I put about 250-lbs worth of **** in the cargo area, between rounds.
Plus slump in the front @ 14yrs / 130k mi. I've been fiddling with the front torsion height repeatedly. I've raised it while stock, put the 3/4" spacers in and raised it, lowered it some, added the weight in the back and lowered the front again, swapped the rear coils took out the 3/4" and put in the 2" and raised the front some more. At this point, I couldn't even tell you how much it's changed, other than by the fenderwell measurements I've reported along the way. (shrug)
To each their own, Kojack, I kind of like it. Looks better to me than the nose-down rake. And I drive it around near-empty 99% of the time. It is my daily driver.[/QUOTE3/
I am not talking the terrible plow dirt front rake of the stock chevys, I am talking maybe 3/4 of an inch lower in front. My jeep sat perfect...had a small amount of front rake, but not stock chev front rake. I have the keys cranked on my burb now, its still has some front rake because if it was level, when I load the rear the lights would be useless!
Hey Vortec Guys! / Sierra pickup / Suburban / Yukon etc - Finally has Index!
- Thread starter rayra
- Start date
rayra
Expedition Leader
Don't see how it would matter so much. Regardless of the rake of the vehicle, your headlights should be aimed down the road. Put 1000-lbs in either vehicle and the lights are aimed high.
If the suspension is worn out, the effect will be much worse than just rake pre-set.
The answer there is airbags, light adjustment, or honey badger not giving a F. 95%+ of my miles are driven empty. I choose the latter. Especially as the percentage of super-bright HID lights shining in my eyes increases steadily.
If the suspension is worn out, the effect will be much worse than just rake pre-set.
The answer there is airbags, light adjustment, or honey badger not giving a F. 95%+ of my miles are driven empty. I choose the latter. Especially as the percentage of super-bright HID lights shining in my eyes increases steadily.
rayra
Expedition Leader
So when I was messing around with my rear brakes the other day and looking things over, I noticed a difference in my rear suspension bump stops. I'd previously noted they were beat up and crumbling and had started looking for replacement parts - about $22ea, GM part no 15712438, appear to be same on GMT800 truck frames. But it clicked that one was much more degraded than the other, had lost much of its bottom most segment.
I also previously noted how oddly the Sub seemed to rebound thru big dips / bumps. Always seemed to spring back harder on the left rear, almost like a mule kicking out. I've since freshened up or replaced almost all the relevant components. Cockeyed rebound persisted and I had chalked it up to the 32gal fuel tank and my fat *** being on that side.
But looking at the bump stops, I finally noticed that the passenger side was more broken down, shorter, than the driver side. ergo the driver side would kick back harder. Or so my theory goes.
I have other things I need to spend $50 on right now, so instead I whipped out my air-powered saw, took its guard off so I could get enough cutting depth, and I did lop off those damaged bottom segments from the bumpers. Made them even.
You can see in the pics that one side was almost completely deteriorated to that point already. We'll see how it changes the rebound in the near future. I will eventually get around to replacing those bumpers with new pieces. The first two pics of the vehicle are AFTER the cuts were made.
And one other followup tidbit on the lift and rake. I pulled out my loaded cargo drawers today in preparation for all the wiring projects I'm doing in the rear and my rear height went up 1/2"
I also previously noted how oddly the Sub seemed to rebound thru big dips / bumps. Always seemed to spring back harder on the left rear, almost like a mule kicking out. I've since freshened up or replaced almost all the relevant components. Cockeyed rebound persisted and I had chalked it up to the 32gal fuel tank and my fat *** being on that side.
But looking at the bump stops, I finally noticed that the passenger side was more broken down, shorter, than the driver side. ergo the driver side would kick back harder. Or so my theory goes.
I have other things I need to spend $50 on right now, so instead I whipped out my air-powered saw, took its guard off so I could get enough cutting depth, and I did lop off those damaged bottom segments from the bumpers. Made them even.
You can see in the pics that one side was almost completely deteriorated to that point already. We'll see how it changes the rebound in the near future. I will eventually get around to replacing those bumpers with new pieces. The first two pics of the vehicle are AFTER the cuts were made.
And one other followup tidbit on the lift and rake. I pulled out my loaded cargo drawers today in preparation for all the wiring projects I'm doing in the rear and my rear height went up 1/2"
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tennesseewj
Observer
I doubt door panels, and their pockets, are designed by engineers at all. Besides, I can't think of any vehicle that has a lid over the door pocket to keep rain out. Seems like it would be incredibly inconvenient to use while sitting in the vehicle.
rayra
Expedition Leader
An update on the leaking Castech heads, brought to mind by publishing this photo in my 12V topic. Reservoir tank fluid level hasn't changed a lick in the months since I used the 'factory recommended' stop leak. Couple thousand freeway miles, including the high mountain passes in SoCal. I drive pretty fast / hard, generally, 75-80mph. So I'll call it 'fixed'.
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Rayra, update on my burb.....It just started working right, and the check engine light went out etc.....******?????? drove it for 45 mins plowed part of my driveway to see if snow would affect it....NADA.......wondering if it was dirt in an injector or something causing issue, and it worked itself out....how sensor'ed are these rigs?
rayra
Expedition Leader
kojack, one of the features / problems is that the faults are logged and impact the programmed responses of the vehicle. IF you fix it, you have to clear the codes. In some cases, you even need to kill all power to clear everything and have the repaired vehicle 're-learn' its most efficient settings. In the case of your ignition faults, your vehicle may still be trying ot compensate for the detected faults even after you fix the parts. Or the inverse, if there's still something wrong, the vehicle 'learns' incorrectly and just wont run well. So you have to fix things, clear the faults, drive it and see if new faults are detected.
Too, with all the corrosion you've mentioned, you may have real computer issues as power sources and grounds and degraded wiring can leading to stray / random / erroneous fluctuations in voltages all over - in a vehicle with 6? computers driven by electrical voltage fluctuations. A faulty voltage on a sensor line and the computer reacts to something that isn't really happening. It has no way to tell the difference.
Boll, haven't noticed any cockeyed rebounding but haven't been driving it much lately, been busy finishing the major electrical wiring, etc. But I did make a 100mi round trip today to hand off a piece of furniture I just built. vehicle was smooth and easy on a chewed up freeway. Can't say I really achieved anything with the work, just liking the way these things ride. Certainly doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it right now, other than the worn out steering parts. I've got OEM replacement idler and pitman arms and new inner and outer tie rod ends sitting in the on deck circle. Need to get those in so I can get my post lift and tie-rod armor install alignment done.
Only other thing percolating on GMT800 mechanics right now is trans temp gauges. Looking at aftermarket pieces and mounting and tie-in locs. But I keep poking around for info on the dash clusters. The 2500s have the trans temp in the cluster. the 1500s have the same harness, have the temp sensor and it SEEMS like the instrument circuit board is only missing the stepper motor and gauge face / needle. I'm toying with the idea of experimenting and scavenging gauge face and needle from the scrapyard and getting a new set of stepper motors and just see if I can's work som low-dollar magic. The only 'factory' options are ~$200-400. I might be able to pull it off for as little as $40. I'm still looking for comparison pics too, to determine if there is an IC or resistor missing too or just the stepper motor itself. I think it's worth a few bucks to try it out. Might just solder a stepper on there and move one of the smaller needles to it and see what happens. A new set of stepper motors (6 pack) is under $20.
Too, with all the corrosion you've mentioned, you may have real computer issues as power sources and grounds and degraded wiring can leading to stray / random / erroneous fluctuations in voltages all over - in a vehicle with 6? computers driven by electrical voltage fluctuations. A faulty voltage on a sensor line and the computer reacts to something that isn't really happening. It has no way to tell the difference.
Boll, haven't noticed any cockeyed rebounding but haven't been driving it much lately, been busy finishing the major electrical wiring, etc. But I did make a 100mi round trip today to hand off a piece of furniture I just built. vehicle was smooth and easy on a chewed up freeway. Can't say I really achieved anything with the work, just liking the way these things ride. Certainly doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it right now, other than the worn out steering parts. I've got OEM replacement idler and pitman arms and new inner and outer tie rod ends sitting in the on deck circle. Need to get those in so I can get my post lift and tie-rod armor install alignment done.
Only other thing percolating on GMT800 mechanics right now is trans temp gauges. Looking at aftermarket pieces and mounting and tie-in locs. But I keep poking around for info on the dash clusters. The 2500s have the trans temp in the cluster. the 1500s have the same harness, have the temp sensor and it SEEMS like the instrument circuit board is only missing the stepper motor and gauge face / needle. I'm toying with the idea of experimenting and scavenging gauge face and needle from the scrapyard and getting a new set of stepper motors and just see if I can's work som low-dollar magic. The only 'factory' options are ~$200-400. I might be able to pull it off for as little as $40. I'm still looking for comparison pics too, to determine if there is an IC or resistor missing too or just the stepper motor itself. I think it's worth a few bucks to try it out. Might just solder a stepper on there and move one of the smaller needles to it and see what happens. A new set of stepper motors (6 pack) is under $20.
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I know. I would be thinking about all that if the bugger wasn't running very good now. I will scan again, and pull the battery lug for a couple hrs. See what happens. Could have been moisture as you said. Once the snow stops and it get nice again, and I have time, I am going to do the cleanup of all the plugs and dielectic grease all of them. Maybe it's as simple as that. All I know, a month or two ago, plowing as much snow as I did yesterday, the check engine light would be flashing and the rig would have been stumbling etc. Now, no light, smooth engine, full power, and I noticed even the 4wd switching system is working correctly. Maybe I do have a bad ground somewhere. The yahoos that installed the plow did a hack job, so could that that.
Hillbilly Heaven
Explorer
Some codes are self resetting. If the fault does not occur after certain number of starts then the fault code is cleared. You may have an intermittent problem. My memory is not clear on the number of consecutive starts with no fault, but I want to say it is 4 before the fault code will clear.
Instance:
You start the vehicle and a loose connection at the O2 sensor causes an O2 sensor fault code. The next four consecutive starts the loose connection works, the O2 sensor fault code will clear itself.
Instance:
You start the vehicle and a loose connection at the O2 sensor causes an O2 sensor fault code. The next four consecutive starts the loose connection works, the O2 sensor fault code will clear itself.
02TahoeMD
Explorer
Get a ScanGauge 2. They have a built in transmission temp gauge as one of the many variables you can display on the screen. Plug and play, easy mod.
