HoosierZ

I had the same complaints with my 2016. I have a Hypertech Max Energy programmer. The throttle response and shift response adjustments made the biggest difference and make the truck enjoyable to drive. It no longer feels neutered and it actually goes when I push the gas pedal down instead of it hesitating. Turning off the AFM made virtually no difference at all in my gas mileage.

My ‘94 K1500 was the Silverado trim package and it didn’t have keyless entry so I don’t think it was an option in ‘94. I added keyless entry with an aftermarket kit.

My truck has the aluminum arms. Two days after I bought it new, I put on a 2” level lower spacer. The spacers were 1” tall. At full suspension droop, the upper control arms were within 1/16” of touching the stops on the frame. I put 59,000 mi on with that setup until I went to the Eibach Pro Truck Lift setup at the lowest setting of 2-1/2”. The front shocks are 1” longer, so at full droop, the upper control arms are still about 1/16” from touching the frame stops. The truck now has 68,000 mi. I plan on keeping the stock arms until the ball joints show wear. Then, I’ll go to aftermarket UCAs.

Amazon Mcmaster-Carr Rivnut is a brand name. Search for “rivet nut”.

The Rivnut kit isn’t needed. The inserts can be installed with just a bolt, nut and washer. 1. Run the nut up onto the bolt 2. Slip the washer on the bolt 3. Screw the bolt into the rivet nut up to the washer and nut 4. Slip the rivet nut into the hole 5. Hold the bolt head with one wrench while tightening the nut against the rivet nut. This will crush the rivet nut just like the special rivet nut tool will.

A Rivnut would probably work too depending on how thick the crossmember is.

Black Rhino Lucerne. I bought them back in 2013 and they discontinued them shortly after.

I have the Hypertech Max Energy 2.0. My truck is a 2016 w/ 5.3L and 6L80 trans. I wanted a programmer to improve the drivability, not necessarily improve mileage. The throttle response and shift response adjustments made the biggest difference in the drivability. I no longer have to stomp the pedal to the floor to get it to downshift to pass on the highway. I used it to turn off the AFM and the mileage didn’t change a bit. My truck rarely dropped to 4 cylinders anyway due to a 2-1/2” lift, larger aggressive tires and removal of the lower bumper and air dam. The Hypertech has settings to increase mileage but I would assume that they would make the truck feel even more gutless than the stock tuning does. I may try the economy tuning just to see if it makes a difference.

The NV3500 is a 5 speed manual. No torque converter. Are you sure it’s not an NV4500? The 1/2 ton trucks got the NV3500. The 3/4 and 1 tons got the NV4500. If it’s a 6-lug light-duty 3/4 ton, it may be the NV3500. Check out Harris Tuning/ TBI chips. Lots of good info under “Recommended 350 TBI mods”.

The TBI engines are OBD1 controlled. They are tuned by burning a new PROM chip. At one time, Hypertech, JET and other companies made replacement chips for the TBI trucks. They may still. I had a ‘94 K1500 with the TBI 350. I added a Hypertech Thermo chip with their 160 deg thermostat, shorty headers, Edelbrock TBI cam and lifters, 3/4” throttle body spacer (don’t laugh, they actually work on the TBI engines, just like carburetor spacers), 1/4” injector spacer (allows more airflow between injectors and throttle body bores), adjustable fuel pressure regulator set to 15-16 psi, fuel pump for a ‘97 Vortec 350 (higher pressure capability than the TBI pump. Direct swap, same connections and wiring). I also set up the throttle body and increased the bores by 1/8” and made new butterflies and did some other mild porting and smoothing to increase airflow. After all of those modifications, I really needed to have a custom chip burned but I never did get one made. I estimated it was probably making around 250 hp, up from the anemic 210 hp from the factory. The ‘96-‘98 Vortec 350 was rated at 255 hp.

I also did the Airaid tube with their dry filter and opened up the inlet of the stock air box. It definitely made the throttle more responsive and it has a nice growl around 2k rpm under certain loads and throttle position. Found a pic of the air box mod. I popped off the seal between the air box and fender, cut out the side of the box and re-attached the seal with caulk.

FYI If you’re only wanting to disable traction control and stability control for off-roading, shifting to 4-low disables both of them. At least it does on my 2016 Z71.

Check out the Eibach Pro Truck Lift. It comes with front and rear shocks and new front coil springs that give 2-1/2” lift. The front shocks give about 1” of additional suspension travel. I have the kit on my truck. Small bumps are a little more noticeable, but larger bumps and railroad crossings are much smoother than with the factory Rancho shocks.

Thanks

I built mine since I couldn’t buy what I wanted. I wanted a lid on mine so I could load stuff on top of it since the floor area is pretty small in a double cab. It’s built from 1/2” MDF.

It could be the Idle Air Control Valve (IAC). It is a stepper motor that controls the idle speed by regulating airflow through the throttle body. On my ‘94, I had a bad IAC valve cause a similar situation. Engine turned over fine but wouldn’t start. Pushed down slightly on the gas pedal and it fired up but idled roughy until it warmed up. Replaced the IAC and all was good.

If timing is good, then you may have an intake valve hanging open due to a bent valve or broken valve spring. A compression test will help find the problem cylinder or cylinders. Open valve means no compression.

Should we refer to you as Jim Kardashian now since your rearend is famous?

Those are definitely not the stamped arms. GM didn’t go to the stamped arms until partway thru production of the 2016s.

Do it. It’s very easy, quick, and reversible. Took me less than 15 min to pull the block, flip the thermostat, and put it back on. Drove about 30 mi in 86 deg temps and trans temp only got to 156 deg. Normally would have been 180-190.

Just had to pop out the grill to access the bolts. There’s 3 bolts on the end of each frame rail (15mm open end wrench) and 3 bolts on each outer bumper brace. All of the holes are slotted or oversized so there’s plenty of adjustment.

Finished detailing the truck and did the transmission thermostat delete by flipping the pill.

Since most body panels rust from the inside out, look into using a cavity wax inside the doors, rockers, cab corners, fenders, and tailgate. I used a product called Noxudol 700 on my 2016 but there are several other brands of cavity waxes. Last fall, I hit any rusty spots on the frame with rust reformer. I coated the inside of the frame with transmission fluid to try to prevent the frame from rusting from the inside. Every spring, I pull out the fender liners and the plugs in the rocker panels and flush out the salt and hit a few spots in the wheel wells with more cavity wax.

Guy at work has them on his Ram. Said he had to bend the bases to fit the curve of his cab.

Adjusted the front bumper. Passenger side was flush with fender and driver side stuck out 1/2” past the fender. Also raised it up about 1/4”. Been aiming to adjust it for a while. Hit it with the clay bar and waxed it too.