Newbie Questions

thruxton · November 13, 2009

Hello,

I have had work trucks (fords and rams) for many years but recently decided I wanted a truck of my own to haul my motorcycles around in a trailer. Now I dont need to spend a lot to get a truck that can pull a bike trailer but I decided I wanted to get something nice. After test driving the new fords, rams and tundras I found that the Silverado LTZ, crew cab Z71 was the truck for me, by far and away the most comfortable truck I drove.

I have had her for about two weeks now and there a few questions I have..

1) The active fuel management seems to jump between v8 and v4 quite quickly, when I am on the highway I like to set the cruise at around 120kmh and 130kmh, but it takes a long time for the truck to drop into v4. If I start to climb a hill, as expected the truck goes into v8 but as I crest the hill and flatten out, it takes quite a bit of time to drop back down to v4. Is there a way to tweak this behavior? Can I tell the computer to try to stay in v4 as much as possible? Or, is the computer doing whats best for the truck and keeping the rpm's around 2000 while switching between v4 and v8? (basically should I not worry about it!)

2) Maintenance.... I fully intend to bring the truck to the dealer for its scheduled maintenance, but what are some of the little extra things I should be doing that the dealer wont or is not covered in the manual? For example, Im told that the spare tire should be cranked down and lubricated once in a while just because of its location it will tend to seize and rust, what other little tips are there like this?

3) Navigation.... The one thing I wouldn't mind is the GMC nav system, with the map, hooked to onstar, coupled with a better sat radio (the stock one dosent do artist alerts for example) but I called the dealer today and he told me they wanted $3800 CDN for the radio and installation! After I stopped laughing I told him thanks but no thanks. Are there any aftermarket nav systems that work with onstar and xmradio?

4)Fuel... I dont drive my truck to and from work (my company has a shitty ram as my work truck) so its not going to see a lot of miles...because of that I put premium gas all the time, but really, is it worth it? I have no problem paying extra for premium but will it in the long run be better for my engine?

5) Mods.... what are the most common mods you guys do, what are the `essential' mods? Right now the truck is beautiful, I would love a better tuned exhaust for instance but it dosent make sense to tear out a brand new stainless exhaust just to pick up a few more HP and a better sound..or does it?

thanks for the help!

Peter

SeirraRR · November 13, 2009

Congrats on the new truck and welcome to the site.

greggyd12 · November 13, 2009

I can answer your navigation question. I offer the exact same factory navigation for GM. This is not a knock off. It is the EXACT same kit they were trying to sell you for 3800.00. Only My kit is 1500.00 complete. I give you the navigation unit with DVD built in, owners manual, navigation disc, gps antenna, harness pack, everything.

I can also tell you how to put it in only about 45 minutes. Its a very straight forward install. if your interested let me know.

99silveradoz71 · November 13, 2009

Welcome. Check out Blackbear performance for info about a tune. That would improve the driveability of your truck as well as possibly adjust the afm for better mileage.

greggyd12 · November 13, 2009

Also, being that the unit and integration is completely u will keep all of your features. Xm, onstar, bluetooth(if u have it), back up sensors....everything.

Thx and let me know if u have more questions or want to arrange one. Greg D