[trackbird]

After 7 glorious years, I finally retired my faithful 2015 SIlverado 1500. It was a 5.3 with crew cab and the electronic transfer case with the AWD option. We have been using it to tow our camper for about the last year and it did an admirable job overall. Sadly, the brakes were not up to the task and on more than one occasion I ran completely out of truck brakes and the trailer stopped the truck. That finally convinced me that it was time for an upgrade.

Last Monday, I drug home a new Silverado 3500 HD (Crew cab, short bed, 4x4/AWD, diesel with the 10 speed allison, 5th wheel/gooseneck prep, Z71 protection package, etc). I'm trying to put break in mileage on it before the next time I have to tow the camper, but so far I'm really impressed. It feels a lot larger than my last 3500, but it feels remarkably light on its feet with all that torque. GM was supposed to do a facelift and a power upgrade for the diesel in 2023, but they held it until 2024. I picked the truck up Monday, Tuesday I went to the chevrolet.com site and they are now "Introducing the 2024 Silverado HD". Awesome....

Despite that, I really like the truck and the facelift isn't really an improvement (I really think these trucks are rather ugly, but the chrome front end on mine is "less bad") and the diesel seems to have plenty of power so I'm not sure if I'll really care about the upgrade. Maybe I'll trade it in a few years....maybe I won't.

I've been trying to verify that the shocks didn't change between 2022 and 2023 so I can order Fox shocks for it. The OEM ranchos provide almost zero damping.

Also, I ordered the Advanced Trailering Package with the multiple camera views. However, you have to buy the "technology package" to get all of the camera views. So, I don't have the front bumper view (could be nice for parking) or the trailer side view cameras (that would be great for pulling around tight corners, etc). I'm a little irritated that the "Advanced Trailering Package" isn't the complete package unless you take lane departure warnings, parking assist, etc....all stuff I specifically didn't want.

So, be aware if you order one, check that stuff out. I ordered this one June 19th, give or take and got it last Monday. I hope I'm not sorry I bought a diesel.

[trackbird]

Guess it's time for an update. I put new tires on it at 19,675 miles. The oem tires were down to about 5/32" of tread. That's not "illegal", but it was getting pretty slick in the rain. Leaving traffic lights at light throttle resulted in wheel spin when I hit the white stripe. Turning left at traffic lights would let the locker lock up and I'd go around tail out (not driving like an idiot even). So, I put new Cooper "highway off road" tires on it. A friend has them on a Dodge 2500 diesel and they have held up well. Sadly, I don't like how they tow. The truck wanders and they feel really soft and "squishy". It rides like a 1500, but it tows like one two. Oh well,l I have them now.

I took it to the dealer for the tailgate recall (the switch gets wet and the tailgate opens randomly. Mine has not actually opened, but I got it done. I also told them the DEF tank level was all over the place. It went from full (8 bars on the graph) to 3 bars, to 5, to 4, to 8, back to 3, etc. They flashed the computer and that was supposed to fix it. They also filled the DEF tank. That was Thursday (it's now Sunday). Yesterday I went up to work on the camper (it got new goodyear endurance tires after one exploded last week and damaged the camper, so I'm fixing that) and as I left, it said DEF empty, 500 miles until 65 mph top speed and a few other warnings. I have a bit over 20k miles on the truck. I'm starting to understand why people just delete these things. I'm also starting to consider trading it for a gas truck. If it pulls this crap while I'm 900 miles from home and pulling a trailer, then what? So, it's going back to the dealer tonight (I scheduled it to come back before all the alerts went crazy). It was also doing frequent regens. Like every 50 miles. I think the DPF is getting clogged up. And the check engine light is on for NOx sensor issues.

I love the truck, but I may not keep it very long. We actually spent last night talking about the truck and camper and possibly selling the camper and trading the truck on a 1500 again. We will see where we go and how irritated I get with it. I still really love the truck, but I don't know if I'm going to put up with the headaches for long.

[GCrites80s]

Guess it's time for an update. I put new tires on it at 19,675 miles. The oem tires were down to about 5/32" of tread. That's not "illegal", but it was getting pretty slick in the rain. Leaving traffic lights at light throttle resulted in wheel spin when I hit the white stripe. Turning left at traffic lights would let the locker lock up and I'd go around tail out (not driving like an idiot even). So, I put new Cooper "highway off road" tires on it. A friend has them on a Dodge 2500 diesel and they have held up well. Sadly, I don't like how they tow. The truck wanders and they feel really soft and "squishy". It rides like a 1500, but it tows like one two. Oh well,l I have them now.

I took it to the dealer for the tailgate recall (the switch gets wet and the tailgate opens randomly. Mine has not actually opened, but I got it done. I also told them the DEF tank level was all over the place. It went from full (8 bars on the graph) to 3 bars, to 5, to 4, to 8, back to 3, etc. They flashed the computer and that was supposed to fix it. They also filled the DEF tank. That was Thursday (it's now Sunday). Yesterday I went up to work on the camper (it got new goodyear endurance tires after one exploded last week and damaged the camper, so I'm fixing that) and as I left, it said DEF empty, 500 miles until 65 mph top speed and a few other warnings. I have a bit over 20k miles on the truck. I'm starting to understand why people just delete these things. I'm also starting to consider trading it for a gas truck. If it pulls this crap while I'm 900 miles from home and pulling a trailer, then what? So, it's going back to the dealer tonight (I scheduled it to come back before all the alerts went crazy). It was also doing frequent regens. Like every 50 miles. I think the DPF is getting clogged up. And the check engine light is on for NOx sensor issues.

I love the truck, but I may not keep it very long. We actually spent last night talking about the truck and camper and possibly selling the camper and trading the truck on a 1500 again. We will see where we go and how irritated I get with it. I still really love the truck, but I don't know if I'm going to put up with the headaches for long.

Perhaps stories like this are why Ford brought back the "Big Block" for their trucks.