Huck's daily - 2005 Z71 crewcab

[idahovette]

That's just sad......lol

 

[JamesSam]

Facebook may be the DEATH of us all

I don't FB!

 

[TotalyHucked]

I mainly just use FB for Marketplace at this point. I'll post every once in a blue moon and I'll scroll to see what my friends are up to every so often but that's it. Social media has gotten very tiresome to me at this point

 

[Old77]

I mainly just use FB for Marketplace at this point. I'll post every once in a blue moon and I'll scroll to see what my friends are up to every so often but that's it. Social media has gotten very tiresome to me at this point

I rarely even post or scroll through instagram at this point let alone FB (other than Marketplace).

 

[TotalyHucked]

So I've been needing some step bars for my truck since is so tall now, I'm not very tall and the GF is short and I wanna save my seats. I'd love a set of the AMP Research PowerSteps but they're $1600. I've been shopping around and been leery of the universal board style ones cuz idk how they'll fit, I see alot of them hanging wayyyy down low. Thought about just buying some boards and making my own brackets.

Everybody online swears the N-fab hoop style nerf bars are a good option. I like the way they look and I see them everywhere, so I figured I'd give them a shot. They're $530 new, so I've been watching marketplace. Found several of the '07-13 style but wasn't sure if they'd fit/mount easily. Found 1 set for my truck in Ider, AL 2 weeks ago for $200. Was talking to the GF Thursday night about weekend plans and mentioned the steps and she said "lets go!". So we loaded up early Saturday morning and ran over there to pick them up, 2.5hrs each way.

First thing I can say about the trip is on normal semi-flat hwy, 4.56s and 35s is perfect. ~2250-2300 at 70. In the mountains, it seemed like 4.88s woulda been a better choice but I had to keep in mind that I'm still just on a startup tune, we still have alot of work to do for final tuning. The lockup especially needs work. Hoping that improves things alot.

Get there, the steps are what the kid said they were. Super nice people, I paid him, loaded up and headed home.

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Found a cool little lunch spot on the way home somewhere in NW Ga. The little building was so small inside, I felt like I was 6' 8" lol. The walls seriously were only about 6' tall

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Saturday night the GF had to go to her aunt's house cuz she was taking her to the airport at 4am Sunday morning. I started unloading the truck after she left and decided to get out a couple jack stands and see what the steps would look like.

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While I was under there, I realized mounting them only takes enlarging 2 holes and drilling 4 more, so I installed them that night. First thought was "these are great" as I hopped in. The next thought was "these things SUCKKKK" as I literally fell out because where I naturally put my foot on exit is the upward part of the hoop that joins the main tube and slipped. I turned the truck around and installed the passenger side even though I was already having my doubts. Figured I'd give them a few days to see if I could teach myself how to not die getting out of the truck

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[Old77]

I've been wanting AMPs for years but never have pulled the trigger becauase of cost. Nice product but super spendy. I like the NFab bars you went with

 

[TotalyHucked]

They purely mount to the rocker flange and then pivot slightly and the upper arm touches the floor. They move more than I'd like, I'm not a huge fan of all the weight being supported by just the rocker flange and very small bolts. I hate that I had to drill hole in my rockers for these and now don't even like them

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But on we went. Sunday, me and the GF decided to take my truck to run errands and see if we could "learn" to use the steps better. Nope. Found out the hard way that being in tight spots makes exit even worse. The hoop is too far forward (and I have them adjusted as far rearward as possible and still being lined up with the cab), so you naturally miss it, but the downward tube is still kinda there so you can't just completely go over the step and drop on the ground.

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I'm still gonna give them a week or so but at this point I already hate them. I guess I'll re-list these and just buy some of the flat board steps. Worst case, I have to make my own brackets. Which actually won't be that bad because I discovered that this truck has the nutserts in the inner rocker that coincide with a hole in the lower rocker flange like the '07-up trucks do, so it should be very simple to make brackets. It's a bummer but I'm certainly glad I only paid $200 for them used rather than taking a $530+ gamble buying them new

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[CountKrunk]

Insta has basically hidden all the accounts you follow that are not famous accounts. You will see way more content from the popular accounts you may follow and you'll see suggested content then you'll see ads before you see 5 posts from regular accounts you follow.

Bummer on the bars but you can't know until you know ya know? Glad you got them for a good deal at least.

 

[TotalyHucked]

I've been wanting AMPs for years but never have pulled the trigger becauase of cost. Nice product but super spendy. I like the NFab bars you went with

Exactly. Although I'll say I've been seeing a ton of them on marketplace lately. I wonder what that's about? Maybe they don't last?

 

[TotalyHucked]

Insta has basically hidden all the accounts you follow that are not famous accounts. You will see way more content from the popular accounts you may follow and you'll see suggested content then you'll see ads before you see 5 posts from regular accounts you follow.

Bummer on the bars but you can't know until you know ya know? Glad you got them for a good deal at least.

I hate not knowing what I don't know until I know it lol

 

[legopnuematic]

I have considered/considering a set of Carr hoop steps for the Dodge like these:

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Which would be a while as I need to fix the rockers first to have something to attach to. Anyways, I wonder similarly, if I would even like them, visually I like them, but not sure if functionally they would be beneficial.

My buddy’s 05 ram has those 3” round tube running boards, I don’t really care for the look of them myself.

I know what you mean about getting tripped up with some running boards, some of my (older age wise) friends have newer trucks, stock height with running boards, the trucks don’t really sit high enough to make them needed in my opinion. I think they can make for a very un natural motion. It’s like a staircase in a house with the last step a few inches tall or shorter rise than the others.

 

[TotalyHucked]

I have considered/considering a set of Carr hoop steps for the Dodge like these:

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Which would be a while as I need to fix the rockers first to have something to attach to. Anyways, I wonder similarly, if I would even like them, visually I like them, but not sure if functionally they would be beneficial.

My buddy’s 05 ram has those 3” round tube running boards, I don’t really care for the look of them myself.

I know what you mean about getting tripped up with some running boards, some of my (older age wise) friends have newer trucks, stock height with running boards, the trucks don’t really sit high enough to make them needed in my opinion. I think they can make for a very un natural motion. It’s like a staircase in a house with the last step a few inches tall or shorter rise than the others.

I've seen lots of these over the years too but never used them. It never occurred to me until I bought these steps that they could work great in one direction and be terrible in the other direction. May be ok if you get the positioning just right. Might problem is getting out, I put my foot about 6" further back than where I step to get in. Not sure why, that's just what's natural

 

[TotalyHucked]

Was sitting on the couch Monday night scrolling through Marketplace before bed and happened to notice a listing for exhaust off an '06 Yukon. It had a split, dual 4" tip that looked like a Corsa, so naturally that peaked my interest. It was listed for $230

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Scroll further...yep, that's a Corsa muffler. So I message him immediately and offer $175. He counters at $180 so I agree and tell him I'll swing by after work Tuesday, he just lives 20min from me.

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I get there and he's a cool old guy in his 60s that has a '79 G-body Elco with a mini-Weiand blown 383 in it, a '94 OBS Tahoe he bought new that has a 383 and a cool shop full of tools. He had this '06 Yukon XL on a trailer and another GMT830 on a trailer, says he buys and parts out stuff for some fun money. The Yukon had had an electrical fire under the dash but still had alot of good parts on it. He hears my truck as I'm backing up and goes "this thing got a little cam in it huh?". So we start talking and he goes "so whatcha picking this exhaust up for? Want to quiet something down?". I told him it's for the red truck and he looked confused, says "well this is a stock exhaust, it won't be any louder than what you've got". I pick up the muffler to look through it to be sure and just go "no, this is an aftermarket muffler, gives a bit more growl over stock. I just want something mild for this since it's the daily" but didn't wanna give it away ha.

So we walk over to where the exhaust is laying on the ground, it's the downpipes with cats, o2 sensors, all the rubber hangers, all the clamps and it's a full Corsa catback! I couldn't give him the $180 and load it up fast enough lol.

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The down pipes and cats, I don't have any use for but my buddy might use them on his 5.3 swapped OBS 'Burb. I also won't be able to use that forward Y-pipe, the 1500 5.3 pickups Y ahead of that flange, the 6.0 SUVs have that flange and then Y behind it with a clamp, weird.

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[TotalyHucked]

After I got home, I looked it up, that catback alone is $1500, let alone the hanger rubbers, o2 sensors, downpipes and cats! So yesterday I wiped down the tips and the muffler real quick and slid everything underneath to see how lucky I'll be with hanger placement. Wasn't sure how different the XL suvs and CCSSB trucks would be

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The rear hanger lines up...

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The hanger forward of the axle lines up...

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And the forward hanger lines up! Score!!

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Like I said above, I just can't use the foward Y-pipe cuz it's not long enough and isn't the same layout as the trucks have. NBD though, I'll just cut it and my stock exhaust in the straight section in front of the muffler and band clamp it

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[TotalyHucked]

I ordered a 2.75" to 3" adapter and a stepped 3" band clamp yesterday, they should be here today. I originally was just going to expand the factory 2.75" pipe to fit the Corsa 3" but my expander tops out at 2.5". Can't wait to hear this thing!

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