Another JR

Truck laundering …

When I ordered my SLT (similar to LTZ) in 2021 you could select a standard tailgate instead of the Multipro (multiflex) that came with that trim. They didn’t give any money back, though. It didn’t show it in the brochure but the on line configuring site showed that option. Even without multiflex or powered lift you will have a wire harness for the electric latch and the camera.

I would not decide between the tailgates based on weight. They are very close in weight. Instead, I would choose based on which functionality I preferred. Is the multiflex even offered as an option for your truck? I’m not sure it’s just a swap - the wiring would have some differences. I have the multiflex and pretty much never use it as anything other than a conventional tailgate except when showing it to somebody. However, I either have the tailgate off for a slide in camper or I’m running the bare truck. If I had a canopy or topper and was camping in that I would use it a lot. The bed is quite high, so the step function would be nice for that use. If I had the option of a powered gate instead it would have been a hard decision. It’s almost a two hand lift for me to close the tailgate, so powered might be nice. At rhe time I bought my 3500 SLT it was conventional non-powered one-piece or multiflex, and the price was the same, so I bought multiflex. I don’t really like the electric latched tailgate thing in any form - more stuff to potentially fail. I like the old school gate on my 93. I can pop it off myself in less than a minute. My multiflex is a two man half hour job to remove or install including crating, and it lives closed in this crate 7 months out of the year.

Often you can reduce your transmission temperature in a part-power climb by downshifting to increase engine speed, which increases water pump speed and flow. This increased flow allows the transmission cooler to reject more heat into the engine coolant. Doing a 35-40 mph climb due to a winding road with a 7500 lbs trailer, you probably did not need max power so your transmission was in 4th much of the time with your rpms at 1700-1800. If you are in that situation again and don’t like the transmission temperature, use L to limit the transmission to 3rd gear to keep the rpms higher at around 2400 and the temperature should come down some.

Ask the dealer if they checked all of your major ground connections from the battery to the body to verify they are not loose. It may not be the issue, but we have seen reports here of symptoms like that over the last 4 years where a loose main ground wite was the issue. In the past torquing on some appears to have been missed.

That oil change history isn’t horrible, but it isn’t great either. Changing to 7500 when the warranty ran out and never changing the transmission, transfer case, and rear differential fluid in 140k miles shows you the kind of owner it was. The transmission neglect would be a no-go for me.

First one at 1000 miles or so is a reasonable approach balancing cost, hassle, and the goal of quickly clearing particles from break in or production contamination. If I was only going to do one early oil change before going to the regular interval I’d pick a bit earlier at 300 to 500 miles, but that’s not based on any deep experience with doing oil analysis like some of out other posters here have. Since I do my own oil changes and keep my vehicles in the family for 20 to 30 years, I’m conservative about early oil changes on a new vehicle. On my 3500 hd and my new 4Runner I did first oil changes at 300-500 (truck was early at 300 because i discovered a dented oil filter), next around 1200, then 3750, and every 3750 after that. I’ll go up to 5000 on a highway trip if it means i can do the oil change at home rather than on the road. I see every trip to the dealer as a risk, especially away from home. Nothing wrong with a 5k interval for most trucks, especially if a lot of the miles are highway. My truck gets a lot of short trip work between the highway trips, and some years only 4k total miles, so 3750 is my default (half of my 7500 tire rotation interval). My oil level barely drops perceptibly in 3750 miles.

More tire replacement activity in a short time than normal. I did not see any report of transmission fluid and filter replacement, nor the differentials and transfer case fluids being changed in 140k miles. That alone would rule it out for me. I don’t really like the first oil change being at 5000 miles either. The interval grew to 7500 at around 40k.

My SLT’s 18 inch steel spare came from the factory face down. I check the air pressure a few times a year. I wouldn’t want to have to lower it for that.

I have a 2021 GMC 3500hd CCLB SRW Gas in SLT trim with pretty much all the interior options and dual batteries (single 220 amp alternator), so probably about as heavy as a gas SLT comes. My scale weights with 220 lb driver and full fuel tank are 4440 lbs on the front axle and 3280 lbs on the rear axle. I assume the front axle weight of a 2024 DRW gas SLT would be pretty much the same, but note that the 10 speed transmission is a little heavier. So you would have 5200-4440=760 lbs of front axle capacity available for load in addition to the 220 lbs driver weight in my numbers. Add three more adults takes up 300 to 400 lbs of that. Not much left for front axle camper load, but as you said many campers don’t put much static load on the front axle. Based on this I think if you are installing a 4500 lbs wet slide-in, you should probably get the F60 springs to bump the front axle rating up 400 lbs to 5600 for some margin, especially if you are going to hang 200 lbs of bikes and rack on the front. It may be the best spring choice for your load, and your data plate will show you legal even with quite a bit of camper weight on the front axle. It will increase lateral stiffness as well. You can always put 5200 lb springs in if you don’t like it (as I did) for not much money and effort. I think the plow package with 6000 lb springs is probably unnecessary for you and you would not like the ride difference. Maybe others will have a different opinion, though. The payload rating of my truck is 4054 lbs. The camper rating is about 3200 I think. You definitely are making the right choice with a DRW to carry a 4500 lbs wet camper and be able tow a 5000 lbs boat trailer with 500 lbs on the hitch (maybe even an extended hitch?). You won’t be overloaded, and your lateral stiffness and stability in wind with a tall camper will be much better. We all know the downsides of a dually, but if you need one you need one.

How much does your camper weigh, and how much weight do you expect it to add to the front axle? An advantage to getting the camper springs or plow package as part of the new truck is the data plate will show the higher FGAWR, which might be required for your load to be legal. If you buy it with standard springs and add heavier ones, the data plate will still show the standard FGAWR. I bought the camper springs but a few months later realized I didn’t need them and did not like the way they made the front end pitch up going over dips on the highway and made the front noticeably stiffer than the rear. It cost $600 to buy the standard springs and took two easy hours to install them. I posted a report on the job about two years ago.

Multi flex tailgate weighs 75 lbs. The powered one would be similar - maybe a little lighter. I remove and install mine a couple times per year. It’s a two person job, not so much because of weight, but rather because it is too big to get your arms around. I can remove my 93 truck tailgate easily myself.

I would suggest calling GM tech support and ask them to assist your dealer. If high idle was an available option in your truck trim level (it was), I believe it can be turned on with a software switch. I suspect the dealer was trying but was not doing the procedure correctly somehow. Did you try it to make sure they didn’t succeed? If the person tries to turn it on with their foot on the brake it won’t engage. Engine running, in Park, parking brake on, feet off the pedals, momentarily move the cruise control paddle switch on the steering wheel down to the set position.

That’s not what we like to hear bruceb58 … Its only here for marketing reasons. I suspect they hope it gives the impression that GM monitors public forums and reaches out to owners to give direct help with problems. Oh, and it’s clearly a bot.

You should be able to search by VIN on a GM parts web site and find your original part number as well as whatever the current replacement oart number is. If they left in or reinstalled your original it should have the original part number, where a recall would have used the latest part number I assume.

Regarding number 2: I put the camper on in April and take it off in late October, so not too much on/off. My son comes over and helps with the tailgate. It’s 75 lbs but too big around for one person to hold it securely. It’s ideal to have a third person to fish the wires through the hole while the other two hold the tailgate. Getting the left hinge to come unstuck the first time was hard, but after the first time it was much easier. I keep it in a plywood crate so it doesn’t get damaged.

How does a parking brake shoe get worn to nothing on a vehicle with automatic release? Are they set up to drag? I can’t imagine going to the trouble of putting louvers over the radiator but them letting parking brake shoes drag.

Work hardening is the result of plastic deformation or yielding of the metal. The torsion bars are not loaded to the stress level where that would occur. Here’s an article explaining it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_hardening

Is “relearn” really just a “control-alt-delete” by disconnecting the power long enough for memory to clear, or was it a load of a new software version? If it was just a reset, we should be able to just do it ourselves. I know on earlier vehicles I could do this to correct certain bad shifting characteristics that had developed over time.

If staying on the pavement there are lots of 20 inch tire options that are suitable for towing. If you are using the truck off road sometimes more sidewall depth is usually desirable, and 18s or even 17s may be a better selection.

Plus a massive frontal area to push through the air compared to a travel trailer.

I suspect simply changing the torsion bar adjustment to raise the front 1.5 inches will cause you to hit the lower suspension stops often enough it would be irritating.

I have a paper manual in my 2021, but I downloaded the on line pdf manual into my phone’s files app and I use that far more than the paper manual. I still like having the paper manual in the truck, though.

Seems like it shuts off at higher compressor speeds. It could be a partial obstruction of a refrigerant line causing high pressure shutoff, but only when the compressor speed is higher for a long enough time? I assume the dealer would have done this already, but try to follow the lines all around and look for a crushed or kinked line or hose.

Take a look at my several posts on page 7 of the thread linked below. I gave detailed instructions for a DIY camera enclosure for the OEM camera part number. You would buy another camera rather than take the camera out of your tailgate, and then connect to the camera connector for the tailgate camera near the spare tire. Camera $100, cable $15, PVC parts $10.