Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra - Owners hangout

aebert

I have a 01 GMC and have been complaining about the worthless sun visor since day one (07/18/01). I have look at the Denali and Yukons and I think I could make it work but am not ready to drill any holes yet. I just put a cd case open between the visor and the window. The one problem I am having is water leaking in the truck on the passenger side from the front corner of dash onto my floor mat. I will be going to the dealer for warranty. I have had a few things fixed and have 18000 miles now but besides the rough ride of the z71 I love the truck!!

silverado151

I just purchased a 96 Silverado...could not afford a new truck with a Belltech 2-4 drop, 15 inch wheels w/ front tires 245/60 and rear tires 275/60. I want to accomplish two things... a little more tuck both fr and rr, and I want to be able to rotate tires. Can anyone help with tire size/wheel size combination???

ebeaker

I love this truck. Wkand, you can find out about your rebate by calling your dealer. They can find out for you. If your waiting to get a truck, they can also call GM and have the certificate faxed to your dealer. When I picked up my truck, GM claimed they mailed it 2 weeks prior.
So the mailman must've lost it...:) ya right. Has anyone put an airbag on-off switch in a crew cab? And has anyone used Better Built products from WalMart?
Thanks for your help in advance.

markbuck

Had great luck with them. I bought thru cabelas.com.

They make good quality stuff. They also have a website....

wkand

That posting was about as helpful as your postings ever are. Regarding the lmao, I'm glad you can crack yourself up like that.

ricsch

check with a local tire shop, maybe they'd mount up a wheel and tire and put it on the truck to see how it looks, they'd be able to help determine what size will fit. To tuck them more, you'd probably have to drop the truck more, say another 2" front and rear, and would have to notch the rear frame rails,unless you want a large sidewall on the tire.

obyone

Glad you enjoyed it.

Here to help.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!

silverado151

thanks for the advice. I don't want to drop the truck any lower because I tow and it also handled three loads of gravel/sand without a problem with the 2/4 drop, so it looks like I will have to go with a larger sidewall on the tire if I want to tuck them more. I was hoping someone had the same drop and could give me the exact wheel and tire size to accomplish more tuck. thanks again

ricsch

use of 18" or 20" rims could aid in getting the tucked look, without dropping the truck any further-only that it gets spendy running the big ones.

sonnyt1

I have a 2000 1/2 ton 4x4 3 door GMC Sierra. I know of two other owners with same truck only Chev
with similar problems. All owners of this vehicle
that have towed heavy loads or spent a large amount of time on rough roads should check the frame approx. 10.5 inches in front of the rear spring shackle at the location that there is a hole punched in the bottom of the frame coinciding with a angled hole on the side of
the frame. My frame buckled at this location from
towing a snowmobile trailer (5000lbs) with class 3 hitch. The two other trucks with problems were farm trucks one of which the frame broke completely through at that location on one side and nearly through on the other side. It was used approx. 60% on rough roads. This is a very serious
problem that all owners should be aware of. Our local chev dealer here making repairs to the farm trucks is McCurly Chev. 509-547-5555. If anybody
elese finds the same problem please let me know.

Thanks

obyone

do you have it in the Lund Interceptor?

jjgittes

What can I expect to pay for an extended cab sierra, with the 4.8, auto, 2wd, nicely equipped (SLE ?) ??? How much less would a Siverado be??

obyone

$300 less.

Best way to find the true value of a GMC would be to use edmund's feature on the home page. It will give you pricing for the area you live in.

good luck

eric2001

Got my first problem with my new HD: Westin nerf bars came dented (just opposite the center mount hole) Looks like Westin clamped them a little too hard to drill the hole. They are sending me out a new one, though, and I can keep my slightly dented one for s&g. Hope everyone else is out having fun.
-Eric

ricsch

Has anyone removed the black wiper cowl below the windshield? How difficult is it? With the truck sitting outside, tends to get debris (leaves, tree buds) caught in this area and would like to periodically remove and clean out. Went over the truck with Meguiar's detailing clay-wow, what a difference, couldn't believe how smooth it turned out!

deviate

Well, or any 2WD Sierra with a Belltech 2-4 drop. I've been messing with this ftp program, so I thought I'd post pix of it. Check it out, lemme know what you think. Really want to do something with the tires/wheels. Maybe soon..

 http://incolor.inebraska.com/agh/GMC11.jpg

and here's the "before" one:

http://incolor.inebraska.com/agh/GMCb4.jpg

The sides of the lid really do match pretty good, but the back doesn't. Thinking about sending it back to ARE, but the rest of it is so perfect I'm hesitant to ship it again. Nice lid, though.

Cheers--

--Tony in Nebraska

blacksilver

What a mess! It will bottom out if you try to do any actual *work* with it.

ricsch

truck looks nice, did you use the lowered coils or spindles up front? Notice any difference in ride or driving? What did you decide on for shocks? I should be receiving the Firestone Sport-rite bags any day, hope to install this coming weekend. And for blacksilver, you'd be suprised that the use of the truck isn't as limited as you may think, seen several guys with slammed trucks towing huge boats or enclosed trailers! If you do the alteration correctly, it's fine. Later

redsilverado

AWESOME dude. ever since ricsch has done his truck, it got me thinking about doin the wife's again. we don't use hers for hauling much and always have liked the look of the rado when it's dropped a bit. i've talked to a few others that have installed air systems on theirs for when they do want to haul something, and so far they haven't had any problems. nice job.

deviate

Ricsh-used the Belltech spindles. Same smooth factory ride. Gonna leave the Nitros on for now; probably do some fine-tunin' after I do the roll pan/exhaust. Might do a small notch in the rear rails, the ride improved when I put the lid on, so I'm fine with the Nitros now.

Blacksilver--I'm a city guy, and grew up with street rods in the family. I play drums all over the midwest on the weekends. This truck does everything I need it to do, and looks and rides good doing it. Yes, I pull a trailer when I need to haul more gear than just my own, which the 5.7 and current suspension setup does just fine. I don't ever plan on hauling two tons of gravel. But if I needed to, I'd throw a pair of air shocks on it (15 min), unbolt the lid (5 min) and get on with it. You say po-tay-toe, I say po-tah-toe. Let's see your truck! --Tony

gmonkey

Hey everybody,
Discovered town hall last night and spent all of last night and today looking at posts about the Silverado/Sierras.

I am a hardcore Ford 5.0 LX owner, but as I get older (30) I find my needs changing.

I am looking into getting a 2001 Sierra SLE with the 5.3/3.73 combo. Extended cab, bucket seats, cloth trim, tint, and 4WD. There is one I have my eyes on at my one GM dealership and it is Sunset Orange. Anybody have a Rado/Sierra of this color? How is it holding up? In my opinion I like the color as it is a change from the endless blue, white and silver ones I see on the road.

Also, how much did you pay for your truck that is similarly equipped to the one I am looking at? Right now the dealer is asking $30,375 for it that is before 4.17% tax and doc fee of $180 and license fee of $175.

I am waiting on my Fighting Chance package so I can see if there are any hidden manufacturer to dealer incentives so I can have a little more room to negotiate. Also, I have looked online in CA and OR for a Rado with the PRO TEC box but it seems no one has it. I am in HI so my options are limited.

Also, did anyone get the dealer rustproofing? I was going to order a 2002 Rado with the PROTEC box but the salesman I was talking to said that if I bought the $400 rustproofing package that rust-through would be covered for as long as I own the truck. But reading through the Rado brochure, it says that additional rustproofing is not needed or recommended. Any feedback on my questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I didn't even consider a Ford F150 or Tundra or Dodge because of the styling. I was going to get a double cab or Xtra Cab Tacoma but after a test drive in the Sierra I was hooked. Nice ride, power and lot more features. Sorry bout the rambling I am a bit eager to be joining your ranks as you can tell. LOL

ryanbab

Dont get it

In some cases it actually voids your warranty

obyone

even though you're surrounded by salt water. If you're going to launch a boat with the truck, buy a beater as the salt water will trash the truck.

Other than that, yes, the trucks do come with a factory rustproofing.

Check this link out for available rebates and incentives:

http://www2.edmunds.com/servlets/rebate.RebateStart#model

and this link to help you with pricing the truck:

http://www.edmunds.com/new/gmc/index.html

Good luck....you're going to need it buying a rado or a sierra from anyone of the 5 dealers in your area.......

BTW, I have a '00 rado and a '00 Yukon Denali.....both without the aftermarket rustproofing.

obyone

One last thing. If the dealer's service department and their service is important to you, you have only three dealers to choose from.

gmonkey

Hopefully just a car carrier occasionaly which will fall nicely into the 1500's towing capacity.

obyone, do you mind if I ask you how much you paid for your 2000 rado? Being that we are both in the same state it should give me something to shoot for.

My cousin bought a 2001 rado with the same equipment as me and he got nailed with the rustproofing. He said he paid $32,000 out the door. One of my co-workers has a niece whose boyfriend bought a 2001 rado similarly equipped for $29,500 out the door but his uncle was the guy that sold it to him.

I can't wait when we get to the part where the salesman asks me if I want to get paint sealant/bedliner/rustproofing so I can whip out the rado brochure and read to him directly about the rustproofing.

Any word or feedback on the PROTEC boxes? The first salesman who tried to help me didn't even know about it!! LOL!!

ryanbab

2000 silverado Z71 ext cab LS

Loaded everything but leather

Sticker $33 and some change

Paid $29,691

after taxes,bedrail caps, bedliner, nerf bars, and bug deflector

ricsch

For those who have installed a Firestone or Air lift kit on your truck, where did you mount the air valves? The Firestone kit has two (I was hoping it would tee off to mount one valve inside the fuel fill door) Thanks

obyone

Don't know if my pricing will help you as it was very complicated by the fact that I had bought a '99 stripper rado reg cab. The dealer and I got into it regarding the upgrades that they were supposed to do. I wanted the rhino UTR, window tint, power windows, power door locks, and body side molding added on. Well, they installed all of it but not with factory parts as I was led to believe so we had to negotiate the cancelling of the deal with 300 miles on the truck.

Bought a '00 rado LS 5.3 ext cab. MSRP was $26,228. The dealer had a market value adjustment of $6,557 bring the price to $32,785. I just kept shaking my head and it wasn't in the up and down movement. Being that the trucks wouldn't stay on the lot didn't help my case either. By the time I had negotiated a deal, the '99 I had brought back was sold and gone. Knowing the no. 2 man in the company didn't help much either.

The bottom line came out to $27,000 tax, title, registration, rhino liner included. So that would be about $25,000 or $1200 under MSRP. The economy being the way it is, I would think you could do better than this at this time.

There was a lady I met here at Edmunds from Hawaii who bought a '00 F150 supercrew. She couldn't get any of the Ford dealers below MSRP. What she did was email dealers along the west coast with an offer based on the options she wanted. A couple of them returned the email. She ended up buying an ordered truck through a dealer in Washington state. She had ordered a fiberglass tonneau cover and wanted it painted and mounted before the dealer shipped. The bottom line came out to her saving about $2000 which includes the tonneau and the shipping from Washington to Hawaii making her total savings closer to $3000. Only problem was she had to go down to Matson to pick up the truck...for $3000 I'd do the same. You may want to check this option out as the dealers in Hawaii, for sure, won't go that low.

obyone

I don't know if teeing off to mount one valve would be a good ides. If your carrying a load, the pressure placed on the bag when making a turn would cause the air to be forced out of one side and into the side with less resistance causing the load to become more unbalanced thus affecting the stability of the truck.

mledtje

I mounted my air valves as the license plate screws. I had to drill the holes slightly to fit the fill valves. It puts both of the valves at the back (where I can observe if the truck is level side to side) and both valve are together for easy access. See pictures at: http://community.webshots.com/album/1890783ldNpgTyiIr

Do not mount both air bags together. If you do, when you go around a corner the outside bag will get loaded, and push air into the inside bag and cause more lean than without air bags. And you will loose the ability to level out uneven loads.

I have the AirLift Super Duty system on my 2000 Silverado 2500 4x4. With my small popup camper I run 15psi in the driver's side and 8 psi in the passenger side.

The Airlift system was easy to install and plumb. The kit includes a heatshield for the exhaust where it comes close to an airbag. $200 from Summit Racing (1-800-230-3030)

Mike L

ricsch

thanks for the info, I will keep the bag lines separate.

erikf2

Search the "Cabover Camper" thread here on Edmunds.Com, the "GM Truck" forum over at www.pacific-audio.com, or the chat forums at www.travelbyroad.net; you will find almost as many opinions on where to place the air valves as there are folks to give 'em. Some people put them somewhere on the rear bumper, as Mike L. did, some folks just follow the suggestion from the manufacturers and put them in the wheel well, and one fellow ran both lines next to the gas filler inlet so they're behind the door (however, he admits he does get some funny looks when he apparently starts filling his gas tank with air!).

One thing the general opinion is NOT divided on is whether or not to "tee" the air lines: everyone pretty much agrees you shouldn't.

Of course, if you're as lazy as I am, you can just duck the whole valve placement issue and get the in-cab controller! ;-)

ricsch

thanks for the tip on the thread, I'll check it out. I plan to go with separate lines for each side.

casper13

i am previously devous13. u asked when does clunking occur? on any speed bump, pot hole, or reaction to uneven terrain....u have any idea??

vusic

I have a 1996 GMC Sierra Reg. Cab. Is anyone out there familiar with water leaking into the cab via the rear sliding window? The symptom is water leaking onto the seatback. I confirmed at an auto glass shop that it was the seal around the window and not the high mount rear brake light.
He informed me that he has seen more than a few of these, but GM claims there is no widespread problem. The part is no longer available for repalcement (which is nearly impossible without bending the housing) and when it was available, it was $1600.00!!!!!!
Aftermarket prices are about $330.00 but are just as iffy from a quality standpoint.

obyone

You're going to have to help me on this one. Is the clunking in the front or the rear. Front will ususally be the upper intermediate steering shaft that needs replacement. If coming from the rear, you'll need to have the dealer install isolators or rubber pads inbetween the leaf springs. Hope this helps. If you need additional details, just post.

mledtje

I had a leaky sliding rear window on my 99. The factory replacement is no longer available, so the dealer replaced it with a CR Laurence slider. The replacement is a superior window - full metal frame, much better latch, the latch is on the passenger side (easier to reach while driving), etc. When I ordered my 2000 Silverado, sliders were no longer available. So I got a CR Laurence slider from a local shop for $275.

Go for the CR Laurence, you will like it better than the factory one.

Mike L

vusic

Thanks for the info. Will let you know once it's replaced.

DC

ricsch

Received the air spring assist kit and did some investigating-won't work on my truck now that the axle is 4" closer to the frame, and the air bag is too tall. Called Firestone, and was told they do not offer a ready-to-install kit for lowered vehicles, even though places advertise as such. So now I need to know if anyone has put an Air Lift-Slam Air kit on their truck (Lowered application) and if so can you provide a part number for the kit, and if any mods need to be done to make it work?

d27447

In response to Mr. Gittes #612
In Houston there are several dealers advertising
2001 SLE extended cabs for $19,998.
4.8l V-8,pw,pl,ps,auto,tinted glass,CD, etc.
These are pretty much standard adds and there
are probably 15-20 dealers. Some dealers are
adv. $7000 off on anything they have. And most dealers
have from 20-40 in inventory.

mgdvhman

feel the same way against the dolts that appose hunting......while I have never encountered one in the woods banging trash can lids or blocking paths as I try to hunt..(perhaps due to private property)....I sure as heck hope I never do....as a huge can-o-whoop-[non-permissible content removed] would be opened. It could be a very ugly can too.

If you want to be against something.....fine....wanna rally at the capital...or wherever...fine. But to block an abortion clinic....ruin peoples cars....trash their hunt...or do whatever cuz you are so damn psycho about your feelings....I have no sympathy for you if you get seriously hurt or worse.

- Tim

dmnsmith2

Just wondering if the sliding rear window is available on the 01 Silverado's, 1500, 4x4, ext cab. Haven't found one yet. Same for dual exhaust.

valky

I was cruising into the parking lot at work, thinking of other things, when I cut a corner a little too close and a concrete sign post jumped out in front of me. I did not see it at all, the sun was in my eyes and it was hidden by my A-pillar. I've only been driving in this parking lot for the last 6 years!!!! I still can't believe I did this.

I backed up and got out. I was just stunned. I stood there looking at the damage and said, "I can't freaking believe I just did this to my new truck!" I totally flattened the left front fender and put a dent in the drivers door. Makes me sick just thinking about it... at least the beer is dousing the guilt and embarrassment, for now.

Finally, I got back in and parked the truck and went in to work. Got on the phone to the insurance company and arranged to take it to a body shop we deal with at work. My boss was pretty cool about the whole thing, allowed me to take it to the shop and go rent a car. I got an S-10, this thing is a P.O.S. compared to our trucks. This thing squeaks and rattles, has the shudder at take-off, huge amount of wind noise at the drivers door. I'm just real glad this is not my truck.

The body guy told me that when he is done, that I will not be able to tell anything happened to my truck. Told me he should have it ready by next Thursday or Friday. I'm just crossing my fingers, rubbing my beads, collecting four leaf clovers and laying out my towel to the east and praying to Mecca that he is right!

At least I will be able to take the P.O.S. to Sears Point this weekend and enjoy some fast action. Thanks guys for letting me get this off my chest, if I didn't I might drown in this here beer. By the way, this Gordon Biersch Marzen is pretty darn good!! Probably wouldn't be a bad way to go;-)

Valky

mgdvhman

is good...wish i coulda took a bunch with me!

- Tim

schifer

When I ordered my truck 10 weeks ago sliders were still not availble. They had problems with cracking and leaking so they have been discontinued for now. No word on about the future. You can go after market for about $300.

I have never seen dual exhaust listed as an option.

Scott

mledtje

Just be grateful you can't order a GM rear slider. By a CR Laurence slider and have it installed by a local shop. It is a much better window with a metal frame and a latch that cannot be opened with a coat hanger and 5 seconds of work (I opened my stocker that way when I locked myself out in the middle of nowhere).

Mike L

tdciii

I own a 2001 2wd silverado with the 5.3L V-8 auto that I ordered straight from the factory and picked up in August of this last year. I now have almost 24k miles and the truck has performed extremely well. The one thing I have noticed is that after driving for a while and then leaving it parked and running for a little while the engine sounds like it is not getting enough air when I start to drive again. The engine sounds like it is overworking for the speed that I am going. This generally happens just when starting from a dead stop and as it works through first and second gear. Not knowing how better to say it, the engine makes a high pitch noise like if I had it in park and was revving the engine although I am only easing into the accelerator and have it in drive. This is a hard problem to describe and even harder to duplicate at the dealership. Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions? This is not something that happens all the time--usually only on hot days when the I have been doing a lot of driving.

mgdvhman

is a fan that comes on at first of some kind?....is this what you mean?

- Tim

ricsch

made a few calls and found out that what I need for my lowered Silverado is a Airlift Slam Air kit, and decided to also go for the on-board compressor. Anyone have suggestions on where to mount the compressor and where to access power for it?

obyone

you have a cover for the bed?