from Ford. I guess it's like Taco Bell killing off the Mexican Pizza or Popeyes killing off the Cajun Rice...less choices=more profit.
I would LOVE a "base" style vehicle with the higher level running gear options. I don't want leather, sunroof, seat massagers, self-driving aids, fancy paint, chrome, etc. I DO want a rear locker and an AWD/4H/4L system like the Raptor/Tremor has.
I don't see what is the problem at Ford? The Tremor package could easily be applied to any cab/bed config, it's not like any of the Tremor running gear can't fit into any chassis! I mean, MAYBE the rear door panels and the bed stickers would be different? But the running gear and everything else would fit in a standard cab, extended cab, crew cab, short bed, long bed...it doesn't matter.
I can't see how you sleep in your CC! Ours is 62" wide from door panel to door panel. My son is currently 63" tall, meaning he can with a slight bend of the knee.
In our 13+ years of owning our truck, over time we tinkered with how to overland/camp in it. We tried many options over those years and ended up liking sleeping in the back of the bed (even though it's only 67", 4" shorter than myself) the most of all. We ended up adding Detroit True Trac, Bilstein 5100's, KO2 tires, skid plates, and a LEER cap. This journey with our current truck has lead us to really know how we would want our next truck from the factory. Unfortunately, not offered by anyone anymore! The CC has come in handy a few times, but once our son moves on an extended cab would be more than suitable.
I'll bet it's a safety or liability cost issue. The extra height of the truck made them thoroughly test it in the most popular configuration only.
Lifting all of the trucks might upset the safety engineers.
Lifting all of the trucks might upset the safety engineers.
Member III
My partner is hella tall, so half ton fullsizes are pretty much the smallest we can go. TBH a lot of the reasons yall have laid out in here so far are why we're going to be keeping our standard cab/shortbed truck for as long as we can, I just wish it was possible to get higher performance out of the front suspension without doing a full long-travel, prerunner type setup on it. The availability for performance off-road stuff for the NBS GM trucks is sad...
Wheel base is such a huge factor in off-roading, the shorter wheel base on ours has let it get all kinds of places that longer/taller trucks have had issues, but the trade off is that it doesn't tow as well (we don't tow so not an issue). That said a regular cab long bed kinda looks tempting, but the shorty bed on ours is great. Its a very manageable size on desert trips...
Personally I'd be ok with a 4door truck but I wouldn't be the one driving it and honestly I wouldn't want anything much larger than my JKU.
Now... if I could just talk my partner into a shell of kind...
Member III
I've seen yours a couple times, I love it! It tends to be a bit on the larger than I'd like side... My partner would be an easy sell though. We both tend to side more on the low COG desert truck builds however...
I definitely understand the whole wheelbase thing, and it makes me scratch my head at Wrangler 4 doors and Gladiators, or being forced to get a 4 door truck just to get the best off-road kit (Toyota just released a Tacoma lift kit that specifically excludes the long bed 4x4! Toyota Tacoma TRD Lift Kit Maintains Truck's Active Safety Functions ). I know it stems from people over-extending themselves on a truck/Jeep purchase and they need a vehicle that wears many hats.
However, I was shocked at how well my relatively long-wheelbase big 4 door truck did in some serious off-road stuff. I have pretty funny dash cam video of me saying several times "ain't gonna make it" or "definitely going to drag frame" or "looks like a Jeep only obstacle" only to prove myself wrong going over each and every obstacle easily with no issues at all, and no frame dragging.
Honestly, I thought I'd break my truck or get stuck, but it didn't happen. I don't think I'd have the cajones to really push a proper 2 door Jeep as hard as it can go as I scared myself and surprised myself plenty with a long wheelbase truck!
That was me over the weekend I went out to the OHV and did some trails at hollister and I made my way to the top with my jeep friends and on the way to the top I got many thumbs up and comments about I got it up there hahaha
Member III
Yeah! I saw some of those pics, looked awesome. The Full size trucks really do suprisingly well, but as with most things offroad... driver skill is the biggest factor. A fun note, my partner almost got her 2wd truck up there, just the steepness/looseness got the best of her in a couple places so she decided head back... Flash forward to a few months later and she's getting her truck up all kinds of crap on our Death Valley run that was way tougher than getting up to hector heights.
Member III
So, I completely forgot about this thread BUT here's a pic of the sort of rough draft of the front skid that's been on my partners GMC for over a year now... at some point I'm going to build it into a better built prerunner sort of front end. We've already used this thing a lot on a few trips, lol. When we rework it, the front angle piece will be removed, and some better brackets/mounts will be put in their place, we'll also be shoehorning a winch in there somehow and doing some tube work to match the lines of the stock chrome bumper.
I also got started on some rear bump-stop mounts to hold the bigger style of foamie bump-stop that's found on the 'Burbs and Tahoe's of that era. I still have to get these mounts cleaned up, weld in some bolt tabs or something and generally get them more polished, but the concept is there. Its just kind of a bummer that a ton of fab work is required to do almost anything on these trucks.
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