bc-chris' 2014 Silverado SLZ Z71

[bc-chris]

ok.... a couple of 'how to' posts with respect to making the LEDs blue. as mentioned previously, i just put a piece of blue gel (filament) over top of the LED. you could always purchase blue LEDs, remove the white ones and solder new blue ones on, but that's a lot of time and if you ever want to go back to stock, removing some gels is a LOT easier than redoing all the LEDs

 

so here we go.... start with the easiest first - the rear doors

 

you need to remove the light grey trim piece...

 

i can't recommend enough to get a trim removal tool set (or whatever it is called). for around $20 these things are worth every penny... well.. in canada i guess we should say nickle since the government toasted the penny a while back, but whatever, you know what i mean!

 

start by carefully prying from the bottom

 

the piece will start to 'pop' away revealing the 'alligator' retaining clips.

 

remove the trim piece. if any of the retaining clips stay in the door remove them and put them back on the trim piece

 

there is a little clasp/latch thing at the end you need to push in to be able to pop out the housing

 

push it in and the housing will lift out

 

disconnect the wires. then you need to slide a flat screw driver down the sides of the housing to pop out the module

 

 

then slide the flat screw driver down the sides of the module to pop it open

 

once you are in the module, roll back the white 'rubbery' membrane to reveal the LED

 

a small piece of blue gel and a bit of tape to hold the gel in place

 

and then pretty much just work backwards putting everything back together to get this

[bc-chris]

next is the front doors. the driver's and passenger's door are pretty much the exact same, except the drivers door just has more stuff to come out

 

this is the passenger side (mostly becuz i didn't take pics when i did the driver's side!)

 

just like the back doors, you need to start by removing the grey trim piece

 

use the pry tools to pop the piece free. this piece of trim has a bunch of clips holding it in, so be patient and don't break your trim piece!!

 

 

the 4 retaining clips stayed in the door when i took of my trim - make sure to remove them and put them on the trim piece before you reinstall the trim!

 

there are 4 7mm screws holding in the white piece to the armrest so remove the screws

 

once the screws are out the arm rest piece will lift out. there is a little clasp thing at the one but it pops quite easily

 

then disconnect the wires

 

the door lock module has a little red part that needs to slide out first before you can remove the wires. i needed to use a flat screw driver to slide it

 

remove the door lock module from the housing by sliding a flat screw driver between the housing and the modue

 

then slide the small flat screw driver down the sides of the module to pop it open

 

remove the white rubbery piece to reveal the LED

 

cover the LED with blue gel

 

put the white rubbery part back on and it secures the gel

 

reassemble the door locking module by working in reverse

 

 

onto the front window.... slide a small flat screw driver in between the window module and the housing to pop out the module

 

there are 2 screws on the back of the module, you need to remove them first

 

once the 2 screws are out, slide the small flat screw driver down the slides of the module to pop it open

 

then you can see the LED

 

remove the white rubbery part

 

cover the LED with the gel and reassemble the module by working in reverse.

 

now the front passenger's side went from this....

 

to this....

Edited September 17, 2016 by bc-chris

[bc-chris]

ok - the center console/entertainment/hvac stuff

 

this one took the longest, but mostly becuz i didn't have a clue how to deal with the knobs... but we'll get to that.

 

first thing is to pop off the trim piece - it's only held in by retaining clips and with the pry-tool it pops out quite easily. once it's popped away from the dash, release the harnesses that go to the heated/air seat controls

 

 

using a small flat screw driver, slide it down the side of the hosing to pop out the heated seat control module and like with the other stuff previously, slide the screw driver down the side of the module to pop it open.

once it's open you can see the LEDs. i just blued the white LEDs and left the orange and red hot/cool indicators their stock colour as they are not illuminated unless the heated/cooled seat is turned on. instead of taping the gel to the circuit board, it was easier to just cut tiny pieces and put them inside the rubbery overlay piece.

 

 

 

then just reassemble the module and reinstall it back into the trim piece. the driver's and passenger's side modules are done the same way.

 

then i wanted to do the 3 auxiliary buttons under the hvac controls (leave the stuff with the knobs 'til the end!). to remove that from the dash first you have to remove the touch screen, radio and hvac controls - they come out as one unit. if i recall correctly they are held in with 4 7mm screws/bolts. there are also 2 retaining clips on either side of the radio controls that hold the unit to the dash

 

 

now that that is out of the way you can get to the auxiliary switches. there are a total of 3 bolts holding them in (i think all 7mm). one on each side of the unit and one at the center top (which was hidden behind the touch screen/hvac unit)

 

slide a flat screw driver down the back of the module to slowly pop it open

 

once it's open you can see the LEDs

 

there are 4.... LED1, 2, 3 & 7. LED7 is orange and the indicator that your cargo lamp is on - i left it orange

 

pop the module back together

 

 

 

now for the 'fun' stuff...

the first thing i did was pop out the hvac controls. a small flat screw driver between the module and the housing and it pops out

 

i left the hvac stuff for later

 

 

then i removed the screws from the back plate that secures the touch screen and the entertainment controls (i think there were 13 screws). there is a circuit board on top that has 2 ribbons attached to it. you need to be able to move the board, so carefully disconnect the ribbons

 

once the ribbons are disconnected you can remove the entertainment controls

 

the entertainment module is pretty much held together by the knobs and they were a pain to get out. there is the part at the base of the knob that glows (it's a fairly clear plastic 'ring'). i pried it up and then rotated it a bit so i could see the tabs inside the knobs that were keeping everything in place. i very carefully started prying them up (you can feel the knob start to lift). i worked my way around the knob a couple of times and eventually the knob popped out. once the knob was out i popped out the center cap of the knob (the part with the power/menu text on it)

 

there are lots of LEDs to blue out...

 

 

 

the only LEDs i didn't cover were the ones that illuminate the power/menu caps. for that it was a lot easier to pop the cap open and use double sided clear tape and a piece of gel and put it inside the cap

 

then just put everything back together

 

 

then the hvac controls. this thing gave me a headache! the biggest thing is TAKE YOUR TIME!!!

 

so this is what you start with....

 

the first thing i did was remove the 'chrome' rings from around the auto/sync knobs. they pry up and do slide over the knobs. it's an extremely tight fit. these rings are just chrome covered plastic so be careful. i'm sure they'd break easy (i got mine out ok, but they didn't feel overly strong). the next thing i did was slide a flat screw driver down the sides to pop the module out of the housing. this is the point where i got stuck for quite a while. if you push on the auto/sync knobs you and feel that they want push thru, but the circuit board is stuck. at first i thought it was the trim around the a/c, cabin air, air flow buttons that was holding things up, but it's not. it's the center fan power button. with a small thin flat screw driver very carefully start prying around the black rubbery base of the knob. eventually it will pop up. once the rubbery part comes off, you can remove the face plate to reveal this...

 

using the same small flat screw driver carefully pop out the auto and sync buttons. i also popped out the 'smoked' screens that are above the auto/sync buttons, but i don't think you need to do that. then start covering up the LEDs. like with the other knobs, it was a lot easier to put a blue gel in the cap of the 'fan power' button. it was also a lot easier to put a blue gel on the inside of the auto/sync button rather than try and cover the LEDs

 

once everything is blued out put it back together. i did find it was better to install the 'chrome' rings back into the faceplate before putting the faceplate over the auto/sync knobs.

 

then put the entire center console back together and reinstall it into the truck. so i went from this....

 

to this....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cbrsilv15]

Great write up!!!

[TXTruk15]

awesome write ups!

[bc-chris]

thanks guys

 

more write ups coming - just been really busy. i used to have sooooo much more free time before 2 kids

[TXTruk15]

I know what you mean after three of my own - looking at the picture of them, I think they're almost ready to assist you in modifications

[bc-chris]

both of them LOVE sitting (actually... more of a 'bouncing') in the driver's seat - it's sooooo much fun!

 

it's fun having the 3 year old around but she is constantly asking questions when i'm doing stuff. i give her the answer, then i get an, 'ohhhhhhhhh!' ha! ha! then another question and usually inquires if one of her stuffed teddy bears can help too! ha!

[bc-chris]

overhead console how to....

 

first you have to get access to the center part - it's really easy - open the sunglasses storage and pry down at the front. this will pop down the center part of the overhead console

 

 

 

as you can see it's only held in with little plastic tabs

 

 

disconnect the wiring harnesses from the modules in the center piece. i had a really hard time with the 'garage door' module and couldn't get the wiring harness out, so i just removed the screws and left the harness in the module.

 

 

 

the first thing i did (becuz it was the easiest) was to cover the little white glowing LED in the pic above. i'm not sure what that light is called, but it (dimly) glows down on the cup holder area (i didn't even know it was a light when i first got my truck! ha!). i just covered the LED with some blue gel (sorry, no pic... but pretty self explanatory)

 

the first module i tackled was the sunroof. you have to remove a couple of torx screws and then slide a small flat screw driver between the housing and the module to pop it open

 

once inside, cover up the LEDs with the blue gel

 

then reassemble the module

 

 

next is the cabin light/door light switch. pop the module out of the overhead center piece by sliding a small flat screw driver between the housing and the module

 

and then slide the flat screw driver between the switch housing and the switch module and pop it out

 

cover up the LED

 

and reassemble the module.

 

 

the final one is the garage door module. like i mentioned above, i couldn't get the wiring harness to release from the module, but that was fine - the LEDs would have been too much of a pain to cover so i just put some blue gel inside the back of the actual buttons with some double sided tape

 

 

the next thing was the cabin light buttons. the first thing to do is to remove the 2 screws holding the overhead console to the cieling

 

once the screws are removed the overhead console will pop down. it is also held up with a couple retaining clips. in the pic below, you can see the blue gel i used to cover the LED cabin lights

 

like with everything else, pop the cabin light switch module out with a flat screw driver, then pop open the modules and cover the LEDs (sorry - no pics)

 

the overhead console went from this....

 

to this....

Edited September 25, 2016 by bc-chris

[bc-chris]

the rear view mirror...

 

so this one i was nervous about. i didn't want to damage/break my mirror! i watched a bunch of videos on how to replace the auto dimming part of the mirror, but only the first couple minutes to see how to actually get into the mirror. in a nutshell - wedge a flat screw driver in the plastic seam and twist. you will damage the plastic, i don't know how you wouldn't - so i started on the top of the mirror since you can't see the top side of the mirror when sitting in your truck

 

 

just keep working your way across the top edge and it will pop open

 

like i said - you will do a little damage, but once reinstalled back in the truck you never see the top of the mirror

 

i did switch to a pry-tool for the sides and bottom (you can't really use it until the top part of the mirror is popped open). it's a lot more gentle on the plastic. i popped both sides then worked my way towards the bottom center of the mirror

 

 

once the plastic housing has been removed you can get inside the mirror and to the 3 buttons. be careful as there are a couple of wires connected to the auto-dimming mirror. i just moved the mirror a bit to get access to the buttons

 

the LEDs are behind the buttons so i just 'folded' the buttons out of the way. you can see the 4 LEDs below

 

cover up the LEDs with blue gel

 

and put the buttons back

 

carefully put the mirror back together and then pop the plastic housing back together. as i mentioned before - there is a little damage on top, but it's not noticeable once the mirror was reinstalled

 

 

the mirror went from this....

 

to this....

Edited September 24, 2016 by bc-chris

[bc-chris]

now the steering wheel - it was a bit of a pain in the butt!!

 

a great video to see how to get stuff off the wheel is here:

 

Jorge has a bunch of great videos on youtube - i've watched tons of them many times! a great help (and he's on this forum too!)

 

first thing to do is disconnect the battery and pop the airbag fuse.... you don't want to trigger the airbag in the steering wheel

 

the airbag fuse is on the driver's side panel. pop the panel (it's just held in with retaining clips)

 

 

their is a 'fuse map' on the panel that gets removed. the airbag fuse on my truck is in the third column, 4th fuse down. there is a fuse removal tool on the panel - as seen below on the airbag fuse

 

remove the fuse

 

wait a bit before tackling the steering wheel for any residual power in the truck to be gone. i heard anywhere from 20 seconds to 15 minutes.... so i went inside and re-watched the video i posted above!

 

the first thing to do is pop out the 'paddles' on the back of the steering wheel. they just pry/pop out

 

there is no need to remove the paddles, just move them out of the way

 

there is a t-20 torx bolt on the back of the steering wheel. the cruise control torx was brutal to get out (it felt like it had been cross threaded), the one holding in the other module (the info stuff) came out no problem

 

once the torx bolt is out the top part of the trim is moveable

 

slowly work the top part of the trim out of the wheel - it's a pain!

 

then using a 'panel popping' tool, pop the bottom part of the trim out of the wheel

 

get the top part completely out from behind the horn, then continue working the bottom

 

eventually it will come out (did i mention it's a pain!)

 

 

disconnect the wiring harness from the module. then there are 5 torx bolts to remove. the 3 outer bolts are t-10. the inner 2 are t-9s (becuz why on earth would they want to make them all the same??) start with the 3 t-10s to free the module from the trim

 

 

once the module is out, then remove the 2 t-9 torx bolts

 

 

once the bolts are out, slide a flat screw driver down the back side to pop the module out of the housing

 

 

identify the LEDs and get the blue gels put over them

 

 

reassemble everything

 

now - getting the trim back into the steering wheel was tough, but it did go back in eventually

 

the steering wheel went from this....

 

to this...

 

 

 

 

***i forgot to mention that after i reconnected the battery and turned on the truck my external temp on the touch screen showed 0C. apparently this is 'normal' (did a quick search on gm-trucks.com and lots of guys have noticed the same thing after the battery had been disconnected). i went to take the truck for a spin later in the evening and the temp was reading the correct outside temp

Edited September 25, 2016 by bc-chris

[bc-chris]

i plasti dipped the 'lettering' on my front doors and tailgate. i also dipped the red "z" on the z71 emblem on the grille

 

 

 

 

 

 

i like it. i don't mind the chrome, but i think i like it better black. i was going to debadge the truck but this was easier, faster and i don't mind the lettering at all

[bc-chris]

and a little sunset shoot from last night

 

[bc-chris]

nothing too crazy this past weekend.....

 

covered the chevy bowtie on the steering wheel with some black vinyl

 

 

 

and made some covers for the cross member pipes under the box...

 

 

 

 

*** credit to HoosierZ for the cross member plug idea! i know i can buy some on ebay or amazon, but by the time they get shipped to canada (shipping, exchange, duty/customs) it's well over $30 for a set, which is crazy

[bc-chris]

chrome overlays for my grill arrived today!!

 

overlays:

 

stock:

 

installed

 

 

i really like the look

 

the top overlay was a bit of a pain to get the one side to snap on. i ended up shaving just a hair off the grill where the overlay clipped in on the right hand side, but other than that it was perfect

 

i got the overlay here: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/321471469054

Edited October 3, 2016 by bc-chris