ThundahBeagle

Last year my AC went out. Charged it with freon and it worked for a couple weeks. Charged again and worked for a while, then petered out. Noticed tell-tale wet area at Condenser weld, passenger side. Bought a brand new AC Delco condenser recently and installed it this past Saturday. Charged with freon but getting no cold at all. Any ideas off the cuff? Common problems with these? Things that are easily overlooked? Something special to double check? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Please and thank you.

Yesterday I replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, cabin air filter, and dropped the blower motor to clear out debris that fell into it as a result of removing the old cabin air filter. Today I am having the dealer drop the tranny pan, let it drain, check the magnet, install a new filter, and put that back together. I couldn't find anyplace local who accepts used antifreeze, so I'm having the dealer change that fluid out as well. I'm at 111k and a little past due. Next I'll do the transaxle, then I've got rear brakes (at least) to do, and will exchange the brake fluid at that time. GMC schedule for these does not indicate a need to change out the diff fluid...does anyone have any facts to the contrary, or at least an educated opinion on that?

I got my 5100's from Nick at Kolak performance. Paid $360 for front and rears. Did the rears myself and realized getting the fronts out of the coil-overs was an exercise in big ass-pucker factor, so I took the fronts to a local shop that charged me $100 to swap them out. That was $100 well spent, as I got to keep my face and fingers intact AND drive my truck away from there a happy customer.

Would you believe I bought my 94 in 2006 for something like $2,000. I bought my 93 in 2014 or so for even less. Eventually there was enough work to be done on each that I sold them. The rear frame of the 93 cracked on both sides just in front of the rear spring shackles. I am no welder...the 94 was just a bunch of little stuff I could have done given some time. I really should have hung on and just did the work.

So, just get them installed at the shop, and aligned at Firestone. Or find out how much Firestone will charge to install them, then align. This isnt rocket science. It's just too dangerous to do without a wall mounted spring compressor.

Can I have your Tahoe? Nice truck! Gotta love that old 2-door big Blazer type vehicle. I've had 2 of them and wish I had kept them. Possibly in a year or two I will be on the hunt for another one.

18mm socket for the 3 top nuts, 15mm for the bottoms. My info agrees with 14LTZ...37 ft/lbs, both top and bottom nuts. Every job I do, I try to gather socket size and torque so that I can keep streamlining what tools I need to bring.

Wow, HoosierZ, nice build. Waaayy better than the crap compressor I was using. I saw a guy, Mark Jenkins out of Maine, had a youtube video and used a Shankley compressor. It looked more like yours. I think all I could have done with that AutoZone special was Honda Civic coils, because it was bowing out worse than my boss's mother's knees!

Good God I concur!!! Go ahead and pull the entire coilover out, but definitely get it to the shop to swap the springs over to the Bilsteins. When I tried, my puny compressor started bending, so I reversed course and took the assembly and Bilstein to a shop. And THEY had a rough time with thier wall mounted compressor, even. Dont try to be the hero with these springs.

When you say bump stop caps, do you mean these? https://www.resuspension.com/shaft-nut-bump-stop-bilstein.html As for the flange nuts, I think Bikstein recommends you use theirs, but I also think that is to make sure you use a fresh set any time you change the shock. They should be able to send you some, or go to any auto parts store and get some that fit your vehicle, or go to the dealer. I think we sacrilegiously re-used my old ones on one side. The O-ring you refer to is called the snap-ring. An Oo-ring is usually some kind of rubber and is used to form a seal to prevent leaking. Normally, for our full size GM trucks, these go for a little over $100 each. Good luck

You are right, Willard. I suppose I encountered the same thing as I read through. You can come away with no real clear answer after getting bogged down in the weeds of it, so, apologies for coming off a little harshly. But it is true that the front 5100's are not meant for use with spacers. Just place the snap ring on any setting other than the lowest, and the front end rises. The rears are meant to be used anywhere between stock height and an extra inch of height. That height is obtained by swapping out the stock block with a block that is an inch taller.

Hi SnowCamo No, I'm 4x4. Already got my 5100's on and I like them a lot. I may upgrade to Fox or Eibach next time around, since I've heard so much good about them

No worries on my part. You are right. Yes. Yes I could have ignored that question. Chose to ask my own question, maybe spark a few people to do even just some cursory reading before throwing in the towel and asking for the umpteenth time. I think that question is probably answered on every other page of this thread. This admittedly very lengthy thread. It was a tough read for sure. And still had questions but one thing that is true...just about every time someone suggests spacers with 5100's someone - sometimes a 4x4 or offroad "expert" or even some engineer type, chimes in to say "not what they were designed for."

Is anybody taking time to read through at least some of this thread before asking?... Front Bilstein 5100's are not meant to be used with a spacer. That's why they have the different settings. My guess, is that the 5100's at the lowest/ stock settings with a spacer,,would be a harsher ride than the 5100's on the top setting

Um...I think you mean the HARNESS Dr. As in "horse racing" or, as in this case, the "bundle of electrical wires and associated plugs" doctor. Unless you are talking about the urologist or fertility doctor?

Im thinking of dropping my 5100's from top notch to 3rd. I imagine it will give a slightly better ride

And I do not have that picture. Just of the Bilstiens unboxed and installed

Thanks for the advice. Somewhere I may have a picture of the Bilstiens and the Ranchos side by side. Not exactly great for a measurement, but it might give me an idea

Hi Grumpy Bear I have no reason to doubt your math and engineering on that. You do mention stock shocks, however. The Bilstein is a replacement to the stock shock, so I'm guessing it's designed with more stroke? They state it is designed for 0 to 1 inch of lift, so I can only presume that they have accounted for all of that?

Hi 18LT, The fronts are adjustable, the rears are not. Having said that, the rears a made so that the can withstand it if you did raise the rear about an extra inch. Typically, raising the rear of your truck would be don with blocks at the rear axle. A 1 inch block is really two inches. You remove the original one inch block that came with the truck and replace it with the 2 incher, giving you 1 inch of lift in the rear. I left my rear stock. Regarding the fronts: only use the built in adjustments. Do not then also add a spacer to the fronts. I went with the highest setting and I think it looks good. Be aware that when you do that, sometimes the front might seem higher than the back. It isnt, but it might look like that to the eye. I added a leer cap to mine, that's almost a couple hundred pounds. If I then load the bed up with tools and camping gear, or some other heavy thing, it can sink down a bit and look a little foot-high. If you have the ability to, you may want to experiment putting it on the setting one down from the top, depending on what you like, and what you typically carry or tow. I got mine from a dealer in the Jeep forums because I also have an old Grand Cherokee and I bought stuff for that through him. He will give you the best deal he can His name is Nick, but he goes by Kolak. Reach him at [email protected] Tell him that the guy from Boston, who knows where he got "Kolak" from, sent you

I also did not know that. Very good tip, TMO. I suppose I know the real answer is that if I want credit for the service, I should bite the bullet and just have GMC do it. Then if i sell it, it comes up "all factory recommended service was done..." and blah blah blah. And if I dont ever expect to sell it, or dont plan on using the warranty, then go ahead and take the chance doing it myself, hoping I save enough money to offset any work the warranty masters will deny me... All my other trucks were much older than this when I owned them, so it was easy: jack it up and get busy. Thanks for the replies guys

Hello everyone, I have a used 2014 GMC Sierra z71 double cab 5.3. that I got a year and a half ago. A 3rd party warranty came with it. LOVE this truck. I replaced the old Ranchos with Bilsteins and love it even more. It's time for my its "100,000 mile service", which really is 90,000 through 105. This entails a coolant system flush & fill, and flush & fills for the tranny, 4x4 transfer case and diff fluid. This adds up to over $1200. Also, it could use a serpentine belt change and rear brake pads. Dealership wants almost $700 to do the rear brake pads. Over $100 to change the serpentine belt. Of course, I can do the brake pads and belt myself. I've never done a flush of a tranny myself, and I have reservations about a flush, rather than a drop and replace. My questions are: -on a truck as young as this, is it ok that the tranny and coolant be flushed and filled, or am I already looking at being careful and just emptying what I can from the radiator/ dropping the tranny pan and refilling, rather than a forceful flush? Same question for the transfer case. -How, if I have that warranty, can I do some of this myself and still have it "show up" on a report and have it count on the record as having been done? If I did the pads and belt myself, I could keep the receipts, but nothing would show up through GMC service reporting system that the work has been done, sosome people might not accept that it has been. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

I think you have a couple of points of confusion here. Or I am confused about your post, one or the other. Either way, this response should cover it: Firstly, the front, adjustable Bilstein 5100's are not meant to be used with a spacer. There is no reason to place them at the lowest setting and then use a spacer. If you are going to do that, just put the Bilstein on a higher setting of your choice. Mine are all the way up (almost 2 inches) and I like it. I'm sure the stock setting would be nice as well. Secondly, you mention removing the rear block. The 5100 fronts are adjustable, but the rears are not, so you could still use a rear block if you wanted to. I would think that 33's would fit with 2 inches of lift. They tuck 33's under the Trail Boss. That has 2 inches of lift and people sometimes say the 33's look small on it. I dont say that, but some people do. I hope this helps.

Dont know, never installed something like that but saw that theres some circular plastic plugs (3 of them?) at the bottom if therockets. Thinking of adding little one inch DOT amber circular lights down there and tying them in with the amber parking/ running lights

Yes you can replace only the shocks in front. But definitely have a pro do it. Even some wall mount coul spring compressors have a hard time with the fat truck springs By the way, the fronts are Coil-overs, not struts. Struts also contain some steering knuckle integrated. Coil-overs do not