RSHADD's Build Journal

Well after waiting 8 weeks for my new truck, it's finally here.

It's a 2009 Chevy Colorado Ext. Cab LT3. Victory Red, Ebony Leather, Sunroof, Side Air Bags, 3.42 Locking Rear. I ordered every option except for the towing package and the engine block heater.

Here's a couple of pics as it arrives at the dealership.

That's right, only 8 miles on the odometer. Brand new.

It was worth the wait. I love it.

note: FWIW the date on these pics is off a day. The pics were taken on 6/1/2009.

 

Re: New 2009 Colorado V8 Owner

This truck is going to be modded. I started buying parts soon after I ordered the truck. Now I've got a garage full of goodies...

Just a few mods for now.

Goodmark Steel 2" Cowl Induction Hood. (went to paint today)
LT Sport Tonneau Cover (carpeted underside)
Bedrug
Street Scene Cal-Vu Power Dual Signal Mirrors (with heat). (went to paint today)
Street Scene Gen I Rolled Pan (went to paint today)
Street Scene Gen II Front Bumper Cover (went to paint today)
Street Scene Chrome Speed Grill & Valence (may powder coat these black chrome).
Street Scene Billet Bowtie (may powder coat this black chrome).
Stebel TM80/2 Horns
HID (low & high) 6000K
Billet License Plate Frame (painted victory red)
DEI LED Lite'N Boltz Domed License Plate Bolts
DynoLock Power Tailgate Lock
Smoothed Gas Door (swapped from my S10).
Redline Tuning Hood Struts
K&N Filter

Tryin to get this done for the North East Super Meet III.

Phase two... Stereo. (The Kenwood DNX9140... is lookin' pretty cool.)

Phase three... Suspension. Yeah it's goin' lower.

 

Re: New 2009 Colorado V8 Owner

Trucks been in the garage now for about an hour. The badges have been removed and the gas door has been smoothed. I made arrangements with the dealer and swapped the gas door from my 2000 S10 Xtreme that I traded in.

Door popper installed...

 

Re: New 2009 Colorado V8 Owner

Here's the LT Sport tonneau cover. Still in the box. This is the underside. The top side has already been painted. I plan to upholster the underside with some sort of black or charcoal material. I've got to look and find something that I like.

I plan on getting the bedrug and the tonneau installed on Friday. Everything else is at the body shop getting sprayed.

VVME HID 6000K High and Lows. I may or may not install these. I got to figure out a way to make the turn signals act as the daytime running lights. Running half voltage to the ballast is no good.

I hated the weak "meep, meep" sound of the OEM horns. These are much louder and sound GM truck is supposed to sound like.

These Redline Tuning Hood Struts are nice and eliminate the need for the OEM hood prop.

Trust me... I'm anxious to get it done. I'm really looking forward to the debuting the truck at NESM. It'll probably be the first V8 colorado seen by most.

 

Re: New 2009 Colorado V8 Owner

Delivery at Lafferty Chevrolet! 06/01/2009



















Here are some pics before and dealer prep was done. Keep in mind these pics were taken an hour after the truck was unloaded from the delivery truck.

The black plastic lug nut covers have not been installed yet not have the center caps for the wheels.

The long bag contains the antenna.

Plastic is still on the seats and steering wheel.

Sticker on the rearview mirror.

Factory sunroof. I'm a bit disappointed with how far this opens.

Sticker on the radio.

Floor mats... wrapped in plastic behind the drivers seat.

Love the 5.3L V8! (notice that '09 have a hood insulation panel).

 

Re: New 2009 Colorado V8 Owner

Well I was really hoping to debut this at NESM today, but the rain kept my from attending.

Street Scene Chrome Speed Grilles




Here's a shot of the front end. Street Scene Chrome Speed Grills, Bowtie and 2" Cowl Induction Hood.

Goodmark 2" Cowl Induction Hood painted and installed.




Street Scene Grille Gear - Chrome Bowtie Emblem (#950-82012)

Redline Tuning Hood Struts. These work great and make opening the hood a snap. I like how they hold the hood in any position.

This shot features shows the tonneau cover, flipped 3rd brake lamp, smoothed fuel door and full de-badge.

Stebel TM/80-2 horns. They're really loud and sound like what you'd excpet a GM truck to sound like.
There's a sound clip Stebel trombe tm80/2 Horn Installation And Sound if you want to hear 'em.

This is a shot of the BedRug and also shows the carpeted underside of the tonneau cover. I painted all of the brackets black.

This is the back end. Street Scene Gen I bumper cover, billet license plate frame (painted red) and LED license plate bolts. Gotta fix that "chevy lean" when I drop it.

I'll get some better outdoor pics soon. (if it every stops raining in Pennsylvania).

 

Re: Footwell Courtesy Lights

Your truck is setup for handicap?

Yep. Hand Controls.

LT Tonneau Cover was installed today.



I carpeted the underside with some low nap black carpet that I found at Lowe's...







All of the the brackets and hardware were painted satin black.

 

Re: Footwell Courtesy Lights

do you have any pics of this setup. I was thinking of doing something like hand controls.

Here are a few pics of the hand controls that are installed on my truck. I have a spinal cord injury, so I use a wheelchair to get around.. The zq8/ext. cab/3rd door combo really works well for me. I fold my wheelchair and store it behind the drivers seat.

The hand controls are Wells-Engberg CP-200.

Push forward to brake. Push down (towards your lap) to accelerate.

The GM Mobility programs pays for most of this. (up to $1000).

GM's drive by wire present some challenges for the installed. On my S10, the throttle cable connected directly to the throttle body and made for a cleaner looking installation. With the Colorado the accelerator cable had to be connected to the accelerator pedal assembly.

 

Re: New 2009 Colorado V8 Owner

I installed the stereo system over the weekend. Whew, what a project. I had someone helping me so I didn't stop and take a bunch of pics.

Here's the components for the stereo installation.

Apple 120GB iPod (Gen 6)
Boston Acoustic Pro60SE (front & rear)
DynoMat Extreme (front and rear doors)
Kenwood CCD-2000 Color Rear View Camera (mounted in tailgate keyhole)
Kenwood eXcelon DNX9140 (custom startup screen)
Kenwood iPod Interface Cable
Rockford Fosgate 4 Gauge Amp Kit


We started on Thursday afternoon by taking out most of the interior and installing the dynamat sound deadener.

Next, I started with the Street Scene CalVu Power Dual Signal Mirrors with heat. The toughest part was getting the two wires for the heat and turn signal through the doors and into the cab. I anticipated this would be a royal bitch, but it wasn't too bad. I'm surprised how bright the signals are. They really get your attention.

I dynomated the front and rear doors and then installed Boston Acoustics Pro60SE speakers in the front and rear doors. The crossovers are big, but I managed to get them mounted in the doors on the rear doors and I mounted them to the door panels in the front doors.

I like these speakers since the tweeter is removable for the installation in the front doors. The chrome ring from the speaker kits matches the gauge cluster nicely and looks OEM.

Next, I mounted the Alpine PDX 4.150 amp under the passenger seat. I fits nicely, it's out of sight yet still easy to get to if necessary. I ran a 4 gauge amp kit from Rockford Fosgate.
I was pleasantly surprised at how flexible the cable was... nice stuff.

Finally I wired up the Metra GMOS-01 interface kit to the GM harness, this interface retains the door chimes, OnStar and lets you make all your soldered connections outside of the truck and on the bench. Once the Metra interface was wired up to the radio harness and the GM harness, the connections to the head unit were all simple plug-ins. Definately the way to go.

This switch activate the voice controls. I mounted it so it's right at my finger tips. I'm not to keen on this switch and may change it to something smaller that looks better.

This is where I mounted the microphone for the bluetooth.

Finally, I then mounted the Kenwood Excelon DNX-9140 head unit and plugged everything in. I was delighted when I reconnected the battery and everything worked. This head unit is amazing, nicest interface I've seen and the sounds it awesome. It's the tits.

Now for that drop... But that's another weekend.

 

RSHADD's Build Journal

Here's where I mounted the on/off switch for the heated mirrors.

 

RSHADD's Build Journal

I had James modify the dome light for my 2009. GM changed the dome light for 2009. The new version has a center section and two map lights.

They're really bright with just the center section, but just click on the outside map lights and the cab is ridiculously bright.

 

RSHADD's Build Journal

:supermod: :supermod: :supermod: :supermod: :supermod: :supermod:

Cargo Light LED's by SuperModulation

With the tonneau cover closed it gets pretty dark in the back of the bed. SuperModulation created a set of custom white LED's for me that are mounted under the bed rails. I have them hooked up to tilt switch in the tailgate. Open the tailgate and the bed is drentched in white light.

These are super bright and really light up the bed.

Installed by the man, himself. Thanks James!

:supermod: :supermod: :supermod: :supermod: :supermod: :supermod:

 

RSHADD's Build Journal

Here's how I mounted my rearview camera...

I purchased a new locking tailgate handle and then mounted the camera in the keyhole.

The headunit is a Kenwood DNX-9140.
The camera I used is a Kenwood CCD-2000.

Here's some pics...

This shows where I mounted the camera. It's in the tailgate handle where tailgate lock normally would normally be. (I have a dynolock, so I don't need the factory lock).
I used a dremel tool to make it fit nicely. Then fabricated a bracket to hold everything in place.

This picture shows the view from the outside. It's pretty stealth.
Most people won't even know it's there plus it's protected from the elements and any would be thieves.

This picture shows the view of the displayed camera image. It automatically switches to this view when the gear shift is moved to reverse.

Here's the back end of my truck.

I like the way it keeps every thing looking "clean".

Here's how I ran the wires from the tailgate into the cab.

I wrapped mine in Black Polyethylene Slit Loom. I think I used 3/8" loom.

I then ran that up along the passenger side frame rail.

I drilled a hole in the cab floor installed a grommet then pass the loom in to the cab. I sealed up the hole with silicone.

Once in the cab, I ran the wires under the passenger side sill plate, behind the passenger side kick panel, then behind the dash to the radio.

 

Re: Rear View Camera

Man, I hope this is the last time I need to pull the headunit!

What a nest of wires...

 

Re: Rear View Camera

where did you get a locking tailgate handle?
looks awesome btw

I pickup up the handle from my local chevy dealer for $61. It's was a little cheaper from GMParts Direct, but I was in a hurry and the dealer had one in stock.
The GM part number is #25801998.

 

RSHADD's Build Journal

Installed a DynoLock (Locking Tailgate). The Dynolock is an electrical actuator kit for the 355's that will lock/unlock for tailgate when you lock or unlock your doors.

I used the High Security Actuator (#CCM04C-HSA) version which cost $114.73[/B]

This is what's included in the kit. You get an actuator...

Electrical connectors, wires ties, grommet...

This wire goes in the tailgate...

This wire runs from the tailgate to cab...

I removed the glove box door and the passenger side access panel on the dash. The wires are wrapped with a black fabric material. These wire trace back to the electrical connector in the door jams. I carefully cut the black fabric back with x-acto knife to reveal the gray and tan wires for the door locks.

With the hard cover tonneau locked and closed this tailgate lock secures the contents of the bed.

 

RSHADD's Build Journal

I picked up a used set of smooth victory red small flares last week for $100. I installed them this afternoon and was pleased with the outcome.

Here's some before and after pics.

Before:

After:

GM stopped stopped including these with the ZQ8 package in '09.

 

RSHADD's Build Journal

Was out takin' some pics early this morning. Here's a few.

 

Re: Capital Mods, yeah whats up next for you?

Got my front windows tinted:

Also installed of Supermodulation's Amber Sequential LED DRLs:

So what's next? ...I have a set of DRL covers from MWCKY2204 that I still need to install. Just waiting for it to stop raining, so I can paint them.[/B]

 

Re: DRL Covers

Well, I finally got around to installing my DRL covers today...

I had some left over trim edging from my tonneau cover and decided to add it to the DRL covers. I think it adds a nice finishing touch.

Not only do they look great... but they're functional too.

Thanks Mark!
:355:

 

Re: 2009 Dome Light by SuperModulation

I decided to modify my dome light yesterday. I rewired it so that map lights come on with the dome light. The map lights were kind of useless and I like the additional light when I open the door at night.

Here's the before shot... The center section lights when the doors are opened. The map lights are turned on/off by the switches in the dome light.

Here's what they look like disassembled...

This shows the existing wiring setup... The left side has already been de-soldered. (map are lights enabled)

This is how I re-wired them so that all the LEDs are lit. (map lights disabled - all dome light)

The finished result... All dome light!

 

Re: Solid Rear Window Conversion

I swapped out my rear sliding window today.

Here's a couple of before and after pics.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I love it... better rear visibility, looks cleaner, sits flush, easy to clean. No regrets!

 

Had my truck in the shop today... (pics)

I had the truck in the shop this morning getting my new JTR low-profile transmission cross member installed. I was just me and the owner in the shop, so I was able to take a bunch of pics.

Before: Factory Transmission Cross Member

After: JTR Transmission Cross Member

JTR Low Profile Transmission Cross Member

After a trip to the Powered Coater...

Getting her up in the air..

Factory Cross Member Removed..

Cutting the Factory Mounts..

Factory Frame Mounts cut off..

Factory Frame Mounts Removed..

Cleaning up the rough edges...

Painted the exposed metal chassis black.

Bolting it up..

We used a couple of wire ties to secure the rubber vent tube for the tranmission.

We had to fabricate a bracket to support the fuel lines.

Finish and back home... Looks so much better.

 

Re: Had my truck in the shop today... (pics)

Finish and back home... Looks so much better.

Man, what a difference. Putting it on my to-do list. Nice job!!!

:355:

 

Re: Had my truck in the shop today... (pics)

Man you really to work the right way looks amazing

 

Re: Garage Door Opener

I ended up using a Cadillac Homelink Module with Rolling Code and mounting it in the center console.