superhighsierra

This is the correct answer. Ceramic coating is all about the prep. You areputting an extra layer of semi-permanent protection over the clear coat, which is already there to protect the paint. So getting the paint as perfect as possible, is extremely important, as once you lock in whatever is underneath that layer of ceramic coat. It's going to be there until you take the ceramic off the vehicle. That said, you are a fool if you pay someone a thousand dollars (going rate) to ceramic coat a GM Truck. Go buy an orbital buffer and compound/polish the vehicle (depending on condition), wipe it down with some diluted rubbing alcohol and put some $75 Quartz on there and call it good. You can pinstripe a professionally ceramic coated vehicle, just as easily as you can a DIY coated vehicle. It's just a thin layer of protection, that keeps your vehicle looking "wet" for the life of the coating (2-3 years).

For the sake of conversation, what would be the performance objectives of a 3.0L Duramax? Genuinely curious as all i can see is: -More expensive fuel that negate any offset in MPG -More expensive price tag -~80 less HP -Slower 0-60 -Less towing capacity than a 5.8 by over 2,000lbs -More expensive routine maintainence -More expensive long term maintenance -Harder to work on -Riddled with problems, newer engine +80lbs more of torque that means what if it has a a lower towing capacity lol climbs a hill a ball hair faster? Objectively the 3.0L is a "V6 Diesel." Zero performance Huge fan of Diesel in 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. IMHO, never understood the appeal, whatsoever of the baby duramax.

275/65/r20 34.1inch tire. Still might rub a ball hair at full lock.

Same shell for both trucks.

Keep in mind nearly all of these people in this thread have 3.0 diesel. With a 5.3 and stock tires you can get 22-23 if you absolutely baby it, but then you are stuck with a stock truck. I have a 5.3 with 34.1 inch Duratracs on stock 20's, removed the lower front valence, have a leveling kit and get ~20-21 if i really baby it around town. About the same on the highway. Unless you want to go 55-60 on the highway in cruise, you aren't getting over ~21 on flat ground with bigger tires. Everything is a give and take. Don't want a 3.0L Diesel as that engine makes zero sense, and don't want a stock truck. If you own a half ton pickup truck and are overly worried about the gas mileage, not sure what to tell you.

The simple answer is don’t do it. Tried to warn everyone in the other Bilstein threads of the same thing. Bunch of people who didn’t know what they are doing, justifying money they spent to make their vehicle ride worse. If you off-road regularly, their are infinite other better options out there as well. 5100’s aren’t necessarily bad shocks, actually solid for the money, but they will ride like crap set up a couple rings on these trucks with stock coils.

That’s all for you to decide. 3” spacer needs UCA’s. 2” spacer doesn’t. I run a 2” spacer in the front and a 1.5 in the rear with the stock Ranchos. Bilstein makes decent shocks for the money. But I wouldn’t put 5100’s on one of these trucks unless you off-road it all the time. And in that application, there are much better alternatives to 5100’s and new coils. You are essentially taking coils and struts that were made especially for this vehicle and jerry rigging something together that were made for counterintuitive purposes to one another. Not to mention with a 3” spacer it is next to impossible to even get the spacer and strut assembly back in there after you bolt the spacer on top. It’s hard enough with a 2 inch spacer. So who knows what kind of angles the rest of your suspension are at, regardless if you only got a true 2” of lift. How do those CV axles look? Do you Enjoy changing ball joints and replacing them with aftermarket crap? Nobody will notice that inch of difference but you. I got a full 2” with my Motofab $50 spacers. If it were me I’d be ordering a set of 2” spacers, putting the Ranchos back on, selling everything you bought and chalking it up to a learning experience. But I’ve given similar advice on here plenty of times before, and it’s not always well received. If you are hellbent on getting that extra inch or two I’d run something like this: Proper - 4” Lift And even 5k later (not including labor), you better enjoy getting taking the tires off and getting underneath that vehicle and Turing a wrench or she’ll be squeaking in 2 years. Bolting a bunch of aftermarket crap onto one of these things and changing angles is for the birds. At least do it right if you’re gonna do it. There is a reason nobody runs 3” spacers and damn sure nobody runs 3” spacers with the 5100s up a rung. All my opinion.

How much time ya got? Lol If I was you, I’d put the rancho’s back on, put a 2.5” spacer in the front and a 1.5” spacer in the back. 5100’s are off-road shocks/struts. Do you off-road all the time? When they put those at .75, 1.5, or 2.5 it compresses your spring even more. Making it even stiffer than now. SEnd back your POS jerry rigged lift. Either use spacers and keep the rest stock or drop 10k on a 7” McGaughys/valved IKON/etc long travel if you off-road all the time. Not trying to write a manifesto here but for an extra inch or two you are really degrading the ride quality and of lesser concern imo, putting a lot of undue pressure on other OEM components. Good luck. Lotta people with crappy lifts on this forum IWBH.

Super easy to vinyl wrap them for a fraction of the cost. Same thing with door handles and emblems. Looks OEM with the right color wrap. Can’t tell a difference.

That oughta work. I’ve got 275/65/r20 which are a 34.1 inch tire, 11” wide on stock 20’s and they barely rubbed at full lock. Needed to zip tie the liners and now they don’t. 295/55r22 are a 34.8” tire and 11.8” wide. You do the math. They are going to rub. But you should be able to get away with moving/heating the wheel well liners and not have to cut or do a body mount chop. I’ve seen plenty of people running 35’s on a stock suspension who claim they did nothing and they fit. You should be fine but might have to break out the heat gun, modify the liners and/or mudflaps if you don’t want any rubbing. So worth it though as ~35” tires and a small lift on these trucks is the best thing you can aesthetically do to them. Too much lift = too much wheel well unless you put on 37’s which presents a whole host of other things you need to do to properly run them.

Just a 2” in the front is going to make it nose high. Did mine like that, didn’t look right, and wound up putting 1.5” blocks in the rear. Looks great but does have a little rake. If you want it to “look” completely level, I’d try to find 3/4” or 1” blocks for the back to go with the 2” donut in the front. You want the front 1-1.5” higher than the back. My 2 cents.

Duratracs are not loud. Duratracs look better than any other non M/T tire. You do the math.

Anybody successfully removed Onstar without ruining their built in NAV? TIA

275/60/R20’s here. 2” lift front 1.5” blocks in rear. Don’t rub, aren’t loud and look like a million bucks. Don’t listen to the hall monitor pencil pushers about the noise. Negligible at best over stock and look 100x more aggressive. Now gas mileage on the other hand took a ~2mpg nosedive. But that’s to be expected with any 2-3” lift and bigger tires. If you haven’t already, do it. Best looking non MT tire on the market by a wide margin. Open country’s and KO2 are nice, but there is a pretty big difference in how aggressive the treads are on the Duratracs and a negligible difference in noise & mpg between the two. Enjoy

Probably 275/65/r20 but don’t quote me on it. Worst case scenario is you have to do the NorCal Mod.