Waiting Room

[G-RELL]

http://fortune.com/2015/08/31/best-worst-car-brands-2015-consumer-reports/

 

[1LoudLS]

http://fortune.com/2015/08/31/best-worst-car-brands-2015-consumer-reports/

didn't see that one coming...


suck on that Germans!

however Fiat owning four of the worst five does sound about right...

 

[RigsLS]

Been out kicking some tires as of late ....
This one here has my interests although the asking price is slightly higher then other 2010 models, in line with 2012 models.

2010 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 4x4 w/ lift kit and Off Road tires

V-8 cyl - 5.3L motor

95,577 Kilometres (59388 mi)

Very clean, drives perfect, zero rust, not abused.

skid plates, lift kit, chrome wheels, box liner, power everything.

No remaining power train warranty



They are asking me for an offer as I walked away from it stating that I find it slightly over priced in comparison to 2012 models with remaining power train warranty.




Anyone have anything good or bad to tell me about the 2010 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 4x4 ?

Known issues? Reliablity?

I'm looking at a couple others in the area.

TIA

 

[1LoudLS]

Anyone have anything good or bad to tell me about the 2010 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 4x4 ?

Known issues? Reliablity?

very... one of the simplest and reliable motors out there

if your just driving it or normal light duty truck stuff, the front IFS is fine, but if youre planning to do much off roading and depending on how big the lift and tire combo is, the front might need a bit of strengthening. but luckily its a chevy, options are a plenty...

 

[RigsLS]

Cool, thanks Loud, yeah it wouldn't be for anything serious off roading if at all. More along the lines of moving firewood, couple sheets of drywall, lug around a pressure washer, new Ikea furniture, that kind of thing, couple loads of top soil from time to time. Just hoping to not have to start helping others with moving apartments and such.

My Mechanic by trade friend also says they are rock solid and great motors. I'm set on the Sierra 1500 4X4, so I'm out looking and testing the waters a bit. A bit more seriously this time around. That 97 Maxima is cramping my style and has got to go!

+1

 

[Telco]

Been out kicking some tires as of late ....
This one here has my interests although the asking price is slightly higher then other 2010 models, in line with 2012 models.

2010 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 4x4 w/ lift kit and Off Road tires

V-8 cyl - 5.3L motor

95,577 Kilometres (59388 mi)

Very clean, drives perfect, zero rust, not abused.

skid plates, lift kit, chrome wheels, box liner, power everything.

No remaining power train warranty



They are asking me for an offer as I walked away from it stating that I find it slightly over priced in comparison to 2012 models with remaining power train warranty.




Anyone have anything good or bad to tell me about the 2010 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 4x4 ?

Known issues? Reliablity?

I'm looking at a couple others in the area.

TIA

If it has the AFM, occasionally run fuel cleaner through it. With the VVT, keep decent oil in it and keep it changed. I would also recommend flushing all the Dexcool out first thing and I do mean flush it. Run the cleaner through it, the whole works. I normally use the yellow stuff.

EFI Live or Tunercats are the two best software tuning suites out there. My preference is EFI Live (the one I have) because it lets you change entire segments (it's how I was able to replace the 4L60E with a 4L80E) but Tunercats will allow you to do some work on the body control modules. A friend from another board was able to log into my daughter's BCM on her 2002 Malibu to turn off the PASSKEY system. On those cars, the PASSKEY system has a bad habit of deciding that the key running the car is now a screwdriver, the car is being stolen and it kills the engine even if you're out on the interstate. Ever since the PASSKEY system was shut off her car's been fine.

The 4L60E is the main weak point on the Chevy truck line. The 4L65E is a bit better as it has 5 gears on the output shaft instead of 4, and it has slightly stronger bands inside but it's still a friction band transmission. This was why I replaced mine with a 4L80E. In addition I installed a TCI Low Gear set into mine as the 4L60E has a 3.06 first gear ratio and the 4L80E has a 2.50 first gear ratio. This makes an 80 equipped truck feel like a 60 equipped truck when it takes off in second gear. The low gearset gives you back the 1st gear ratio's acceleration. They offer a 2.75 and a 2.97 first gear ratio. IMO the 2.75 is the better ratio as the 1-2 gear drop is not so extreme.

The stock G80 locking differential is also a POS. What's bad is if the G80 grenades it will take out the sun shell in the 4L60E. First thing you'll want to do is replace that with an Eaton limited slip, or perhaps a Trutrack. You can also use an Auburn LSD. The difference between the Eaton and the Auburn is the Eaton normally runs as an open diff, and will lock the rear wheels together if one starts turning faster than the other. The Auburn keeps the rear wheels locked at all times, but if one starts spinning faster than the other it will unspool and unlock the faster spinning wheel.

I don't know on the GMT900s, but the GMT800s also have an issue with the upper control arm bushings failing and I think the GMT900 uses the same design. Shocking to me, because GM upper control arm bushings normally last the life of the vehicle. I might add though, my uppers didn't go bad until I hit the 250K mile range.

Being up in Canada, inspect the underside for rust paying close attention to the corners and any point where two pieces of metal come together. If you find a no rust truck, consider hitting it with that oil protectant they are supposed to sell up there. The bumpers will also rust from the backside, if they aren't rusty paint them. If you put a bug deflector on the hood and start hearing a fluttering sound at highway speed, it's the seals down the side of the windshield. Get some clear glass seal RTV and glue the flaps down the side of the windshield. The specific windshield seal stuff will glue it down but should still allow them to be removed without damage if the windshield needs to be replaced.

They really are nice rigs. I love my 2000 Silverado reg cab Z71 and have no plans to get rid of it.

 

[RigsLS]

Hey cool beans Telco, I'll follow up next week, just on my way out the door here shortly, back out on tour.

+1 Thanks, I'll get a chance to check on this for sure.

 

[Telco]

No worries, good luck with it.

 

[RigsLS]

Must repost, can't help myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpp2NnaF4Go


Yeah, Ok ... I'm good with every second of that!
​

 

[RigsLS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8LxXIpnX2U
​

 

[RigsLS]

Happy to report to all you smucks, I've already tested out the driving during white-out conditions, not too bad but slow going, fun to watch four wheelers get squirrely down the road. Salt shakers were out also, North up around North Bay Ontario, CDN. Saturday October 17th, 2015, short lived, cleared up 2 hrs later.



'Tis the Season, get ready!

 

[LS4me]

Happy to report to all you smucks, I've already tested out the driving during white-out conditions, not too bad but slow going, fun to watch four wheelers get squirrely down the road. Salt shakers were out also, North up around North Bay Ontario, CDN. Saturday October 17th, 2015, short lived, cleared up 2 hrs later.

View attachment 828473934

'Tis the Season, get ready!

Was visiting our daughter in PHX last weekend.......

It was about 95ºF (35ºC for you guys up nort!) and dry......

 

[FDR]

It just dropped below freezing here in NJ. Currently 28F. wtf happened to Summer? It was the same thing last year. Fall was less than a month long. Is this actually normal behavior that I never noticed before because I only recently acquired a car I have to frequently work on?

 

[Telco]

Currently 69 degrees and beautiful in Tulsa OK right now.

 

[roncoinc]

Currently suppertime here on the east coast.

asked my friend to bring a couple lobstahs for supper.

ate on 4 lb one,,rest on ice,lot's of work tomorrah ,,or invite friends for lunch ?

only about 15 lbs of the things left.

he works at a lobster distributorship in Maine and don't even eat fish !!

i work on the owners and his son's rec boat engines and snowmobile engines,,they tell my friend when i want no problem..

they came out of the ocean this mornin and i got them tonight

 

[jjcool00]

The Boston accent, one of the top 5 reasons I hate living in New England... No better than Staten Island.

 

[roncoinc]

The Boston accent, one of the top 5 reasons I hate living in New England... No better than Staten Island.

I know,them Bostonians all sound like used car salesmen trying to close a deal !

next worse is Joisey
gotta love the laid back mayne accent tho,,soft and comfortable.

 

[FDR]

The Boston accent, one of the top 5 reasons I hate living in New England...

Brah you god it all wrawng, hop in the cah and I'll show yous the reeel Bahstin, from the spaghetting-engineered road system to the collection of overpopulated suburbs we call "the city". Maybe aftah that we'll hit up the aquarium or the coast guard or sumtin

Obligatory "Baby F*ckin Wheel/tOOnah" (lotta cursing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0IQCLQDfKw

next worse is Joisey

As a mildly-offended Jersonian who has spent significant amounts of time in all the important areas, the only people I've ever heard talk with a "Joisey" accent are people making fun of the "Joisey" accent. The "Joisey" accent is more Staten Island/old Brooklyn accent than anything else. Jersey people talk normal. Everyone else is weird. Well, except for when you get closer to Philly and "water" turns into "wood-er".

No better than Staten Island.

For a few years I thought the "OBX" (Outer Banks, NC) stickers on cars were proud Staten Islanders showing off their Outerbridge Crossing heritage

 

[jjcool00]

Nothing better than sounding completely uneducated everywhere you go! I lived in NJ 30+ years and I can say that south Jersey is terrible (accent-wise). North and Central is normal, aside for a few.

I actually knew McGreevy pretty well and used to beg him all the time to close the bridge to Staten Island. He would laugh and think I was joking, but I was dead serious. I wish that whole island would just sink. Sorry for being so opinionated but Staten Island is the trash can of America. There's nothing to be proud about coming from there.

Boston is pretty terrible as well. I see signs all over embracing the accent - things on billboards, ads, etc. I saw a sign on the highway the other day that said "Use Ya Blinkah." My fist started shaking I wanted to punch the person in the face so bad that wrote it. I'm dating a girl now from Boston and I told her if she had the accent it would've been an immediate deal breaker. She doesn't and none of her friends do, and she's lived in Boston her whole life. It's actually less common than most people think - thankfully.

I haven't been to Maine, yet. But everyone here says it's gorgeous and goes up there all the time. It's only 2 hours away from Boston too, pretty close - one day I'll make the trip. Problem is, I barely drive anymore. I moved here last October - 1+ year and have only put 2,000 miles on the LS since. Trains all day.

 

[RigsLS]

'67 Nova being done up, frame up restoration, at my neighbors' shop,
would love to trade my LS, dog & wife for it. I did ask ... not sure why people don't take me seriously,
Don't appreciate being laughed at when I'm being Fn serious about my offers. Like a slap in the face.

 

[FDR]

...I lived in NJ 30+ years and I can say that south Jersey is terrible (accent-wise). ...

...but Staten Island is the trash can of America. There's nothing to be proud about coming from there...

...I'm dating a girl now from Boston and I told her if she had the accent it would've been an immediate deal breaker. She doesn't and none of her friends do, and she's lived in Boston her whole life. It's actually less common than most people think - thankfully...

I haven't been to Maine, yet. But everyone here says it's gorgeous and goes up there all the time. It's only 2 hours away from Boston too, pretty close - one day I'll make the trip.

There's also an east/west gradient in accents in South Jersey, so it's not all bad. Closer to the shore, all the way down to Cape May, people are more normal (though that may have a lot to do with the influx of summer residents). Moving across towards Philly tends to keep a normal accent, but with certain words having a weird pronunciation. "Pretty much Alabama" is really the South-south. That's also where NJ Motorsports Park is located. There's also a cluster around Raceway Park that turns up out of the sticks.



Hey Staten Islanders aren't that bad! That's where I went to meet a guy parting out his LS and he couldn't be bothered to pick up his phone, confirm meeting, or even be at his [parent's] house [and legal residence] instead of his girlfriend's house because he's a strong, independent 19 year old who don't need no mom! And my bitchy boss is from there! Oh wait...

I had lunch in Jamaica Plain [Boston]. The waitress had, I think, a northern west coast accent and every sentence contained "fer sure". I think that was worse.

Go to Maine. Acadia National Park is probably the best park in the Eastern time zone and it's relatively close. I've been there before, but unfortunately had to cut it out of this summer's road trip, along with Moosehead Lake, also in Maine. Moosehead is far enough north and far enough away from lights that it is known as the only place in the continental US where you can consistently see the northern lights, as long as the solar wind is active. At least according to a paid ad post from Land Rover on Jaguar Forums conveniently posted 2 weeks before my trip... Another place was Cherry Spring, PA, with an awesome dedicated star gazing park, which we went to at the peak of a meteor shower.

 

[Upstairs Chris]

Well, in my opinion, the ad men over at Lincoln are certainly earning their paychecks, hopefully we can start bringing the cars up to the same quality soon.

I literally froze in my tracks when this ad came on the other day.

[video=youtube;fakTNw56mw8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fakTNw56mw8[/video]

 

[LS4me]

Big.... Serious question......

On my many travels lately I frequently see lines (like 5 or 6) of tractor-trailers. They seem to follow each other by about 30'. Looks to my like their only view is the back of the trailer in front of them. Is that really the view? Doesn't that get awful boring? Are you drafting? Is there some other benefit?

Thanks!!

 

[RigsLS]

Well for one it's Fn illegal as truck spacing is somewhere around 200 feet on hiways. (don't quote me on that number though, I always know it as about three tractor trailer lengths).
Two main reasons for this, 1) So as other traffic including other tractor trailers can overtake and can fit in between. 2) So as to leave enough room for emergency or sudden braking.

Obviously 5, 6 guys running that close together is not smart, however it is called drafting and they swap lead position from time to time, if at all polite they would distance themselves when doing hill climbs as the lead tractor would then be doing more work while others are tucked in getting pulled uphill at a lesser RPM.

This is all a small fraction of fuel savings but it all helps as far as they are concerned. It's not smart by no means.

When you get to tail another truck, there is a certain distance where the wind turbulence is too great and begins to rock the truck side to side, gets into a wobble, it's not smooth, it's actually fighting it and worse on fuel mileage but they won't hang back the mentioned 200 feet for other varies reasons. One guy might be lighter/heavier then the next guy. On small hills they'd bunch up again.

5 or 6 guys could be jappin on the CB and just get lazy then settle in a drive together for the day like that, others may tuck in behind and join in. The view is not great but the day/miles passes quicker when engaged in conversation with others, next thing you know you're in another part of the country and your done for the day.

When they get to that 30' or even closer, the RPM's literally drop down and is being pulled by the harder working truck up front. If the head winds are real bad, they'll do it more often. I forget the number but after a certain amount of trucks, I think it may be around 6 or so, they begin to call it a convoy which is also illegal nowadays.

For the most part I feel it's a few guys that end up catching up with each other and they may be governed at a certain speed and thus have already establish that passing is going to take for ever, specially with already 4 or 5 guys running in a line. Rather then swapping positions all day, they just tuck in behind and get lazy, foot in the oil pan kinda thing. Won't go any faster so we'll just do this behind the others all day.

It's not that they do it on purpose, it's actually frowned upon to be running too close like that, for the drafting, your ripping the guy ahead of you off and should there be a need to suddenly slow down, it's too close for comfort as reaction time has severely dropped because they got too lazy for too long. Not too mention the up ahead visibility has been reduced to staring at brake lamps, too see if and when they come on. Hard to see in the sun also.

Also, newer model trucks nowadays have that up head collision avoidance, basically a buzzer that goes off when too close to something in the front, they follow at the magic number to keep the buzzer quiet.

I know when I run at night up towards Canada West, it's for the most part two lane highway and the Moose at night is a huge problem, I've seen plenty of Moose coming around the corners where they are just getting back into the ditch, I've also seen plenty of illegal ditch parking going on including whole tractor trailers flipped right over laying sideways across both lanes because they swerved suddenly and lost control. At such travels it's not too smart to be running up tight like that although it happens often.

Myself, I've been known to warn some on the CB, if no response, I've been known to light up the rear wheels to make them Fn back off, next upcoming passing lane, I'd signal them to get ready, wind up their rubber elastic band and sling shoot that set up around me. Get them away from me, They are either dangerous or in too much of a hurry. However, Again, I'd be guilty of doing it myself as well at times. Sometimes you hear on the CB, "Hows your fuel mileage back there?" ... it's a polite way of saying, BACK OFF or GO AROUND!!!!

It's definitely not smart or legal but it get's done all day every day by all, weather permitting. It's mostly done to get out of the turbulence. Too close and it's called drafting which upsets some other drivers, it's a huge safety thing obviously.

Often I look into my drivers side mirror to only see nothing but headlights and I'd already have my foot in it all they way. He's playing gopher back there trying to look around ya because he does want to pass. Getting crazy and angry can only result in tragic accidents, I always remind myself to remain professional and on the straight always help them around by signaling into that lane ones at a time and show them my brake lights. This means, get around me, it's safe to do so, stop ridding my ass!

Other times, I've Fn lost it, I've locked it up once and felt the f*cker kiss the rear end of my trailer, not cool!

But yeah, they get lazy and settle in and run that close all day, they'd have to get even closer then 30' to make a real difference in the drafting for fuel mileage savings.

Enough about trucks and their stupid drivers, I requested the week off and enjoying getting some decent rest and finishing a few things around the house. It's a nice break from driving all night all week.

 

[LS4me]

Well for one it's Fn illegal as truck spacing is somewhere around 200 feet on hiways. (don't quote me on that number though, I always know it as about three tractor trailer lengths).
Two main reasons for this, 1) So as other traffic including other tractor trailers can overtake and can fit in between. 2) So as to leave enough room for emergency or sudden braking.

Obviously 5, 6 guys running that close together is not smart, however it is called drafting and they swap lead position from time to time, if at all polite they would distance themselves when doing hill climbs as the lead tractor would then be doing more work while others are tucked in getting pulled uphill at a lesser RPM.

This is all a small fraction of fuel savings but it all helps as far as they are concerned. It's not smart by no means.

When you get to tail another truck, there is a certain distance where the wind turbulence is too great and begins to rock the truck side to side, gets into a wobble, it's not smooth, it's actually fighting it and worse on fuel mileage but they won't hang back the mentioned 200 feet for other varies reasons. One guy might be lighter/heavier then the next guy. On small hills they'd bunch up again.

5 or 6 guys could be jappin on the CB and just get lazy then settle in a drive together for the day like that, others may tuck in behind and join in. The view is not great but the day/miles passes quicker when engaged in conversation with others, next thing you know you're in another part of the country and your done for the day.

When they get to that 30' or even closer, the RPM's literally drop down and is being pulled by the harder working truck up front. If the head winds are real bad, they'll do it more often. I forget the number but after a certain amount of trucks, I think it may be around 6 or so, they begin to call it a convoy which is also illegal nowadays.

For the most part I feel it's a few guys that end up catching up with each other and they may be governed at a certain speed and thus have already establish that passing is going to take for ever, specially with already 4 or 5 guys running in a line. They just tuck in behind and get lazy, foot in the oil pan kinda thing. Won't go any faster so we'll just do this behind the others all day.

It's not that they do it on purpose, it's actually frowned upon to be running too close like that, for the drafting, your ripping the guy ahead of you off and should there be a need to suddenly slow down, it's too lose for comfort as reaction time has severely dropped because they got too lazy for too long. Not too mention the up ahead visibility has been reduced to staring at brake lamps, too see if and when they come on. Hard to see in the sun also.

Also, newer model trucks nowadays have that up head collision avoidance, basically a buzzer that goes off when too close to something in the front, they follow at the magic number to keep the buzzer quiet.

I know when I run at night up towards Canada West, it's for the most part two lane highway and the Moose at night is a huge problem, I've seen plenty of Moose coming around the corners where they are just getting back into the ditch, I've also seen plenty of illegally ditch parking going on including whole tractor trailers flipped right over laying sideways across both lanes because they swerved suddenly and lost control. At such travels it's not too smart to be running up tight like that although it happens often.

Myself, I've been known to warn some on the CB, if no response, I've been know to light up the rear wheels to make them Fn back off, next upcoming passing lane, I'd signal them to get ready, wind up their rubber elastic band and sling shoot that set up around me. Get them away from me, They are either dangerous or in too much of a hurry. However, Again, I'd be guilty of doing it myself as well at times. Sometimes you hear on the CB, "Hows your fuel mileage back there?" ... it's a polite way of say, BACK OFF or GO AROUND!!!!

It's definitely not smart or legal but it get's done all day every day by all, weather permitting. It's mostly done to get out of the turbulence. Too close and it's called drafting which upsets some other drivers, it's a huge safety thing obviously.

Often I look into my drivers side mirror to only see nothing but headlights and I'd already have my foot into all they way. He's playing gopher back there trying to look around ya because he does want to pass. Getting crazy and angry can only result in tragic accidents, I always remind myself to remain professional and on the straight always help them around by signaling into that lane ones at a time and show them my brake lights. This means, get around me, it's safe to do so, stop ridding my ass!

Other times, I've Fn lost it, I've locked it up once and felt the f*cker kiss the rear end of my trailer, not cool!

But yeah, they get lazy and settle in and run that close all day, they'd have to get even closer then 30' to make a real difference in the drafting for fuel mileage savings.

Enough about trucks and their stupid drivers, I requested the week off and enjoying getting some decent rest and finishing a few things around the house. It's a nice break from driving all night all week.

Thanks for that!! Yeah, they were definitely less than 200'! I also saw one guy almost run a girl driving a newer Explorer into the soft, center median. He changed lanes into her when she was abeam the trailer's tires! Go, then blink! Then, when she was able to go past he let her know she was #1! What a jerk!