EDL

I have had the road force balance done, changed nothing. Still on the factory tires (I only have 35,000 miles on the truck) and am curious if different tires will change or fix things, but I'm not convinced it is the tires. I'm looking for a set of cheap used or basic 17" steel wheels to put snow tires on (17" snow tires are a lot cheaper than 22 inchers!). That will give me the chance to see if there is any difference. I've also tried the air pressure thing, but I have the 22" wheels with the rubber band tires and if I pump them up, the ride is horrible, but it doesn't change the vibrating at all either. I really do want to just get rid of the truck, but as mentioned a comparably equipped Ram is just too much right now. I think it's ridiculous that these trucks have had all these issues and GM just doesn't seem to want to do anything about it. I am also very unhappy with how I've been treated by the Chevy dealers and Chevy. I think the front brake pad issue should have been taken care of no questions asked. Yes, brakes are a wear item, but these obviously had a problem that was not due to normal wear and tear. I was also not happy that I had to spend more time and effort to finally get a dealership to do the tranny fluid change, especially considering the known issues, TSB's, and the fact GM admitted they put the wrong fluid in them. Being told that they don't do TSB's because "I" want it done? Really? Perhaps if the issue was something that wasn't on all vehicles, but this whole transmission thing is a no brainer, still.... I really don't want to have to go spend more time and money chasing down issues myself...I shouldn't have to. I am willing to try some things if they're relatively cheap and easy, like the clamps on the leaf springs, but I'm not paying to have the drive shaft balanced or any of the other crap others having to do. Regardless, even if I do somehow manage to get things relatively straightened out on the cheap, this is my first GM in 20+ years and it will be my last.

No, the vibrations I have are definitely not rotor related. Nothing changed in that respect after putting the new ones on. It feels exactly like out of balance tires, but that's not it either. I read over in one of the other threads that some are putting clamps either in front of or behind the rear axle to tie the leaf springs together and that has worked for several folks to eliminate most of the vibration and shaking. I might try that as the clamps are cheap enough. Also, they are saying the nuts on the u-bolts holding the leaf springs on seem to be quite loose (40-ish ft-lbs) and that tightening them has helped as well. The thing is, the vibrations aren't just in the rear, it's in the front too, the steering wheel vibrates along with it. I dunno. I seriously thought about just trading it in and going back to the Dodge (I've had three Rams since 1995 and all have been great trucks). We're on our second Jeep since 2014 and both have been great. The problem is, there are hardly any trucks on the lots because of this chip shortage and the prices have gone through the roof. To get a Ram with the same equipment I have on my LTZ it would be $71,000+. That's just ridiculous for a 1/2 ton pickup. Heck, I paid $35,300 in 2004 for brand new Ram 2500 diesel 4x4. I know, 17 years ago, but good lord vehicle prices have gone up a staggering amount since then (but my pay hasn't!).

My 2018 does the same. I finally got Chevy to do the fluid flush. First stealership refused, said they don't just do TSB's because I want it done. They supposedly checked everythi8ng out (kept the truck over night) and said it didn't need it. never mind GM admitted to putting the wrong fluid in them at the factory. Shortly after, I developed a weird harmonic that would come and go about every 20 seconds when cruising down the highway. Went to another dealer and they did the fluid flush and it fixed that issue, but it's still clunky in the lower gears, and when downshifting from 2nd to first, just like yours. Sometimes, when driving along at slower speeds (40-ish MPH or less) and I let off the gas, then give it gas again it thunks hard, like there's slack and it spins and then grabs. It's more like there is slack in the x-fer case or the rear end than anything. The truck has never been smooth at highway speed. If I get up near 80, it shakes so bad it feels like I'm losing control. Tire balance has not fixed it. All I hear is "that's normal." Uh huh. Not happy, and definitely not happy with Chevy either. At 26,000 miles on the truck, last year, it failed its first inspection because the front brake pads were not contacting the rotor across their full width and they wore a 1 inch groove in the middle of the rotors. Chevy refused to do anything about it because the rotors "had rust on them." Well, D'UH, the rotors rusted because the pads were not contacting them. Had to pay out of pocket for new rotors and pads at 26,000 miles.

Figures. No, nothing wrong with mine. My son put aftermarket projector housings on his truck and we're just looking at LED bulbs to put in it. After watching tons of videos on various tests, they all talk about designs to avoid and which ones work well to avoid dark spots, etc. Since the ones on my truck work well, thought if they were replaceable bulbs, we'd just go with the same kind. Oh well. Will just have do some more research and try some.

My 2018 Silverado has the LED projector headlights. For the life of me I can't find the OEM bulb for this truck, even on the Genuine GM parts places. All they show are the halogen and HID bulbs, or the complete LED headlight assembly. I just want to know what bulb it is (and specifically who makes it). Anyone know?

https://gm-techlink.com/?p=11650 https://www.brakeandfrontend.com/gm-tech-tip-uneven-brake-wear/ Just google it...this is just a couple.

Oh, the brakes are getting fixed, and Chevy better fix them under warranty. Someone said they've never heard of these issues with these trucks. Apparently someone can't google. There's quite a few pages out there discussing this exact issue. Here's a couple. https://gm-techlink.com/?p=11650 https://www.brakeandfrontend.com/gm-tech-tip-uneven-brake-wear/

Had the TSB done on the tranny, didn't fix it. They still can't explain the vibrations and they say there is nothing else they can do for the clunky trans. I tried Ford before I bought this one. They won't deal on their trucks and they're over priced, IMHO. Have two cooworkers with F-150's. One has had a few probs, the other is a nightmare. Constantly having issues with the 4-wheel system, keeps blowing what he calls the "IWE's" Another friend buys F-150's for work (he's an electrician and owns the business). He hasn't had many issues, but a few. Had a 2014 Grand Cherokee and never had an issue with it in 103,000 miles. Have had three Rams over the last 20 years, a 95 1500, a 2002 1500 and a 2004 2500 diesel (had almost 225,000 miles on it). Never a problem with any of them. Wife is currently driving a 2019 Cherokee Trailhawk with the 2.0l liter turbo engine, not a single issue with it so far. So, replace the brakes and then what? do it again in another 25,000 miles? Then there's the remaining issues they can't seem to solve.

Well, after today's fiasco, I am done with GM. My 2018 LTZ Z71 with 6.2L that I bought new 2.5 years ago, now with 28,600 miles on it just failed inspection. Reason: Inside front brake rotors and pads shot. It seems the the brakes were only applying pressure to a thin band area around the middle of the rotor. This has caused the pad to wear a groove about an inch wide in the middle of the rotor while the rusty, obviously untouched remaining areas has chewed away the outer edges of the pads. Inspector failed it for that. It;s on both front rotors and pads. The rears passed, but they too are exhibiting the same type of wear. GM obviously has a brake design or pad issue. Bad brakes was THE exact reason I did not buy a 2018 RAM as the reviews gave them poor ratings. I've never in my life had rotors and pads wear out or wear unevenly in a new vehicle, especially at less than 30,000 miles. Couple that with a clunky transmission that Chevy can't seem to fix and a very nonsmooth, vibrating ride, which they can't fix either, even after multiple wheel/tire balancing, I'm done with this thing. Trade in on this truck is more than I owe on it, so looking at 2020 Rams right now... ok, rant over.

Recently discovered this PIA TPMS thing on my 2018 (and trying the release/add air method didn't work). My 2014 Grand Cherokee relearned it all by itself, so why can't GM do it? I mean, really? Sorry, but I'm not paying for a freakin tool to reset my stupid TPMS every time I rotate tires. Just one more tidbit to add to the list of things that are starting to annoy me about this truck.

Looking at the various lifts in the 4"-4.5" range, they all seem to require either cutting out the crossmember completely, or some form of cutting it. Doesn't that weaken the heck out of the frame?

Oh, no. 7+ inches is way too much, not planning to go that high. 4 to 4.5" max.

Since the knuckle based kits kick the front wheels out and also require more negative offset on the wheels, is there anywhere I can find that will indicate how much offset can be used with a particular kit? I would like to keep the wheels/tires tucked in as close to flush as possible, even flush if that can be done without any rubbing issues. I really don't want the tires sticking out 2" if possible.

You're right. I spent most of today reading and learning about the various lifts for IFS and all the good and bad points. I've changed my tune, when I'm ready to do my lift it will be a CST or Cognito kit. A combination bracket and knuckle lift seems to currently be the best way to lift and keep all the angles good. Anything else is a compromise somewhere. I'm planning a 4" lift on 33's and 18" wheels (I want more meat between the wheel and the road surface). Also planning on the Torxe X3 series bumpers front and rear, a set of wheel-to-wheel side bars with hoop steps and a set of traction bars. Going to debadge the whole truck, but I will add a set of flat black "6.2L" emblems to the side of the hood cowl. I do have a few chrome pieces (top of side mirrors, lower window sill and 3 of the grill slats) that I'll just tape off and spray with black plasti-dip. That way, I can peel it off if I ever have to for some reason. Definitely cheaper than trying to get factory black pieces to replace them with. Just not sure what I'm going to do with the tiny chrome pieces inside the headlight (not sure if I can get inside the clear housing lens or not). If not, then I'll live with it as I'm not paying the $500+ for replacements just to get that tiny bit of chrome replaced with all black. So far, I like the Fuel Vapor wheels, just wish they came in gloss black, they're matte black only in that model, and hopefully I can get them in the right offset and backspacing to set them flush as I personally think this body style of Chevy looks better without flares with mild lifts. Now, a 7"+ lift with 12" wide wheels and big tires, then the pocket type flares look good. Either way, nothing is happening on the truck at least until the warranty is out (June of 2021), besides, the wife gets a new car here pretty soon. She wants a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk Elite, but she's holding out since they didn't make them in Firecracker Red this year (the color she wanted), but according to Jeep, they're going to be available in Spitfire Orange here in a few months, so that's what she wants. She hasn't had a new vehicle in a while, so it's her turn before any money gets spent on goodies and toys for my truck. I'm just perusing, reading, learning, day dreaming until I am ready to buy everything and put it on. Besides, who knows what will be available by next summer.

Looks great, but ooof, that kit is $2,000 (not including coilovers).

I will never do business with Zone again. Used some of their components for the front of my 2004 Ram 2500 diesel and they were total crap. The shocks that came in the kit leaked like hell and Zone wouldn't do anything about it (and these were supposed to be their "good" shocks that I paid extra for). Anyway, I think 4.5 might be too much, been doing some reading and looking around, right now I'm considering the Rough Country 3.5" knuckle kit. I know, some people swear by the full drop/UA kits, some swear by the knuckle kits. I think since I won't be offroading and combined with the angle retention of knuckles, that's probably the best option for me. Some were touting a hybrid knuckle lift by Cognito...sounded good, until I looked at the price, $2,095 (without any of their added cost options!) Found a sight that has a gallery of tons of trucks with various lift amounts and tire/wheel combos. The 3.5" with 33" tires on 18" wheels looks really good. Obviously not stock, but not over done. Your GMC looks really nice, I do like it, but it's not for me. If I were 20 again, then yeah, I'd probably do something like a 6" or 7" and big wheels and tires, but I'm toning it down now ? I want a slight lift to get slightly bigger tires under it, but I don't want go to 35" or bigger as that'll need regeared diffs, etc, etc. Plus, 35"+ tires get quite pricey. I think I would probably add 1" extra to the rear too, I like a slight rake. Checked out some bumpers and side rails too. I'm happy to see many of the manufacturers are now making lighter gauge bumpers that still look like the monster winch bumpers, but without the weight (or the cost). Nothing has been decided definitely, but just browsing today, I can do lift, wheels, tires, front and rear bumper and wheel-to-wheel hoop step rails for about $4,100. Lol, I put almost $10,000 into the diesel Ram on lift, tires, steering brace, aftermarket steering shaft, adjustable track bar, new ball joints and Redhead steering box, no wheels or bumpers. Not looking to do that again....lol.

Said I wasn't going to do it, but I've run into a couple slightly lifted trucks lately (an all black 2019 Ram with what looked to be about 4 to 4.5" lift and 35's) and a 2018 Silverado (all black with 33's, not sure on lift, assuming 3" or maybe 4"). So, ok, I want to lift my 2018 Silverado a little and run 33's. I do prefer 35's and a little more lift in terms of looks, but I did that on my old 2004 Ram 2500 diesel (6" and 35's), and while it looked, rode, and drove great, it was just too tall, restricted where I could go (parking garages, drive ups, etc) and made unloading the bed a bit of a pain. Wife hated it. But, she said the Ram and the Chevy we saw the other day looked good. I really don't want to go crazy like with an ICON lift and full-on suspension, looking more for a spacer type lift to keep stock suspension (I don't off road, it'll be a street queen). Main concern is to try to keep front end geometry without taxing the front drive shafts and joints. Looking for recommendations on something in the 3.5" to 4" range. I don't want the cheapest thing out there, but something of good quality with the right set up? Also planning to get away from the 22" wheels and go to either 20" or 18" with 33x12.50 tires. I don't want to go with 35's due to cost and gearing/strain on drive train issues as I don't want to re-gear the diffs either.

I put a cheapy soft tonneau cover on the 2018 and Friday the wife and my daughter and I hit the road from western PA to Columbus, OH to pick up my son at the airport, we then headed north up near Sandusky and then came home last night (600ish miles round trip). I don't have a pic of the DIC yet, but we were steadily running 27+ MPG and at one point even hit 28.5. It helps that Ohio is mostly flat, but even arriving home last night after getting back in the hills in PA, parked the truck at 27.1MPG. I'm pretty impressed the 6.2 can turn these kinds of numbers. I think the tonneau cover helps some with the aerodynamics. Now I just have a sh*t ton of bugs to get cleaned off the front and give her a good wash.

My 2018 has an anti-sleep function and built-in seat and steering wheel massage. To activate the anti-sleep function, just get up to cruising speed on the highway. The vibrating and deep cabin rumble will keep anyone awake. The massage function is on any time the truck is rolling, it massages your back , butt and legs and the steering wheel vibrations take care of your hands. The transmission clunking kicks in ever now and again just to be sure you aren't asleep.

Lol, ain't it the truth. I've found too that as I get older I covet things like those heated seats, steering wheel, and the other comfort doo-dads more than the lift and big tires :-) When I first started looking to get my Silverado, I went right to a Rocky Ridge, but my brain kept screaming things like "Remember how fun it was to load and unload the lifted Ram, when the tailgate was nearly up to your chin?"

I'd never had heated seats until the 2008 Rav4 we had some years ago. I thought, pssh, that's silly and just more crap to go wrong. Tell ya what, when the first winter hit after getting the car and it was -17 out, I popped those seats on and thought "heeeeeyyy...this is niiiice." Then later we got the 2014 Grand Cherokee which had heated seats and heated steering wheel, and I thought "Pssshh...heated seats, great, but steering wheel, meh.." Then the winter came and after clearing snow off it and climbing in with frozen hands, I grabbed that warm wheel and thought "heeeey...this is niiiice." I made damn sure my new Silverado had the heated steering wheel and the heated AND cooled seats. Turned on that seat cooling and heeeey...it's niiice!

Yeah, I agree to an extent. Chrysler wants $250 to update the maps in their units. Forget it. For less than half that, you can go buy a TomTom with lifetime map updates. I never upgraded the maps in the Jeep and never really had any issues getting somewhere, other than the fact it had no idea where Youngstown, OH is. I think this is one of those areas that vehicle makers need to wise up. With the multitude of free apps on smart phones, and cheap GPS units all with no charge for maps, I'm betting they don't get a lot of people pay $200+ dollars for those updates and for the prices new vehicles are going for, it should automatically update via Onstar or Uconnect on the fly, or at the very least allow users to just download updates to a thumb drive and upload them into the system themselves. I know there are some hacks you can do to use the maps from other providers, but I'm not going to mess with that.

2018 LTZ, Z71, 6.2L 5 minutes after pulling into driveway from dealer. Hit rain on the way home, so it's already dirty...grrrr.

Holy smokes! That's a horrible fit and they definitely dinged up your rails on the install. I believe their story about variances in the bed to be BS. I doubt beds stick out that far from the cab side, even if they aren't perfect. That's a big wind fence sticking out the side that's going to catch water, wind and dirt for sure. Does it whistle going down the road too? I've only ever had one topper years ago on an S-10 I had when I was in the Air Force. Fit was perfect and definitely none of the issues you have. If that was an install I got, I wouldn't even have left their business with that mess.

I'm a firm believer in the synthetics and I do like Amsoil. Before I got into racing boats, I owned and flew a powered paraglider for about 12 years. The motor on my back was a 202cc 2-stroke made by a company in Italy called Simonini. I bought it used and started running Amsoil Sabre 100:1 mix at 100:1 (one small bottle to 6 gallons of gas, actually worked out to like 98.6:1, but close enough). I put over 1000 hours on that engine and never pulled the head off it in 12 years. It never lost power, it never failed once in all that time. I now use that same oil and mix in all my 2-stroke engines, except my race boat engine, but that's a different issue. Unfortunately, that engine (a Japanese 2-cylinder racing engine made by Yamato) has a design issue that pretty much requires you to gunk the thing up with oil. I run Quicksilver synthetic blend in it at 8 ounces per gallon of gas (pretty much what it's been fed its whole life). My engine is somewhere around 40 years old and has only had rings and carb rebuilds its whole life. We do have a few guys here and there that try various Amsoil oils and lighter mixes, but 99% of the time they end up breaking their motors. It's just the nature of the beast with those things. I'll be switching the truck over to Amsoil for engine and transmission once I get a few thousand on it.