there are a bunch of features on these trucks that are easy to ignore until you find the one situation where they suddenly make sense.
which one changed your mind after actually living with the truck for a while.
could be something small like a camera view or something you originally thought was just marketing.
Left a pile of wet bass rods strapped down in the bed after a weekend trip and now my tailgate looks rough. Water pooled right against the seal and sat there for three days because I got busy with work and kids. Pulled them out yesterday and found some surface rust starting near the latch. I cleaned it up but I'm kicking myself for not drying things off or at least leaving the gate down.
Anyone else deal with this on a newer Sierra? I run a tonneau cover most of the time but had it off for the rods. Figured the bed liner would handle it but that was dumb. Looking at getting a bed rug or some kind of mat that drains better for next season.
What do you guys use for keeping wet gear from wrecking the bed and tailgate area? I haul fishing stuff and hunting gear year round so I need something that holds up. The stock setup isn't cutting it for how I use the truck. Lesson learned the hard way on this one.
Took a weekend trip up into the Talladega National Forest a few weeks back, first real overnight I'd managed to squeeze in since spring, and I made a dumb mistake I'm still kicking myself over. Packed my down sleeping bag loose into the top of my pack without a dry bag. Just stuffed it in there. Sky looked clear when I left the truck.
Rain hit around mile four. Nothing crazy, just enough to get into everything. By the time I set up camp that bag was damp and stayed damp the whole night. Down loses pretty much all its loft when it gets wet and I learned that the hard way at about 2am shivering in 48 degree weather thinking about my bed back in Birmingham.
I've got three kids and work part time so overnight trips don't come around often. The last thing I needed was to waste one being cold and miserable because I was too lazy to grab a ten dollar dry bag off my gear shelf before walking out the door.
If you run a down sleep system in the southeast where weather turns fast, just use the dry bag. Every time. Don't trust the sky at the trailhead. Curious what the conditions have been like lately heading into fall.