ArrowsmithPML

Why do you suppose that the 1500 AT4 can not receive the upfitter switches yet the 3500 can? I've checked and all the parts are available to order and install by oneself after the fact but why not from the factory? Does this seem odd to anyone or do you suppose there is a reason for it? I always put switches in my trucks for things like light bars, over head beacons, aux fuel pumps and reverse squawk boxes so having them already there is a great option.

And mine is a full crew cab.

Like I said, didn't measure but did today out of curiosity and from front of tow hooks to back bumper on my 12 RAM is 21'-10"

All my RAMs have been LWB and this last one is a crew cab, LWB. So at around 26FT (I've not measured it) it is LONG on a tight road or access trail. I find the screen distracting for sure.

Well a little background... I own a construction management company. Currently my commute is 1,700 km 1 way every 3 weeks. Once on site, it is 120 km a day (minimum) and at least 1 hour of highway driving and 6 hours of slow bumpy kidney buster driving. On a slow month, maybe 1,000 km and on a busy one, much closer to 10,000 km. Oh and did I mention that it was in the bitter cold (-15 to -40C plus heavy winds making that feel like another 10 to 30 lower) most of the time? Northern British Columbia, Canada. Enjoy. www.arrowsmithpm.com

SD and SIM cards are NOT the same thing. One as I'm sure you are aware is for storage (SD) and the other is for communication (SIM). There are likely 2 items of concern here. 1 is certainly associated with the Onstar functions but this is a paid service (unless I'm wrong) and the other would be associated with the LTE / 4G vehicle phone number and or data plan - which acts just like a cell phone but claims better coverage so much use satellites for that which would part of the Onstar module. Now, the larger question is why bother? Although I have Onstar in both my GM products I don't use the car phone number / LTE plan as it is too expensive and my cell is always on as it is and data is cheaper in Canada then ever before. So, unless you use your phone with a VPN (as I do) all the time and have your location services turned off for privacy if you turn off this in the vehicle, your Android or Apple device is still listening to you anyway. ("Hey Google...", "Siri can you...?") anyway, my 2 bits.

I don't dispute your comments at all. In fact they are almost exactly as I would have said. The 6.7L Cummins isn't horrible if the enviro stuff falls off but agreed my 2 older 5.9L were so much better. My powerstroke before that was a 7.3L so again, I agree. I have an uncle that had a first gen 2001 GMC DMAX and put nearly 450,000 km on it with some injector issues and some pump problems but his new 2021 Chevy 3500 DMAX seems to be treating him well, minus a bunch of electrical creature comforts that aren't working properly.

Not even close to an 8FT box but...

Don't get me started on injection issues - that's something they all suffer from as far as I can tell. I've always had a long box but don't need another as I don't plan on trading the 2012 cummins. When I say 400,000km it is because of wear and tear, assuming normal/ regular maintenance. I don't want to be doing valves of injectors or whatever. My 2012 has done well as I have EFI live on it with a custom tow tune and if it can be done I would likely do that to a new DMAX just because of the idling I do on site in the cold. Still at $100k this is a hard pill to swallow.

I've the exact opposite with gas engines. Been a diesel guy for nearly 3 decades but now with all the filters and cleaners and this and that, does this push the cost of ownership through the roof. I'm guessing it gets close. I enjoy the GM 8speed in my camaro and my yukon so the 10 should be as good or better. I know it was co-developed with Ford but I just don't like the eco-boost stuff so I am staying away for now. I like both front ends - no issue, lots of truck there for sure. Anyway, not a quick decision.

Mine all mine - van halen

Ok guys (and gals), I am very likely in need of a second "loaded" work truck this year. Having been a Cummins guy for the last 22 years but since 2017 an owner of a Yukon and as well now a Camaro the way the new GM product is spec'd it has all the bells and whistles but still functions like a truck, minus the solid front axle. Having tested a new 2021 3500 AT4 DMAX - I really like it. I love the upfitter switches, the HUD and the ride is as good or better than my 2012 3500 RAM (which has aftermarket FOX 2.0 shocks and a nice lift). Now for what I do, it still needs to be leveled out as that front lower valance will get ripped off in a week but otherwise, very nice. Comparing to a similarly equipped 3500 RAM and honestly, and this is coming from a RAM guy, these aren't even in the same park, let alone field. Sure the Cummins is great but the truck felt a tad cheap and when both are over $100K (CDN) it has to feel right. The other big gripe I have is with that 12" screen. I love tech but if you just want to turn on the seats or something, there are too many screens, too much distraction and frankly as I do a lot of driving at night, even turned down it was too bright and made it hard to see outside. So for this knowledgeable group here are some questions: 1. cost of ownership? this will be a work truck and not a grocery getter so it will do a lot of long hauls but more so, a lot of slow bumpy driving on goat trails. So is the drive line up to the task? I don't want to be getting alignments every other oil change or whatever. 2. V8 DMAX vs I6 Cummins - again cost of ownership? will I get 400,000 km before I need to do anything major with valves, rings etc.? 3. I do a lot of idling (no comments from the greens please) so this must be able to handle that without burning a bunch of fuel (or something might just fall off). EGR? DPF? DEF? 4. I wasn't planning on a shorter than 8 FT box but I really don't need another "barn on wheels" so is this "standard box" good enough? 5. GM 10 speed auto vs the RAM 6 speed auto? The RAM is not all that great but I know how to fix it. Now to throw a wrench in here, I started looking at the 1500 AT4 but quickly found no upfitter switches and it needed a 4" lift kit even though it claims to be taller than a regular sierra - although frankly, that is marginal at best. I though the 6.2L would do me fine with the 10 speed auto but I am concerned about my 10 year 400,000 range I typically consider for replacement but equally thought that I could add a 2.7L super charger to it after the jobs and make my own version of a Hennessy - because I think I could do that. So, thoughts? comments? am I crazy? remember, work truck, long distances, lots of idling and so on... Any help would be greatly appreciated.

At the time I was measuring for misfires / codes of injection cycle.

Mine was recorded as similar. #17-NA-166 and pico scope analysis done with spikes to 4.8, then 2.8 and then 1.8 at times - very erratic and unpredictable. Anyone that has this vibration issue should really do everything they can to address is. I was advised to run a few tanks of premium fuel - which I did and noticed a slight correction but it never went away. We had 3 of the 8 injectors replaced prior to that and I purchased a data logger and ran that for a while to generate a history. I also looked into selling it, trading it and just about everything in between. Cheers,

I find that a TSB that was just released in September more of a permanent fix vs something that someone might consider temporary. Frankly, I think that is a lazy answer and I would seek the advice of another place. I went to the other dealer and sat with the service manager in his office for about 90 minutes and we talked about everything, good, bad and indifferent. You won't get anywhere by being an ass so I always go in real nice and see where that leads. Thanks

Well guys, I took this TSB referenced in this note to the local dealer. Explained the issue and had the first part of the test run and proven with the PICO meter and after waiting a number or weeks for the parts, due to the strike and issues at the boarder, I finally had the work done yesterday and so far, I can positively say that I do not have any vibration or shudder (so far, fingers crossed). This is what a Denali should drive like - smooth as silk. Obviously, a little early to be 100% certain but I feel we are pointing at if not over the finish line here. Cheers,

An update on my case, a new service dealer has agreed to take on the challenge and using their recommendations of using premium fuel for a while - which is just about $2.00 per litre I might add! has reduced the issue but has not solved it. This dealer has begun the TSB for the engine mount but wit the strike the parts are delayed and may also get stuck at the boarder for a short period of time. I'm fine with that as at least I am moving forward.

So, I spoke with the Service Manager of the purchasing dealership and I showed them the TSB and they pulled it up, reviewed it and said well looks like it might take a while to do the PICO test BUT that it is totally legit and if it addresses the roughness they are willing to give it a go. My issue is that I have an open case file with GM so I want to confirm that it won't make a mess of that process before I start something new. The interesting thing here is that the assistant SM has traded in her 2016 Yukon Denali for a 2019 of the same as hers was "idling so poorly" it was "going to fall apart" - now that coming from the inside of an office nearly floored me but it is what it is. Based on deduction her issues were reduced by using premium fuel for about 6 months which I feel would have nothing to do with a motor mount but it got me thinking, is it possible that the higher octane burns at a different internal cylinder temperature and so if running regular would that somehow generate a vibration that is transferred to the mount location and shaking it loose? I don't know but seems plausible. They also stated that the AFM would have nothing to do with this but not seeing a cut away engineering drawing I'm not certain of that. This just goes on and on... I feel we are getting closer to something though.

I still find it hard to believe it could be a mount but hey. As well, I bought it for the AFM and love that feature. I also bought it because it didn't need premium like all the other "premium / German" brands out there. Last year when premium fuel spiked in price to $2.05 per litre here on the west coast it was something I was so glad I didn't have to purchase.

So, the GM customer care in Canada was little help - not entirely her fault but funny how the story she was provided from the dealer was not true. She was told that they were logging the vehicle misfire count and codes - and I said, that would be great but hard for them to do when they don't have the truck in their shop. She was like what? I said, yes, me as a consumer / owner have installed my own data logger and will be doing my own case development. She tells me that's not right and I agreed but right now I have no choice. I'm still looking hard at trading it in for a 2019 but don't want to get into another can of worms. Suggestions?

That's unreal. I ran my code reader / data logger yesterday and no codes or for that matter unusual idle conditions. It is just frustrating that it doesn't happen enough to pin point the issue. Again, I don't think this has anything to do with the dealer as they can only do what is present and I totally understand that BUT I still think it is something that if not addressed will kick me hard when the warranty expires next spring / summer.

No, no more codes - a motor mount, seriously? Good grief...

So, after another lengthy discussion with another service manager and offered some additional insight which was helpful. The last part of it was to contact customer care and open a case file. So, I am officially that guy. I'm not here to throw anyone under a bus - I just want a problem fixed and I will do my part to do it, fully understanding that there are a lot of it in my control. The big one, which I don't like is that I was told to use premium fuel, yet it states it is recommended, not required - ok fine. Next was to change the fuel filter, sure but perhaps a premature as again, going that far back in the system would beg that all injectors (both sides) are affected and not just one bank. Anyway, that is where we left it today.

Well based on everything I have read so far, I will admit I'm a bit frustrated and stuck in this somewhat less than stellar warranty but the level of frustration is not worth trading it in (yet) and paying more for a new one. I am in a slightly positive equity position on the sell vs loan prices but that still doesn't offset the increased burden in capital. So I figure I will put up with the hit and miss service issues and let them sort it out until I expire the warranty which for me is likely going to be around June of 2020. Then if I have any more to do I will only be looking at 1 or 2 to do somewhere else, or myself. My issue with all of this is that that all the replaced items are all on the same bank so far (2, 6 and 8 ) replace 4 and that's an entire side. Not a single sales person who wants to sell me a new one has ever heard of this let alone of multiple injector failures which because I'm new to GM after 25 years I missed that as a major ask when originally looking at the truck. This just bugs me. Wife took the truck this morning so I can't get that data logger in until later today. Fun times.

Well not specifically but having done it on a few diesels it isn't all that hard. Trouble is I don't have any specific GM scanner or any such thing like. Besides, if it is something else (as I think it is - being all one side of the block) I can't check for that in my garage. As well, the truck is only 22 months old and having to do this sort of thing that soon is not something a guy should have to do.