I haven't done the shocks yet. I'm going to do them this spring (once it warms up outside). In the cold weather and using remote start and such....mileage is lower. However, it was 42 degrees today and we drove up to a place we like for breakfast (45-55 mph backroads) and then out to look at a house (more of the same) and my average went up from 12 mpg (based on the last 50 miles) to 18.6. We didn't go 50 miles total, so we were doing better than that, but the last of my 1 mile drive to work and using remote start were likely dragging it down a bit.

I've heard that the good cold air kits can be worth 1-2 mpg, but I haven't installed one yet. It's been on my list, but I've been busy with the Camaro and "winter".

No... Who is saying that and about which kit?

For diesels they are, because diesels are awesome.

A friend has been running them on his Tahoe and his previous Tahoe. I think he said he's seeing 1-2 mpg on average after installing the cold air kit. I believe he's using the S&B kits. I've been looking at adding one, but haven't yet. He is not running the newest engine though, so it could vary on the new trucks. but when I was reading reviews on that kit, I was seeing guys saying they were seeing similar gains.

A friend of mine has a 2015 Silverado 1500 that has damage to the chrome bumper in the front. It looks like it's a $400-$500 part but I can't seem to find any schematics on how to replace it.

Any links?

This is the best I could find:

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/1803...15-sierra-1500/

Thanks!

Thought I'd chime back in if you don't mind...I ended up buying a 14 LT. Looks just like the pics on the first page.
Pulling from a few different post in this thread...I too am interested in fixing the off-idle response. I have EFI live and looked at Black Bear performance someone suggested. More to come on that, but I did discover this about air intakes on their site.

http://blackbearperformance.com/IntakeTestResults_2016.asp

Other than fixing the lack of throttle response, I'm not looking to increase HP either but a MPG increase I'll take. I'm just not sure these intakes are anywhere near worth what they want for them. They seem to like the AFE.

This post has been edited by KCG: Mar 25 2017, 02:17 AM

Get the Air Raid MIT. IIRC, it's not terribly expensive, and netted the best inprovements per dollar. A drop-in K&N dry filter, and you're about as good as you can get. You can lurk on the various truck forums and watch for someone selling theirs cheap. That's what I did. They make the truck sound great at WOT, too. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

I've been unhappy with the shocks on this truck since I bought it. I've been trying to convince myself they aren't that bad....but they really suck and they aren't getting any better. My wife gets car sick in vehicles that have "floppy" shocks with no rebound. She got sick in my Jeep, she got sick in the Camaro (until I got the Strano UMI coil overs) and she's been getting sick in the truck lately. So I decided to finally order some shocks and I waited long enough that the Bilstien 4600's are now available. I had Sam Strano send me a set and they came in a few days ago.

I wasn't sure what kind of a pain in the ass the installation would be, but it really wasn't too bad. I removed the three bolts from the top of the shock assembly and the two from the bottom, pushed the shocks off the lower control arm and lifted them out of the top. I saw lots of things saying to disconnect the upper ball joint but I'm not sure why. We looked at it and said "Gee, I think those will come out of the space in the upper arm"...and they did.

I grabbed my spring compressors (which barely fit the springs due to the coil diameter being so large) and wound the springs down. I have Craftsman compressors, and they are forged steel. The jack screws bowed considerably, but they didn't have any issues. I swapped things onto the new shocks and bolted it back together. The new upper nut for the front shocks is a "jet nut" (crimped locking nut) and it wouldn't go on with the impact. I had to use an adjustable wrench to hold the shock shaft and I wound the nut on with a ratcheting box end wrench. I sprayed the threads with WD40 before putting the nuts on and it seemed to help. That was probably the worst part of the install. Make sure you keep track of which stud (of the top three that attach it to the chassis) is closest to the wheel (I put a nut on that one so I could keep track). Swap the shocks and install. I used a floor jack with a 27mm deep well socket to push the shock up enough to get the lower mount on the LCA in the front and a pry bar to wiggle the bolt holes into place.

The rears took about 4 minutes per side with an impact gun and a 21mm socket and 21mm wrench. The top nut is captive and the bottom mount has a nut and bolt. Zap them off and swap the shocks. Easy.

I should have done this when I bought the truck. The floaty feeling is gone and it no longer bounces off the swaybar in corners. The stock shocks have virtually no rebound in them and the truck just wallows around corners. With 600 lbs or so in the bed, the back end just bounced down the freeway (with stock shocks). Towing the Camaro home (last year) was awful due to the lack of damping. The Bilstiens ride well, and it's a controlled ride (more like when you put Koni's on a Camaro). I really should have done this sooner. My 2007 got new shocks at 1,200 miles. I should have done the same this time.

If you have one of these trucks, order the Bilstien 4600 shocks. Just do it.

Our '02 GMC still had paper tags on it when we replaced those gawd-awful shocks on it. The new OEMs were so bad that the front bump stops were shattered.

It's sad they've made replacing those things such a chore with the front struts. IIRC, the GMC was about a half-hour job for the whole set. I can't imagine what the shocks will take to replace on our Tahoe. Luckily, the PPV shocks/struts seem to be a bit better at damping than the more 'civillian' set.

On my 2007, I never even lifted the truck. I turned the front wheels and did the fronts, rolled under it and did the rears. I had new shocks on it by 1,200 miles and it was really worth it. The 2015 shocks weren't quite as bad as the 2007, but they weren't really much better. I should have followed my instincts and just removed them when it came home, now I'm really sorry I waited this long.

Ive been debating this on my 2014 far too long as well! Nice to hear a solid opinion and looks like ill be getting a set as well

Yup. Don't wait any longer. I already wish I hadn't put it off this long.

A few notes:

The 3 bolt flange on the upper mount is not symmetrical. There is a certain way it goes in. Once the spring is released, it's tough/impossible to turn by hand. Once I put the first one together, I figured out which stud needed to be "out" (towards the tire) and put a nut on it. Then I put the spring compressors back on and spun the lower shock to be 90 degrees to it (so it would fit on the LCA). If you drop the shock assembly out and note which way that stud is positioned, you can swap them directly and reassemble. Or, put one of the nuts on it like I did. Then you can't screw it up.

Bilstien sends a bump stop cap that fits their shock. It's different than the OEM one, and you put it on the shock body and tap it on with a hammer. Make sure you put the "ring" (sits on the snap ring and supports the lower spring perch) and the lower perch on first. I wound down the spring compressors, zapped the top nut off the shock, pulled the shock out, swapped hardware and slid the new shock right into the assembly. Line up the bottom mount (90 degrees to the bolt with the nut on it) and tighten the nut on top of the shock. When you slide the new shock in place, the snap ring (already on the new shock) will pick up the bumpstop and everything drops right into place.

To get the lower shock mount in place, I used a deepwell socket on a floor jack to fit up between the LCA shock mount holes. That let me lift it a bit, push down on the wheel studs (by hand) and pop it in place. Line it up with a pry bar and put the bolts back in place.

And you don't reuse the factory "tinnerman nuts" from the original shocks. Bilstien sends 15mm (wrench size) nuts to bolt the new shocks to the lower control arms.

Oh, and a bunch of idiots online are claiming these shocks mount with the bodies up and the shafts (and rubber boots down). I can't imagine why you would do that? It will just result in the lower dust boot being full of water and junk. The OEM shocks were "right side up" and I put these in the same way. It makes no sense to place them upside down so the open ended dust boots collect dirt and water.... I installed them so the decals were right side up. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I found one more possible option for the throttle response. The thing I like about this is that you don't have to flash the computer. I'm "assuming" they programmed a more linear throttle curve into it (basically turning the factory "slow opening" into more normal operation, but I'm not 100% sure that's true). I like that you can remove it for service and such (if you wish). The computer apparently keeps track of how many times it has been flashed, so that could be a bigger warranty issue (and that's why I haven't tuned mine yet). If this really works, it might be a good option.

Does anybody want to donate to the "test a throttle body fund"? lol. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

http://www.jegs.com/p/JET-Performance/JET-...944748/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/i/JET-Performance/561/76108/10002/-1

Installation instructions:

https://c1.rt-static.com/shared/pdf/manufac...nstructions.pdf


And after driving the truck more....DO THE SHOCKS! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I'm wondering how much of a difference there is in the Z71 vs. the base model shocks. I hear many people complaining about the shocks but I don't really find them annoying and I had 5100s on my previous truck. Either the Ranchos are better or I just don't get it!

I saw a few guys in forums who dumped the Ranchos and pronounced the Bilstiens much better. And there was one guy who had Rancho's and put 5100's for a day (I did 4600 shocks and they seem to be different...potentially) and put something else on his truck the following day and was bitching about the "waste of $640" or whatever he spent to put the Bilstiens on for a few hours. So it's hard to tell without driving them.

I drove a Z71 when I first started looking, but I can't remember how the shocks felt on it. At least not in any detail.

The stock GM shocks have virtually no rebound in them and minimal compression. I think I mentioned that we had 3 people in the cab, a T56, a 20ton shop press, a pair of snow tires and wheels off of a friends 2004 half ton and some "stuff" (washer fluid, things he removed from his truck to take it to service) in the bed and the back end just cycled up and down the entire way to drop off the contents of the bed. It just did a slow "pogo" down the freeway, like waves rolling in. Boing, boing, boing......

The stock shocks on mine made the factory F-body DeCarbon shocks look like Konis....they were even worse than the OEM F-body shocks by a decent margin.

Today I noticed that when I put the transmission in gear, the body no longer rocks back and fourth from the "jolt" of it dropping into gear....if that tells you something. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Did you ever find any info on the difference between the 4600 & 5100?....thought I read earlier you were considering 5100"s

This post has been edited by KCG: Apr 11 2017, 08:00 PM

The 5100s have multiple front spring perch locations to change the front ride height. Then you can just put a block in the rear to lift the truck. However, there has been much debate about how they ride and if they ride better lifted or stock height, etc. And since I didn't manage to validate any of this and I was not planning to lift the truck, I did the 4600 shocks and they are what I used before. Originally the 5100 shocks were all that was available. Now we have options....but I don't know a lot about the differences.

ok, not sure where I'm going with mine yet. I wouldn't mind leveling it a touch but it's the wifes DD so it can't be harsh.

That said, my son put the adjustable 5100's on his '12 Sierra at the highest position. I didn't drive it that much before hand but I will say it is a little stiffer than before and has no problem with control now. His ride is not at all harsh, just stiffer. Some of it I assume comes from the heavier lug tire he put on. Don't know what they are off the top of my head.
We towed his 2nd gen to the Cam Challenge in Peru last year and I was really impressed how it handled that trip for a 1/2 ton crew cab loaded with tools, jack, parts, etc...we're in Md.