Storm chasing truck, need all the help on Mods I can get!

[StormChaser]

2008 Chevy 3500HD Silverado Dually Lift 6 Inches - Online Garage

The size of this truck right here, w? a 6” lift and 35’s, is ideal in my opinion, it’s high enough for good ground clearance, but not to the point where it would be blown over easily. Especially with all the extra weight I’m going to be adding.
If you’ve seen an episode of storm chasers after the first season, you’ve probably seen Tim’s truck

Chasing tornadoes with storm chaser Tim Samaras - YouTube

Chasing tornadoes with storm chaser Tim Samaras - YouTube

He’s been in some nasty winds from RFD along with accidentally intercepting a weak tornado. His CoG is much higher, along with a huge surface area for wind. I’m not saying that with a 6” lift and 35s or 37s it won’t be hard to drive in high winds, I’m just trying to figure out the loss of ground clearance (which is really important to me), is really that necessary.

Originally Posted by RitzBlitz

You'll be fine with 550hp in snow as long as you drive with a little common sense. I never take my truck off the big tune in the winter and have no problems whatsoever. The sleeves and braves will help the steeri f components stay in one piece in high torque 4wd situations.

I'd also recommend on board air (air compressor) along with ARB lockers front and rear. You may never need them, but better to have them than not.

I’ll definitely look into the lockers, anything that could possibly help me out of a dangerous situation is worth the extra cash.

Originally Posted by Akmax

Id really recommend the lockers front and rear! Dont worry about high hp in the winter, its winter 8 months outta the year up here and I dont have a problem! Maybe think about a winch for the rear too. One that hooks into the trailer hitch. Maybe look into bead lock rims also? Just in case.

I just looked into some bead lock rims actually, but I saw that they may be illegal in some states.. Can you or anyone else confirm or deny this?

Originally Posted by Taquache

As far as I know, noone makes a 20" Dually rim unfortunately.

I just looked into some bead lock rims actually, but I saw that they may be illegal in some states.. Can you or anyone else confirm or deny this?
I'd do as suggested previously by running as little lift as possible, The build should focus on reliability and drivability over looks I'd think, plus seeing a tough looking dually covered in lights and recovery gear looks sweet on its own.

Over build the transmission so you can drive it hard under bad conditions, make sure you have good clean fuel (Airdog) and a solid motor (deletes and a reliable tune). Lockers and on board air would mostlikely be useful, room for a spare or two, and good radio equipment and cell booster are things I'd add to the list.

Once you get it built, drive it and become intemately familar with all the sounds and feelings in the truck so you know what it can and can't do. That knowledge might save your life if you are in harms way and things get sketchy.

Would the Suncoast 6pac Gmax upgrade that I’ve chosen qualify as overbuilding? Or is there a way/should I go even beefier than that? As for the radios and such, already planned on a ham radio and cv radio, wireless internet receiver, radar receiver, etc, I just left all that out for now cause I classified that in the “meteorology equipment” category, which I’m not going to worry about for a year or so

[FireRescue]

Originally Posted by StormChaser

What is an onboard air system? I’ve never heard of it before.

Ahh!! I completely forgot about a snorkel.. Good catch! Hopefully I’ll never need it, but ya never know.

You would want to run an on board air compressor so you can run air lockers, and get one with enough capacity to refill tires and maybe run an air tool (would need to have bigger tanks, and dual compressors) for a short time for emergency repairs.

I have seriously been looking at doing a snorkel, and been searching and searching, seen pictures of it on a duramax, but never seen anyone who actually done it talking about it. I did see ONE dyno test on a supercharged jeep I6, where it actually lost 30 horses with the snorkel. But, ONE guy said, according to his boost guage on his custom turboed avalanche, he lost 50% boost in town, but gained 50% at highway speed, but no dyno test nor did he actually notice anything.

[biketopia]

Bead locks are illegal to run on the highway in VA. As far as trans I would contact Big Dipper, search him on here, he is in Baltimore and is the go to guy on the east coast for a built Alison.

[Taquache]

Independent suspension lift kits dont raise the center section so you really only gain ground clearance by being able to run bigger tires.

What have you seen that puts the ground clearance so high on the list?

[corvetteandsilverado]

Originally Posted by AJ 72

Look up the thread "zombie apocalypse murder truck". He's got his whole truck line x'd.

Definitely build the transmission. Going into limp mode while trying to outrun a tornado would be counter productive!!!!

This is a perfect thread to look at, that truck is bada$$. I know my gmt900 cc with a 6" bracket set at 5" does not like high winds its all over the road, and definitely get EFIlive over edge. The only thing edge is good for is the CTS monitor to check your gauges.

[Cknight199]

Traction bars too... I would also get a gear rack to go on the roof. Also make sure that the bed cover is 100% secured from being torn off... Also may want to get some recon tail lights so people can see your tail lights better in low visibility conditions... And a light bar too...

If all else fails and the truck doesn't workout for you, you can probably buy this Guys cummins off of him ImageUploadedByAutoguide1355158573.422716.jpg

[StormChaser]

Originally Posted by Taquache

Independent suspension lift kits dont raise the center section so you really only gain ground clearance by being able to run bigger tires.

What have you seen that puts the ground clearance so high on the list?

Getting stuck myself because I didn't have enough clearance, along with being able to drive over smaller branches and whatever else is needed, in case of emergency. Plus, muddy roads are a chasers worst nightmare. Being able to take a muddy dirt road to catch up from a storm, or get out of the way of one, is an enormous advantage. Plus, getting stuck in the mud with a storm coming straight towards you.. bad news.

[Cknight199]

This looks like a rig you should aim for... ImageUploadedByAutoguide1355175977.198275.jpg

[StormChaser]

That's very very close to what I'm looking for! Just more lights, a bed shell, and lots of antennae And lots of other stuff...

[Cknight199]

Are you going to Line X your truck? It would handle hail and rough weather better...