Shawn O'Leary

Most of my driving (with the 6.2l) is stop and go rush hour traffic in and out of downtown Chicago. Usually get between 13 and 15 mpg. That improves a lot when I'm on the freeway on the weekends and such.

Made up a simple frame to hold sandbags over the axle when its icy and snowy. I know the front board is off-center.... it's so I can angle the thing in and out.

Ha! Trust me... I did it for all of us Silverado/Sierra owners a few months ago!

Installed my winter tires and wheels on Sunday (Toyo Observe G3-Ice tires); going to fabricate some sort of setup to hold the sandbags over the rear axle Friday (I move sandbags in and out of the bed before and after large storms).

No, if you hold down the start button for several seconds without depressing the brake it puts it into a mode that basically everything functions as though the truck is on and running, without starting the engine. This is different than the ACC mode where the radio dies every 5 minutes. I used this when the oil cooler line failed on my 6.2L Sierra and had to wait over an hour for the tow truck. It also allows you to shift the truck into neutral without starting it, FYI.

$5,500 (before tip and not counting the tint work I had done). That was the original cost. This time the insurance company paid for it and got the price down to $2,500; that was a real eye opener. There are some differences... no paint correction work needed this time, and only part of the front clip needed new expel. But they did reapply the entire truck in Modesta ceramic coating.

After getting the truck back from the body shop last week I got it back from the detail shop today (getting xpel wrap and modesta ceramic coating reapplied). I'll put up a pic in the daylight tomorrow.

They're fun. Like that they auto on/off as you open/close the inner tailgate (in the all the way down/step position). Sound quality is pretty good when right in front of them but the volume drops off considerably to the side/behind the truck - so a rather defined area of sound. Probably a good thing as I've been using them when working in and around my front yard the last few days. The quality is better than a portable bluetooth speaker for sure, probably more akin to something like a Sonos Play 5 speaker if you're familiar with those. Install wasn't too bad. I did inadvertently disconnect my rear camera cable so I had the pleasure of trying it twice.. ha! If you do it and have questions don't hesitate to DM me. It took a couple of hours... saves me a $200-$300 dealer labor charge. I've got a brisket smoke-off competition coming up next weekend so I wanted them in before then. I'll listen to some tunes as I sit/sleep next to the green egg all night....

I got this message when I was having some electrical issues (turned out to be a loosely installed electrical component related to the starter). The truck was throwing a code and they tightened everything down. The only time I've seen this message since is when I disconnect the negative terminal from the battery when doing electrical wiring for accessories. I'm told its part of the truck computer's start up process. I'm not a tech by any means, but have seen this message.

This weekend I installed the kicker speakers in the tailgate. I noticed when I dropped the tailgate to start the project that it dropped without resistance/dampening. Does anyone know if there is some sort of adjustment mechanism I should check, or is this a take it to the dealer kind of issue?

I had a new engine installed after an oil cooler line failed and the old engine siezed. That was at 6,000 miles. GM extended the warranty (continuing coverage letter, actually) on the entire powertrain. They also sent me a $750 voucher for accessories. The owner of a new truck shouldn't have to go through this and GM should make it right by extending the warranty.

Installed the multipro Kicker audio system for the tailgate today:

Here ya go...

I did it yesterday. Think I see it in your pic. It's an intertwined pair of wires. One solid yellow, one yellow and black. Look just right of that red/white wire.

Thank you!!