powderMonkey

I have read many different places and been told by a dealership guy, that some tires for some vehicles, even sharing the same name markings and sizes, are made specially for the vehicle manufacturers. Now if you compared the OEM'd tire vs a retail tire, and checked every mark on the tire you may find a difference. From what I have been told by someone at a dealership the OEM'd tire is made softer and quieter usually to try to help sell the vehicle.

I know almost zero about my screen - enlighten me - what am I looking at? Seems pretty slick!

Time warp! I finally spotted the MBRP T304 in stock at Summit Racing, and drove up and got it from their Cleveland store, and also the matte black tip. I just installed it on the 4-post lift at the shop yesterday. I only drove the 5 miles home last night because I was exhausted (no pun intended) but it does sound good! Not too loud in the cab but you know it's there. I am headed back to the shop now to do a couple other things (we are closed today), and I'm going to get some pics and videos, and will reply back to this soon with some info and what I learned from the install.

Yes it was in the glove box! As soon as I saw your reply on 4/20 on my phone I looked and found it there. Never figured the glove box was big enough to hide it. It was under all the manuals and original window sticker. Thanks all!

That dark blue with everything blacked out looks sharp AF man! Some knobby MT tires will top it off. Congrats man!

They don't want to play for me, FYI. I'd love to hear it because I'm considering the T304 MBRP system!

So there is a story behind that choice... Before I chose a color I googled around a bit, and found out that the DOT allowed the change from rear signal from amber being mandatory, to red some years ago. The article pointed out that the next year, there was a 37% increase collisions where lane changes or turning was a contributing factor. Theory is, that if you see a single flash of amber - you know it's a turn signal. If you see a single flash of red at the rear, you don't know whether it's just a brake touch or a signal. Made sense to me, and it gave me a reason to choose one over the other.

I need to get mine up on the 4 post rack at work and hit those as well. I'm at 1300 miles, but don't want to let it go much longer. Did they take a fair amount? Did you grease until you saw old grease coming out the other side, or just quit when the resistance got high? What grease did you use?

I have a new 2021 2500HD but did not receive a reducing sleeve - that I am aware of anyway. I bought an aftermarket one, but yes it's a PITA lining up 6 holes - lol... Unless it is hidden on the truck somewhere. Any hints, fellas?

I drove my Z71HD again on Sunday for the first time in a week so I paid attention to the temps again. What I noticed was the GM dashboard temp gauge came alive (up off the low 160F mark) when the actual coolant temp was about 127F. And again, GM gauge is at it's TDC 210F spot when in reality the coolant is at 160-165F.

I think I got super lucky then... My 2021 2500HD Z71 was delivered by rail to a huge drop yard about 25mi away from my dealer. My sales guy knew someone at the drop yard, and had him drive it over - THE SAME DAY - rather than waiting on a car carrier load. You think my salesman was tired of talking to me?? ; )

I have a Banks iDash and have some interesting info for you guys! I cold start the truck in my garage this past Sunday having not been driven in several days, and the Banks shows ECT (eng coolant temp), EOT (oil), and TRNS (transmission) temps all between 55-57F, which is the ambient temp in the garage. On the Banks, the ECT rises more quickly, with Oil and Trans temps warming more slowly. Get this - the factory gauge in the truck on the dash is at the 210F+ a hair mark, and on the Banks iDash ECT is at 165F, 166F, 167F climbing along as normal. The highest the Banks has shown me so far is about 199-205F. It fluctuates / changes info in real time, very high refresh rate. it's fun to watch! I truly believe the Banks is accurate, and the factory temp gauge needle probably sits in that 210F spot from 165F thru whatever temp the fan kicks on at probably 215-220F? The average person - they just want to see that the engine temp is 'Normal' so the needle never really moves. I've also got the Banks showing me Throttle Position %, and ECU Commanded Horsepower. Pretty interesting to look at. Take off on a highway stoplight, just a normal take off I use about 23-27% throttle. It shows 80-100HP. Once at 60mph it takes about 60HP to maintain that speed. An aggressive take off will show 240HP and like 48-56% throttle. The Banks iDash is a slick little dude... ; )

It's just been my experience across gunsmithing, motorcycle maintenance, travel trailers, SxS's, vehicles... Etc... And absolutely - I won't disparage the professionalism of most techs as a whole. But I think you are right on with your last point. A rushed environment. Labor / warranty time guides. Work Order time constraints and pushy service managers. And also they assume most people won't notice small scrapes, dings, etc... Or giant shaved off pieces of Alcoa aluminum. So they just haul ass and blow through it. And tear ISH up...

If you have something nice - and you keep it very nice - and you know how to work on it, and have the tools, knowledge, and space, but you let someone else work on? It's virtually guaranteed they will not only _not_ do the work to your standards, they may very well F things up / damage things also. It's like mechanic's reverse karma or something...

Hey L8T - that is not a bad idea at all, I hadn't considered it! Thanks for the input. That may be a thing I investigate with a couple of phone calls. Did they weld your Magnaflow in, or use those big sealing band clamps?