2012 Chevy Silverado LTZ 4x4 5.3L 6L80 on airbags Aluminum bed, 2014 Arctic Cat Trail on 30's, 2012 SkyLine Layton Joey. Truck 5400Lbs, Cat 1100 LBS Trailer 5000Lbs ~10500 GVW with a rated maximum of 15000Lbs
As you can see I am getting close to my Max GVWR on this truck But the wife wants a bigger camper and I want more power. So do I go in to debt again to get a bigger truck or make this one last 10 more years with no debt?
We go camping in the Arizona mountains about 2 times a month during the summer and we take trips from time to time. Now this rig wont break any speed records but it holds its own. I can pull up the mountains with out the side by side at 55 to 65 mph all the way. With the side by side I slow to 50 mph or so.
More gearing will help. Bigger brakes are on the way soon.
I found Boost District was selling a Truck Kit for the Eaton Built LSA supercharger. Basically Chevy put a coil spring in the supercharger that got loud as hell when it wore out. Their first recall replaced the entire supercharger with a new one with a solid coupler in place of the spring. This recall dumped thousands of LSAs on the aftermarket. Companies rebuild these and sold them cheap. When it started you could buy a used LSA for $600 - $800 and do the work yourself but now used ones are scarce.
Edelbrock E-Force Super Chargers has a super nice kit with absolutely everything needed to supercharge your LS. BUT it cost over $8000. I was saving my pennies and checking out Paxton, Whipple, and turbo Kits but these did not appeal to me. Then I found Boost District I called Rosh and put in the order. Rosh is a super nice guy, knows his stuff and is always available to help. This Kit does not have absolutely everything needed but it has more than enough covers the installation. I will list what the Boost District Truck kit come with and what you need to buy to install a supercharger on your truck.
Now this is not a Hot Rod Racing setup. If this is what you want to not bug me for help. There are way too many businesses out there to make you go fast. I want more torque at lower RPMs to help get my heavy ass up the mountains. If I had the money when I bought this truck I would have gotten a 1 ton dually, but hear I am. I retire in 10 years and as my plan goes I will buy a HDT Rig like the Freightliner Argosy or Volvo VNL 660 . You see a used 1 ton dually will cost you $60 to $80 grand. I can pick a used HDT truck that is way safer and stronger with the same or better mileage able to pull the absolutely biggest 5th wheel or trailer for $20 to $40 grand. I like the idea of the Cab Over with a long bed for the garage and pull the longest Camper / Luxury 5th wheel. but that is years away and I need to use what I have.
My truck is a 2012 Chevy Silverado LTZ 4x4 5.3L 6L80 3.73 posi rear end. A guy ordered it to haul a cab over camper and he used it once and traded it in on a truck he needed. That guy went in on a 1 ton with this truck depreciation rolled in to the new bigger truck. I got this truck for a song. Then we got the Camper. It was the shortest lightest one with all the amenities the wife wanted. Then we got the side by side. For a year I hauled it in the bed with the tailgate down and I had to use a receiver extension. I hated dealing with the extra clunking of the extension. I was always worried the tail gate cables would snap.
I studied the GM up-fitters guide and decided I can extend the frame safely to make it a long bed. If I stayed within the limits I would not have to move the rear axle back. I found the aluminum flat bed at Ray and Bob's Truck Salvage . It is an old Home Depot bed from their rental fleet. I sold my stock bed complete for a ton of cash. Who knew they were in such demand. I extended the frame with the help of my good welding buddy Mylan the flat bed doubled the strength of the truck because it had its own frame members and how we tied it to the truck I ended up with parallel frame members. But I do not take that into account for the CGVW rating.
I installed the Load Lifter 5000™ Ultimate Plus from Air Ride. On board air is coming soon, I love train horns! I use the Equalizer Hitch with the camper. I also installed the 40,000 pound automatic transmission cooler from Tru-Cool. It also has K&N CAI and a Magna Flow Muffler with 3” exhaust.