Wrecked my truck. Need input

[ratlover]

Well I wrecked my truck. Only other claim I have ever had was opening a door into some ladys in a parking lot and I go and smash my first brand new truck before I have even had it a month. I rear ended some guy because some yahoo decided to stop in the middle of the road instead of using a turn lane :mad: If I was paying attention it probably wouldnt have happened but so it goes.

Air bag didnt go off and no tickets were issued and every one was ok :cool: .

Now my problem. I have been searching the net and here for pics of trucks but cant really seem to find what I am looking for. I figure if I am getting stuff replaced I may want to go aftermarket.

I was definatly thinking a billet grill. I cant seem to find pics of an 03 chevy with a full replacement grill. Any advice on brands or places to look?

I was also thinking of a cowl or possibly ram air hood. I would prefer cowl I think but havent seen pics of an 03. Goodmark(I have always liked thier stuff) has a cowl but it is still "in tooling" and they havent gotten back to me with when they will be out.

Bumper is wasted but I will probably go factory since I want to keep as much weight off the nose as possible since i will be throwing a plow up front.

Atleast I can assume that if goodmark is just starting to produce stuff for the 03's that all the china stuff isnt out yet and the ins co aint even going to try to give me slack about using GM and there probably aint too many used parts for 03's.

Any pics or places to start or general ideas would be appreciated, I'm kinda lost on who is good for aftermarket grills/hoods and the like. Maybe the "sport truck" croud would have a better idea on this stuff? Any good sites for them? Some of the sites that they seem to congregate at seem to have alot of BS that I have been fourtunate to avoid here.

TIA smile.gif

EDIT: This probably isnt the right forum....

[ 06-11-2003, 09:38 AM: Message edited by: ratlover ]

[Burner]

I think you may want to look at Road Arommor for the bumper. ;)


Burner-------> :D

[ratlover]

If only it were winter.......an 8'6" Fisher V would have saved a bit of sheetmetal. Maybe I should run with it 365? It couldnt hurt gas milage that bad could it???

[Turbo Al]

Ratlover I switch you over to the 2500HD/3500 Accesssories forum. Sorry to hear about the truck getting bent.

[DieselDixon]

I'll have a picture of a Putco Liquid billet grill for you next week. I have it on order right now, but I ran into the same problem and could not find any pic's so I just jumped in and bought one.

I agree with burner on the bumper, they have a good looking one http://www.roadarmor.com/chevy15.htm


Sorry to hear about the wreck.

[ratlover]

I do agree that they look really cool. But I wonder how much they weight without the winch and all that jive? I am really concerend about this since I will be sticking an 860# plow up front and this weight is way out front so its leverage will be worse. I dont want to put too much weight on the nose of it. I emailed them and am awaiting a reply.

Any idea what a stocker set up weighs if they just tell me what thiers weighs in at? I think its probably pretty lite by the way it squashed. :rolleyes:

Thanks Al

[Burner]

RatLover, I think that most of the Road Armor bumpers are made of Aluminum not steel. They should be very light and sturdy, much better than the stock tin thing. Most any aftermarket bumper would be better than the stock bumper. I do not use a plow but I would think it better to have a heavy duty bumper. If you had the bumper "customized" the plow could mount closer to the truck, thus eliminating the leveraged weight. 1,000 lbs 4 inches off the frame is better than 800 lbs 6" off the frame.


Burner------> :D

[ratlover]

My plow will not be mounted to the bumper in any way. Some of the older designs did but mine mounts strictly to the frame. I agree about the leverage thing, thats why 860 is a whole lota weight up there. Balast in the rear helps a ton. Not just with traction but also to pull some weight off the nose.

Made of Al :cool: I didnt read that....I assumed they were steel. Might even save weight wich would be very cool.

[DieselDixon]

Nope, they are steel, here's the numbers I got from the company

Stock bumper about 45-50 pounds
Road Armor bumper only 145 pounds
Road Armor bumper with cattle gaurd 185 pounds



(From website) Road Armor is built from the highest grade ASTM A36 descaled and oiled sheet steel, engineered with a minimum yield of 36,000 PSI. This high-grade steel is clean of any mill scale and presents a superior finish for powder coating that provides years of corrosion protection.

[ 06-12-2003, 02:55 PM: Message edited by: DieselDixon ]

[ratlover]

They got back to me on more specs. Sweet looking.
Thats too heavy :( Would really be cool though.

I am planning on geting this grill(the bowtie cut outs one) http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm?brand=&brandid=0&categoryid=25&orderby=0&partfamilyid=1181&subcategoryid=148

Cowl hoods should be out in july so I will probably just run around with a bashed hood for awhile