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Comments
Do you have a weblink for that rear sway bar? How much did it cost and how high did you have to get car off ground to install?
I think I'm going to go ahead and install the Hotchkis kit based on your and other members' positive reviews to try and firm up the ride a bit. Did you install the kit yourself? If not, what did it cost to have it installed?
Easily. Comes up to the limiter very quickly. This is a sweet engine for sure.
Allen
Allen
I've also had this 'bump/surge' happen when the tranny is in Reverse. Per GM's request, I kept a log of the events for a few weeks.. but then they never wanted to see it.
The only pattern (at least for our vehicle) is that the 'bump/surge' occurs when the vehicle is relatively cold, about 1-2 miles after starting it up in the morning. Also seems to be worse in the winter months (Minnesota).
It's really been disappointing that GM won't disclose any information to us about this issue. Are they really working on a fix? Or does it require a whole transmission rebuild and they hope the car goes past the extended 100,000 miles before it blows up?
I didn't have to jack it up at all to install it. However, I did have to jack up one side a little afterwards in order to make room for my torque wrench.
- WPK
My vehicle did run a little rough for the first couple miles (20 minutes) after I picked it up from dealership after new battery installed. It came very close to stalling a few times, but after a few days everything back to normal. How long ago was your battery replacement?
I remember reading past posts that described that some of these vehicles have to re-program PCM. Not sure if I believe that since mine re-learned everything after a few days of driving. On the other hand, this is my first vehicle that ran rough and differently a few days after installing a new battery! My other vehicles were faster learners!!
I believe the front bushings you have will only fit the 2002-03 models. One thing I remember noticing when I was looking at some '04s, they changed the front bar to a solid, but smaller diameter bar that goes through the frame rather than mounted on the bottom of the frame with U brackets, like on my '02. That would be an issue you would need to call Hotchkis about. If they are aware of this change between model years, possibly they can come up with some proper bushings to fit the newer style front bar.
I'm not sure if any Trailblazers are having this issue. But I know there are many posts on this board from Envoy owners experiencing this problem, and a brand new '03 Envoy I had as a loaner for a day did it too!
No one has ever posted a message stating theirs has been fixed.
2003 Envoy SLT
4x4
3.73 gears
locking differential
auto-leveling susp.
I was sick with the fact that my Envoy had such excessive body roll. I took it to the dealer 3 times explianing my concern. Each time they said they'd check the suspension and let me know what they found. And each time they said there were no defects found and that my complaint of excessive body roll was a characteristic of the vehicle.
Not convinced, I took the Envoy to a second dealer for a fourth try at resolving the issue. Lo and behold, they called me back and said they found that the rear torsion bars (the bars that connect the suspension to the fram) had been installed backwards!
http://www.hotchkis.net/cgi-bin/EDCstore.pl
Regarding your tires, what is the aspect ratio on them? (60/65/70?) Thanks for the info.
Those links are about $30 each last time I checked so they aren't a big issue to me.
C.B.
Did you notice the truck doesn't quite lean as much on turns too? (Those sway bars add a good bit of spring rate on turns).
Ray
1. I, too, talked with Hotchkis before I ordered my rear bar several months ago. I told them that according to GM,the front sway bar on the Envoy/TB had been changed for '04 and was "longer." They said that as far as they knew, there were no significant changes. I had my dealer install the bar, shocks and springs ... and they did install the new, bigger front bushings that came with the kit and gave me back the little dinky stock bushings.
2. Someone also mentioned that the dealer told them their torsion bars were installed backwards! Torsion bars? What torsion bars? This vehicle don't have no stinkin' torsion bars. It has springs instead! (The Jimmy and Blazer had torsion bars.)
3. As for installing wider tires without changing the profile or wheel size, you will, indeed, be affecting not only the speedometer, but also the overall geometry of the vehicle and the suspension. You want to try to stay as close as possible to the original diameter of the wheel. The formula for finding this is Width x Aspect Ratio = Section Height x 2 = Combined Section Height + Wheel Diameter = Tire Diameter.
For example, with a 245/65R17 tire, the first number is the width of the tire in millimeters, measured from sidewall to sidewall. The second number is the aspect ratio. This is a ratio of sidewall height to width. In the example above, the tire is 245 mm wide. Multiply that by the aspect ratio to find the height of one sidewall. In this case, 245x0.65=159.25mm. The last number is the diameter of the wheel in inches.
To figure the outside diameter of a tire, take the sidewall height and multiply by 2,(remember that the diameter is made up of 2 sidewalls, the one above the wheel, and the one below the wheel) and add the diameter of the wheel to get your answer. In this case, a 17" wheel is 431.8 mmm so the diameter of the stock tire/wheel combo is 750.3. If you went to a 265/65R17 tire (assuming it would even fit), you would be looking at a total diameter of 776.3.
To my mind, if you wanted to keep the 17" wheels and not go to a "plus-1" setup, you would be better off with something like a 255/60R17 tire ... which would give you a diameter of 737.8 ... and should make the truck slightly quicker in acceleration.
It's not a question of size here. The new front bushings are the exact same size as the old ones. They have to be, because you didn't change the front bar. The difference is that the new ones are polyurethane instead of rubber - much more rigid.
Yes, the truck does handle better too. Isn't it amazing what a little bit of new rubber will do?
Any others with AZ type heat experience to compare?
BTW, 26k miles and the AC works impressively.
Thanks for any inputs
Wxman
While working on the rear, noticed the early signs of the rear axle seals beginning to fail and replaced those under warrantee.
Curious to know if others are needing brakes at this type of mileage
The repair invoice only stated that steering column failed that I remember. The new steering column started leaking power steering fluid less than 2 months later. It was still under warranty and it took 11 days to get the next steering column. I drove an '04 TB rental and that drove worse than my '02. I haven't had any problems with this 3rd column since it was put in 2 months ago.
Let me know if you need exact details of the invoices and I will hunt them down.
So is anyone running XM through their factory radio and how do you like it?
Host- What's this information that when we sign in forum to post, we are not going into a secure site?
I haven't seen that - I'll look for it.
tidester, host
Security Alert - "You are about to be re-directred to a connection that is not secure. The information you are sending to the current site might be re-transmitted to a non-secure site. Do you wish to continue?"
If you choose no, then you cannot sign in Thanks.
tidester, host
If you check the remember me on this computer box, you won't see it again.
Steve, Host