Chevrolet offering serious off-road performance parts for the ZR2 in 2019, never seen this kind of OEM support

[Buliwyf]

Common enough.

The real problem wasn't the rare mechanical issue (assuming nobody has damaged hearing from the airbags). I think Nissan had a similar issue.

The real problem was GM denying warranty coverage for as long as they did. This could have been solved in 2 days. The owner put in a brand new truck that week, while the original went back to the lab. It was an obvious defect. And it was blatantly obvious that the truck never rolled over. No crushed roof, shattered windows, blood and chunks of flesh, etc. etc.

If this didn't go close to viral, GM would have never fixed those trucks. Did Nissan deny claims? Stuff happens, it's how companies deal with it. This is why Ford has a bad rap for NO warranty on anything cosmetic, and Dodge, their transmissions and xfer cases.

 

[Dalko43]

It takes time for major corporations to make decisions on these types of matters. It often takes time to even recognize there is a problem to begin with; companies have to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to analyzing consumer complaints.

People complained about airbag issues. GM finally came around to address the issue. How long have these issues even being going for? I'll be surprised if this airbag issue even amounts to a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things.

 

[colodak]

Meanwhile, they still can't fix the trucks worth a damn, and in some cases are causing more problems than they fix. Coworker took his '18 Canyon in for an oil change and a central locking system issue. The changed his oil, said the actuator was bad. Ordered a new actuator, 2 weeks later it arrived, somehow, during the install, the tech fried part of the wiring harness. Nothing in the cabin, on the left side of the truck works. GM is now telling him they will have to replace the entire cabin wiring harness and ECU. Parts are on order, should be fixed in January, they hope. At least they are giving him a loaner.

 

[ttengineer]

Meanwhile, they still can't fix the trucks worth a damn, and in some cases are causing more problems than they fix. Coworker took his '18 Canyon in for an oil change and a central locking system issue. The changed his oil, said the actuator was bad. Ordered a new actuator, 2 weeks later it arrived, somehow, during the install, the tech fried part of the wiring harness. Nothing in the cabin, on the left side of the truck works. GM is now telling him they will have to replace the entire cabin wiring harness and ECU. Parts are on order, should be fixed in January, they hope. At least they are giving him a loaner.

That’s not GMs fault though. Dealerships have been plagued with worthless techs for years across all brands. Don’t even get me started on the lack of decent service departments for Ram in Atlanta.


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[Buliwyf]

GM had the option to make me a rich man, I moved on to fixing emergency generators instead. It doesn't pay enough to work on such un-serviceable vehicles.

Unless you get specialized into some sort of tech, that they're desperate to have, it's a tough job. Heavy diesel trucks are easier now. Marine still sucks, though.

 

[ttengineer]

Vehicles are designed for easy assembly, not easy service-ability.

Also part of the problem.


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[Buliwyf]

Absolutely.

Can't fix what I can't reach.

 

[colodak]

That’s not GMs fault though. Dealerships have been plagued with worthless techs for years across all brands. Don’t even get me started on the lack of decent service departments for Ram in Atlanta.


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When the truck comes from the factory, on day one, with a faulty door lock system, that's GM's problem.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

T
triple bypass king 3.0: $1000
king 2.5: $350

Yeah, and Kings are NOT DSSV shocks. What attracted me to the ZR2 is that it does not ride like an off-road truck. Nothing else available mixes this amount of on-road precision and body control, with 90% of the off-road performance of dedicated off-road shocks. I'm towing 7000lbs for 1000's of miles with this thing. And doing Rallycross. And I can blast up gravel hills in 2wd that lifted full-size trucks are snapping axles on.

 

[Explorerinil]

Yeah, and Kings are NOT DSSV shocks. What attracted me to the ZR2 is that it does not ride like an off-road truck. Nothing else available mixes this amount of on-road precision and body control, with 90% of the off-road performance of dedicated off-road shocks. I'm towing 7000lbs for 1000's of miles with this thing. And doing Rallycross. And I can blast up gravel hills in 2wd that lifted full-size trucks are snapping axles on.

How does your zr2 do towing? I have it you have the diesel.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

It's fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

I had a Frontier Pro4X before, and it was a real pig when towing. 10 mpg towing my 23' camper trailer. And that was going really slow, trying to stay about 50 mph which often had traffic backing up behind me. It's not that it couldn't go faster, but I have a lot of mechanical sympathy, and it just drank so much gas. Revving out to 4-5000 trying to climb hills, etc. Very stressful. The back also sagged if you looked at it the wrong way. 200lbs, it would drop 2" it seemed. Even with weight distribution, it was on the bumpers constantly. And OMG, body motion. Like being on a boat.

The Colorado is like night and day. I'm doing 15 mpg towing the exact same trailer at a more comfortable 55-60 mph. No problems with rear end sag. Brakes and handling are excellent. I'm well over the 5000lb limit on the ZR2 but no issues at all. But again, I take it easy. Max at 60mph, and slow to 50 climbing steep hills. Oh, and descending hills, usually don't even have to touch the brakes. I towed that trailer from Thunder Bay to Rimouski last summer. So quiet and stress free. No more range anxiety...

All that, plus the off-road capability. And oh, it's kinda fun to drive too:


One truck can do it all. That's what doesn't get enough attention with this thing. Yes, it's good off-road, but it's not as good as a Jeep. Brand fanboys will say it's not reliable as their favorite Japanese truck. Yes, off-road bypass shocks would really be better offroad. Yes your Powerwagon is bigger. Whatever.

This thing handles and drives on-road like no other off-road vehicle before (mostly because of the magic DSSV shocks). The AWD system is better than what Subaru is putting on their auto-trans cars (ever hear anybody even mention this?!) It's as quiet as a luxury car on the highway. Even when towing. Chassis tuning is spot on. (well, about as good as it can get with a tow rating, there are limits). It's FUN to drive. It's the entire package they put together. I bought it not for hard-core off-roading. I have Land Rover for that. I wanted a rally car. But I'm frustrated that you can't put less than an 18" wheel on a WRX anymore (or is it 19 now?). I kicked the butt of an 09 WRX at the rallycross because he can't fit good tires on it. I also need a tow vehicle. This does both. Yeah, it's not really a rally car... it's more of a rally-raid truck. Good enough for what I need.

It still doesn't have the Je-Ne-Sais-Quoi of my Disco2. But it's a much better (and more confidence inspiring) getting around than the old Rover.

 

[emulous74]

Just so everyone knows, cause Doug Demuro sure got it wrong. The ZR2 is only rated towing up to 5,000 lbs, with either the diesel or the petrol. This is due to the raised suspension and less air that front bumper provides to the engine. All other Colorado's (i'm guessing not the 4-cylinder gas engine) can tow from 7,000lbs up to 7,700lbs.

That being said, this is what I tow with my ZR2 V6 gas and have driven from WI to TX and TX to NC and back and have had no issues getting up the mountains or even passing folks on the highway.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I don't think the tow rating has anything to do with the raised suspension at all. That's more than made up for by the extra body control provided by the DSSV shocks.

It more likely has to do with cooling. Though I've had no problems towing at 7000lbs. Max trans temp I've seen is 101C, it's not hot until at least 110C. No, you can't pass Davis Dam Test. I've never been on Davis Dam. It's an irrelevant test to me.

I think it's more likely that they simply sand-bagged it. It is a low-volume vehicle. They sent the engineers out to prove a lower spec that they knew it would pass, rather than risk testing to 7000lbs and maybe failing and therefore having to start again.

 

[Todd780]

View attachment 492046

Just curious what the length / dry weight of your trailer is? Looks like maybe a 24 / 25 footer?

 

[Wallygator]

Just so everyone knows, cause Doug Demuro sure got it wrong. The ZR2 is only rated towing up to 5,000 lbs, with either the diesel or the petrol. This is due to the raised suspension and less air that front bumper provides to the engine. All other Colorado's (i'm guessing not the 4-cylinder gas engine) can tow from 7,000lbs up to 7,700lbs.

That being said, this is what I tow with my ZR2 V6 gas and have driven from WI to TX and TX to NC and back and have had no issues getting up the mountains or even passing folks on the highway.

It seems all we here about is the diesel. How is the v6? Mileage? torque? Did you consider the diesel? Why did you choose the v6? etc