msg122

Hey everybody. I'm finding some great tips and information in this thread that hopefully I can apply to my situation. I'm the original owner of my 2014 GMC Sierra 1500. It has 220k miles on it. All highway commuting and never towed. Just hauling stuff in the bed. I've followed all the GM service recommendations and recalls. After my warranty expired, I found a mechanic shop that specializes in GM and AC Delco parts. This truck has never been a smooth shifter and I've learned to deal with it, but in the past couple of months I began to feel a shudder when shifting. It's always right between 1600-2000 rpms. At stop lights it will start to roll like its in neutral and I'll have to feather the brake and gas a little bit to get it in gear, similar to manual transmission. Once the truck is rolling it shifts fine between the rest of the gears. The same goes for reverse too. I'm not in a position to buy a new vehicle at the moment. Which also means I don't have the money for a replacement transmission. All things have a shelf life and its an 9 year old truck with 220k miles so I'm being realistic here, but can I salvage this? I've done some searching on this site and I've see owners post about similar problems and claiming a new torque converter usually does the trick. I have the money to spend on a new torque converter, but I can't afford to keep taking it back and forth to a shop to continue diagnosing the problem. I just wish I knew that was problem and can be fixed. I've also see a ton of posts about switching transmission fluids, throwing in additives etc. You can really go down a rabbit hole in terms of solutions and it gets a bit overwhelming. Can anyone offer up any advice, tips, personal experiences? I love my truck. I'm the one owner and I've racked up all the 220,000+ miles on her. Don't want to get rid of it just yet guys.

That sucks you're having to put up with that. My girlfriend says the same thing about my truck. "Damn it's sexy, but holy shit does it suck." Don't get me wrong GM does make some great stuff. The LS series of engines are legendary in their own right. GM has really mastered the small-block V8. I just expect more for my money that's all. In comparison I feel the Tundra is more analog. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles. The design is definitely dated, but I guess that's why I find it appealing. Just a basic truck. Less to go wrong. I wish you the best of luck with your future vehicle and thanks for the response.

Hey everybody, Long-time lurker. First-time poster. I've never been much of a forum guy mainly because I don't have the time to browse, but after experiencing the first round of recalls, I came across this website it's been a very helpful community so I thank you all for the content. I'll try to be thorough with my experience to help out other owners. I have a 2014 Sierra Reg. Cab SLE with the 5.3. It currently has 110,00 miles and still ticking. It's my daily driver and I plan on running it into the ground. I purchased the truck for 40k brand new in the summer of 2014. This is my first truck since my old '88 GMC I had back in highschool. For recalls I've had two recalls on the seatbelt tensioner. A recall on the airbags not deploying. Then there was a recall on that airbag recall because the updated software didn't fix the problem the first time. Finally I've had a recall on the trailer hitch having a bad weld. These were all before 50k miles. I've had the radiator replaced before 50k. A cylinder misfire around 80k. I've replaced the bulbs for the headlights because they're pretty much like candles up front and I noticed the dampening system for the tailgate doesn't work as well as it used to. Other than that, this truck has been reliable. I've shared similar complaints of other owners for this generation (HD radio can't keep a signal, lethargic power delivery, shaking around 70 mph, clunky transmission, very stiff suspension with the Z71 package). Those issues haven't kept me making it from point A to point B so I've learned accept them as part of the ownership experience. Despite that being said, this truck is a disappointment from a price stand point. For the money, I expect much more in terms of build quality. After 3-4 years of ownership and 110k miles of highway driving, the amount of rust underneath is depressing. I live in the northeast so road salt is an issue, but I've owned used vehicles with less rust. I take very good care of all my vehicles, but I feel like this one is a losing battle. The interior door panels are starting to come off, the steering wheel has wear and tear and is starting to fade. The stitching on the steering wheel and dash is coming undone. I just expected more for the price. Would I buy again? I don't know. I mostly haul things in the bed, not tow and I travel long distances. I need reliability above anything else. Value is big too. 40k can get you a lot of car from different manufacturers. I've look at Fords and the transmission issues I've read about in their other vehicles scare me away. The Ram, especially the EcoDiesel sounded very appealing at first, but after checking the Ram forums they sound much worse off than us. That leaves Toyota and Nissan. I appreciate the Ridgeline for what it is, but the bed is too shallow. A bunch of my co-workers have Tundras. They've tried every other manufacturer out their and have now settled on Toyotas. Toyota might be the way to go. Someone on here mentioned a Lexus LX or a Toyota Land Cruiser. I know those will last a lifetime, especially the Land Cruiser. It's the last hand built Toyota model in their line up. It's no wonder everybody from ISIS to the U.N. swears by them. Sorry for rambling and thanks for reading.