Austin66

First impressions compared to the 19 Ram 6.4 cc/lb we had for a few years. On the positive, turning radius and suspension around corners is way better than the tradesman which was the biggest *MFer* about driving that thing to jobs around town in sketchy u-turn or turnaround situations. Its also a little bit lower to the ground so the boss doesn't need the steps installed like before which is nice. The embedded step on the side and rear corners is also much welcomed although I wish they put that side step closer toward the rear wheel because with a toolbox door open its sort of awkward with it right in your face fetching stuff out of the box. On the negative, I don't know if its sloppy converter/converter tuning, or bad trans gearing but honestly, the Ram felt faster and snappier when you floored it while at speed or from a dead stop. The tradesman brand new and not outfitted, went a bit sideways into 3rd gear on crappy base trim tires and that thing weighed considerably more than this truck off the lot. The 6.6 sounds strong but its almost like somethings holding it back and it fells like its in the trans but what do I know. This, apparently, is a new Allison 10 speed. I bet that thing gobbles up all kinds of potential power but hopefully lives forever. We're not racing it, its a work truck so its peppy enough to get the job done. Also, theres more gizmos and gadgets and places to put things on the inside with the tradesman than the WT. We work out of our truck all day so places to put things easily accessible kinda matters. The sensor alerts seem annoying and useless but maybe they'll save our lives some day. Unsure on that. And lastly, I know its a WT but I was kinda pissed they didn't make auto folding mirrors a std feature. Come on! Big dumbo ears, every time we park tight or go through a bank teller drive-through. Ok, here we go, windows down, fold the mirrors in, do our business, expand them back out, windows up. Annoying PITA! Thats my review and comparison. Take it or leave it.

So I didn't update what was going on because I didn't want to jinx us but we got a truck Saturday. The LT truck fell through, because once again, someone wasn't doing their job upstream. Same day the LT fell through, Kevin (fella I was coordinating with) found a WT, which is really all we wanted to begin with. $52k and some change out the door hauled down and dropped off to our drive way.

I've probably called 9 or 10 dealers in a 1000 mile radius. Every single one in inventory based on that search criteria has already been bought by fleet companies before they hit the ground. Chevrolet.com is not doing a very good job of updating their inventory. Even asked chevy fleet reps 500 miles away to do an internal radius search. And then finally, its not a WT but an LT and its not 2023 but 2024, but they found one and they're holding it for us and will be released from their regional facility fairly soon (we hope). $5k more than a WT but we'll take what's out there because there is basically nothing out there in that style unless we want to wait months and months, which we don't. Big ups to Kevin Walker at CarolinaWorkTrucks.com And thank you guys for opening things up so atleast I can call around and ask questions and get more info.

So newdude, I only changed your search criteria to 4x4 only. The first row has two listings that doesn't have the "Explore Payment Options" button but they both have 'WT FLEET CONVENIENCE PACKAGE'. Are they spoken for in transit to a new owner or are they getting rigged out for fleet and/or commercial? Thanks.

Wow man, thank you! No, I'm in N. FL. I don't want to say where because as disappointed as I've been with this dealership publicly, they might be servicing our vehicle at some point! We're willing to take a road trip though if it saves us a little. I'll check out your search buildup and get on this tomorrow afternoon.

How? Do you mean under 'view inventory'? My local dealers so-called inventory pops up in a refined search on chevrolet.com under 'view inventory', but again, they don't even hit the lot before they leave and get outfitted with a commercial bed and now its their commercial or fleet arm that sells them and its big corps that buy them up. Very frustrating. Maybe I should contact chevrolet directly? Never seen such dishonestly in online vehicle listings before.

The boss had an accident with a 2019 Ram 6.4 hemi cc/lb tradesman 4 months before now. Totaled. Just got a check cut for $43k from insurance for that. The cc/lb for us was horrible coming from an 07 2500 5.7 Ram sc/lb before that. Turning radius was hideous. Had to make 3 point turns turning around in most cul-de-sacs. We realized we don't need or have a 'crew'. Just need enough space to throw stuff behind our seat that doesn't need to get wet. Ford and GM are the only ones left that offer that setup and now GM seems to be cutting it loose. Blows my mind this config is getting fazed out and is now a custom order.

So with basically no research other than whats on my local dealers website and cargurus.com with stock images on the listings for both (which it seems are both BS), I had my heart set on a 2023 base model dbl cab, long bed 4wd gasser. My local Chevy dealer said, 'oh no, those "coming soon" models go directly to our commercial contracting company and the beds get changed out for the bulky Readings outfittings or flat beds or whatever...which I don't want. I want a normal 8ft bed with dbl cab and in a gasser. So riddle me this, if I see a listing for my obscure specs, is it always going to be a outfitted commercial truck? This has been very confusing for me. I went across town to the gmc dealer (same owner). The fella was super informative. He basically said unless you're a big fleet company that wants many of those base model long bed configs, you're not going to find that for retail and it will have to be a custom order, which Chevrolet no longer accepts dlb cab, long bed config on their website but GMC does and he said its a 3-4 month wait. Is any or all of that true? Crazy for me that config is being fazed out or now I have to custom order it. I guess its now considered a unicorn.

Wait, so if you disable DoD you can maintain proper vacuum and delete the pump?

You shouldn't even bother comparing BBPs two dyno tests on the Jr. Way too many variables at play here and I'm not even talking about the filter element. You have to take the metal mounting bracket out for the Volant box so I doubt thats what he disqual'd them on but I am curious to know too. I think the S&B has the best overall design just by looking at it mainly because you can shoehorn the biggest conical filter in there. It also doesn't have that ridiculous bell-shaped transition trying to increase pressure/airflow before tapering to the TB (AFE doesn't have it either). What I don't like about it or any of the enclosed CAI styles is the stupid clear window lid. Thats a noise/vibration maker. I cut an 1/8 thick aluminum piece for my Volant lid and smeared sound deadening mat material on it and it improved noise/vibration significantly. I was going to make a thread on what I did to quiet my Volant down but got some idiot comment right out of the gates in this thread so I thought why bother.

Because the 6.2L is dangerous as is and CAI makers don't want to be liable for possible accidents caused by the power increase. But no seriously, its just silicon transition coupler. 3.5" to 3" I believe?

Post pics of the internal baffling when you get a chance

I'm in the process of trying to solve CAI noise on these trucks. With my Volant and its POS design, the first ingredient was isolating the airbox from the fenderwell metal. After installing a foam lining, vibration went down pretty significantly. My theory is most of the other noise comes from the reverberation of noise from the hollow fenderwell area itself. I think it really amplifies it throughout the cab. If I ever get some effing time off soon, I'm going to stuff it with blankets. If that makes even an inkling of difference, I'm going to line it with sound deadening material. We'll see.

I've driven for a bit with a bent pushrod on a street/strip car. It was noisy and down on power a bit but still driveable. Mine was caused by valve float though (piston kissed a valve). I'm beginning to think the valve springs on 6.2s is more suspect then the afm lifters. Not saying I wouldn't take one in a heartbeat but the first day outside warranty I'd be looking at upgrading the valvetrain.

I would like to hear about this oil galley screen if someone has vids/pics etc about it. Thanks.

That was part of the reason I decided to manually clean. I was concerned about too much junk getting sucked into the cc. Would CRC/seafoam/etc be effective enough to do this? I don't know and I honestly didn't want to find out. I can tell you while the non-afm valves were lightly coated with sludge, the base of the afm valve stems were completely caked. It was hideous. Easily took me 3-4 times as long to completely clean.

Yes...foldable, non-detachable straw so it doesn't get sucked in the engine lol

The CRC is made for the exact issue this thread is about: oil coking/buildup on the back of direct injection valves. Its like a couple bucks more than the seafoam aerosal. Just get it.

Unfortunately, no I didn't take pics. There've been a few users on here that have taken pics with trucks in the 40-60k mileage range. It basically looked like that so I didn't see the point. I did spic n span on the first valve and port and after that said screw the port and just did the valves lol. It was taking alot of time. Not to mention, the back 2 valves, if you don't have a borescope, you have to jam your head in an inch from the port to look inside. Not fun.

Extensive yes, but not complicated. First, you have to remove the intake obviously. Removing the intake is easier once you realize the intake comes off first and then the cover. Theres plastic pins on the cover that secures the harness and getting the back ones disconnected are damn near possible unless the intake is off first. Theres usually 4 valves open and 4 closed at any given time. Tape off the ones that are open. I started off using a 9.5" hook and pick set, a borer brush and long flat screwdriver but ended up using just the hook/pick set. I soaked with CRC GDI and finished with carb cleaner. I tried cleaning out with a shop vac and blowing with compressed air but the vac wasn't thorough enough and the compressed air made too much of a mess so I used blue shop towels in 1/8 slices. Soak>scrape>soak>wipe out.....Soak>scrape>soak>wipe out....repeat until clean. Rotate the crank for the other valves. Repeat. Done.

Why would a vendor go through all that and who would believe them any way? Over the holidays, I manually cleaned my valves and installed a catch can right after. I had 45k miles and they were pretty nasty esp the afm valves. Easily picked up 1-1.5mpg at highway speeds off the bat and its getting even better as the ECU relearns (I disconnected battery). In my opinion, the sprays won't do much if you have some mileage.

Get the CRC GDI IVD cleaner.

Is your a truck the 2015 2500 in your sig? Install them and see. If you experience problems, Tuff Country sells nice flat 2" block with ears for 2500s.

The leveling on my truck made the noise worse. Thats why it seems to be spring against dampner. Like metal against plastic and/or composite. I need to attach a GoPro to it or something.

Thanks. I'll check this out with a friend.