Where's all the silverado's?.......

[Zatara]

I have 50 kilomiles on it and I have not noticed any play. Is this a play issue that slowly shows itself, or will something break when I hit a rock out in the backcountry?

It's a knocking you can hear and feel in the steering wheel when turning slow and over bumps.
It's just play in the intermediate shaft and GM's "solution" is to pack the shaft with grease which fixes the noise temporarily.
I haven't heard of them breaking, just annoying.

 

[James86004]

It's a knocking you can hear and feel in the steering wheel when turning slow and over bumps.
It's just play in the intermediate shaft and GM's "solution" is to pack the shaft with grease which fixes the noise temporarily.
I haven't heard of them breaking, just annoying.

Thanks. I will hold off on replacing it until I start feeling a problem.

 

[EdoHart]

There are 2 issues with the GM steering

I'm not an expert. The following is what i have found from various forums.

There are two different issues concerning the Chevy/GM steering.

1) The shaft between the steering wheel and the steering gear: This is what makes the clunking sound when turning the steering wheel. I have yet to experience this.

2) Because of the way the pitman and idler arms are connected to the tie rod those joints can quickly wear out. This is where the slop can occur. Larger tires exasperate the situation by adding stress to the joints. The Cognito kit is an elegant solution for this design flaw. I installed mine at 16K miles as a preventative, before I had a problem. I've read posts on other sites in which people have put the kit in to solve the slop problem and have been happy with the results.

 

[James86004]

Anyone know of some decent front end replacement bumpers for 1500's? Most all i have found are for 2500 & 3500 HD's

Ditto. I hated the way mine looked when I first took the air dam off, but the look has grown on me. I haven't found anything off the shelf that I like - I may have to design my own.

 

[LS1matt]

I may have to design my own.

Same here, i am dreading it as i am VERY impatient, so chances are it will come out looking like @$$, if you come across anything PLEASE send it my way!

 

[1976K5Chalet]

When are you heading to Moab? Its a 100 miles from my house here in western colorado. I'll assume ejs?

DW

 

[LS1matt]

When are you heading to Moab? Its a 100 miles from my house here in western colorado. I'll assume ejs?

DW

Current plans are to leave Houston May 15th around 0400 and go to Rocky Mt park first. Spend 1 day there and then on to Moab, Not sure where we will cross or which trails we are doing, the guys I am going with have a plan in their head, we have yet to sit down and discuss trails or routes. He did mention something about the kokopelli trail and from what i have briefly read I am assuming that is where we cross over into Utah.

 

[Larry]

Here are my two Silverado's.

The Pewter one is a 2001 2500HD that I bought new right after Sep 11th. It is pretty much a garage queen and has gotten less than 1500 miles since 2006. Somewhat rare 8.1L, ZF S6-650 6 speed with bucket seats. It has 49,000 miles on it.

The white 2005 I just bought in February for dirt cheap (less than half of book value) from gas well company that was going out of business. Nothing special, just a plain jane 1SA peg group work truck with a 6.0L and 4L80E. It was in pretty bad shape for only 4 years old. The front end was toasted as someone drove it through a barb wire fence and broke the grill, bumper and bent the hood. Both engine mounts were also broke and all the exhaust hangers were broke as well as the muffler. I fixed all of that and added an ARB winch bumper to help cover up the ugly face of 2003-2006 Silverado's. Also added Superlift torsion bar keys and a set of new Cooper 255/85R16 tires on the stock wheels I painted satin black.

 

[Zatara]

Here are my two Silverado’s.

The Pewter one is a 2001 2500HD that I bought new right after Sep 11th. It is pretty much a garage queen and has gotten less than 1500 miles since 2006. Somewhat rare 8.1L, ZF S6-650 6 speed with bucket seats. It has 49,000 miles on it.

The white 2005 I just bought in February for dirt cheap (less than half of book value) from gas well company that was going out of business. Nothing special, just a plain jane 1SA peg group work truck with a 6.0L and 4L80E. It was in pretty bad shape for only 4 years old. The front end was toasted as someone drove it through a barb wire fence and broke the grill, bumper and bent the hood. Both engine mounts were also broke and all the exhaust hangers were broke as well as the muffler. I fixed all of that and added an ARB winch bumper to help cover up the ugly face of 2003-2006 Silverado’s. Also added Superlift torsion bar keys and a set of new Cooper 255/85R16 tires on the stock wheels I painted satin black.

Very nice !!
What are the specs on the 2001 ??
What lift, tire size etc.....

 

[Larry]

Very nice !!
What are the specs on the 2001 ??
What lift, tire size etc.....

Thanks MoloLabe…

The 2001 is bone stock except for the nerf bars, 285/75R16 tires and a replacement upper intermediate shaft (of course ). The only lift is the torsion bars have been cranked up a bit. It is a very clean machine that I probably won’t add any mods to. It is an LS with an 8.1L, 6 speed manual trans, manual shift transfercase ( I am not a fan of the electric shift crap which is why I ordered it with the manual shift tcase, which was standard behind a manual trans anyway), 4:10 gears with the G80 Govbomb and bucket seats. The bucket seats with the manual trans behind a big block gas is the somewhat rare combination. Most manual trans trucks were dirtymaxes.

Speaking of torsion bars, the funny thing is I do not notice any ride quality differences between the cranked up torsion bars on the 2001 vs. the Superlift torsion bar lift keys I just installed on the 2005. I am starting to think these torsion bar keys are just a bunch of hype to grease unsuspecting soles out of $150.

 

[Zatara]

Thanks MoloLabe…

The 2001 is bone stock except for the nerf bars, 285/75R16 tires and a replacement upper intermediate shaft (of course ). The only lift is the torsion bars have been cranked up a bit. It is a very clean machine that I probably won’t add any mods to. It is an LS with an 8.1L, 6 speed manual trans, manual shift transfercase ( I am not a fan of the electric shift crap which is why I ordered it with the manual shift tcase, which was standard behind a manual trans anyway), 4:10 gears with the G80 Govbomb and bucket seats. The bucket seats with the manual trans behind a big block gas is the somewhat rare combination. Most manual trans trucks were dirtymaxes.

Speaking of torsion bars, the funny thing is I do not notice any ride quality differences between the cranked up torsion bars on the 2001 vs. the Superlift torsion bar lift keys I just installed on the 2005. I am starting to think these torsion bar keys are just a bunch of hype to grease unsuspecting soles out of $150.

Thanks for the info !!
My truck is a extra cab 2500HD like yours but with the 6.0 and an automatic trans.
I have been wanting to raise my front end up like you have and add the 285s as well and when I saw yours it looked just like how I wanted mine to look.
How does it ride compared to stock since twisting the torsion bars ?
Also, I have been looking at the ARB front bumper for mine. What are your thoughts on yours ? Does it make working on the engine much harder ?

 

[Larry]

Yeah, cranking up the torsion bars a bit as well as installing the keys on the other truck did make both trucks ride a little more firm. Not terrible but just a little firmer. IMHO, the GM HD trucks do not ride all that great to begin with considering the less than sterling IFS suspension GM thinks everybody wants on an HD truck. Heck, I think a Dodge Ram with a solid front axle rides better than GM HD truck with IFS.

Well, so far my ARB bumper hasn’t even left the driveway yet as I have other work to finish up on it before it hits the road but I really like the bumper. The ARB bumper is far more superior than the pathetic piece of tin GM called the original bumper. The ARB bumper definitely allows for more standing room while crawling around on the engine. It also protects the fragile grill while you are working on it. I definitely recommend the ARB bumper over the other overpriced bumpers such as FabFours. I looked at both and just couldn’t wrap my head around a $2400 Fabfour bumper.

The ARB bumpers are not cheap either (around $1000) but I got the truck for a hell of a deal so that allowed me room to sink some money into it that otherwise would not have happened. Hehe, I picked up the truck for only $5000. Not bad for a 4 year old HD 4x4 even with near 100,000 miles.
:coffeedrink:.

 

[gabepari]

Nothing fancy, and 2wd to boot. But it gets the job done, and it's paid for

'98 Silverado 3 door ext cab, short bed. 5.7 with 75K miles. 30x9.5 BFG AT's on stock alloys. Load up the kids and some firewood and we're good for a few days or a week.

Here's a shot from last weekend off the Bradshaw trail, part way up Augustine Pass.

Gabe

 

[hovenator]

Larry.....I love the white work truck!!! That thing looks like it means business.

 

[EdoHart]

285's with no cranking

Thanks for the info !!
My truck is a extra cab 2500HD like yours but with the 6.0 and an automatic trans.
I have been wanting to raise my front end up like you have and add the 285s as well and when I saw yours it looked just like how I wanted mine to look.
How does it ride compared to stock since twisting the torsion bars ?
Also, I have been looking at the ARB front bumper for mine. What are your thoughts on yours ? Does it make working on the engine much harder ?

For what it's worth, I fit 285/70/17 tires on my truck without cranking the t-bars. I did have to trim about an inch off the plastic valance of the stock bumper, which wouldn't be needed with an after market one like the ARB, and I had to pull back the inner fender liner a little with wire ties. Every truck is a little different, though. I still want a lift, but at least I got the bigger tires without spending too much.