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Amidst some bad news here is some good news.
I GOT MINE.
Picked it up yesterday after waiting 7 weeks from the order date. I put 200 miles on it just running
around showing it to my friends and family.
Indigo blue SLE Ext cab with Oak interior, 5.3l,
3.42 rearend and standard chrome wheels.
I Love IT. I havent felt any transmission vibration yet. It rides and drives great.
I will keep you all posted about how things go
with gas mileage and such.
Later,
dkwhitlo
week (800 miles). Even though the oil seemed to
be clean, I found some black metal dust sticked
to the magnetic tip of the oil plug. You could
also found such fine dust if you wipe your oil on
a piece of white napkin. Anyway, I think early
first oil change is a good idea.
I have not looked at the Silverado closely; anyone
knows if their brake components (like caliper,
caliper housing...) are painted. Mine are painted
black and that makes me feel a lot better. I hate
to look at rusty caliper and housing.
Second fill-up. I seemed to get about 17.3 mpg (up from 16.x last fill). It could be the effect of having a cover or just could get better with more miles.
Congrats to all those just got their trucks!!!
Go check out the gm powerbuy site. Punch in what options and color you want and check dealer lots in a city nearby and see if you find what you want?
Or wait for a 2000.
Good Luck!
Still waiting for all the paper work to go through before i can pick up mine, hopefully sometime , late this week
While I am here. My truck is great! Still thought I would get a little better Mileage! Have never hit 17 mpg yet? Never taken a real long trip yet. 2600 miles. Have the Trans noise at 40 but will keep an eye out for a fix? Have heard grinding in the front brakes lately if I stop short? Have the power leather seats and still no noise or problems?
99 Z71, 5.3L, 3.73, ext cab sportside.
Love the new truck. Only got 15 to 16 mpg out of the old diesel most of the time. Guess that the EPA city mileage is pretty close to correct for me on most any vehicle. Got the low end (city) fuel economy on a 1998 ford escort I owned for several months......
City driving, I'm getting about 14.5. I'm easy on it. LS1500 4x4, 5.3L, 4.10 axle, reg cab, long-bed. No grinding noise in the brakes, or seat problems. A micro-burst like wind gust in Texas did something to damage the windshield rubber seal. I can't tell what's wrong but I fixed the leak with some vinyl electrical tape until I take it in. Truck was not delivered perfect, but it's getting close now and worth the effort. I've been very pleased with my thermostat mod, that lowered the operating temperature 13 degrees. It's a keeper!
Later,
dkwhitlo
Here is an odd problem that someone may have an idea about. Since the weather has been getting warm here in Missouri, I have noticed a high pitched squealing noise from under the truck. I guess I am noticing it now since I am driving around with the window down but I also think it is temperature related. On cooler days I don't hear it as loud. The noise is not present when the truck has been parked for a while. The noise stops when the truck is stopped. The noise is not present when the truck is in neutral and the engine is revved. The noise seems to be more apparent after I have driven home from work (27 miles) and get off the highway. Today the noise was present so I decided to do some investigating. My driveway has an incline so I stopped in the driveway, put it in neutral, turned off the engine and let the truck coast down the driveway. The noise was there. My wife and I took turns being outside the truck to listen for the noise. We both decided that it seemed to come from the front of the truck. I jacked up the left front tire and spun it. The noise was there. I jacked up the right front tire and the noise wasn't there. So with the left front tire up again, I got under the truck to see what could be causing the noise. Couldn't quite determine the exact origin but I suspect it is coming from the front diff where the axle goes in. I am taking the truck in tomorrow morning to get the new engine mounts installed. I will tell the service advisor what I have discovered but as usual he will probably say that he cannot recreate it so they cannot do anything. Anybody have any ideas what the cause of this could be? Other than all of these minor problems I still love this truck! The throttle body replacement seems to have fixed the binding problem. The new engine mounts should fix the shaking. Now if I can get rid of this squealing.
4WD. Boy is it nice. I am sure glad the wait is
over. 15 Miles on it when I put it to bed.
Mine has Autotrac, Locking Rear, 5.3L, Trailering
Package, Z71, Bench Seats, and Polished Aluminum
Wheels in Topaz Gold with Oak interior.
My dealer said I would have it before May and he
was right. Ordered on 3/12, picked up on 4/22.
My sympathy to all whose order didn't make it, get
the 2k year model, I am sure it will have improvements but I am not sure where. As for myself, I couldn't wait.
If it's not brake squeal, it probably is the front differential. The planetary gears inside the differential carrier are in constant motion when 4wd is dis-engaged. Try putting it in 4wd to see if the squeal goes away?
Anyway - It was cool last night so I drove around on the highway last night to try and warm everything up. I did manage to get a small squeal going. I put it in 4wd but that didn't seem to make a difference. Took it in today for the engine mounts. I am driving a rental now. It seems that GM is using a new type of mounting bracket and the serv. dept needs to disassemble a bunch of stuff to get to them. Well it is taking them longer than expected so they are going to finish it Mon. Then they will investigate the squeal. Service Advisor thinks it might be a seal or bearing. Only happens when it is really warm out and has been driven a while.
I seem to be getting all of the weird problems.
I picked up my truck on 3/26/99 and drove it from Kellogg, Idaho home to Fairbanks, Alaska. This is absolutely the best vehicle I've ever owned without exception. Just to refresh memories, I got the SLT 1500,extended cab,5.3L, 3.73 rear, 4x4, autotrac, premium stereo, plus a Raider Topper.
I can't believe how smooth and quiet this pickup is. What a great rig for a long trip (about 3000 miles). I've seen other complaints here, but haven't had any trouble with it pulling to the right, or with any vibrations or sounds at 45mph. The stereo system is the best I've heard in a vehicle...feels like I'm sitting in my living room. Great clarity, bass and treble.
The autotrac was great going over a couple of passes with snow drifts and blowing snow. I never felt the truck slip, even when the temperature was close to freezing. At the other end, I cruised up through Canada at 80 mph and it felt like it could cruise at that speed forever. I averaged 18.3 mpg with the worst at 16.5 with it in autotrac most of the time and snowy conditions.
I don't mind the 3 doors and find that its quieter on the drivers side than the passenger, and since I spend most of my time in the drivers seat I'll take the quiet over the fourth door. I don't intend to sell this truck until it falls apart, so don't care about resale of a 3 door truck.
OK, I'll stop raving about this truck. I've got 4800 miles on it after picking it up 3/26/99, and I love it more today than when I picked it up.
To any of you still waiting, its well worth the wait!!!
You measure mileage by dividing how much gas you put back in, not the size of your tank. Because if your numbers are right, you only had less than one gallon in the tank when you filled up, and that doesn't seem likely. Or it wasn't full when you started counting miles.
cobash, check it again next time you fill up. I
don't think it should be that low. Mine, after the
3rd fill-up, is averaged at 17.7 mi/gal (.30 city,
and .70 high way at <= 65 mph).
Tung
Bought me a rail system tonneau cover which i think will do the job. Was going to buy the fold a cover but when the saleman told me the tonneau cover (cover craft i think) Was $261 and required no drilling and used no buttons i was sold. Dont plan on storing anything to valuable in the bed, just my cooler and hibachi for tailgates.Thinking of getting the rhino lining (under the rail or over the rail any thoughts on which would be better?) i was thinking under cause it would look better but would like some feed back and another thing anybody got the electric tailgate lock? how is it? Thanks guys and gals
Truck is running great. Getting right at 17 mpg in town. I have not been on a long road trip yet. It pulls my small boat like a champ. I do have one concern or maybe I'm being to cautious. The trans. seems to shift pretty hard from second to third. It doesn't matter if I'm in overdrive or not, AC on or not. The problem is that it doesn't do it all of the time. On slow acceleration it seems to be fine but on an average take off it shifts sharply. All of the other gears seem to shift very smoothly. I checked the trans. fluid and it was slightly low. I don't seem to notice it as much after the truck has been running a while. Is this a normal shift for the truck? Does anyone else notice a sharp shift? Any suggestions? My truck is an SL, 4.8L, auto.
If your toneau cover requires some parts mounted
on the rail with tape (like 3M), then you cannot
spray over the rails. Nothing can stick to this
substance. If I don't have the toneau cover, I
would have the over-the-rail sprayed.
Tung
I have a pair of Air Lift (tm) Pneumatic helper springs. I bought them from Camping World. They had them in stock. It took me about 4.5 hours to install them. You could get them installed by them for a reasonable cost.
They are really nice because you can maintain the stock, plush ride quality when you don't have a payload. All you have to do is pump a few pounds into them if you add a load, to adjust ride height. They are much better than air shocks, since the shock mounts are not designed to support a load. But with air springs, I can carry up to GVWR, with no more than about 45 psi, with the stock ride height, or even 'up' a bit in back. The range of adjustment is from 10 psi minimum to 100 psi maximum. I have short air hoses for each spring bellows to reduce the likelihood of leaks, and be able to adjust pressure side to side, as well. I carry a bicycle pump in my toolbox. They offer 12V on-board compressors and gauges if you desire. If you had to change out a bellows, you can do it in about 3 minutes without removing a wheel! (I have not had to do this, however.)
What's it like? It's like riding on air!
By the way, on other trucks, I have taken them to Denver Spring Co. They remove the stock leafs, heat them, re-arc them, and add a leaf. This works great of course, but you end up with a stiff ride thereafter, especially when empty. Pneumatic springs cost less, and are much more versatile.
A Helwig "add a leaf" spring at least gives you the option to later remove it, but trust me, you won't. And if you do, Murphy will insure that you don't have it installed when you need it for that big payload!
I have contacted my local GMC dealer and we speced out the parts/price (total around $1200) to change the rear-end to a 4.10. However one of the parts needed is not currently available, and the service guy says that the part could be available in 1 day or 1 year.
So as I wait for the availability of this part, if I wanted to increase the power output of the engine to improve its towing performance, what would be the logical order to install after market add-ons to maximize the price/performance curve?
PS: I know that I should have gotten a 4.10 in the first place, but there were _none_ available, and I thought I would be ok as I only tow the boat 4-5 times per year and only in flat central Florida.
Thanks for any info or opinions....
started extending the speed range to 65-75 mph.
I then experienced some vibration both on the
steering wheel and the whole body of the truck
at close to 70mph. I suspected that either the
wheel(s) was improperly mounted or unbalanced. I
took back to dealer last Sat. It turned out that
all 4 wheels were out of balance (2 really bad,
and 2 kinda bad). Luckily, the two worse wheels
were mounted in the front that helped me to detect
the problem. The service guy use power tool to
mount my wheels back on, so I went home and used
my torque wrench to remount them again just to
be safe. It now runs OK around 65-75mph.
Also, it's worth mentioning that if you have the
polished AL rims, it would be better that you take
the hub cabs off and put them back yourself. My
service guy put all of them back incorrectly and
screwed up one of it; I had to cut off one of the
plastic bracket(?) to put it back in.
Tung
My credit untion offers same deal, I can always add it later.
GM sent me a letter a moth ago about getting the extended warranty for my 97 Chevy. They even offered a payment plan with no interest.
Huntman
I got my tonneau cover on yesterday(covercraft rail system) it is nice and inexpensive and convenient($261) also had the front windows tinted and got a hitch cover all i need is my rhino lining then i think i'll be set.(unless i find other toys to put on)Love the truck she is perfect no problems to report 1000 mi. Anyone have any information about the electric tailgate lock ? Do you like it? My wife's been pretty cool about all the extra money spent on truck, kinda makes me worried . Think she has something up her sleeve?
Maybe she wants one of her own!
Aw, go ahead, let her drive it. Once she gets used to the truck, she'll never want anything else. I've owned a Ford F150 4x4 ext. cab and now drive a Ram 1500 4x4 quad cab. I have a friend with a Sierra which I drive now and then. Let me tell you, size DOES matter! {*_*}