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GMC Sierra Denali CarbonPro bed is finally, almost here

GMC revealed the Sierra 1500 with the optional CarbonPro bed on March 1, 2018. The bed wasn't available at launch, though. You can't buy it now, either, but it will hit dealerships with limited availability after production starts in early June, exclusively for the Denali 1500 and AT4 1500 trims. The carbon floor and sides replace the steel panels in a normal bed, providing "strength, durability, and scratch resistance" and a potential 59-pound weight saving, depending on the truck's configuration. To make sure the bed had a chance, development engineers replicated "extreme use scenarios" like dropping 1,800-pound gravel loads, 450-pound steel drums, and cinder blocks from various heights. They put a 250-pound man on a snowmobile with studded tracks, had him drive into the bed and then go wide-open throttle. We're told the result was "minimal scratching." On top of the extreme weather testing any vehicle goes through, the team also put a generator in the bed and aim the exhaust into a corner to ensure vibration and direct heat wouldn't deform the carbon fiber. Because of the finer shaping area-specific strength possible with carbon fiber, the bed provides one cubic foot of additional payload space by having its sidewalls pushed further out. The CarbonPro bed doesn't need a bedliner, and is grained at the top for better traction but smooth on the bottom for easier hosing down and dirt removal. Tie-downs at the front of the bed work with molded indentations to hold motorcycle tires, and slots in the sidewalls hold two-by-sixes. The truck maker says the carbon-lined payload area confers "best-in-class dent, scratch and corrosion resistance," but we suppose the nation's pickup truck army will prove that or not. The trucks likely won't have the hardest life at the start, since the Sierra Denali costs $56,790 before even a basic option like four-wheel drive. The real test probably won't come until around 2029, when third owners begin treating their aerospace-inspired thoroughbreds like dray horses.

2019 GMC Sierra shows off new headlights in Los Angeles

Despite being just three weeks in to 2018, it's not too early to dub this the year of the truck. At last week's Detroit Auto Show, we saw the debuts of the 2019 Chevy Silverado, 2019 Ram 1500 and the return of the 2019 Ford Ranger. As with every new Silverado, a sister vehicle follows from GMC. Just take a look at these new spy shots of the 2019 GMC Sierra 1500. These photos were taken out in Los Angeles, presumably for some warm weather testing outside of Michigan. At the Silverado's debut, GM VP Mark Reuss said there would be a significant difference between the Silverado and Sierra with this new generation. The grille on the Sierra appears to be far more upright and rectangular, contrasting the rounded look of the new Silverado. The headlights are larger and more upright. The same goes for the foglights. The profile and rear look fairly similar, though the fenders on the Sierra are more squared off. While we don't know what will rest under the Sierra's hood, expect it to share powertrains with the Silverado. That would mean updated versions of the 5.3-liter V8 and 6.2-liter V8 would be joined by 3.0-liter inline-six diesel. Look for the new Sierra as soon as the Chicago Auto Show next month. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2019 GMC Sierra spy shots Image Credit: Brian Williams Design/Style Spy Photos GM GMC Truck gmc sierra 1500

2019 GMC Sierra carbon fiber bed: How it's made

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The redesigned 2019 GMC Sierra has some pretty nifty features, and the one that has had the most attention is the MultiPro flipping and folding tailgate. But the Sierra also features the first-of-its-kind carbon fiber truck bed. It's interesting, of course, for its capabilities, such as being 62 pounds lighter than the all-steel box. It even adds more cargo volume since the material can be assembled and shaped differently from steel. As it turns out, the assembly process is cool, too, which we learned when GMC invited us to see the beds being made. Every GMC carbon fiber bed starts out as perfectly flat sheets of thermoplastic carbon fiber. The sheets consist of a mix of fibers and resins, a bit like the molded carbon fiber parts Lamborghini uses. The sheets are manufactured by Japanese company Teijin, which collaborated with GMC to develop the bed. They're all delivered to Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) in Fort Wayne, Ind., for construction into the actual bed. The company, a subsidiary of Teijin, makes a wide variety of composite and plastic parts for the car industry, including body panels for the C7 Chevy Corvette. The rectangular sheets are cut to shape and stacked up at a giant stamping press. Robots pick up sheets and slide them onto a conveyor that goes into a large oven. The heat softens the parts so they can be stamped. The large primary bed parts such as the base are stamped by CSP's enormous 3,600-ton press, and the smaller ones go through a 1,000-ton press. Each press can do different parts using different stamping dies, and CSP switches between dies to produce different batches of parts. After stamping, the parts roll out mostly ready for assembly, but there are rough edges that are trimmed off by water-jet cutters. These cutting machines also create holes for fasteners and for parts such as tie-down hooks and lights. The stamping process also provides the carbon fiber bed with a unique Easter egg. On the bottom of the base of the bed, there are two words: "Connors Way." This is a tribute to Tim Connors, who was the chief engineer of manufacturing at GM and a strong proponent of the carbon fiber bed. He was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash a few years ago. The words were added to honor him, and they were fortunately approved for production. There are some components to the bed that aren't stamped from the flat sheets of material.