What did you do to your GMT today?

[Reprise]

Well the new tires are on, pics to follow. They look good and were even cheaper than quoted. The shop, Sperlie's Tire, which is a family owned business is absolute aces in my book. I have not been to any shop that comes close to them in customer service, timeliness and price. There is a reason I have not shopped elsewhere in nearly a decade. I had called around other places for prices, book in times just to check and never looked back.

My wife gassed it up, insured it for a year and looks like she will be taking it on a 1000km round trip to Regina this weekend. Finally get some miles on the struts, swaybar bushings and end links.

I got the mileage and will do some hand calculations after to see how the fuel economy is doing.

This is a great post, but one minor quibble... no mention as to brand / model on the tires!

I know the assumption was that 'we all saw it' in your other thread...but...I know at least one person who didn't...lol. (yeah, I looked it up in your other thread, so I kinda know...'now'...)

 

[BrianF]

Fine Reprise, fine!!! Goodyear Wrangler Trailrunner. kept the stock 245/65 size. Since pics or it didn't happen, in all its dirty glory. On top of this, the wife decides to take Big Blue on the her road trip because that damn check engine light from the SAIS being gutted. Fine, will maybe actually get it tuned now. Cant tell her anything anyway.

 

[Reprise]

Fine Reprise, fine!!! Goodyear Wrangler Trailrunner. kept the stock 245/65 size. Since pics or it didn't happen, in all its dirty glory. On top of this, the wife decides to take Big Blue on the her road trip because that damn check engine light from the SAIS being gutted. Fine, will maybe actually get it tuned now. Cant tell her anything anyway.

View attachment 88420

Lol...I only asked for those members who might be in the market for new shoes; perhaps you'll give us your impressions as they break-in / wear, etc. I don't know if GY sells that line in the US, tbh. They look good!

 

[littleblazer]

Started pulling some of the equipment out of the trailblazer. Sub and amp is going to the escalade and the power inverter is going to the colorado. I also inadvertently fixed the speaker amp... the wire under the hood corroded away behind the jacket so it felt like a good connection but after taking the post off the ring terminal just fell out... JBL sounds so much better than Bose lol. Anyway... some pics of what I pulled or where I'm planning on mounting it.

 

[xavierny25]

SLP exhaust got put on the tbss. Sounds amazing! Brother-in-law also got his replacement bumper painted and put in. There's so much orange peel that I think I could of done better with a rattle can but it is what it is.
We kept the manifold and some of the pipes seems the y pipe is widely sought after. Going to post it up on tbssowners and craigslist to see who may want it.


Pics to compare the stance on both rigs. I'm lower then a stock SS now.

 

[Mounce]

Oil change on the TB Sunday. Oil change on the Silverado today along with cooler bypass gasket that has been leaking since I got the truck. Also redone my DRL circuit wiring and controls.

 

[Drec]

Several weeks ago, my Envoy developed a miss. So I thought it might be time to put new plugs in it. Put the new plugs in and drove it 120 miles to Seattle and then it seemed to be running a little worse. So I get home and thought maybe somehow I screwed up one of the plugs. So I put in another new set of plugs and that didn't change to how it was running. It threw a P0340, P0014, P0340 and P1345 codes; which were all over the place. To make a long story shorter, it turned out that two coils were bad. Replaced the coils and now it is throwing a P0420, so now I'll just wait and see where this goes.

 

[gmcman]

Not sure what this is in dog years, but she's going under the knife today.



There's a slight, persistent light knock along with a little bit of piston slap. The knock comes in after about 2-3 min then hangs around. Going to pull the oil pan over the course of the next few days and see what's going on.

 

[smt 59]

Put on the new trailer hitch cover.

 

[xavierny25]

Took the day off from work to work on the Voy. Replaced left and right lower control arms 1 of the upper ball joints I meant to do last week. I also replaced the front sway bar bushings they didn't look to good last time I checked. Lastly got it aligned.




Alignment shop noticed my truck is dropped and suggested I get shorter end links in the front and rear. They also said the camber could not get set to where it needed to be. I told him I knew it wasn't going to be with out the other upper control arms I've got (DJM are getting recoated). He said he'd like to get it 100% and to bring it back when I get those put in and that he'd only charge me a small few. It drives really straight and true as is but I will be getting it done right sooner then later.

 

[BrianF]

Took the Tb to town today. My first rip in it since the new tires plus suspension parts. Tracks much better on the grid roads and no squirrely feelings over busted up asphalt. So far quite happy. I do miss the silky idle and all around daily driving abilities of this vehicle.

 

[gmcman]

Started on the oil pan removal..day later than planned. RF axle was already out, new one going back in later.

Disconnect, axle, driveshaft...will get the crossmembers tomorrow and hopefully the front diff if it's not too stubborn.

 

[littleblazer]

Dropped her off at the dealer so they could fix the bed rail and do the bedliner. They gave me this absolute piece of crap cruze as a loaner.

 

[xavierny25]

Finally got to install the modified mirror bezels and fix the amber side of txblazer's LEDs.
Didn't get a final pic of them but I'll edit and post that later.

 

[gmcman]

Further oil pan progress..halted by some weather, but steering rack is draining, will get the rack out tomorrow with rear crossmember and hopefully the front diff. Makes sense to replace the rack now but will wait to see if I can cure the knock first.

 

[xavierny25]

Further oil pan progress..halted by some weather, but steering rack is draining, will get the rack out tomorrow with rear crossmember and hopefully the front diff. Makes sense to replace the rack now but will wait to see if I can cure the knock first.View attachment 88527

I'd really like if you could document how you go about removing that front diff. I've watched and read that it's a real pain to get out. I'm really trying to get my 4.10 front diff swapped in but wanna know exactly how to tackle this with the least amount of "f**ck $h1t" moments. Thanks in advance

 

[TollKeeper]

@xavierny25 - Im doing the 4.10 swap myself, and would also appreciate if you could document this. I think the only difference is that I have the 5.3, and I think you guys are the 4.2.

 

[gmcman]

I'd really like if you could document how you go about removing that front diff

Will do.

If I wasn't worried about any more possible journal damage, and/or was just going to remove the diff, I would let the engine run...for about an hour.. lol...get it nice and hot.

The issue with aluminum is if I try to heat the area near the diff, the pan will just suck all the heat away. If the motor is running, everything will at least be hot to the touch and might allow the diff to at least break free.

That's just a wild hunch but if I could, I would surely try it.

But I will document what I try for sure.

 

[TollKeeper]

I was always curious that if you removed the cooling fan shroud, and raised the engine on the passenger side, if you would get enough clearance to slide out the diff without pan removal. It would require unbolting the passenger motor mount, and probably a loosening of the drivers side, but in my mind it works..

 

[Blckshdw]

Had to do some troubleshooting, driver's side HID won't ignite. Determined there's power at the relay harness plug, but the ballast doesn't buzz when fired without being plugged into the bulb like they usually do. Ordered a pair of new ballasts for 1 day delivery, since I have plans to be out and about tomorrow night. Will keep the remaining good ballast as an emergency backup.

 

[gmcman]

Steering rack is out, working on front diff now.





@xavierny25

The diff came right out. The hardest part actually was removing the intermediate shaft.

I fabricated a makeshift slide hammer from a 1/4-20 carriage bolt then used a length of 5/16 chain with a pipe wrench.

Couple good pulls popped it right out, didn't want to mess with trying to pound it from the drivers side.



The lower bolt needs to be removed with an 18MM wrench and left in the housing as the frame is in the way.





The diff just slid right out....guess I was lucky.




Edited to add: Secured diff with tie strap to frame. Props to @The_Roadie for the Gatorade cap trick.





Have to stop and run some errands, now the nervousness of waiting and seeing what lurks behind the pan.



My guess is along with one or more scuffed pistons, will be a worn #4 rod bearing. Stethoscope near the #4 coil last week I heard a slight knock go away when the coil was disconnected.

 

[gmcman]

I was always curious that if you removed the cooling fan shroud, and raised the engine on the passenger side, if you would get enough clearance to slide out the diff without pan removal. It would require unbolting the passenger motor mount, and probably a loosening of the drivers side, but in my mind it works..

I gave what you suggested some thought, after seeing the room I had with it tied up to the frame...I'm going to leave it there unless it hinders any wrenching on the rod bolts.

 

[xavierny25]

Washed it.

Hand polished the wheels.
Before

After... not bad for a hand job. Lol

 

[gmcman]

Removed the oil pan to see what was going on. Little darker shade of tan than I was expecting, but hoping to track down source of knock.






#4 rod bearing clearance is right near .003 so hopefully that's the culprit.

 

[northcreek]

Man, for all those miles that journal finish looks decent.

 

[Drec]

I drove home Saturday with a trailer from Seattle and noticed a grinding noise in the rear brake. So today, I replaced a rotor and pads on the back. Just what I needed, another job. Anyway the rears are good now, I'll have to look at the fronts.

 

[Mektek]

Replaced a tire.
When I was at the local PYP I noticed a wheel on the ground beside a TB with bright new weights. It was the right size and just a few months old so I figured for less than $20 it would be good to have a spare.
Returning home I noticed that the rear of the truck would shimmy slightly when coming to a stop. Checked the right rear and found a grapefruit diameter bulge at the inner side of the tread face. The steel belts gave way just a few miles from home. That was in an OEM BFG tire which was pretty close to perfect when installed.
So what would have resulted in another shopping trip for a tire turned out to provide its own solution. Using the Harbor Freight tire machine gave me a workout - so far 16 tires changed with it.
Hope the " provider entrada" provides good service.

 

[gmcman]

Man, for all those miles that journal finish looks decent.

Thanks....Yeah....it's better than I thought.....just hoping it's still round....

 

[Sparky]

Got a call from my wife yesterday "truck says service charging system." Uh oh, is the red battery light on? "Yes." Well crap. Went out to Autozone, picked up an alternator, and went to the Kroger parking lot. Gave her the car to get home with our son and her groceries and set about replacing the alternator. Easy peasy, 10 min job... unless you do something retarded like drop the new one while unboxing it and mangle the pulley



Thankfully the old one was working again (for now) so I went to the store and told them what happened and see if they could swap pulley from old to new. They were kind enough to just switch out the alternator. "We understand, been there done that!" Nice. New alt is in and seems to be working fine.

Old alternator had 206k miles and 12 years on it so a good run. It seems it was the source of my bird chirp noise as it was quite squeaky when spinning by hand and the shaft had some play.

 

[gmcman]

Dropped the oil pan off at a local transmission shop to get cleaned up.

 

[xavierny25]

A bunch of random maintenance stuff.... torque this, grease that, check that, fluid levels.



Pics are horrible but swapped the the rear lights on the tbss.



Its f*ck*ng awesome to have access to a shop to tinker in.
Lastly pulled the djm uppers out of the stripper.

 

[Sparky]

Replaced the broken driver door handle finally, and replaced the broken end links. Had to buy one at AAP because I only bought one by mistake (end link kit is only one not two derp). Also replaced the sway bar bushings.

Pretty sure my passenger lower ball joint is the source of the creaky suspension noise that started, but I cannot grease it because the zerk is bad. I remember now that I wasn't able to grease it last time either. Not sure if I can just replace the zerk or if the joint is now going bad. Downside of buying the arms on Amazon a few years ago is I have to go thru them technically for warranty, but there is no option for any sort of returns at this point. Will have to call them I guess. Shipping that arm is gonna be $ ouch.

 

[gmcman]

Removed both trans cooler lines from trans to the junction under the washer tank. I had a very slight leak where the line went into the heat protection tube. Removing the clips at the trans was a treat....what a pita.

Once I removed all four clips I cut the lines with bolt cutters. That way I could get some pliers on the lines near the junction and twist them to finally break them free.

After a couple hours of trying to get the clips removed from the trans....I pretty much felt like this....

 

[Beacon]

Changed rear differential fluid, and the air filter. I meant to take the pic, with it open but got too busy trying to finish the job and forgot, then remembered while i was waiting for my over fill to drain out.

 

[Mounce]

Used it as a truck for the second time after owning it for 18 months...

 

[littleblazer]

Looking good.

 

[BrianF]

Just driving and enjoying it! Ac still blowing icy cold, tracking straight and smooth on the roads. We are expecting rain today so it will get several hundred pounds of bagged feed in it.

 

[Reprise]

Looking good.
View attachment 88740

Looking good, indeed! Did you go Line-X, or Rhino? Or is that something else entirely?


As for me...I got the new tailgate swapped in today on the Sierra, now that the painting is finally (!) done. Broke the bezel that surrounds the handle, when I swapped all the hardware over, but ordered another from Amazon.

Other than that, everything moved over just fine, the rods weren't bent, and the new one closes like a champ, now. Pics will be in my 'help me paint' thread from a couple of weeks ago.

 

[littleblazer]

Looking good, indeed! Did you go Line-X, or Rhino? Or is that something else entirely?


As for me...I got the new tailgate swapped in today on the Sierra, now that the painting is finally (!) done. Broke the bezel that surrounds the handle, when I swapped all the hardware over, but ordered another from Amazon.

Other than that, everything moved over just fine, the rods weren't bent, and the new one closes like a champ, now. Pics will be in my 'help me paint' thread from a couple of weeks ago.

Its "oem"... I'd imagine line-x though. Rhino liner is duller.

 

[xavierny25]

Freshly coated djm uppers went in today.





If a get a good used one I think I'm going to do the front sway bar and bracket just to tie it all together.