What did you do to your GMT today? [Part II]

[northcreek]

Moog has been going down for the past few years and have seen their parts fail. Maybe not as quick as Mevojunk but still within a couple of years. I just don't trust most of the mainstream aftermarket stuff anymore.

Yeah, guess it's all about personal experience and in my case the original ACDildo links failed before 20K so I wasn't going there.
Last spring I bought a genuine AC factory rebuilt alternator that failed shortly after installation, they had used an aftermarket rectifier in their rebuild and that is what failed, so I'm kinda snake bit using their stuff...

 

[flyboy2610]

Alternately, perhaps a shop would remove the worm clamp and fasten a band clamp in place (although you may pay as much as just buying the clamping tool, for them to do it)

I did some looking on-line and I can get the band clamps from a local NAPA. The tool would run $20-$30. I'm a tool junkie, so it would just be my next fix!
I replaced the front suspension on both the wife's '06 and my '04 TB's this past summer and saved the undamaged boots, since I put new ones on, so I have a boot to put on there. Just need the clamps and the tool. Plus a reasonably nice day.

 

[Mooseman]

Last spring I bought an genuine AC factory rebuilt alternator that failed shortly after installation, they had used an aftermarket rectifier in their rebuild and that is what failed, so I'm kinda snake bit using their stuff...

I actually had that happen too. Returned it in exchange for a CCC new alternator, no problem.

We sorta have to know what's good and what's not. Even CCC, there's good and bad, and then there's REALLY bad.

 

[2001ZR2]

Got the damage from when my son backed his 2005 TB into the wife's 2006 Envoy Denali. Getting an intermittent C0035 code for the driver's side front ABS circuit.

Will try to look for wire damage before I replace the hubs. Any suggestions on good hubs for these trucks?

 

[Matt]

Got the damage from when my son backed his 2005 TB into the wife's 2006 Envoy Denali. Getting an intermittent C0035 code for the driver's side front ABS circuit.

Will try to look for wire damage before I replace the hubs. Any suggestions on good hubs for these trucks?

I always used Detroit Axle hubs with my lifted TB and didn't have any issues with them. A lot of people will tell you that you need to spend $150 each on them, you don't. They are a wear item and you'll be replacing them at some stage.

 

[Mooseman]

I usually try to go with Timken. They're about middle for price vs. quality but some have reported early failures with them. However, just checking on RA, SKF have become really competitive for price and are cheaper than a lot of brands, including Timken. SKF are considered top of the line. If I needed some today, I'd probably get those for that price.

More Information for SKF BR930470

www.rockauto.com

Detroit Axle have been hit or miss. Depends on who you talk to. They're made in China, same as the majority of them out there.

 

[TollKeeper]

Going on 2 years here for my Detroit Axle.. But its only been about 7000 miles.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Looking for a cause to my no crank no cluster issue on my new to me 08 Yukon XL. I liked it as a project truck far better when it was mobile. Keep thinking ground or ignition switch, but figure research first n not shotgun parts

 

[Mooseman]

Took the Sierra in for its first free oil change at 6800 km/28% OLM. A bit early but I wanted it done before the holidays and I'd rather do it early after the break-in. Glad it was free because I bought a quart of the 0w20 DexosD as a spare and it was $20 with the senior's discount! Must be made with ground unicorn teeth at that price. They noted that the DEF tank was down to about 1/4 and asked if I wanted it filled. Nah, keep your unicorn piss

 

[TollKeeper]

@Mooseman - Here ya go!

Amazon.com

or

Amazon.com

 

[Mooseman]

Try doing that search on amazon.CA . I have that same kit saved but just shows as unavailable. We can't get shit here or it's overpriced . I'll probably do some cross border shopping next year when I will need it.

 

[northcreek]

Even on this side some stuff is hard to find. I needed a 4 qt. jug of Rotella T5 in 10w-30 and luckily found one remaining at an AZ near me, this was out all the suppliers in and around the city. Can't even find it online. Noticed that Wally World seems to have a lot of empty shelves in the auto department...

 

[aaserv]

Got the newly rebuilt instrument cluster installed. Loved the way it looked on the site but it was a little pricey. Then they had a 25% off Black Friday sale so I went for it.
A little disappointed actually. Had new leds and motors put in but during the day its kinda hard to see. And at night it kinda looks the way I thought it would look during the day. The pics don't do it justice. It really does look like something that would/could have come standard in a luxury model but somehow doesnt have quite the WOW factor I was expecting from seeing the pics on the site. Maybe a different color backlight? brighter? I dont know but it does look 100% better than stock...

PS.....disregard the CL and the oil pressure gauge. Needs a knock sensor and a sending unit but if Im going that deep going to re do the heads also and thats probably an after winter job..

 

[flyboy2610]

Stopped by my nearest NAPA and picked up 6 boot clamps for the large end of the steering rack boot and 6 for the small end. Came home and ordered the Lisle 30600 offset boot clamp tool from Wally World's website. Supposed to be here Thursday. I hope it is because I have Friday the 24th off, as does the wife, and it supposed to get into the mid 50's, so a good day for doing this job! I'm going to have to pull the passenger side outer tie rod on here '06, but that's not a big deal. The rest of them I should be able to get without pulling anything but the wheel.

 

[Mooseman]

Replaced the inner tie rods on the TB after the new Mevojunks failed after about a month and less than 1000 km.

And also had a pretty fast leak on one of the winter tires. It would go flat within a couple of days. Saw it leaked on the rim and the valve. Dismounted it, cleaned the rim with the wire wheel, put some bead sealer and put a new Shrader valve. Valve was good but rim still leaked. Dismounted again, cleaned some more and put sealer on both the tire and rim. That worked.

 

[Blckshdw]

Back under the hood to tinker with my tranny cooler again. In hopes that my problem was simply not enough airflow because the cooler was basically sitting against the condenser, I wanted to space it out some. Ended up needing to bring it down just a bit, and closer to the center.

Had to notch some of the plastic on the header panel near the hood release cable, and the bottom corner of the center support so it would fit. Had some scrap metal strapping, so made some new brackets to hang it in place. Rattled canned them flat black so they don't stand out from behind the grille. Removed the OEM battery box cooling hose, since I don't use the stock box anymore anyway. That gave me enough room for the cooler hose to come forward, with a slight notch in the plastic. The holes in the metal strapping were spaced differently than the ones I used before, but it worked out perfectly as the increased distance allowed me to use the original holes I drilled into the header panel for mounting.

Now I've got 3/4" clearance at the top, and almost 1" of clearance at the bottom. Next time I take a lengthy drive, or have to sit in traffic, I'll get to see if there's any difference in cooling performance. The biggest thing I'll be looking for, is does it bring temps down after sitting still (stop 'n go) and then getting into open road again. Previously, it would stay where it was, or come down a couple degrees because the engine coolant did.

 

[flyboy2610]

Nice job on the cooler!
I replaced the steering rack bellows on the passenger side of the wife's '06 TB. No more zip ties for me! I replaced all four bellows on both TB's when I replaced the front suspensions this past summer. Used the provided zip ties and got them nice and tight! All 4 zip ties for the inner end of the bellows came loose! The wife's TB has real metal clamps on there now!
It hit 62 this afternoon (12-24-21 in Lincoln, Ne). We're supposed to have 2 more days of nice weather, then it's going to get cold. Sunday afternoon I'm going to give my '04 TB an oil change and replace the zip ties on it, too.

 

[Mooseman]

All 4 zip ties for the inner end of the bellows came loose! The wife's TB has real metal clamps on there now!

That happened to me too the first go around. One of the big ends came off. Used metal ones this time. A little more of a PITA to put on but are solid.

 

[coolride]

Merry Christmas to all!

 

[azswiss]

Merry Christmas to All & wishing you all a Happy New Year!

 

[2001ZR2]

Like Flyboy2610 trying to take advantage of the weather in the Midwest. Changed oil and lubed chassis on both my son's 05 TB and my wife's Envoy Denail. Had to buy the ProTec filters by Wix. Now have 11 of each on the shelf.

Notice that the passenger CV boot was spraying grease on my son's TB so changed that out yesterday. In the process of that a 3/8" piece of the seal housing on the actuator fell on the ground. Used JB Weld to repair so will watch from afar as my son to school 250 miles away.

 

[BrianF]

Well I'm planning on starting my Trailblazer tomorrow evening to visit some friends. Battery tender has been plugged in for a few days already and will plug in the block heater a few hours prior. Its supposed to be -38c. I wonder how she will tell me how much she will hate life? I had it puke power steering fluid once it was so cold and that was the good group 4 based synthetic.

 

[flyboy2610]

That cold weather is supposed to make it here in the next couple of days. Not looking forward to it, but it is what it is.

 

[Mooseman]

I had the tranny cooler line blow off the cut end at the radiator many moons ago. Made for an impromptu tranny fluid flush and hose triple clamp job on the side of the road in -30c. December of 2014 IIRC, heading in to work. And my son blew the radiator hose on his Accord that same day. Fun times! The cold does things to stuff that doesn't see this kind of cold.

 

[Mooseman]

Took the TB out for an errand and the battery was just slow to crank. Coming back, put my little battery tester and said to replace with only 38% capacity. Swapped it out with the new Kirkland battery I kept from the Saab. It was kept on a maintainer for over a year and was still in excellent condition. Since the TB doesn't get driven as much, I have to keep a maintainer on it all the time just to keep it topped up.

Then took the TB for its second alignment after I replaced the inner tie-rods again last week. She drives straight again however, odd thing is that he had to readjust the camber even though I did nothing to change that and the first alignment should have been good for it. He also said that he had to take it out to the max and it was still a little out. Weird. This is an old tech, not some kid who hasn't seen this type of suspension geometry before and, so far, hasn't steered me wrong

 

[Mike534x]

Shopping for new tires, my Yokohama's are almost shot at about 25k. A concerning amount of cracking is happening between the treads and they seem to be wearing out much faster then they should be (already gone past the wear indicator). So since I do my own rotations, Yokohama won't warranty them out without paperwork showing its been done. Tirerack is giving me a discount on a new set, so its tied between the Hankook Dynapro AT2's or Toyo Open Country A/T lll's.

Its a tough choice, both have a nice aggressive tread style and are 3PMSF rated.

 

[flyboy2610]

How much highway driving do you do? With it's center rib, the Dynapro's are probably going to be quieter than the Toyo's.

 

[Blckshdw]

 

[Mektek]

New year - time for new things! While checking out a pinion shaft seal leak, I decided to cut the can
I cut a pipe from a v8 TB and shoved it in to see how it looked. The hanger makes the install a PITA, so permanent install is for another day.

 

[Mooseman]

Installed the Bluetooth battery monitor in the TB. Cool little gadget. Monitors static, cranking and charging status. Even gives graphs and will send an alert if the charge goes below a preset, currently set to 70%. My phone has to be within range, which it's not when I'm in the house but connects as soon as I get out of the house. For $40, not a bad little tool .

 

[Mektek]

After driving around for a day without the exhaust resonator, I would say that it occasionally sounds like a hornets nest out back. With the windows down and at lower rpms I hear the buzz and I have to remind myself what I did. I got used to it - I'll arcweld the pipe on someday......

 

[Blckshdw]

Made a run to Lowes and HF for a couple of things. Mainly 400 lbs of cinder block, for an idea with the rain barrels. Got some downspout brackets for a couple of spots i want to secure better, and a large heavy duty tarp for the compost pile. The blue ones get brittle after a summer's worth of sun, so we'll see how the more pricey ones do.

 

[azswiss]

Washed the truck (we really need the rain!).

 

[BrianF]

I got my Trailblazer up on blocks and started digging for my problem. Yesterday she died on the highway and smelled of fuel when I got out to inspect the issue. Fuel was dripping from the front of the tank.

There are two lines from the tank, the main pressure line and the evap line. The latter was affixed correctly, with its retainer clip I might add. The pressure line is slightly obscured by the tank and one little tug and that was my issue. The clip was gone and the line detached.

I have some on order from Amazon as my local contacts have none on hand.

 

[aaserv]

Took her out for a spur of the moment trip , about 380 miles roundtrip. Havent fixed anything, the knock sensors, oil pressure gauge, etc. Wasnt thrilled about going that far with no oil pressure gauge but i ck it every stop anyway and keep my ears open for any lifter tics...lol
No problems at all, it was cool and raining the whole way so that helped a lot im sure.
1 thing I did notice from last trip is the new rear springs ride so much better. Minimum if any "floating" and I had mentioned the front end felt a lil different after installing the rear springs....well actually i think it drives a lil better. Feels like it bites a tad harder, tracks a lil better. Maybe the raise in the rear end makes the front end steer more like it did originally.
Gas mileage unchanged, added about a half quart of oil on the way home. Same as last time.
I know it was risky to drive it like it is currently but it held up just fine. Weather just wont allow me to tear down the top end right now and damn sure cant afford to put her in any of these backed up /overpriced repair shops around here.
If the there is a decent car mechanic unemployed anywhere in the U.S right now I just have to believe he doesnt want to work. You could damn near name your price around here right now........

 

[Mike534x]

Got the new tires installed this morning, slight shipping delay from the snow we had last week. Loving the look, and they're much quieter then I was expecting. Not much of a road noise difference from the Yokohama's, but so far so good!

 

[Mooseman]

While I was adding some WW fluid in the Sierra, I figured I'd check the oil and it was low. Put in a quart of oil and it was back up to the top of the hash marks. Unusual as I just got the oil changed just before Xmas and it's down a quart in just over 3000km? It stayed full during the whole initial break in up to 6300km. I sure hope it doesn't have the rear main seal issue that a lot of the guys have been getting with this engine. Good thing is I haven't seen any oil dripping in the driveway. Oil life is still at 80%. At almost $22/qt, if I have to add one every 3000km, it'll get expensive.

 

[flyboy2610]

Put the code reader on it when I got home from work since the check engine light came on on the way home. I noticed the engine was having a hard time maintaining proper operating temperature. Pulled a P0172 code, system too rich bank 1. One possible cause is a faulty thermostat. Ya don't suppose.......

 

[xavierny25]

Yesterday the power steering pump on the Voy started to grind and the steering wheel was tight. I couldn't let the wife go to work in those conditions so I got off work a few hrs early to swap the pump out.
Ring door cam proof. Lol. Although the actual pump isn't in frame. I was doing the repair as fast as I could since I was running out of day light.

 

[BrianF]

Clearly staged bro!!!

Was in Crimetown and hit up the Napa for some of those fuel line disconnect retaining clips. No dice, which sucks because my Amazon order still hasn't shipped.... which has been a week since ordering.

So guys, just to confirm, it is not the 5/8" clips as those are for the evap?