2018 Colorado Crew Z71

4x4x4doors

Adventurist
Well, this happened today.
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Ode to an Orange Truck

It is a little weird, I guess, to write an ode to a machine but the orange truck has shared quite a few miles and milestones.

It started in 2008 when the time had arrived to seriously consider replacing the Chevy Blazer that I had driven for several years. I started searching online and had discovered that car sales folks can be just as obnoxious online as the caricature makes them appear in person. So after a while, I decided the Blazer was going to have to hang around for a while. But we went to visit the sisters in Florida and happened upon a leftover prior model year Colorado at a dealer not too far away.

So I started an email conversation with their sales guy and told him I was interested if he could sell for a given (very) discounted price. We traded a few more emails and he finally said they were ready to get it off the lot. So we agreed to buy it and stopped on our way home. Its not unusual to buy a t-shirt on a trip but this was the first truck we bought that way. The daughter's reaction was priceless when we told her what we were bringing home.

In less than a month, it was being a truck hauling trash from a Pax River dump site. I still remember the grinding sound from that first scratch and dent from a zealous worker tossing trash. The little orange truck went with us to the beaches of Outer Banks and Assateague National Recreation Areas and to some offroad parks including Windrock and Rausch Creek. We visited national forests like George Washington, Uwharrie and Monongahela. Potomac State Forest in Maryland was a destination multiple times. Occasionally filling in for commuter duty and hauling things like a truck should. The four wheel drive took us through a couple of snow events including rush hour home in Snowmageddon in 2010 that included the trip from Oxon Hill to Germantown and then back to Dupont Circle in DC before eventually making it home.

We've changed a few things from the factory configuration. Beefed up the rear springs, added a winch to the front to help us and others to the front.

And then I retired and the travels began. We went to Nevada and the desert ghost towns. We visited Yosemite and went up the Alaska Highway to Anchorage. We rode the ferry south and saw Vancouver and crossed the border to travel across Washington and then home. We visited several Presidential libraries and coverd the Pacific Coast from Crater Lake all the way south to San Diego and back across the country. We've camped our way to the north side of the Grand Canyon and toured Hoover Dam. Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and around Moab more than once. We traversed the Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph to Sacramento and re-traced the path of the Oregon Trail settlers. We saw the trains in the Maine Northwoods. More than one set of Badlands have passed by our windows as have the giant faces of Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We passed through Little Big Horn where Custer last stood. We've touched the Alaska Oil Pipeline. One year we headed up to Newfoundland and Labrador. We've been to the four corners of the continental USA (and visited Four Corners). We climbed Pikes Peak and have crossed Kansas several times. We've traveled to all the Canadian Provinces except Manitoba. The truck was assembled in Louisiana but we didn't go there together. In fact, this turck has visited all these United States except for Mississippi, Michigan and Hawaii.

So we've been all these places together. We had a warranty issue with the four wheel drive early on while at OBX and had to replace a fan clutch in South Dakota a couple of summers ago. Other than that, its been a faithful travel companion without complaint. On our last trip, it made a “funny” noise when sihifting gears that prompted a look-see and fluid change when it went for the oil change/tire rotation.

It may seem silly to you but I'm gonna miss it. Its been reliable and comfortable without demanding too much for operating expenses. We've been through a lot together.

My hope is that the next owner gets the reliable enjoyment that we did. The next generation of truck has taken its spot at our curb. It has a few more gizmos and electronics from the factory. While it may not reach as many milestone “firsts”, I'm hoping that it proves to be just as comfortable and trouble-free.
 
Interesting on the Maggie rack. No dice on a camper shell with internal structure that could support the weight?
 
More a matter of working from Point A to Point B than going clean slate.
When I bought the Maggie, already had a shell on the old truck that I couldn't get confirmation was sufficient and didn't really want to spring for a new cap just to be sure that it would do it. Less expensive and clearer statement of capacity to just buy the rack.
Then with new one, the few I looked at didn't really seem up to the task unless contractor caps which I didn't like. I understand differences in dynamic vs. static loads but still figure the cap would need to stand up to Maggie PLUS me for a number of years even though parked.
Also, the Maggie resides up there only a couple of weeks per year. The Maggie and the rack come off. I do leave the base for the posts in place year round. Makes for a handy little shelf for a coffee cup or other small items.
 
I'm a big believer in the truth of "Chrome won't get you home" but it will save the cost of having a replacement painted to match. And it frees up your red ratchet strap for other uses.

Today, I took the big box out of the dining room and installed its contents on the back of the truck.

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Now that I've investigated how the step corners actually attach and work, I think there may be some benefit to just removing the steps and opening up that corner of the bumper with the center section as is. Maybe one of these days....
 
If you don't care for the chrome, you could spray it with PlastiDip.

The only required prep is to clean the bumper. The best part is, if you get tired of it, you can peel it off.

Try different colors, depending on your mood! ;)
 
I installed the 589 Fab hidden winch bumper on my Colorado after it set at my house for over a year. Part of the delay was my personal issues and part of it was directly related to the product itself.

Although I will mention some areas for improvement for 589 Fab, I'm still pretty much satisfied with the end result. I generally like the stock looks of my truck and appreciate that I can maintain that. In the past when I've had winches installed on trucks, I find that –at least my area-- they cause a big hit to the trade-in value so its something I will take off when I'm ready to get rid of the truck. Given the soft front end on trucks these days, returning to stock appearance is not easily done with full bumpers. This install requires no cutting of the truck so removed parts can be returned if I save them.

589 Fab never posted install instructions for this product so figuring that out is left to the customer. While not that difficult if you're at all mechanically inclined, some tips up front would have saved a bit of work. I'll go through this the way it should have gone instead of the way I did it. Although their website indicates this (and the similar one for the Ford Ranger) is sold out, I am going to proceed as if they would still be available.

  1. First thing to address would be the indication from their website that the mount “fits most 10k lb and under winches on the market”. One exception to that would be the SuperWinch 8500LP which was the winch I had retrieved from my previous truck. It doesn't fit because it is too tall. That winch's handle will not fit within the confines of the tight package. I contacted 589 Fab about this (and asked here on American Adventurist) and got several good suggestions but they still didn't make that winch fit. They did tell me: “Winches we've run are: Warn M8000. Smittybilt 9500. Rough Country 9500.” I eventually bought the Rough Country 9500 and will be preparing to sell my SuperWinch.

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    (Turns out I don't seem to have any pictures after applying the seam sealer.)

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  2. I ordered my 589 Fab Hidden Winch mount uncoated as there were (and still are) no options for that. Turns out that's a good thing for a couple of reasons. Of the 8 bolts that attach the mount to the truck, I found that 6 of the holes needed some work before they could be used. Even the two that were oval-shaped and mounted where the crash bar came off needed to be shaved to bolt up. The middle driver side flat with the adjustment slots that fasten where the recovery loops were mounted needed the edges ground down (about 3/16 inch for me). A drill bit run a few times along the edges did the trick on the holes. This may be that GM has made changes from whichever model they used for the pattern or it may just be the tolerances were too tight. In any event, it is a time consumer and not something you might think about before. Had you paid for some expensive powder coat that you now have to grind off will not result in happy. Make the test fit and adjustments first, before the winch is loaded and making it harder to handle and before you paint or finish. You will discover that you'll need to remove the two front skidplate bolts and the the two brackets that the lower bumper edge and the lower piece of grill filler that are fastened to. Side note: I see that 589 Fab's full bumper now has the smaller flat that attaches where the recovery loop bolts on.

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  3. The hidden winch bumper is made of 3/16 and using technology, derives part of its shape and strength from a series of origami-like folds and tabs and slots. Many of the welds are along one side of the seam, which is more than enough for strength and the welds are nicely done. However that leaves the other side with a tiny little gap. Because I use my truck a lot (proportionately) on the beaches, I am concerned about rust forming in those unseen gaps eventually weakening in the hidden areas. So I searched for and found Eastwood Seam Sealer in a cartridge tube (Eastwood Seam Sealer Cartridge) to cover the gaps and seal up the spaces where the salt and sand could begin rusting. I drilled the holes to mount my state-mandated front plate now. After that, I thoroughly primed with rattle can primer then coated with rattle can black. I put a final coat of hammered metallic from Rustoleum as a final coat which comes close to matching the Z71 Chevy grille color. If you don't plan to keep it as long or use it in different circumstances, this may not matter to you.
  4. Actually mounting the winch in the bumper is next. With the Rough Country (and also with the SuperWinch), it was necessary to remove the controller box. With the RC, I found it best to disconnect the cables from the winch first and leave them connected to the controller box, then bolt the fairlead (roller if steel cable, hawse if synthetic) in place. Attach the winch with the four bolts plus flat washers and lock washers. I routed the cables through the rectangular hole above the winch and mounted the controller using just the front 2 bolt holes into the back 2 holes in the controller. It put the plug in a good place for me and eliminated the need to drill more holes through 3/16 steel. Make sure the electrical connections are tight because they will be near impossible to reach afterwards.

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  5. It might be handy to have a helper at the next step but its possible to proceed without one. I'll describe what I did which was without a helper. Remove the front two skidplate bolts from under the radiator. Thread the two upper crash bar bolts through from the back, preferably hand tight or less. Using a rolling floor jack, lift the hidden bumper with the winch installed into position. You can balance it as you raise it into position. Align it with the two bolts you just installed. Once you have it firmly in place, remove one bolt and thread it in from the front. Do the same with the other one. Next, install and tighten the four bolts and nuts from the sides that originally held the recovery loops and tighten. Replace the skidplate and bolts from the bottom.

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  6. Run the positive and negative cables to the battery. A path is pretty clear under the drivers side headlight. I fastened the positive electrically upstream of the first fuse and the negative to the negative battery post. I connected the winch controller to the control box and then ran the wire for it up between the passenger side headlight and coiled the wire and controller with velcro strap and stored it between the air cleaner inlet and the headlight. We'll see whether that works out in the long run.
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  7. Reinstall the grill and bumper.

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  8. If you haven't already installed the winch cable (I didn't for weight as well as hand room that I needed while tightening everything up), install it now and wind it tightly onto the drum. (One potential advantage of the Hidden install is that the synthetic winch line is protected/shaded by the grill and bumper, limiting UV effects to the line.)
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