Chevy Silverado - Continued XVI

mgdvhman

got a ways to go!

LOL

- Tim

ryanbab

Yea i want to put a pic of my truck up on here. Cant do it

Ryan

Can you tell im bored at work NO BOSSES!!!

ryanbab

http://smilecwm.tripod.com/net/index2.htm

steelworker

missed one -pitch rises in lower rpms stops at higher rpms

ryanbab

Ok back to trucks for me sorry guys

Could a decrease in gas milage be attributed to a bad EGR Valve???

Ryan

99crewcab1

yep

nick

ryanbab

So a bad EGR can decrease milage? Any info on how i would exactly know if its bad?

Ryan

hawgdawg

Phil, or anyone else....

Talked to a Firestone dealer...he said he would swap the tires but that I would have to send in for my refund. It wasn't just paying the difference...he said 6-8 weeks wait for the refund.

Is this how it's worked for you others?

ryanbab

Nope not for me. havent got my tires yet but the guy said he will just swap em out. The place is supposed to take care of that for you. Only way is if you get different tires like goodyears would you have to send that in. No exchange of funds either way. BCO had to pay the difference (prorated) cause he had 10,000 mls on his truck.

Ryan

bco

you don't mail in for a refund. that's only if you have tires that are actually recalled. i recommend you call/write to firestone corporate and get them to have this dealer pull his head out of his a**. i'd go so far as to say, "if you ever want me to come back as a customer (not that you'll ever go back anyways, but...) gimme these things free. otherwise, you can kiss my ..."

here's the deal. if you have firestone wilderness tires (or the other two that are on the recall list) but YOUR tires aren't on recall because they're a different size or not made at the decatur plant, firestone will pro-rate the value of your old tires against the purchase of new tires (the catch is that they have to be another firestone or bridgestone product). i got the bridgestone dueler at's (LT265/75R16). so...since i had worn 23% of the tread off of my old tires, he applied 77% of the value of a new set of wilderness tires against the purchase of a new set of duelers. overall, it came out to about $220. add on installation, balance, lifetime balance/rotation, tax, and road hazard warranty, and mine came out to $290 all told.

to see the duelers, check out my pictrail albums at www.picturetrail.com/bco

if you have more questions, post them here or sign my guest book on picture trail.

bco

petriheil

A little help, guys: Someone way back may have touched on the electric lumbar supports inflating/raising themselves, but I can't remember if anyone posted a solution from the dealer or otherwise. Mine likes to come up from the almost full down position to full up, especially when the truck has been parked in the sun. Has anyone's dealer solved this for you? Is there a TSB? Any info is appreciated. Thanks. SFT

roger350

Ryan, a bad EGR valve would trip an engine code, but it might take a while for that to happen. I had a bad EGR that would cause the light to come on after 20-30 min. of steady cruising on the highway. I first changed an O2 sensor thinking that would be it, but then I got smart and bought one of those $20 code scanners, and properly diagnosed it. Unfortunately, I think these new trucks require a laptop and a program that is more expensive than the $20 scanner was, something called AutoTap maybe? Good luck with it.

obyone

you trust your dealer, he could check it also. Now don't go getting this confused with the PCV valve when asking the dealer to check it out...LOL!!

steelworker

Do you know what rearend you have? 3.42 or 3.73

hawgdawg

Ya, I told the guy I wanted to swap the Wilderness' for the Duellers...although I wanted to step up to 285's. He said $40 difference per tire to do that but that I wouldn't get my money for the Wilderness tires for 6-8 weeks.

My problem is I'm 130 miles from the nearest dealer in Albuquerque.

I may just call a few other dealers and see if I get a different story.

BTW, he wasn't going to go off of tread % but mileage...so since I only had 1500 miles on them and they're rated for 50000 it was like $6.75 he was going to subtract from the new price.

Think I should get the 285's?????

ryanbab

I got my husky floor liners today they are very nice ill post pics soon

Roger thanks for the info. Also did ur gas milage go down and was there a noise in the engine when that valve went bad???

Thanks

Ryan

99crewcab1

Read this, it may help u understand a litle more about the egr valve

http://www.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/user/z/i/zimerman/www/Documents/tr6/egrvalve.html

I doubt it is the prob unless it is really clogged, especially since your truck is almost new. They are easy to replace and are pretty cheap.

Nick

pjb0422

You may try a different Firestone dealer. The one I dealt with was a company store. You may be dealing with an independent Firestone dealer. My experience was similar to BCO's. I had 17% wear so they applied 83% toward the cost of the BS Dueler ATs. My total cost was $250 with all the other stuff including road hazard warranty.

I've been wondering, if I would have paid for road hazard warranty for just 1 tire instead of all 4, would the dealer know which tire it was for? LOL

Phil

ryanbab

go to

http://www.picturetrail.com/ryanbab

dave40

Thats one Bad [non-permissible content removed] Xtreme Silverado..

fortop

engine trouble, especially since I have a 5.3 yuk on order. I hope I don't experience the excessive piston problem cause by 2 extra cylinders more than my current V6.

obyone

Have any of you called GM customer assist? Did you know that it is not a GM employee that you are talking to? HUH? Yep. When talking to a "rep" on the phone it is not a person employed by GM, it is their call answering service...check it out:

http://www.sitel.com/html/press/c_glo_990216b.html

Ever wondered why you had rude people answering...well now you know.

obyone

http://complaints.gmacsucks.com/commun_v3/scripts/thread.pl

check out the thread entitled: 1-800 we don't give a s**t

tex6

As I said before, Nice Truck. I am considering nerf bars and have a black truck. Just curious on how you selected the black over the chrome. The black looks good on your truck. I'm undecided on black or chrome. Thanks!

mgdvhman

I took a different approach.....

http://www.teleweb.net/mgdvhman/00LT6.jpg

http://www.teleweb.net/mgdvhman/00LT3.jpg

http://www.teleweb.net/mgdvhman/00LT4.jpg

http://www.teleweb.net/mgdvhman/00LT5.jpg

- Tim

tex6

Running boards look sharp! I remember you posting them awhile back. What is the difference in cost versus the nerf bars, and do you have a link for running board info. Thanks!

mgdvhman

http://www.putco.com/

All Stainless.....not cheap..$1000 local....but they will always look as good as day one.....and they will go with me to the next truck!....

- Tim

ryanbab

Tex - I chose black over chrome based on looks alone. I had black fender flares and black nerf bars look the best. There is chipping in the back part though. Small rocks hitting it. Only downside ive noticed so far. But for $250 if i need to ill replace em after 3-5 yrs.

FORTOP

I dont have any piston troubles just a noise i have no idea why it is happening for all i know it is probably normal. The truck is running great. Just a noise when its idleing or in park.

Ryan

steelworker

rear is 3.73

rcoos

Re: Power Lumbar on LT seats?

I have a LT model & haven't had any problems with my bucket seats.

Is it the power lumbar & or the power back booster that's causing the problem?

rcoos

obyone

I'm gonna run this by a couple of mechanic friends and check the shop manual. What's throwing me off is the zing sound you described sounds more like something out of alignment, but couldn't be if it disappears at higher rpm. Will post what I find out.

mgdvhman

if they are chipped up already...wait until 1 winter goes by..it's going to be a LOT sooner than 3 years if you still want a good looking bar...

- Tim

ryanbab

Small chips. Ive waxed em a few times.

Yea the winter is gonna get em i know. Probably wash em every few days.

Hey Tim you have any extra black touch up paint ill trade you a black for a blue.

Ryan

petriheil

Ralph, the power lumbar "inflates" or rises into the small of my back. Pushing the button lowers it back down. Sometimes it'll stay where I put it for a couple of days; sometimes a couple hours. I was hoping to give the dealer a little more info based on others' experience also. Thanks. SFT

roger350

I really couldn't tell you if my gas mileage got worse when the EGR valve was bad. Basically, there were no symptoms I noticed, except that the engine light would come on during highway cruising. I doubt the EGR valve has much to do with your problem, unless it is one of the rubber lines from the valve that has a hole in it or something. Let your dealer look at it. If you have a break in classes during the day, you might ask the dealer to let you be present when the tech hooks it up to the computer, just so you can see what they see and not have to just believe what they tell you. Of course the way they schedule work, it probably would be impossible to make it work around your schedule. Good luck, and let us know what they find out.

bco

pretty sure you've seen it before...but, you can check out my westin cps chrome nerfs at
www.picturetrail.com/bco

i picked chrome because i thought it looked better and it's got a lifetime warranty as opposed to the 5 year ryan got with his. warranty covers fit and finish.

note to all on nerfs: last time i changed the oil and took all the pics on my truck, i tried to put it on a lift. lift was a nogo because the arms hit my nerf bars...not a recommended method for lifting/supporting your truck. anyways...this is important to you for a couple reasons. one, if you're going to do your maintenance yourself, use a lift that you drive onto and supports the vehicle by its tires. two, if you take it to a garage and you see your truck in the air supported by a frame lift...it may not be supported by the frame, it may be supported by your nerfs so you prob'ly ought to check...

bco

ryanbab

Truck is going in next friday. I dont have school on fridays and i am taking off work. I told the service guy i am staying with the truck he said that was fine.

BCO - Are you talking about the lift that had 4 arms??? They used that on my truck for the first oil change and it was fine. The nerfs didnt interfer at all.

Ryan

ryanbab

mgdvhman

...it's a truck.....I don't own touch up paint..

- Tim

ryanbab

it was a joke. I might slap some black touch up paint on em if they get to bad.
Hardly noticable now though. I know what the winters can do salt is a nasty thing

Ryan

mgdvhman

...going into second winter soon....and no rust or chips!

- Tim

bco

can you stop with the smiley's already...damn.

yeah, the lifts with the arms. the one i was trying to use was shaped like this (looking at the top of it):

X X
| |
\ /
| |
/ \
| |
X X

assuming the X's are the pads that are supposed to contact the frame, the problem was the straight part of the arms. if you can imagine putting your truck on top of that...the | things that connect to the X's hit the nerfs before the X's hit the frame. just something to be aware of.

now, if the lift looks like this, you should be ok:

X- -X
| |
| |
| |
X- -X

bco

ryanbab

Tim mudflaps didnt protect against my chips.

BCO - sorry

also do your bridgestones collect tiny rocks like the Fstones did? I know mine are throwing tiny rocks like crazy i hate that

Ryan

ryanbab

yes that was dean from the PUTC forum. I made a reference noting i know who it is see if he catches it.

obyone

You didn't post about the spark plugs...dead giveaway. It's our old friend... Bud Lite Dude...

Dean

bco

yeah, the X's rotate and extend, but because of the length of the body...the arms are just about maxed out to get to the appropriate spots on the frame. i guess the big thing is this...if you've got nerfs, just be aware of it. an inexperienced or lazy mechanic can most definitely do some serious damage to your nerfs, your truck, and possibly himself if he doesn't make sure the lift is contacting the frame and not your nerfs. this is especially important to those out there who can do their own service (like me), but aren't necessarily experts when it comes to lift operations...

ryan...they don't throw rocks real bad. but i didn't think that was a problem with my f-stone's either. don't do a whole lot of gravel road driving.

i HAVE found a "do-it-yourself" bedliner system that they sell at walmart for about $25-$40 depending on what all you get (roller, pan, etc). think i'm going to do the section underneath the bottom of the door sills before too long. pointless to have to clean road tar and grease, etc off that part every time you wash/wax. plus, that's the part that's going to take the greatest abuse from gravel anyhow. so i think i'll just coat it with the rubberized bedliner stuff. can't hurt...

bco

hawgdawg

Thanks for the info. I enjoyed it...LOL.

I think maybe I'll just go with the 265s.

ryanbab

Lift comment

I was reading on the westin website where a truck actually fell off of a lift while getting an oil change. Guess what the nerf bar save the truck. It was held up by 1 nerf bar. Easier to replace a nerf bar than a truck

Do it yourself liner - are you going to do the very back rear??? Under the Z71 portion or just the cab?

Ryan

99crewcab1

do you have a link to that story?

Nick

ryanbab

Westin's STEP BARS Save The Day
We had installed a set of your Step Bars on one of our customer's 1997 F-150 pickup several months ago. We had told him that the Westin steps were the strongest bars that we had ever installed and that is what he wanted. But, we never thought that we would get the chance to prove it!
He had come in for a routine transmission service job. One of our technicians was lifting his truck with the 4-post lift that we use for service. When the truck got to the top of the lift, one of the lift arms shifted and after hearing a loud bang, the truck began to fall to the floor. But, we heard two more loud crashes. This was where the Westin Bars actually "caught" this truck.
The entire weight of the truck fell onto the Westin Bars and remained suspended in the air only by the bars. As the truck swayed back and forth, (running everyone out of the shop, me included) the Westin Bars moaned and groaned and bent, but they saved the truck and it did not receive one scratch! Had this truck not've had the Westin Bars on it, I am sure that this truck would have had several thousand dollars of damage to it, and most of all, one or more of us would probably have been severely injured.
I am sure that your Westin Bars were not designed for this purpose, but I just thought you might want to know how strong they really are!
Don Sprawls
Sprawls Service & Sound
Aiken, South Carolina

Found it at

http://westinautomotive.com/pages/westin%20cool%20crashes.html

Ryan

steelworker

I was talking to a mech that sugestted I have the dealer check the rear for ''lash ''or wear to pinion gear .I purchased this truck ''new'' the dealer said it had 102 miles on it at another dealership ''town'' .Live and learn my first new vehicle, I got it cause I had been looking for a truck for a while but could not find what I was looking for(all extended cabs V8s 25k$$ and up ) and this truck fit it to a ''T''(white 4x4 V6)so I overlooked the miles and got it for $19300 total ,plus another 68 miles from where it was to my town dealer. the noise was present from the first uphill it hit ,but not when it was test drivin because of no upgrades in dealer area or else I would have backed off.(yes as my wife says I was to anxious to buy). Too early to tell if I got screwed,Anyway hope it can be fixed I do like the truck but in drive -(overdrive)it seems like it has no power to accelrerate at times without being noisey.thanks for your help.I hope the term zing isnt throwing you off but the sound is not grinding or clunking ,kinda hard to explain, thanks just the same.