UofAZCats

Replaced my thermostat and sensor. Twice over the past couple of months the fans stayed on after shutting off the truck. Also noticed that the temp guage in the cluster was showing a temperature less than 210. Ordered OEM parts based on everyone's recommendations and got them installed yesterday. Makes a mess with all the fluid. Getting the clamps loose enough to get the tubes off was the only pain. Re-filled the collant to the line and let her sit over night. Had to put a little more coolant in this morning since the fluid settled. Drove it to get lunch and guage was back to 210.

Its a long thread, and its been a while since I went through it, but there is a guy that did find that his axles were the issue. After replacement the shaking was gone in his case as I recall. He got Dutchman replacement axles f I remember correctly.

Like Bobaloo22 above I have had a Diablew tune for quite some time. I love how much better the trans shift points and the reduction in the accel lag when hitting the pedal. The only issue with this is that my truck did not come with E85 so I bought the sensor. Unfortunately Lew will not add the the E85 to the tune because he believes that since the truck did not come with the E85 that the engine components would not be able to handle the change. My thought is that the trucks that have it have the same engine components so not sure why he has an issue. Otherwise its great.

Mishimoto trans cooler delivered today. Hopefully tomorrow I can get it installed. I had previously installed the Superior Solutions mod. The Mishimoto kit comes with a something similar to the Superior Solutions kit. Not sure if there is a reason to replace the Superior Solutions version with the Mishimoto version. Anyone else that has been in this situation and what did you do?

Drained the transmission fluid. Last time I did it I replaced the oem pan with the Dorman version with the drain plug. Draining the fluid was so much less messy and easier. I have drained it and replaced the fluid a couple weeks ago but since that only replaces about 1/3rd of the fluid I did it again last weekend. The first time I overfilled the tank aand had to suck some out. This time I must have put back too little initally beacuse when I drove it afterwards the trans shifted veery hard. I added some more fluid and it shifts smoothly again. The fluid color on the seconstll looked pretty brown. How many times do most of you drain and replace the fluid when you do this?

I did the Superior Solutions install at about 35K and just changed the fluid on my 2015 for the first time at 101K. The fluid was brown but didn't smell burnt (though I have no expereince with transmission work so I may just knwo the proper smell). There was a lot of ine material in the pan and on the magnet. I have not had any issues with my trans so far. My question is on the amount of transmission fluid. Dropping the pan resulted in 1 and a quarter-ish gallon milk jugs worth of fluid not including the spillage, which was not a huge amount. I poured in a gallon and then drove it to get it up to 160 (which is hard with the Superior install) to see what the dipstick indicated. Reading the dipstick with the new fluid is damn tough (yes the dipstick is clean). The fluid is damn near clear in the small amount that comes up on the dipstick. Best I could tell it was right at the bottom of the hot zone. This made no sense to me. I definitely took out more than a gallon. I drove it home and checked it there and it looked a touch below Hot so I added about a quart. It then read higher than HOT. I checked it again much later when it was cool and the fluid level still looked about the same level as when the trans was hot. Knowing that it is bad to run the trans with too much fluid I have been fretting over this issue. I have been telling myself that the amount should be fine since I removed 1.25+ gallons and put back 1.25 gallons. I did install a new pan with the drain plug so I can take alittle out that way or with a pump but the dipstick issue has me worried because I am just not comfortable that I will be able to use it to actually tell what the fluid level is. Any one have any wisdom to share?

Did you ever get the seats to NC and work on this project? Curious to find out how the seats worked out.

Got a slightly used AFE Pro 5R intake from another member here on the forum over a week ago. Finally got it installed. Took a little time and cleaned the filter and the box. Minimal issues with the install until I dropped the screw that secures the MAF to the air tube. Dang thing landed on the skid plate somewhere that I couldn't find it or reach it. Fortunately found a close enough match in my random screw jar. Aside from the 15 minutes it took to solve that issue, everything was done in about 25 minutes. I understood that these things tend to make the engine louder but I didn't notice any increase. Also I am sure that this thing has doubled my horsepower.

Got a slightly used AFE Pro 5R intake from another member here on the forum over a week ago. Finally got it installed. Took a little time and cleaned the filter and the box. Minimal issues with the install until I dropped the screw that secures the MAF to the air tube. Dang thing landed on the skid plate somewhere that I couldn't find it or reach it. Fortunately found a close enough match in my random screw jar. Aside from the 15 minutes it took to solve that issue, everything was done in about 25 minutes. I understood that these things tend to make the engine louder but I didn't notice any increase. Also I am sure that this thing has doubled my horsepower.

I'll take it. Let me know how much. Shipping to 32724.

How many of you have transmission spacers installed with your lowering kit? I initally lowered my truck with the IHC 3"/5" kit (I have since put back in stock LCA's and put in drop spindle - I kept the flip kit) and it did not include a spacer. If you can get the pinion angles addressed without it do you still need it?

When I replaced my stock radio with one of the android based radios it came with the 2 USB plugs. The existing USB plugs in the car still have power after the installation. What was lost was that those USB plugs no longer "connect" items plugged into them with the radio. They are now separated. Not sure if that's what you were asking about. Also I installed a USB plug similar to what you linked to but it is basically just an extension of the radios USB cables. It fit in the cigarette lighter position in the dash which gave good access for connecting something via USB to the new radio. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDWVB4T9?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Been on a little tear with doing things to my Rally. Unlike the radio, which I did as an upgrade, this past couple of days I jumped on some standard maintenance items that are needed now that my truck is at 97K miles. My front brakes were squealing so it was time to do a brake job. That worked out great because I needed to change out my spark plugs as well and everything I read/watched on that topic recommended taking the wheels off. I installed PowerStop Z36 brake rotors and pads and new ACDelco Iridium spark plugs. I started with the rear brakes and had a devil of a time with getting the rear rotors off. None of the videos talked about how to get the rears off with the emergency brake engaged, though they all recommended it as part of jacking the truck up. I quickly realized that they were not stuck because of corrosion (given I am in Florida and my truck has never been in snow or on the beach I did not expect much corrosion) but because they were hung up on the emergency brake. What took awhile was how to figure out how to get them off. While using the caliper screws on the rotor, two pins and two little metal pieces fell off the back of the brakes. I didn't know it at the time but those hold the emergency brake in place. Even with those off and the emergency brake pedal released, the rotors would not come off because while the pedal was released the emergency brake still did not disengage. I finally got the emergency brake to release by starting my truck and putting it into drive. The rotors flew off and fortunately nothing was damaged but in retrospect I was extremely lucky that no one else was in the area with me. I definitely do not recommend this method. Fortunately the the pin assemblies that hold the emergency brake in place wree not damaged and I was able to get them back on with only a small amount of rehab to the end piece that the pin connects with to hold the spring in place. Getting the spring compressed was tough and I had to use a wire to twisted to compress the spring enough to get the pin through the metal end piece. After I had the one with the wire in place, before I cut the wire to allow the spring to return to normal size, I was able to fit the other assembly into place without the wire because there was enough play. After the second was on I cut the wire and pulled it out. Everything else on the rear was pretty straightforward. The front brakes and the spark plugs went pretty dang smooth but still took about 5-6 hours. I took my time and did OCD things like clean the area behind the wheel well cover. The break in went smooth but sure smelled bad. Not too bad for the first time did my first brake job/spark plug replacement. Pictures of my old spark plugs. Not too bad for 97K.

Been on a little tear with doing things to my Rally. Unlike the radio, which I did as an upgrade, this past couple of days I jumped on some standard maintenance items that are needed now that my truck is at 97K miles. My front brakes were squealing so it was time to do a brake job. That worked out great because I needed to change out my spark plugs as well and everything I read/watched on that topic recommended taking the wheels off. I installed PowerStop Z36 brake rotors and pads and new ACDelco Iridium spark plugs. I started with the rear brakes and had a devil of a time with getting the rear rotors off. None of the videos talked about how to get the rears off with the emergency brake engaged, though they all recommended it as part of jacking the truck up. I quickly realized that they were not stuck because of corrosion (given I am in Florida and my truck has never been in snow or on the beach I did not expect much corrosion) but because they were hung up on the emergency brake. What took awhile was how to figure out how to get them off. While using the caliper screws on the rotor, two pins and two little metal pieces fell off the back of the brakes. I didn't know it at the time but those hold the emergency brake in place. Even with those off and the emergency brake pedal released, the rotors would not come off because while the pedal was released the emergency brake still did not disengage. I finally got the emergency brake to release by starting my truck and putting it into drive. The rotors flew off and fortunately nothing was damaged but in retrospect I was extremely lucky that no one else was in the area with me. I definitely do not recommend this method. Fortunately the the pin assemblies that hold the emergency brake in place wree not damaged and I was able to get them back on with only a small amount of rehab to the end piece that the pin connects with to hold the spring in place. Getting the spring compressed was tough and I had to use a wire to twisted to compress the spring enough to get the pin through the metal end piece. After I had the one with the wire in place, before I cut the wire to allow the spring to return to normal size, I was able to fit the other assembly into place without the wire because there was enough play. After the second was on I cut the wire and pulled it out. Everything else on the rear was pretty straightforward. The front brakes and the spark plugs went pretty dang smooth but still took about 5-6 hours. I took my time and did OCD things like clean the area behind the wheel well cover. The break in went smooth but sure smelled bad. Not too bad for the first time did my first brake job/spark plug replacement. Sorry for yet another long post. Pictures of my old spark plugs. Not too bad for 97K.

I just added an android radio as well. My expereince is the same as yours - anything plugged into the truck USB ports will get power but will not connect to the radio. The only way the radio sees a USB is if it plugged in to theradio directly. My radio did have a USB mini cable that would plug into the one from truck that was supposed to allow the radio to read the USBs in the center arm rest. When I did try to connect it, the connectionwas very loose and it only stayed connected if I taped it. It didn't read my USB when I plugged into the arm rest but I wasn't sure if it was the loose connection or just didn't work and I had no real interest in chasing it.

I am hoping this thread will be useful for anyone looking into getting an Android-based Radio upgrade for their Silverado and that others will post about their experiences/knowledge as well. The Android-based systems provide a lot of flexibility but remind me of early Windows computers where there were many PC builders with lots of options but troubleshooting was part of the choice. The Android-based radios will do many things but there is no standard template/user interface. Each radio builder/programmer seems to have different names for the same settings and the user interface is all over the place. Below is my write up in the "What have you doen to your K2 today?" forum for the2014-2019 Silverados: Finally pulled the trigger on getting a new radio. My 2015 does not have Android Auto/Apple Carplay and I had always wanted to add that. The cost of upgrading to a new stock radio with the required programming costs associated with it kep me from going that route. After seeing the Ram T-Rex screen I have wanted the bigger screen, which for our trucks requires going with an android based radio. Alpine had an 11 inch screen but like the new stock it was damn expensive. This last Prime Day in July I picked up this 13" radio for $550. I decided agains the 14" or larger screens because of their price (~$1,000) and because they replace the stock A/C controls with non-stock looking buttons on the side instead of bottom. This screen fills the space between the 2 A/C vents and keeps the stock A/C unit and seat heater controls. This unit has 12 cores with 8 GB /128 GB and the screen resolution is fantastic. I have a Bose system so a I had to buy and install fiber optic box (~$200). The installation went pretty well because I watched several videos from other installs of android radios similar to mine before even buying the radio. The instructions that with the radio are actually for a different but similar model. Having watched many videos helped translation issues or gaps. The biggest difference between these Android units and the stock is the User Interface. The Android can do a lot more than the stock radio but the user interface on the stock is much smoother initially. The interfaces that came with the radio (this version had 6-7 different options for the interface style) were ok but I finally settled on using Vivid Launcher which I got from the Google Playstore. Getting the settings right has taken awhile. The customer service has been pretty dang good. Given the number of settings and lack of documentation for those settings the customer service needed to be good otherwise I would have sent this thing back in a heartbeat. I have enjoyed the trial and error and search through the settings doing problem solving. They did have to send me updates due to an issue with getting the Android Auto working wirelessly but the got it to me within 12 hours of notifying them of the issue. The time change between FLA and China was the primary delay. Below are pictures of the radio. One picture is of the stock back up camera active with the truck in reverse. I did not use the provided back up camera though the resolution was supposed to be better. The camera would not fit in the tailgate which was a non-starter for me. It also would have required running a new wire from the rear to the cab because the wiring integral to the stock camera apparently does not support a higher resolution camera. I love and am used to the view from the stock camera location. On my 2005 Suburban I have an aftermarket back up camera on the license plate and hate the angle. The higher location in the tailgate is better to me.

The link to the radio on Amazon is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D69YCTC1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title. They most have sold quite a few because Amazon says the radio is not currently available. If you get this system you and you have Bose you will need to get a fiber optic adapter box. The same company that makes the radio sells them but if they are out there are other sellers on Amazon. When I bought the radio the seller was out the fiber boxes and I ordered this one from another seller: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP1K6H57?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title. If you are going this route I would obviously look at the comments from previous purchasers with an empahsis on their customer service responsiveness. Of course I say that and the only review so far for the radio says customer service was not a positive experience for them. That review was not up when I purchased my radio and the reviewer did give a 5 star review. I have not yet posted my review, which would basically mimic most of what I said above. Before installing I highly recommend checking multiple You Tube videos on the many models of Android radios for our Silverados. The included directions are questionable at best. The good thing is that most of these radios have similar wiring and harnesses. Stinger had good videos for their radios. If you have a specific question or you end up getting one and have a question about it send me a message. I have thought about opening a thread about these radios in the "Audio, Electronics, OnStar, MyLink, Intellilink & SiriusXM" forum but just haven't gotten around to it. When I was going through some trial and error I did look there for help there wasn't much.

I have been a little slow to get to the standard 90K miles maintenance items but yesterday I got started. I changed out the engine air filter and the cabin air filter. I am amazed how bad the cabin air filter looks after removing it. i have seen others post pictures of theirs and figured they must leave their trucks outside or something else similar. My truck is garage kept and when I drive it to work I park inside a parking garage. The engine air filter doesn't look anywhere near that bad. Added high mileage Sea Foam to the oil and gas. Also ordered PowerStop Z36 brake rotors and pads, spark plugs and wires for install here in the near future.

Finally pulled the trigger on getting a new radio. My 2015 does not have Android Auto/Apple Carplay and I had always wanted to add that. The cost of upgrading to a new stock radio with the required programming costs associated with it kep me from going that route. After seeing the Ram T-Rex screen I have wanted the bigger screen, which for our trucks requires going with an android based radio. Alpine had an 11 inch screen but like the new stock it was damn expensive. This last Prime Day in July I picked up this 13" radio for $550. I decided agains the 14" or larger screens because of their price (~$1,000) and because they replace the stock A/C controls with non-stock looking buttons on the side instead of bottom. This screen fills the space between the 2 A/C vents and keeps the stock A/C unit and seat heater controls. This unit has 12 cores with 8 GB /128 GB and the screen resolution is fantastic. I have a Bose system so a I had to buy and install fiber optic box (~$200). The installation went pretty well because I watched several videos from other installs of android radios similar to mine before even buying the radio. The instructions that with the radio are actually for a different but similar model. Having watched many videos helped translation issues or gaps. The biggest difference between these Android units and the stock is the User Interface. The Android can do a lot more than the stock radio but the user interface on the stock is much smoother initially. The interfaces that came with the radio (this version had 6-7 different options for the interface style) were ok but I finally settled on using Vivid Launcher which I got from the Google Playstore. Getting the settings right has taken awhile. The customer service has been pretty dang good. Given the number of settings and lack of documentation for those settings the customer service needed to be good otherwise I would have sent this thing back in a heartbeat. I have enjoyed the trial and error and search through the settings doing problem solving. They did have to send me updates due to an issue with getting the Android Auto working wirelessly but the got it to me within 12 hours of notifying them of the issue. The time change between FLA and China was the primary delay. Overall it is better than what I had with the stock radio.

I have been a little slow to get to the standard 90K miles maintenance items but yesterday I got started. I changed out the engine air filter and the cabin air filter. I am amazed how bad the cabin air filter looks after removing it. i have seen others post pictures of theirs and figured they must leave their trucks outside or something else similar. My truck is garage kept and when I drive it to work I park inside a parking garage. The engine air filter doesn't look anywhere near that bad. Added high mileage Sea Foam to the oil and gas. Also ordered PowerStop Z36 brake rotors and pads, spark plugs and wires for install here in the near future.

Not something I did today but something I installed this week and finished tweaking yesterday. Finally pulled the trigger on getting a new radio. My 2015 does not have Android Auto/Apple Carplay and I had always wanted to add that. The cost of upgrading to a new stock radio with the required programming costs associated with it kep me from going that route. After seeing the Ram T-Rex screen I have wanted the bigger screen, which for our trucks requires going with an android based radio. Alpine had an 11 inch screen but like the new stock it was damn expensive. This last Prime Day in July I picked up this 13" radio for $550. I decided agains the 14" or larger screens because of their price (~$1,000) and because they replace the stock A/C controls with non-stock looking buttons on the side instead of bottom. This screen fills the space between the 2 A/C vents and keeps the stock A/C unit and seat heater controls. This unit has 12 cores with 8 GB /128 GB and the screen resolution is fantastic. I have a Bose system so a I had to buy and install fiber optic box (~$200). The installation went pretty well because I watched several videos from other installs of android radios similar to mine before even buying the radio. The instructions that with the radio are actually for a different but similar model. Having watched many videos helped translation issues or gaps. The biggest difference between these Android units and the stock is the User Interface. The Android can do a lot more than the stock radio but the user interface on the stock is much smoother initially. The interfaces that came with the radio (this version had 6-7 different options for the interface style) were ok but I finally settled on using Vivid Launcher which I got from the Google Playstore. Getting the settings right has taken awhile. The customer service has been pretty dang good. Given the number of settings and lack of documentation for those settings the customer service needed to be good otherwise I would have sent this thing back in a heartbeat. I have enjoyed the trial and error and search through the settings doing problem solving. They did have to send me updates due to an issue with getting the Android Auto working wirelessly but the got it to me within 12 hours of notifying them of the issue. The time change between FLA and China was the primary delay. Overall it is better than what I had with the stock radio.

Finally got tired of the bumpers. Specifically the front bumper. I detailed in an earlier post that I had used first plasti-dip then painted that with real paint. Well unfortunately while I was washing the truck with the pressure washer the clear cost started to flake on one corner. I lived with it for a months but finally got fed up when more started coming off and pulled the trigger on new paint matched bumpers. I bought them from MBI out of Michigan. The first front bumper arrived and a couple parts of it were bent/damaged from shipping. MBI offered me two choices - a refund a portion of the cost if I think I could make it work or they would just send me a new one. After playing with it a little bit I decided to have them send me a new one. The rear and the second front bumper were excellent and the paint matched perfectly. Installation was pretty straightforward for the front bumper with several good guides on YouTube. The rear bumper was a bit more invovled and the YouTube videos were slightly less helpful. I referenced two in particular because each skipped or missed certain things that when combined covered the whole thing. Loosening and lifting the bed was tough nerve racking since I hadn't done it before and wasn't sure of what might go wrong. In the end it went pretty well after peicing together the steps from the YouTube videos.

The previous post is why you don't throw up a listing the same night you are busy with other things. Below are the pictures of the rear bumper with the plastidip still on it. The background isn't the best but as noted above the bumper is in great used condition with no dents or other issues outside the plastidip which can be removed. I will try to get to unwrapping the other front bumper for pictures but it might be a little bit. Prices were neglected in my first post (thus the being too busy part). Front chrome bumper is $200 or OBO. Rear is $150 or OBO. When I add the pictures of the other bumper I will add a price for that.

When I was more actively looking I had read through a couple of the threads on the swap. I know that the Harness Dr. guy (I'm old and can't remember his real name) had a whole write-up and the wiring harnesses for it. Also need to get new switches to replace my heated seat switches too. Not to be rude but how much did you end up getting them for? Did the salvage yard confirm that the seats work properly?

Bought color matched bumpers for my 2015 Silverado and so now the original chrome bumpers are surplus. Don't want them in the garage anymore so they are available for purchase. Both are in excellent condition - no dents or scratches. I had plastidipped them and have removed the plastidip from the front bumper for the most part. There are a couple of small parts I haven't gotten around to removing yet but they are in areas that would be covered with the plastic trim. The rear bumper still has the plastidip on it with Victory red paint over the top of it. I have not gotten around to removing it yet but can if that will help bumper sell. Also have a second front bumper that is painted victory red but has some paint issues. Got it from MBI and the paint got scuffed up in shipment and they sent me another bumper and did not want this one back due to the cost of shipping. I tried wet sanding and ended up going through the paint and clear coat in several spots. I did not go through the primer however and if you want to spray it to match your color then this would a good bumper for you. Will not ship. Central Florida area. WIll post pictures of the rear bumper and painted bumper soon.