2016 Colorado Duramax, prepping for All Terrain Bobcat

[farmtablemouthbutt]

Hello out there, chiming in since this is a new truck in the roamer market.

Here to whore it up, ordered my ATC Bobcat shell beginning of June, should be ready in november. Psyched to get this truck combo going, Ive been more than pleased with this truck so far, 19k miles.

ATC builds their campers to fit right on the Colorado, the bed is deep, like >21", FWC doesnt. My buddy has a 16 Canyon duramax, ordered a fleet, gets a spacer underneath.

2016 Colorado Duramax crew cab, long bed, Z71, 4x4, cyber grey w/ nav and bose. Could not be more pleased with this truck, even if the trans is a bit annoying at times. Ill reflash it after warranty or when it drives me nuts completely.

Nothing much so far, just maintenance and:
-Stubby Jr antenna to clear the camper.
-Line x bedliner spray in.
-Deleted the instantly munched airdam

Ordering this week, but waiting to install until closer to D-day:
-Bilstien 5100 shocks
-Ride rite airbags
-E rated General Grabber Arctics (it snows a lot here, the stock goodyears are abysmal in every condition)

Also:
-rear brake light/rear camera combo

ATC Bobcat shell:
-heater
-Fantastic fan
-extra 2" roof height
-solar wiring to rear panel for plug in
-floodlights
-12V battery
-white interior color for brightness

Right now Im just stockpiling my stuff for install before it gets all wintery here, trying to get every last mm of rubber out of my stock tires before I switch to real ones, going with winters after flailing all over on them last winter, even with 300 lbs of gravel in the bed! So much torque! Gonna have the tires and shocks installed at the same time and aligned in late october. Ill install the airbags myself, my buddy has a duramax Canyon with a FWC on order, so we'll do ours together. Otherwise just playing the waiting game!

 

[farmtablemouthbutt]

Hoping the aftermarket starts to provide some more options for brake pads and rotors of the upgraded variety. Maybe DBA will start making rotors. I now theres EBC pads, but Ive a bitter taste in my mouth after trying them twice on subarus (red stuff and green stuff).

Probably going to need brakes relined shortly after the camper goes on, so far brake wear is fine, but OEM parts arent always quality. We'll see how they hold up under load.

 

[michgoblue]

There is a used 2017 Colorado Z71 for sale here that I hope to look at this weekend. Can you do me a favor and measure the height of the bedrail above the ground, where ever it is highest? I am concerned that the Colorado is so much taller than my Ranger that I won't be able to fit it in the garage anymore.

 

[michgoblue]

Ah nevermind - it was a killer deal so I bought it regardless. I think it should fit, but if not I can get a lower profile FWC or ATC instead of my Phoenix.

 

[farmtablemouthbutt]

Ah nevermind - it was a killer deal so I bought it regardless. I think it should fit, but if not I can get a lower profile FWC or ATC instead of my Phoenix.

Yeah, thats a tough one, not sure how Phoenixes fit. I do know that ATC builds it to fit properly to the 21 3/4" bed depth, whereas FWC does not, they give you a spacer between the floor and bed. They build theirs to one exterior spec only. Sucks.

Its such a good truck, hard to pass up, been more than pleased with mine. One thing, it has to be a long bed to accommodate the mounting hardware, both ATC and FWC say they cant mount to a shortbed. At least yet. Not sure if phoenix is any different, but I imagine theres a pretty concrete reason they cant get a camper into a shortbed.

 

[farmtablemouthbutt]

Michgoblue-So whats up with that truck? What spec is it? Gas, diesel? Shortbed, longbed? 4x4?

 

[michgoblue]

2017 Colorado 4x4 Z71 crewcab with Duramax diesel. Drove into work today to get some paperwork and got 30.0 mpg for the 30 mile round trip. I have been thinking of getting a 2016 but never find them for sale, then saw this 2017 with exactly what I wanted at 4K below book. It was sold back to the dealer because the guy was told he could get an OEM block heater installed after purchase and I guess that was not the case. Anyway 3000 miles on it and some minor dings but a better deal than I could have hoped for.

Building a platform for my Phoenix now to camp over the holiday. Still need to figure the tailgate camera and connection to the truck but should be good to go. Will post pics soon.

Edit: Got the platform built, but now need to come up with a good way to tie it down - current location of eyebolts was for a full size truck and thus end up over the bedrails for my smaller truck.

Also need to install airbags and figure out what else I need for the suspension.

 

[farmtablemouthbutt]

Nice! Sounds like a good score. Check camera-source.com for cameras, I found a bunch of options there. From what Ive gathered from others, E rated tires and airbags should do it. User buckland threw all the additions on his, seemed like his initial impressions might be on the overkill side but Im waiting to hear more back from him on his new setup. Same basic truck, FWC. He uses airbags, extra leaf, rear swaybar, and bilstiens with E rated tires. Im planning to start with tires, bilstiens, and airbags and go from there.

Mileage is great with these, I live at 6000' and usually get 24-28 mpg.

I went through hell and high water and tons of patience to finally get my 16, they just werent in enough supply that first year. They were sharing production line with their small van at the time and just couldnt crank em out fast enough. They gave the colo its own production line for 2017. Bought mine 3+ hours away remotely and had them deliver it up to tahoe.

 

[michgoblue]

Got my air bags installed today, with compressor and remove control. Still waiting on the camera to arrive. I took the camper on a couple of trips and averaged 23-29 mpg depending on the hills. So much better than the 12-15 I was getting before, and so much more get up and go on top of all that!

 

[buckland]

Welcome to the mini Duramax popup world!

 

[michgoblue]

Quick Update: Had to make a last minute trip up to Calgary with a trailer to bring furniture up for my daughter's new apartment. With camper (wet weight around 1200lbs) and packed trailer (around 3000lbs) I averaged 18.5 mpg for the 750 miles, including the Cascade mountains and lower Canadian Rockies. Average speed was 65-70, and hills were not an issue. I was constantly passing other vehicles on hills even with the camper and trailer.

We drove some 25 hours over a 3 day weekend and it was easy and comfortable. I think these Duramax diesels are just about perfect as midsize camper haulers!

 

[buckland]

Glad to hear it. I am amazed at the torque these small trucks have. The camper does not slow it down. Our 12,000 mile trip to AK and back all told got 20mpg and most of the driving was back road. I really like it (one bit of note to watch for... the alternator around 15,000 miles may start to throw the sprag pully lubricant... if you see any reddish lube on the alternator housing ...take to dealer. I am on my way there today... to have them replace it... no argument at all)

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Welcome to the Bobcat group.
Although I don't have a Chevy DuraMax my Bobcat is mounted on an 02 Tundra.
All I added was the Firestone Ride Rites and was good to go.
Great camper choice but I am bias.
Frank

 

[Desertratduo]

Hi All,
We just completed a Trans-Canada drive,16,461 miles in 80 days. We visited all provinces (tho a marginal entry into BC with a wrong turn) including Labrador and Newfoundland. Our Colorado Duramax/Four Wheel Fleet combo performed flawlessly. Over the whole trip we averaged 22.1 mpg, and on some tanks up to 25. MPG depended entirely on speed, road surface (dirt vs pavement vs potholes), ambient wind speed and direction (cross, head, or tail), and flat vs hilly. We had the truck serviced twice during the trip. In St. Anthony NF the Chev dealer had never seen a diesel Colorado and didn't have the correct parts, but were successful with the dearler in Cornerbrook, NF. Re Load with the camper, we blew out 3 sets of airbags (Airlift brand) prior to the trip and then followed Buckland's advice and ordered two leaf springs from Boise Spring and had them installed in Tucson. That solved all the load problems. On the return leg of the trip we stopped in at Boise Spring and they inspected the springs at no charge. The springs on one side had shifted very slightly so they added steel clamps, again at no charge. Those guys are great. They said they had become an installer/service site for Four Wheel in conjunction with the Jackson Hole dealer. In short, we love the truck, the camper, and can't wait to head out on another big trip!

 

[buckland]

Yahoo! sounds like a great ride and glad you like your wheels as I do...what a perky little diesel does it just right and handles the weight.
Also glad you smoothed out he ride. I had terrible luck with the airlifts ... they were punctured and metal snapped. The new leaf pack is great though it sits an inch and a half higher in the back and is a bit rough without the camper load. I intend to carry a 350 lb 4" slab of concrete when w/o. I need to do this anyway as I live in the Northeast and snow is a 6 month period... traction is needed.

My mileage was not as good as yours but I did thousands of miles on dirt roads and stayed off the 'slab' on the blue highways ... most the time is was around 23-24 but overall for 12,000 miles 20 mpg. still not bad! Small truck with power and a small camper... I think we are doing fine.

Good luck on future trips and I as you felt the desire to hop back in after a couple weeks home and head out again.... just can't get away from the job reality... paying the bills... but soon ....back on the road ...that is the plan!