Remembering Big Red, 2011-2025

I retired Big Red on December 31st, 2025. RIP!

My lifted 2011 Silverado would no longer pass state inspection without frame repairs and replacement of rotted out frame members from deicing salts. 14 years and summers. Came and went so quickly.

It was a good truck, but like everything it must come to an end. I had camped out back of him over 370 nights, worked remotely during the pandemic out of his cab, spent whole weeks in wilderness working remote from the truck cap. 14 summers, many vacations.

I had planned his retirement for April 2026, so I could build my next rig before heading out to Michigan and Wisconsin during the summer of 2026, as even before the mechanic declared my truck unsafe for roads, the wobble, and general looseness of various suspension components gave me pause for any long trips. So the last day of the year, Big Red was retired and the plates were surrendered on January 5, 2026.

It had expected this day for some time now. But that doesn’t take away the pain of loosing Big Red.

The whole experience is much like life – I saw the signs of Big Red’s decline for a long time, but it’s hit me when the year came to an end and Big Red was retired. Had been thinking about his retirement for years now. Planning and setting aide cash.

After the failed inspection, it meant I’d be retiring Big Red sooner then I expected.

As the end approached, I was looking back at Big Red

Never enough time … reflections on the end of Big Red.

More stories and memories about Big Red.

I told myself, my next truck won’t be nearly as big.

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Or maybe I’ll get a Ford SuperDuty gasser?

But now I’m talking about getting a Ford SuperDuty, like an F-250 or F-350. I was at one point thinking I want a single cab. For simplicity, less weight, less cost. Was originally thinking a 6.8L MiniZilla/De-Stroked Godzilla, but the 7.3L Godzilla seems like a more reliable option with minimal additional fuel consumption but more power. Not going to do diesel, as diesels are almost $10,000 more, have costly maintenance schedules, expensive fuel and problematic emissions equipment, and I am not planning to tow.

There won’t be another one just like Big Red

Truth is if I’m paying the big SuperDuty bucks I better actually get the SuperDuty truck I actually want.

A lifted 2011 Chevy Silverado vs 2026 Ford F-350 …Comparing two Big Red trucks (at least for size).

I want a truck I actually like, not just some random old car, like a 20-year old Honda Civic … My generic term for just a car, something you don’t care about if you smash it up or forget to never change the oil!

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Realizing that a nice Ford SuperDuty with Extended Cab ain’t much more expensive then a Single Cab …

I am leaning more towards a slightly nicer HD truck, like an extended cab SuperDuty XL with the FX4 package and maybe a basic STX appearance package. It’s more money, but only a few thousand more for a much nicer truck. Many different options and things to consider. Maybe something like this. Not cheap, but a truck I will get many years of use out of.

I have time. Just time. I plan to continue to research and think about this until the week after Presidents Week when I want to test drive a few trucks. I want to close a deal with a dealership within 100 miles of Albany by end of Quarter 1 (March 31), and order a truck cap to put on the truck by June.