2006 Chevrolet Silverado: The Queen Regent

Representing the "large" position in my lineup is a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD, LT, crew cab, long bed, 4x4, 6.0L gasser/4L80E, tan exterior and tan leather interior. In other words, the most "America, f--k yeah" vehicle you can buy. I had spent months analyzing Craigslist in various locations to find the perfect truck, and when I saw this one I realized it was about the best truck I was going to find. And it was in Houston, only a short distance from a friend of mine who's helped with lots of car related stuff before.

He actually got the seller to come to him to look at it, and it turns out the truck needed very little to get into tip-top shape. I ended up getting a great deal on it.

A few weeks after I bought it, I flew down to spend a week fixing it up, and took care of the alternator, belt, headlight assemblies, spark plugs and wires, knock sensors, tires, alignment, tie rods and a few other bits. I overhauled the entertainment system, installing a new headunit, CB radio, USB type C charger, power switching infrastructure and LED high beams. My friend drove it up from Texas instead of flying when he came up to visit family during the first week of March.

Getting the truck legally registered in Connecticut was an adventure - it had a CEL on for oxygen sensors, but even after I fixed those it wouldn't pass emissions. It turns out that CT does tailpipe testing on vehicles over 7,500 lbs gross weight and the truck was failing a gas cap test. The cheap AutoZone replacement gas cap didn't work, so I eventually had to order one from RockAuto.

It also turns out that CT charges per pound of gross weight for combination vehicle registration. $250 every 2 years to register the truck on top of yearly property taxes. Yuck.

It hasn't been maintenance free; I've had to do the following major maintenance items since I bought the truck:

That's in addition to all of the normal stuff... coolant system flush, plugs, wires, new battery, etc. The brakes are super meaty, shouldn't have to touch those for a while.

I've never owned an automatic until now, and I'm glad I decided not to go all out looking for a manual version of this truck. (They basically don't exist.) This vehicle is massive and cumbersome to handle as it is, and there's no point in having a manual trans to maximize dynamics in a vehicle with torsion and leaf springs.

TODO