Rocket Man's 2008 Bagged CC Silverado Build AKA "THE MACHINE"

[Rocket Man]

Yup- A totally new frame that's not as tall as the original, with lower body mount locations is how a SFBD is done. Often times the only original part of the frame that's retained is from the firewall forward because it has the control arm mounts and engine cradle and it's all above the bottom of the body. There's lots of careful measuring and fabrication involved, but you don't lose interior space like you do with a traditional BD where the body is channeled to lower over the rails. It's definitely had some hours poured into it.

Ah that's how they do it. I wondered when I looked in the cab and you couldn't see anything different with the floor. Yeah that's definitely the best way to do it but man what a lot of work to get it to lay down like that. The PO said he was on the waiting list a year, shipped it to them and then didn't get it back for another year. And that's just the bag and body drop work. Paint and body work took another 4 months.

 

[05alive]

Worth the wait IMO.


I know you said you can ride at 1-2” but what’s the “safe” ride height? If you had to drive it to work or a show how high would you have it sit?

 

[Rocket Man]

Worth the wait IMO.


I know you said you can ride at 1-2” but what’s the “safe” ride height? If you had to drive it to work or a show how high would you have it sit?

That pretty much depends on how much you need to turn the steering wheel and if there's big dips in the road or speed bumps. At 1-2" high you can only turn the wheel enough to operate on the freeway or long straight city thoroughfares. You can change lanes or take exits but then you need to bump the front up to turn normal city streets or make u-turns. Or go in and out of driveways.That's where having 7-gallon tank comes in, and knowing if your tank is full. You can feel the compressors running so you know when they turn off your tank is full. You can't continuously go up and down like with hydraulics. So it takes a bit of learning. The PO was good at it- and knew if he couldn't get the front up enough due to not enough air, he just wouldn't turn as much and had to plan on wide turns. I need more practice. So let's say I'm driving to work. I jump in, air it up to full normal drive height ( full height is about the same as a 6/8 drop I think since the wheels are still a bit tucked but since the fronts are 26 x 9 you get full turn and the rears are on a narrowed rear end so they tuck even though they're 26 x 12). I back out and head towards the freeway. The pumps are running now so if I drop it I won't be able to go all the way back up for maybe 10 minutes so if I go down, I'm staying for awhile. I can go maybe 1/2 way down, to say 45 psi rear and 100 psi front and still make the turns I need to as long as they're not sharp. Then by the time I hit the freeway I can go low low at say 35-40 psi rear and 60- psi front and by the time I get off on 15-20 minutes the tank is full again and I go back up to full height as I'm hitting the off-ramp, 65 psi rear and 160 psi front. It's fun and the switches and gauges are easy to operate. That was a long answer and it's not for everyone but this is a toy and a backup for me in case my Denali is down. My Street Glide and 2 of my Harley Davidson V-Rods had air and I played with them the same way. My SG had a tank too and operated just like this truck but with a bike you'd better get good at it quick or just ride aired up all the time. It's the front that you need to really pay attention to, but you also don't want to be squatting like an idiot.

 

[05alive]

That's gotta feel pretty badass. Lift it up when you start it, pull onto the highway and lay it out rolling.

Lol @ the backup truck is a doored cc on 6's

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Lol @ the backup truck is a doored cc on 6's

Well, it's not a blown Denali, so.......

 

[05alive]

 

[kbuskill]

I am guessing they went with electric pumps instead of an engine driven pump due to a lack of real estate under the hood?

I built an air ride for my chopper, but I had a tank on it for instant up.

 

[Rocket Man]

I am guessing they went with electric pumps instead of an engine driven pump due to a lack of real estate under the hood?

I built an air ride for my chopper, but I had a tank on it for instant up.

Yeah, dual Viair 480c's and a 7- gallon tank. It's instant up on a full tank. I had a tank on my bagger too.

 

[Rocket Man]

So yesterday I was checking out the speakers since I ordered a new HU and lo and behold the right rear door wasn't working and the right front was half volume. I pulled the rear door panel off and pulled the speaker. I was surprised it was stock since the sound wasn't bad from the ones that were working. It was blown, 0 ohms resistance. I figured the front was halfway there. So...ordered 4 Rockford Fosgate prime R165X3's which got great reviews even for how inexpensive they are. I'm not going crazy on the sound system at this point but even if I do add a sub under the back seat later these should do fine. All 4 speakers, free mount adapters and free wiring pigtails plus the speakers were discounted $20 a pair....$79.98 shipped from Crutchfield.

 

[Rocket Man]

And today I got a squeeze-in appointment at the tint shop and had the fronts matched to the rears

. Those front windows were driving me crazy.

 

[Rocket Man]

Another thing driving me crazy is the rear bumper and tailgate. The Po installed and colormatched an HD bumper pad which is too tall so the tailgate doesn't open all the way unless you lift the right side up out of the rubber hinge and mess with it. Plus the paint is already peeling because probably not the right prep for plastic. So I ordered new aftermarket right, left, and center pieces for a 1500 LT. I figure a little black here and there for contrast will look good. I'll pull the rest of the black pieces and paint them too. Oh and hey... got my new Oregon plates today and the title transferred. That felt good. To celebrate, I detailed the interior.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Were there backup sensors in the bumper?

 

[05alive]

Looks awesome with the tint

17 looks so much better on trucks than suvs. I can still see in my yukon, don't like that.


Probably did the hd bumper to close the gap. Looks good, but not functional at all.

 

[Rocket Man]

Were there backup sensors in the bumper?

No. Just holes. This truck has lots of holes. Seems like the painter lost everything that plugs the damn holes.

 

[Tonyrodz]

No. Just holes. This truck has lots of holes. Seems like the painter lost everything that plugs the damn holes.

That Sux. Maybe get some of those plastic plugs and color match them.

 

[Rocket Man]

Looks awesome with the tint

17 looks so much better on trucks than suvs. I can still see in my yukon, don't like that.


Probably did the hd bumper to close the gap. Looks good, but not functional at all.

He said it's just the step pad that's HD. It's about 1/2" taller than the regular one so yeah that might be but it's stupid if it scrapes the paint off the bottom of the tailgate when you open and close it and stops the tailgate from opening more than halfway.

 

[Rocket Man]

That Sux. Maybe get some of those plastic plugs and color match them.

I've been getting them a few at a time. I might go to a u-pull it. I kind of like a few black pieces here and there, it looks like it's supposed to. I just noticed all the rubber bumpers from the doors are missing. I found one in the glove box.

 

[iamdub]

Well, you wanted small things to do to keep busy...

 

[kbuskill]

My brother upgraded his rear bumper on his Silverado to the newer bumper with the steps on each end. The new bumper had holes for backup sensors but his truck didn't have them.

I tried to talk him into getting these and putting them in the holes but he got rid of his truck before doing it.

https://truxaccessories.com/led-lig...olution-stop-turn-tail-led-red-white-2-diodes

These ^^^ have red stop, tail, turn, and white backup light capability.

https://truxaccessories.com/led-lig...dual-revolution-marker-led-amber-red-2-diodes

These ^^^ turn from red to amber so you could wire them as red brake lights and amber turn signals. Although on the pickups i believe the brake and turns are on the same circuit.

I think they are cool... you can get either chrome or black surround rings and they should fit in the stock holes for the backup sensors.

It looks like your bumper only has 2 holes but it would still be cool. Coming from the motorcycle scene I am a firm believer that the best brake light is the one that wasn't there before.

In other words a light going from off to on gets more attention than a light that simply gets brighter.

I actually considered removing my backup sensors and doing this to the Burb because I think it is that cool. Plus with the backup cam it's kind of a redundant feature.

 

[Rocket Man]

Well, you wanted small things to do to keep busy...

Indeed. And I enjoy doing all the small things that will pull this truck together and finish it off. It looked unfinished when I first saw it, and my first thought was he either ran out of money, time or both. Plus I don't think he was much good at working on vehicles. I mean, he still had a stock stereo in it with his phone plugged into it with an aux cable (which he took with him and after I took off out of SF I realized the radio had little to no reception and I couldn't hook up my phone for Pandora). I was talking to him about what I'd done to my Denali and he said I sounded "pretty handy" lol.

My brother upgraded his rear bumper on his Silverado to the newer bumper with the steps on each end. The new bumper had holes for backup sensors but his truck didn't have them.

I tried to talk him into getting these and putting them in the holes but he got rid of his truck before doing it.

https://truxaccessories.com/led-lig...olution-stop-turn-tail-led-red-white-2-diodes

These ^^^ have red stop, tail, turn, and white backup light capability.

https://truxaccessories.com/led-lig...dual-revolution-marker-led-amber-red-2-diodes

These ^^^ turn from red to amber so you could wire them as red brake lights and amber turn signals. Although on the pickups i believe the brake and turns are on the same circuit.

I think they are cool... you can get either chrome or black surround rings and they should fit in the stock holes for the backup sensors.

It looks like your bumper only has 2 holes but it would still be cool. Coming from the motorcycle scene I am a firm believer that the best brake light is the one that wasn't there before.

In other words a light going from off to on gets more attention than a light that simply gets brighter.

I actually considered removing my backup sensors and doing this to the Burb because I think it is that cool. Plus with the backup cam it's kind of a redundant feature.

I love that idea. Those have chrome trim though and say they fit 3/4" holes; those holes are 1 1/8". I will be putting a backup cam in though and haven't decided where to mount it so one of those holes might be spoken for.