Chevy Silverado - Continued XVII

ricsch

to answer bsiler's question to find these grilles-pick up a Sport Truck or Truckin' mag, many places that sell them. I put a polished Stull-brand in my Silverado, personally looks 110% better than the egg-crate factory unit.

Obyone-when you removed your original chrome insert, did you cut it up like the instructions, or as I had done (in case someone wanted to reinstall it later) and used a dremel tool and ground off the plastic tabs that held it in enough to release it all in one piece? Just curious.

obyone

I made sure that the butt ugly stock grill could not be reinserted. I had no reason to keep it as I have enough storage space taken up by the stock shocks, MAF, exhaust manifold, exhaust muffler, air cleaner assembly, stereo, speakers and I'm sure you get the drift by now. To make sure, I used a sawzall for the initial removal...took real pleasure in that...and dremeled the nooks and cranny.

Hans,
butt ugly you say? I prefer metal to plastic anyday of the week....now to get rid of that ugly yellow "plastic" bowtie....

ryanbab

Damn dean is there anything left of the truck?

Well my truck is running on mobil 1 as of today.

Ryan

obyone

I gotta change everything with aftermarket. They not only prove to be longer lasting than the stock parts, but I get better performance out of them.....and no rattles.LOL!!

Dean

ryanbab

Dean do you even have your truck back yet?

Ryan

obyone

wasn't able to take the call so the dealer left a message saying it was ready. Couldn't pick it up Friday and didn't make it to Enterprise by 12 noon on Sat...so the truck is still sitting a the dealers while I rack the mileage on the '01 rado I got for the weekend. The say that the truck is ready meaning the windows have been replaced. I wanted the door realigned but I have a feeling that hasn't been done cause it would have taken another week to do that one. We will see first thing Monday morning.

I can't decide which billet Chevy bowtie to get, the one with or without the border...both being the same price and such....the more I think about, that yellow bowtie gotta go.....

Just out of curiosity, I totaled the amount of days the truck has been in the dealer since day one....totals to 54 days...working days that is, would be closer to 70 days if I included weekends. Damn that about two months in the 14 I've owned the truck....

ryanbab

Dean i have a little suggestion

dump that truck. Drive it into a volcano if you have to.

No seriously i would do whatever i had to to get rid of it

Ryan

crossfire1

Now that you raised your front end of your truck an inch or so, does it ride harder (firmer) than it did?
Mine has a snow plow prep package, and a trailering package. I think because of the latter, the rear sticks up too far. I'm going to have to do what you did, but you haven't mentioned any adverse reactions (hopefully there will be none) from your truck yet.

:-)
Chris

obyone

How could I? I am having too much fun with it. Where else could I drive all these different cars and trucks while mine is in the shop? I personally find this situation as amusing to say the least. If I had been pissed, I would have gone through buyback. The one problem with buyback is all the mods on the truck. Don't know if I would want to go through that all over again. So for now, unless something really juicy pops up, like a 2500 HD black on black, I'm going to keep it. This might change at anytime though.

mgdvhman

last time 2 guys came running up to me near Holidays in a parking lot.....I had a .32 to my head and lost some cash,cards, and a cell phone!

beware no matter where you are......life get's crazy sometimes.....

I carry a little surprise under the seat now...

- Tim

obyone

The cab drivers in New York are taking a beating....

blackmax200

Crossfire
The ride is firmer and sometimes does a little more bounce than it did before, then the shocks take over to control rebound...so yes it is firmer...though not yet approaching harsh. Might though, if I cranked more than 3 turns.
Checked the tread on the front tires, and doesn't appear to be any feathering of the ribs in the 1000 miles since cranked the bars. There was more on the fronts that got rotated to the rear, in the 6000 miles that they were up there.
You may want to think seriously about doing this, especially if you hang 600lbs. of steel 2 feet out beyond the front bumper. The plow frame mounts will be draging on the ground when you pick up the blade, without doing it!
matthew

ryanbab

Tim well i had my mom with me and she would have whooped him up. hehe I figured the guy wanted to talk to me about my truck since i noticed he just put a few bags in his 2wd green silverado

Ryan

ricsch

I personally like and went with the one wihout the border-clean and smooth.

A while ago I had mentioned that there was a rattling/creaking noise coming from the dash on my '01 Silverado. Well, what I have found is that the clearance between the dash and the windshield/door pillar plastic trim meet at the bottom is tight and when the temps are below freezing it makes a heck of a noise-wedged in some foam tape and seems to have cured it.

markbuck

My '99 4.8L 5speed 4.10 is waaayyy faster on acceleration (when empty)

Dang parking brake stopped stopping again on my '99 half ton. Dealer says I'm not the only one....

Parking brake shoe is one big ol semicircle about 320 degrees. The cable turns a cam that just bows it out to contact the tophat drum. Suspect the parking brakes have stuck on and overheated and lost their inherent springiness. The 3/4 ton uses two shoes in a more conventional setup. Truck going back to Chev service again tomorrow. Rebuild kits for one side are $135 from Checker and $140 from GM. Unbeliable.....

mgdvhman

..it's called an automatic...!

LOL

Brand new concept....they just came out with them..

hehe

Just kidding..

- Tim

xring

Looks like some of Ryan's handywork! LOL!

Just kidding ya Ryan!

John

smikes

Friday, I had my Line-x UTR done. While I waited I went for walk to find some breakfast. Saw a yellow extended cab silverado speed by with the words HO5300 and High Output 5300 on it where the badges would normally be. Had 18-20" rims on it with low profile tires. Very sharp. Anybody seen these or is this something the owner may have done?

smikes

smikes

After the Line-x, I stopped by The Good Guys electronics store to look at subwoofers. If you think you may want one, go to a store like GG's that sells the Bazooka tube subwoofer. They have a demo set-up you can hear right in your own vehicle. An 8" (amplified) tube fed by a walkman that plugs into you power port/cig. lighter. You tune to a favorite radio station, and the salesperson tunes the walkman to the same station. Very surprising and impressive how much low end is not being put out by the factory set up.

I'm going to get one after I get some more cash.

smikes

ryanbab

yea thats my handy work

Ryan

mgdvhman

Yupper.....about the same effect as 10 sheets of plywood in a Tundra!

....isn't that a Menards in the background?....and look...a Blue Ado!...must be the guy who loaded it?

LOL


(what's the real story behind this pic?....don't tell me someone actually thought that was gonna work???)

- Tim

gsxr1216

Real story, the store (84 lumber) made the guy sign a waiver before loading it on!!! Notice the car is still running, see the exhaust steam! Look inside the car at all the bags of concrete! I found this amazing, people are pretty stupid in some areas, and of course this happened in Florida, my guess is he probably couldn't figure out the ballots either.

ricsch

Hinge pillar bulletin, what was the corrective action to cure it,if you know? Thanks!

Smikes, curious about the cost of the Bazooka tube and will it fit under the rear seat without a problem? Thanks!

smikes

The demo unit configured by Bazooka is an 8" amplified tube. It just fit under the seat when down. If I remember my numbers correctly the 8" amplified tube was $249 and Good Guys wanted $75 for installation. Other subwoofer solutions use a box which will take up all the available space under the seat on one side. The 8" tube looks like it uses about half the floor space underneath one side.

The 6" bazooka would definitely fit. I would say the third choice, the 10", would probably not. Someone months ago, had some experience with the different sizes. He either said the 8"/10" was too much base for him. Anybody remember that comment?

BTW, If you already have an outboard amplifier in your truck, bazooka sells the 6/8/10 tube in an unamplified version.

smikes

smikes

of base.

bco

thanks for the great info on the 8" bazooka. i'm trying to help my wife decide what to get me for x-mas...

i remember the comment that the 10" was "too much" bass also, though i cannot remember who made it. i'm thinking 8" definitely. i like the idea that it fits under the seat too. awesome.

bco

smikes

I got a Bazooka brochure and their is actually two different versions of tubes. An EL series and an RS series. One of them I believe is to appeal more to the audiophiles... Check out their website for more info - www.bazooka.com

mgdvhman

had one under the seat way against the wall if I remember right?..........it was 8" I think?

I'd want it under the folded part of the seat so not in the way when the seat was up....

next truck will have one....along with power slider...(like Rwag)....and a power ASC roof...

Good luck

- Tim

smikes

directly below seat back to floor: 5.5 inches
directly below lower seat and floor 8.25 inches
I just measured.

The 8" tube stands 8.5" tall.

RS series handles 150 watts
EL series handles 100 watts

mgdvhman

can be pushed up a little....

- Tim

hunter98

I hope all of you had a nice thanksgiving. Im finally back at Carbondale, IL and having to do homework again, well at least I only have one more year to go unless I go to Law school. Anyways I didn't get a deer, shot saw two personally, but only got to hunt about 8 hours all weekend. Shot at a doe at 140 yards that I had estimated to be 110. WAY too far, we can't use high powered rifles like Tim can (MURDER< JUST KIDDING Tim, I wish Illinois had one). The guys I hunt with killed 6 Friday morning when I was still at school. So I spent most of the weekend cutting up deer, since we process our own deer. At one time there was 8 hanging in the barn. Helped weigh a 225lb field dressed 13 pointer and heard about a 250lb 6 pointer at the check station. Hopefully I get more time to hunt on the second season this weekend. Well best of luck and when is RYANS truck expecting the little trucks to come after spending the night with the ford. And bench seats can be nice to keep your girlfriend warm and close on a long drive.

Take Care and Happy Hunting

Hunter

rwagoner

8" fits perfectly. Sounds nice, too, a bit better than the 6-1/2 inch for the size of the cabin. Definitely not too much bass, (if you want too much, add a slave unit for 2 8" drivers). Install it yourself, you'll do a better job and it's easy if you're at all able to do anything with tools.

RS has longer warranty and a few other nice things. Look on the net for good prices or see if Crutchfield, etc., are having sales. My friend bought an old model 8" RS (80 watt) for $150 when the new models came out.

Richard

ryanbab

Hey Tim i was coming home from class today and seen a T100 with one of those things you attach to you hitch and use as a carry thing. Oh what are they called. Um they go in the hitch and are as wide as the tail gate and about 2 ft in depth. Well it had a tarp and under the tarp was a deer. Why didnt he use the bed?

Ryan

leathal02

last week i ordered the rs104(10" bazooka tube: 250 watts rms, 500 peak)

i didnt want the amp in the bazooka so i got a good deal on a punch amp that i really dont need because its too powerful but hey if i want to add more its always there..anyways..the 10 is awesome..tons of bass..just too many rattles when turned up but if not all the way turned up sounds pretty damn good

anyways..the 10" will not fit under the back seat but the 8" will..i just strapped my 10 right behind the drivers seat and butted it up against the back seat as close as possible

takes up that room..but i figure i will hardly ever let that many peopel ride back there anyways

but it does sound awesome..well worth the 170 i paid for it from crutchfield


Jon

mgdvhman

perhaps he feels you can see it better on that instead of hidden in the box?>...it's a guy hunter thing....

LOL

Or perhaps it was a spray in liner and it couldn't take it?

LOL

- Tim

99crewcab1

That dude with the VW is nuts. LMAO

Nick

obyone

I was the one with the powered 10". At the lowest setting would rattle the door panels and windows. That would be a constant reminder of the build quality...and we couldn't have that. A boxed sub can't be beat for sound. I chose the 8" after the 10" purely for economic reasons as the custome boxes for the subs are $ 279 each. Costs way more that the sub itself. Now if you run a pair of subs that's close to $600 just for the friggin boxes. I run the powered 8" at a quarter setting. Have upgraded the head unit to Kenwood eXcelon. Also upgraded the rear 4x6 to Polk Audios. Just been debating on the front components on whether to go with the Polk Momo's or Infinity Perfect 6.1. But if the components sound too good then would have to upgrade to dual subs for the back and sell the bazooka on ebay....damned if I do and damned if I don't....LOL!!

Funny thing, the installers had no problem fitting the 10" powered bazooka under the rear seat.

ryanbab

Hey Tim when u switched to mobil 1 did you notice any changes? Just curious.

Ryan

mgdvhman

would fit when you push the lining up enough...

changes Ryan?......I don't know...that was too many miles ago.......Pressure may have been a little different on the highway?

- Tim

ryanbab

Oh just seems that my engine got a little quieter after changing it. You know that noise i had checked out seems to have pretty much gone away

Ryan

hunter98

When I switched at 7 k miles, the motor got a little quieter. I use 5w30 in mine, the gas milage stayed the same. It might rev a little faster now and I think it might squeal the tires on accident a little easier now. I also run a K&N air filter and it didn't affect milage, but it might have given a RW hp or so. I will continue to use mobile 1 and I plan on changing the oil at 6k per drain. The truck is rated to go 7500 with regular but I can't see going more than 4000 with it. I think in the long run the mobile 1 will be better for the truck. I have used and plan to use the correct filter from the dealer, I look at it as cheap insurance.

smikes

Did anyone install their own Bazooka, and how long did it take you? Did you bury the wires, where?

jmincher

I recently joined the ranks as I purchased a 2000 GMC X-Cab Z71. I have filtered through a ton of posts so some of this may have already been covered.

I have a dash rattle on the left side of the steering wheel. I saw the links on how to remove the dash but I don't feel very confident removing it.

I also have a squeak in driver's side seatbelt. Its not real loud but since its close to my ear its annoying.

The truck also seems to pull to the left, I thought I would wait until 1,000 miles before I take it in to see if it may correct itself.

Overall I have been pleased with the truck and I am currently looking at accessories such as:

Bed Covers: Solid Tonneaus or Aerocover (its in 3 pieces)

Bed Liners: Plastic drop-in, Line-X or Bedrug.

Nerf Bars: Chrome or Black

Floor Mats: Husky Liners

Comments? Suggestions?

mpalombo

Did you get your truck back? How are the new windows?

ryanbab

Dash is easy to remove trust me you cant break it

What color is your truck (will make comment then on color of nerfs)

I like the rhino liner

Husky liners are great for snow and water

Ryan

k0hb

Get stainless steel nerfs - the chrome or painted ones look [non-permissible content removed] (chipped/rusty) after the first gravel road you drive down.

I've used the "Access" brand covers on my last three trucks. Look good, last forever, and are completely out of the way if you want to haul a tall load.

For liner, my dealer emphatically recommended a drop-in with a paint-saver pad under it. He recommended this over the "sprayed on" product because sprayed on (in his words) protects your paint, but doesn't protect your sheet metal.

Hans

smikes

I just had a black Line-x UTR done for $304. People suggested to me the L-x over the Rhino.

I am looking at a Pace Edwards roll-top tonneau. I too wanted the soft cover, but am worried about vandalism, shrinkage, tears. It's supposedly a more practical solution than the harder to handle rigid cover panels. I've been quoted $650 installed for the P.E.

-smikes

obyone

got the truck back yesterday. Seems like the hinges are still made of plastic. However, these do the job. The windows are tightly sealed and no amount of pushing creates any movement in the hinge or the window. It appears to be finally fixed.....now for the ill aligned doors...LOL!!

obyone

Does it sound like a baby diesel?

z71

What did you say helped that motor noise that you were talking about? Switching to mobile 1 oil? I think that I have the same noise that you have. This noise, was it always there, but at times louder than others? Was it only detectable when the a/c was off, the radio off, and it idling? The sound that I am talking about seems to be coming from the top of the motor, towards the front. Do these characteristics sound similar to yours? Thanks.