Beamie

Got that message on the speedo dial a couple of times this week on our 2008 Tahoe but it goes away after shut off and restart. I have a failing TPM sending unit (battery end life) but I can't imagine that has anything to do with it. Any ideas?

My Z-71 came with 18"s and have been replaced with the same. I like them. I want some meat to the tire sidewalls to avoid wheel damage not to mention it makes the ride around here better. In looking at "take-off" wheels/tires, again in 18", the Goodyears and Michelins that Chevy and GM uses are poorly rated by users on Tirerack. That might be why there are so many "take-offs" floating around for sale, some from model years up to 3 or 4 years old. The winters have made a mess of my wheels so I was hunting for new replacements but won't pay for the oem tires that don't get good opinions.

Just to muddy the water, I love Michelin LTX M/S. They handle all types of weather and are QUIET. They feel great on the body but make the truck handle, not boatlike or big old Caddylike. They last a long tome too. I regret being talked into Coopers by my dealer on the last go around. I don;t know if the Michelin Defenders are as good, but I'm headed back there on the next go around. I swore off Goodyears forever when I had a fairly new on split between the treadlines and I got screwed by Goodyear who wouldn't make good. They haven't seen another dollar from our house in about 15 years.

First time and it definitely needed it; Lube was black and there was about 1/8" coating of ground up sludge on the magnetic fill plug. Gears etc were not gunked up though. The old fill plug was seized in the cover so a replacement cover was in order. The GM cover kit includes a cover (unpainted!), redesigned fill plug, a nice thick gasket, all the bolts and a new bracket for the brake line junction block support. The whole thing was only about $60 so it's not worth the effort to restore the old parts. Panhard brace was in the way and the sway bar link in the way of that. Twelve years of winter snow melting chemical corrosion made the job more than routine. The new fill plug is very nice because rather than a pipe thread seal that allows weather corrosion into the threads the new plug as a large head that overlaps the edges of the hole in the cover and has a sealing washer between the head and the cover that seems like it will prevent exposure of the threads to external elements. The threads may be exposed to lubricant that will prevent bonding of the plug to the cover (fingers crossed). Replaced the panhard brace too that looked like it came from the bottom of the ocean. Again, it was too cheap to bother with restoring the original. Thank you Rock Auto on two counts for genuine GM parts. I was surprised at the Microsoft-like holographic labeling. Based on the color of the lube removed, there should be a lube changing schedule in the maintenance schedule.

I just did mine. There was about a 2" to 3" decline over the length of the truck, low in the front. I filled the rear differential to bottom of the fill hole, let it drip until it stopped and temporarily put the plug in. Then I ran the front wheels partly up on ramps ( a wood 2"x would also so) until the truck was as level as I could tell (with a level on several places) and pulled the drain plug to recheck the fluid. It was definitely low and needed more than I expected before it started to run out again. I don't know if that is the optimum fill level for your truck or not, but if it was out of level when you filled it, it may be too high or too low when it's level, depending on whether the front or rear was low when you did it. It's easy enough to pull the plug when you find a level spot to use.

Replacing the rear suspension track bar on my '08 Z71 Tahoe and there is a metal clip that holds the parking brake cable to the track bar. Mine has not survived the winters well but I am coming up dry on find a part number or replacement. Hoping someone knows a reference for the part. Edit: Never mind, found it.

I have avoided NAPA since I bought a muffler that had the snottiest welds imaginable. I did better in Adult Ed night school welding class and I was miserable at it. On the other side of the question, I just got an oem panhard brace with GM labeling noting "Made in Korea". I also just received oem AC Delco (best grade) spark plug wires that had two wires with misaligned (rotated) boots so the wires had to be installed in a twisted state. Just because it says GM oem doesn't make it up to expectations. Where has the pride in the job gone?

Seems that paint rated for 250 degrees will be ok for our 12 year old truck. I think the Epoxy is best around here where the winter roads are covered in blue-green chemicals.

Thanks. I like all the detail.

Does a differential get hot enough to require engine enamal or other high temperature paint to refinish the cover? I've used VHT Epoxy on other chassis items with good luck but it's noted for 250 F degree limit. We have a 3.73 locker in our Tahoe if that makes any difference.

Mine appears to have two anchors put in from above under the battery tray which I didn't want to muscle around with. Not sure what they are holding but that and the face that the mudflaps are also involved in the inner fender cover was too much to mess with.

1. Can't afford a $70,000 replacement. 2. and 3. If we went south it would have to be near the ocean, so we'd be going full circle with the salt (just can't stay off the sand!) and missing snow at Christmas. Guess we're stuck with rust and the Tahoe.

Started down that road, took the wheel off, looked in there and I don't think that is the answer on our truck. It's that darned air conditioner equipment, drip tray and hoses that obscures the spark plug.

Being 12 years old, 100,000 miles in the land of aggressive winter road chemicals nothing comes off our truck with breaking.

Title has been corrected to "Calipers". Not sure what I was thinking about writing rotors. I've bought a few AC delco things that were less than optimum in QC. The latest was the oem grade AC Delco spark plug wires. Three of the wires had the boots misaligned, like someone having their head on backward. Obviously the plant worker was just that. Thus the question Raybestos vs AC Delco on the calipers.

Are Raybestos calipers as good as AC Delco? Seeing various grades of AC Delco, I guess just to make things confusing for us. The current winter road treatment around here has the bleeder screws disintegrating and I haven't seen any restoration services for the bleeders so it might mean new calipers.

Just changed the spark plugs in our '08 5.3 Tahoe. A bit of advice for anyone not having done it and giving it a try, get a plug wire boot remover pliars and a 1 1/2" long socket extension for the #8 plug. It's still fishing in a blind spot, sticking a probing finger in there and hoping for good luck or an answer to prayers. The air conditioning drip tray makes wrench and hand access VERY difficult at #8. Prepare to have scraps on your hand and arm.

Thanks for the input. I'll look at the Firestones. The oem Goodyears that come on many Chevys with 18" wheels are Wrangler Fortitude. Not good reviews. I had Wranglers on a Jeep once and one of them split between the tread lines when not very old. The Goodyear dealer would not replace it claiming we must have run the wrong way on RR tracks. Ya, right. I was happy to see that dealer go belly up not shortly after and I swore to never own another Goodyear tire and haven't in 30 years.

The new Chevy take-offs (bare wheels) are less than $500 a set of four, and very nice wheels at that. I can't imagine anyone making mine new for near that amount. The refurbisher around here is about and hour and a half away and that makes it hard to make arrangements to leave the truck. Worth some money to avoid that. My tire dealer, who is a good private shop, has worked on the beads more than once and there are three of them that are problematic now. Guess I'm tired of worrying about it especially in the winter when it's a crap shoot whether or not my compressor will start. Thanks for the thoughts though, but I'm back to looking for tire opinions.

I need need wheels for 2008 Z71 as the originals are oxidizing and losing finish along edged as well as bead corrosion causing slow leaks, so I am looking at new "take-offs". Sometimes they have factory tires and sometimes not. When I research the Goodyears or Michelins that Chevy uses they don't seem to get very positive reviews making the full package deals not so attractive due to the tires. I'm interested in peoples' experiences and preferences in highway tires (Z71 wheels are 18", not that it matters) that are quiet yet can handle snow. I am coming off Coopers that never cut it in any amount of snow. Sorry I got talked out of the Michelin LTX's at the time but there was a big difference in price. Should have lived by the old saying of "Buy the best and only cry once." I don't think All Terrain tires suit our lifestyle just to make up for a few snow storms.

Thanks again. Have nothing but time around here to give things a try.

These were original on my '08 and just bought another pair at 91,000 miles: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NSN8SK/?coliid=I3NESIDE1Z7519&colid=131OEFV06ZMUF&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it They are mono tube for Z71. Should check part number for fit to your year. Perhaps less expensive on ock Auto.

Thanks guys. It's too late to loosen them periodically. Never expected to have the truck this long but once we retire and the replacement cost is in the $60,000 bracket, it puts a different light on the subject. I'll try the heat/ice process but somehow I suspect galvanic welding is in play. I guess it really doesn't matter of the bolt rounds off. It's sealed and may be staying in there. Similar issue in the read cover but it's steel to steel and the cover is cheap enough to replace without worrying about a seized plug in the old one.

Have an '08 Tahoe. Looking at steel fill and drain plugs in an aluminum housing. That's not a happy mix. Is there a technique to getting the plugs to budge? It appears that it might be a lifetime installation

Sorry if this is posted somewhere but I couldn't find it. What is the rear shock mounting bolt torque for 2008 Silverado 1500?