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?

Aww man that stinks. Every time I have to allow someone to work on something I own (essentially just warranty) it always earns my item new scrapes, dings, etc. Take pics of everything they will touch, door handles, the trim, the seats, the door sills, the area around the spoiler up on the roof. Don't let them tear your stuff up. My $0.02... I assume it's the Karma associated with the fact I can work on or fix almost anything I own myself, so when I have to 'make someone else do it for me'... Welp...

2021 Chevy 2500HD 6.6 Gas here at 1k miles now - my Bank iDash is showing 184-188F trans temp (once warmed up) unladen, whether on interstate or in town in 45-65F ambient temps.

Thanks for the replies guys, sounds like the Borla is the way to go for sure and it's actually available.

Glad to hear two things - one that Putco stands behind their parts - and two about those newer brackets! Man I must have gotten old stock! Had mine been packaged with the taller brackets I'd have used those for sure! Trust me you can do it without removing the tailgate. You can get your hand up under the bumper and get some fingertips into that area. I stuck all four pieces of two-sided tape to the brackets first which were snapped onto the light bar and spaced out how I wanted them. I left the rear backing on the two-sided tape. I started all four corners of the rear backing and creased them over. When I was set and ready, I pulled the backing down from the passenger side bracket so it was hanging down where I could get to it. Flipped the light bar over, and I stuck it down. Did the drivers side next - set the two ends then did the middle two keeping it all level. I was able to pull backing off with the light bar lights facing me. I did this to keep the tape from getting contaminated or sticking to something before I was ready.

I was wanting the MBRP T304 system, so I called MBRP yesterday and got a recorded message that they are not taking calls, and to contact them via the website. I did that and got an instant response, but it was not at all what I wanted to hear: ME: I am wanting to purchase T304 exhaust part number S5093304 for my 2021 2500HD. Are those in stock and available to ship? If not what is the lead time roughly? And would it be possible to swap out the chrome 4" ID 5" OD tip, for your black dual wall 4" ID 5" OD tip part T5053BLK? Thank you! MBRP: Sorry, they are out of stock and it could be 6+ weeks at this point. Sorry, you cant swap tips. Borla's own website says "coming soon" for our trucks, yet it is listed as an accessory on the official Chevy Accessory site. What is the deal with that? Has anyone successfully gotten a Borla direct from Chevy? If so what was the lead time on that? Official Chevy Accessories Borla Cat-Back Link Any info fellas? Or other options? Thanks!

Thanks CT. I saw a BLADE on a co-workers 2018 2500HD High Country Duramax and instantly had to have one also. ; )

Oh, and here is the link to the harness install PDF - meant to include that in the original post. Putco 529005 Install Guide

This went well, but there is one gotcha that I wasn't expecting. Total install time was 1.5 hours. I installed the 60" Blade Red/Amber/White Part 92009-60 using Putco Harness 529005 on my 2021 2500 HD. There is no splicing wires or scotch-loks needed, this is a totally plug and play solution for 2020/2021 HD's. Basically you are unplugging a multi-pin factory connector head on either side of the spare tire, and then plugging the harness into each end of that. And then plugging the standard 4-pin trailer connector and single wire on the other part of the harness, into the 4-pin and single lead on the BLADE tailgate light bar. Other than routing and zip-tying up the harness behind the bumper - that is it. I performed this without removing the tailgate. I'm a 6' 215lb guy and there was enough room for me to reach up behind the bumper and get one fingers on the lightbar, and the other hand reaching in between the bumper and tailgate from the outside to get it positioned before sticking it down. The gotcha is that there is a new factroy GM non-weight bearing bracket that helps prevent lateral tailgate movement, that is in the way of the lightbar itself on our 2020/21 HD's. The answer to that I found by googling, is on Putco's own small forum for their products. Thread -> Putco Blade Thread on 2020-21 HD's The last post in the above thread (post #3) shows to simply reposition the bracket on the blade 4" to the right of the GM bracket, and mount the BLADE over top of the tailgate bracket. I've included the pictures from that thread, as well as a picture of my completed install. Without getting down and looking into the small area, you can't tell that the one end it on top of somthing. Just wanted to post some info for others.

Hey guys, thanks for the replies! 20gmc - Get this - I googled 'bird strikes' (I am a pilot too) and red tailed hawks are #1 on the list in annual millions of dollars of damage caused. I'm not the only one cursing them! Keith - Glad you got your 3500 HD Dually! That's got to be a beast! Scott - Your Blue Z71 Sport Edition all blacked out - and with a Dirtymax - man that is one BA ride! I just took my first ride since iDash install - pretty slick little piece of tech. You got all those cool fields like boost and regen and crazy high EGT to monitor with yours tho! ; )

Here she is...Love this truck! 50F and the sun just popped out here. Thinking about running up to Summit Racing and picking up a Banks iDash! ; )