[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]

They have cracked the 20-23 ECM. You can delete my truck now. I absolutely don't want to. It doesn't stink, it's quiet, etc. I love that it makes less noise while towing than my 5.3 did. It just sails up mountains while towing with no real noise at all. I intend to keep it that way...so far.

[landstuhltaylor]

They have cracked the 20-23 ECM. You can delete my truck now. I absolutely don't want to. It doesn't stink, it's quiet, etc. I love that it makes less noise while towing than my 5.3 did. It just sails up mountains while towing with no real noise at all. I intend to keep it that way...so far.

That's an option while it lasts. The VW aftermarket has always been a smaller fish than the big trucks, and they largely left Canadian companies alone. A few weeks ago they shut down the biggest maker of delete hardware in the VW space even though they are operating from Canada.

All of these places only have a limited time left.

[GCrites80s]

Sounds like it's time to start up a company called "Cayman Islands Tuning"

[CrashTestDummy]

And now it's our turn. Since we're not getting any younger, and the '02 2500HD is starting to get kinda long in tooth, we ordered, and recently received, our '25 Sierra 1500 AT4 4X4 6.2. We chose the ga version since I'm really leery of the longevity of the pollution equipment they put on the diesels these days. We ended up with the AT4, even though I really didn't want the 2" added lift, as it seemed to be the cheapest way we could get the required options, and, almost more-importantly, NOT get the options we didn't want. I'm now trying to figure out how to 'uninstall' the 2" lift. It seems a bit more involved than just pulling the lift block in the back and new front struts. But we'll see.

So far, so good. We're trying to get the 500-mile break-in miles on it so we can tow the race car to the next event. The weather hasn't been cooperating!

This thing is BIG! It's bigger in pretty much every dimension, compared to our 2500HD. We sold the 2500 to a friend... gave it away, actually, but he's happy. to have it, and he's the kind that keeps them a while, too. Anyway, here it is, next to a 2002 2500HD for scale:

(IMG:https://media.fotki.com/2v2ZcV8kdxJDYiP.jpg)

[slowTA]

Hmm... rolling the dice on diesel emisisons vs 6.2L lifters.

[CrashTestDummy]

Ya. pays yer dues, and ya takes yer chances!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

[trackbird]

Nice toy!

The 2500/3500 tricks don?t get the 2? lift as I understand it. That?s only the 1500 trucks. These things are just huge.

[CrashTestDummy]

Nice toy!

The 2500/3500 tricks don?t get the 2? lift as I understand it. That?s only the 1500 trucks. These things are just huge.

Neither do the Denalis unless you get the 'Ultimate', I believe. We didn't want many of the options the Denali came with standard, like the sunroof, nor the price tag. We have a friend who has a '24/'25 Denali we autocross with, so the plan is to have a closer look at the suspension on that truck at the next event and maybe climb under it with camera and tape measure in hand. Hopefully, the front half-shafts have a P/N on them, as deciphering what's going to work on the GM web stores is really annoying. They list them 'with 2" lift', 'excl 2" lift, us-built', etc. Ours is a Mexican truck, although I really don't understand how that would make a difference. I'd expect a 1500 is a 1500 whether it was made in Indiana or the moon. But I have seen GM pull similar stupid stuff in. the past.

Fun fact: On Chevy Impalas built in the late '70's early '80's, the manual window cranks turned clockwise to lower the windows on Canadian-built cars, and counter-clockwise on US-built. There were other differences, some significant, but that was a quick way to tell where your Impala was built when looking for parts. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)