QuarryRidgeCypress
New member
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2026
- Messages
- 3
- Media
- 12
- Reaction score
- 9
- Location
- Connecticut
- Current Ride
- 2026 Cypress Gray LT Trail Boss
Hey folks - figured I'd throw my hat in the 'build' section here. Certainly nothing monumental or cool like some of you are doing but my philosophy for this truck is basically making a Factory+ version of the existing platform that helps me in my everyday life as a dad with a fulltime job and too many damn house projects. Phase 1 is nearly complete - all items that I needed from the get go to either protect the truck, enhance usability for my family, or both. Phase 2 will come with some actual lighting upgrades and possibly some custom things from my brother (ldft_tremor on instagram) and such but I'll need to take a pause on purchasing truck related items for a few months, especially with the holidays fast approaching, before my wife torches it in the driveway.
Without further ado, Phase 1:
- Ruff Liners XL Dog Hammock. Full backseat protection from our Australian Shepherd, Digger, and two babies that will be making a mess very soon I imagine. Whatever I found for this absolutely had to have door protection because Digger sits like a human with his arm on the armrest, stands up, sits down, he's in and out the window, so had to make sure he could still be himself back there without me worrying about what he was up to. This accomplishes that perfectly - super impressed with the quality, how well the door panels stay put (we'll see if that holds up over time) and the overall setup. One nice seatback pouch for gear, zippers and things everywhere so two different car seat setups was no problem, fits the area perfectly. Even has a mesh area you can zip on or off in the middle front so Digger can see my wife and I but hopefully that protects the console/rear vents from slobber at least a little.
- Ronin 8" antenna. Simple, not exciting, but that damn factory whip had to go. Thing wacked trees coming into the driveway and assaulted the garage every time I pulled in and out. I never use radio and never will so I went with 8" instead of one of the other options. It's nice enough, looks cool, and does what I need it to do.
- Ottocast Carplay Adaptor. For the dads (and moms) out there, otherwise not cool or glamorous for the rest of you. Tried the mirrors to see the kids in the back but they just weren't cutting it in this truck with how the car seats are configured and what not so I decided to try this out. Really didn't want to add a screen up front and have wires all over the place so this caught my eye. USB stick plugs into the carplay wired USB outlet inside the center console, easy to get running and set up, picture quality is great actually. As a strictly Spotify or other music app user, not interfering with my normal carplay operations was vital for me and that was a little bit of an issue at first. There is definitely a slight lag, hardly noticeable to most people but I'm just OCD with that sort of thing. It also changes the carplay formatting itself which might be because it's techincally considering this 'wired carplay' but who knows.
- Integral Swivel Strap Mounts. Now these bad boys are cool as hell. I hate ratchet straps, I hate untangling things, I hate getting them out and putting them away, I hate when one jams or otherwise decides to be a PITA precisely when I need it to function. These cost more money, but they are the epitome of Factory+ and solve all of those problems. Made specifically for pretty much every truck brand, these Chevy/GMC variants bolt right into the existing truck bed tie downs in each corner, come with all black hardware, are secure as hell, and work flawlessly. I went with the 4 pack for all 4 corners but you could easily get away with 2 and be just fine in most circumstances I imagine. 360 degree swivel, easy pull out, press the button to tighten the slack away once hooked up, ratchet until you're content. Disengage the ratchet mode by locking upright, hit the button/pull a little to give yourself some slack to unhook, hold button and it auto-retracts back into itself. Done. Already put these to good use dropping off my mower this morning and then quickly realized as I was about to leave that my ramps would be loose in the bed; my lazy rear end would have let the ramps bounce around if I had to get ratchet straps back out again but no, these were right there waiting for me. Zip zip, done, on my way. These things are sick.
- Gator EFX Hard Folding Tonneau Cover. Pretty self explanatory. Absolutely necessary to make good use of the bed for strollers, bags, dog stuff, whatever if the weather isn't cooperating. Also allows the cabin to stay useful for humans and items you might not otherwise want out back even if the weather is fine. Has good reviews, price seemed reasonable, pulled the trigger. This delivers this weekend so once I get it mounted up I'll drop a picture and some initial thoughts.
That's it for Phase 1 of the Factory+ Cypress TB. Stay tuned for the eventual Phase 2...
Without further ado, Phase 1:
- Ruff Liners XL Dog Hammock. Full backseat protection from our Australian Shepherd, Digger, and two babies that will be making a mess very soon I imagine. Whatever I found for this absolutely had to have door protection because Digger sits like a human with his arm on the armrest, stands up, sits down, he's in and out the window, so had to make sure he could still be himself back there without me worrying about what he was up to. This accomplishes that perfectly - super impressed with the quality, how well the door panels stay put (we'll see if that holds up over time) and the overall setup. One nice seatback pouch for gear, zippers and things everywhere so two different car seat setups was no problem, fits the area perfectly. Even has a mesh area you can zip on or off in the middle front so Digger can see my wife and I but hopefully that protects the console/rear vents from slobber at least a little.
- Ronin 8" antenna. Simple, not exciting, but that damn factory whip had to go. Thing wacked trees coming into the driveway and assaulted the garage every time I pulled in and out. I never use radio and never will so I went with 8" instead of one of the other options. It's nice enough, looks cool, and does what I need it to do.
- Ottocast Carplay Adaptor. For the dads (and moms) out there, otherwise not cool or glamorous for the rest of you. Tried the mirrors to see the kids in the back but they just weren't cutting it in this truck with how the car seats are configured and what not so I decided to try this out. Really didn't want to add a screen up front and have wires all over the place so this caught my eye. USB stick plugs into the carplay wired USB outlet inside the center console, easy to get running and set up, picture quality is great actually. As a strictly Spotify or other music app user, not interfering with my normal carplay operations was vital for me and that was a little bit of an issue at first. There is definitely a slight lag, hardly noticeable to most people but I'm just OCD with that sort of thing. It also changes the carplay formatting itself which might be because it's techincally considering this 'wired carplay' but who knows.
- Integral Swivel Strap Mounts. Now these bad boys are cool as hell. I hate ratchet straps, I hate untangling things, I hate getting them out and putting them away, I hate when one jams or otherwise decides to be a PITA precisely when I need it to function. These cost more money, but they are the epitome of Factory+ and solve all of those problems. Made specifically for pretty much every truck brand, these Chevy/GMC variants bolt right into the existing truck bed tie downs in each corner, come with all black hardware, are secure as hell, and work flawlessly. I went with the 4 pack for all 4 corners but you could easily get away with 2 and be just fine in most circumstances I imagine. 360 degree swivel, easy pull out, press the button to tighten the slack away once hooked up, ratchet until you're content. Disengage the ratchet mode by locking upright, hit the button/pull a little to give yourself some slack to unhook, hold button and it auto-retracts back into itself. Done. Already put these to good use dropping off my mower this morning and then quickly realized as I was about to leave that my ramps would be loose in the bed; my lazy rear end would have let the ramps bounce around if I had to get ratchet straps back out again but no, these were right there waiting for me. Zip zip, done, on my way. These things are sick.
- Gator EFX Hard Folding Tonneau Cover. Pretty self explanatory. Absolutely necessary to make good use of the bed for strollers, bags, dog stuff, whatever if the weather isn't cooperating. Also allows the cabin to stay useful for humans and items you might not otherwise want out back even if the weather is fine. Has good reviews, price seemed reasonable, pulled the trigger. This delivers this weekend so once I get it mounted up I'll drop a picture and some initial thoughts.
That's it for Phase 1 of the Factory+ Cypress TB. Stay tuned for the eventual Phase 2...
