I could see him drooling, my cousin, a long time F*** man, checking out my 2011 Sierra 2500HD sitting in my mom's driveway on New Year's Eve as we made our way out the door to leave. So I hit the remote - so he could see the roof markers and lamps lighting up this beautiful beast. Can you blame him? I didn't fire her up, my cousin's a good man and I didn't want to completely demoralize him

Here she is in the light of day...

So this is going to be my build blog:

We start with a 2013 GMC Sierra 1500 Extended Cab 4x4 SLE 77" Bed White on Black cloth.


We get tinted front windows and de-badge the dealer plaque (no disrespect to Norman Gale, in my other post I give them props)
Before:


After:


Before:

After:


Coming up next:
Bed Extender
Bed Liner
Bed Cover
Assist Steps
HIDs
LED Interior

It was a snowy February day in SW Ohio, which means there was a very light snow falling without accumulating and the locals are cowering in the corners of their basements expecting the apocalypse. I however, am returning home with my brand-spankin' new Sierra 1500 SLE.

It was a long haul to actually get the truck as I had been driving a 2000 Impala for 13 years and had grown quite attached to the car. It had carried both of my newborn kids home from the hospital as well as seeing me to work nearly everyday since I picked it up. My next vehicle had a new phase of life to carry me through and big shoes to fill.

For months, I had been researching GM trucks and I was ready to go shopping. I was very lucky in that right as I was ready to start dealing, Truck Month rolled around and GM was having a few bonuses. I developed a set of 'must haves', 'nice to haves' and 'not gonna pay for its' and went to the dealers with a hard price goal. I also wrote down how I planned to approach the bargaining. I could write a book about how some of the salespeople/dealers are as crooked as a country creek. Well, I found two salespeople at different dealerships that I seemed to work well with (honesty goes a long way with me) and we went to work finding a truck.

Three weeks of back and forth, price matching, models selling from under me and endless permutations of options, financing and the like, I finally met my sell point and pulled the trigger on the truck you see below. Now if it sounds like I was Cool Hand Luke through all of this, I was not. I was staying up late at night looking up the trucks I was considering on the internet (my wife was relieved I wasn't looking at other things on late-night internet...) and obsessing over the deal through the day. I had Truck Fever and if I didn't have my list of guidelines to refer to, I would have likely paid more for a much lesser truck.

It was a stressful process, but she's here now. Let the modding begin.....

Well upon graduating college, I decided that after I got my job, I would reward myself with a new vehicle, so i started truck shopping. After arguing with my Dad, Boyfriend & justifying my wants on the internet, I settled on a new style GMC Sierra extended cab 4WD, in light silver, 5.3L V8 6-speed to haul all my toys. Z71 was a bonus, I didn't really care either way. So i searched & searched & it took me months to find a truck even close to this, so eventually I contacted a bunch of dealers and said, 'This is exactly what I want, first one to find it at a reasonable price wins' .... Naturally, the dealer who found it is almost two hours from my house, but I was getting desparate so I went and checked it out. It was exactly what I wanted, drove it, blah blah blah liked it, wanted it. Offered up my trade, 1999 Prizm, they offered me $500 ... so I left. The car only had 95K on it, so I wasn't being ridiculous. They called the next day offered $1,500 I said maybe if you lower your sticker price a bit, but they said no, so I said no thanks. They called a few days later offering me $4,000 for my car, so I said ''I'll be there in two hours!''

Here's the details:
2011 GMC Sierra 1500 4WD
Z71 Extended Cab w/ Tow Package
5.3L V8 - 6 Speed Transmission
18K Miles
$29,400 List

I attached a picture of the day I picked it up -- I can't figure out how to embed the picture into the text.

The first upgrades I put on my truck was a tonneau cover, mud flaps & step bars. All purchased from & installed by Haines Truck Cap, in Kill Buck, NY. The tonneau is from Truxedo TruxPort, mud flaps are molded black ones with no logo, and the step bars are from Luverne Truck. After that, I got pinstriping done by Dennis Nichols, he painted it all free hand in my garage. I decided on Black & Pink and it looks great.

Pinstriping picture is attached.

After saving all my Christmas money, my birthday money, my tax refund money, and small parts of my paycheck, I could afford the upgrade I had been waiting for! After sifting through the forums & talking to tech guys about wheel/tire fitments & shopping within my budget, I settled on a 3.5" Rough Country Suspension Lift. I got 17" Dick Cepek DC2s from ATO Autosports, and ordered 4 Falken Wild Peak A/T's size 285/70-17.

The excitement that was building as my garage filled with boxes for this upgrade was almost too much!

Installed this past week by Greg's Garage in Gainsville, NY.

Photo attached, I will add more once the weather breaks & its not raining everyday.