2023 AT4 Florida - Alaska review

[Samhoneychurch]

Hey guys,

New to the thread. I am Australian marrying a girl from Cali.
I purchased a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4 from a dealership in Florida end of February With 34'000 miles on it. Roughly 60k drive away.
Since then we have lived in it in a rooftop tent, roadtripping through the states/Canada to Alaska.

Mods:
Rooftop tent: Smittybily overlander Gen 2
Tonneu cover: Syneticusa retractable hard top
Racks: Syneticusa racks (the higher profile ones)
Bike racks: Rocky mounts backstage mounts
Rear underneath storage: RC storage for our wardrobe

It has been an incredible trip and we will continue on through Canada soon and down the East coast.

Avg MPG 22
Best MPG 31.5

Pros:
-Extremely comfortable and capable truck, not so good in the hard packed snow as relatively heavy but Handles soft sand extremely well with the Goodyear wrangler duratrac tires aired down.
- Great entertainment system
- Great on fuel

Cons:
- Duratrac tires extremely loud around 55mph

Cons non truck related:
- Rear camera does not work with the roof racks mounted
- Our bike rack is slowly bending so must be cautious when offroad
- Smittubily overlanding gen 2 tent is relatively annoying to set up.

Non truck related changes:
Would purchase an Icamper rooftop tent instead as it's a hell of a lot nicer.

Maintenance:
Blown AC Compressor in Nashville, we ended up driving in 100 temp with the windows down through to Houston! It was a sweaty trip hahaha
- Regular servicing

Overall we love the truck! He has served us very well.
I will add a few photos.

Questions:
1- How do I play music in the truck without the truck running for prolonged periods of time without the car shutting off or beeping? Eg, when sitting by the campfire.
2- Any tire recommendations for when I wear the current Duratracs out? I am happy to go as large as possible without having to lift the truck as I love how it handles.

Thanks guys for reading!!

 

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[Samhoneychurch]

Forgot to mention! It's the 3.0L duramax

 

[gemarsh]

Welcome.

Enjoyed your first post! How well does the rooftop tent deal with AK's skeeters?

 

[pinebaron]

Such a beautiful couple. Wishing you the very best.

 

[Joe98]

Welcome Sam and your lovely wife. Congrats on your marriage and the truck. Very lucky to be doing a road trip like that. Thanks for posting the pictures and your experiences/opinions on the truck. Some gorgeous country side along the way I imagine. I'm hoping to get back into a truck some day, and definitely an AT4 with the 3.0 Duramax. All the best to you and your wife. Safe travels

 

[chaseydog]

Awesome adventure, thanks for sharing. I've been reading Tom Cotters "America's Greatest Road Trip!: Key West to Deadhorse: 9000 Miles Across Backroad USA", and your trip seems to have the same feel. I'll be retired in a few years and looking to do a back road run to Alaska as well. Safe travels brother.

 

[pinebaron]

I simply love adventure and appreciate others with adventurous sprits and experiences.

One of my most exciting drives was several years/decades ago, I personally drove 8973 miles with my wife from London UK to New Delhi India (except car ferry from Felixstowe England to Ostend in Belgium). Stayed in New Delhi for around six months; wanted to drive to Hong Kong from there however conditions did not permit at the time.
Then drove to Kathmandu, Nepal for a couple of weeks, on to Calcutta India (now Kolkutta I think) and shipped the car back to Bristol England. I started writing a book about that journey but havn't got around to completing it. Even have some pics somewhere. One of my favourite pics is of me holding a clutch cable up, stringed through 16 small river trout we hand fished out of a stream somewhere in the Afghanistan desert; we cooked them over a fire and had them for breakfast with Heinz Ketchup

The above was just one of my adventures amongst several more.

 

[BigLaker]

Welcome to Alaska!!

I have not figured out how to keep radio on for longer than 15 minutes.

For those that have it, does the tail gate Kicker sound system stay on without ignition?

 

[gemarsh]

Welcome to Alaska!!

I have not figured out how to keep radio on for longer than 15 minutes.

For those that have it, does the tail gate Kicker sound system stay on without ignition?

Yes.

 

[bookemdanno]

We just got back from Alaska…on a cruise, so not as adventurous as driving! Was definitely a bucket list place to visit!

 

[Samhoneychurch]

Welcome.

Enjoyed your first post! How well does the rooftop tent deal with AK's skeeters?

So far so good! No complaints but it has been quite hot up here so they aren't too bad yet.

 

[RebelDS]

Welcome. I bought mine just to be able to do some overlanding. Nothing extreme, just for scenery and camping along the trail. I can’t do the rooftop tent, though. Too old and too heavy to try that ha! I like the tents that pop up in a couple of minutes. As far as radio, it just works better for me to use a portable Bluetooth speaker

 

[Viking Truck]

Driving without A/C.... In 1990 I drove from San Diego to Columbia MO on July 5 with a hangover and no A/C! My no option Nissan truck didnt have air.

 

[john151ama]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing the story and pics, awesome adventure!

As for keeping the stereo on press and hold ignition button with foot off the brake for 5-7 seconds. Puts it in what is referred to as maintenance mode, over rides the 10minute auto shut off. You could run your battery dead but no different that any earlier gen vehicle without a timer on the ACC.

As for tires I love the BFG All terrain. They are 3mountian peak rated so they can be used in lieu of chains when they are mandatory, quite tires, lighter than Toyos and last me around 70k miles on a half ton. Great all around do everything tires. I will be going back to those when I run out the Goodyears.

 

[24TGrey.]

amazing trip and Truck ! thanks for sharing
what is the tent over the bed in these pics. looking at a few online. how do you like it ?