Darel Matthews

My '07 has had exactly one wheel bearing changed, at 90K. Did the whole front end at that time also "because I was in there". Haven't even changed the fluid in the trans since new, never even looked at a diff or u-joint. I modern engineering. FWIW I live in NE PA, in a town called Mountain Top if that te4lls you anything about my conditions.

This is so much rose-colored glasses. Modern engines have 1,000x more tolerance for neglect. 10,000-mile oil changes are the norm. When was the last time you had to adjust points, replace a distributor rotor, change a fuel filter, check your valve lash.... And people wax nostalgic for 140-hp big-blocks getting 7 mpg. That 300,000 mile thing is CRAP. No older engines ever lasted that long. The metallurgy just wasn't there. The difference back then was Cletus Overalls could slap a set of rings in it every 60,000 for $25 and keep it going - which you definitely CANNOT do with modern engines. There isn't an engine made now that WON'T see half a million miles with basic minimal maintenance. Don't get me wrong, I am a car guy. I have no interest in owning anything made after 1980 (which is why I just take my dad's hand-me-downs for my daily drivers). But I own old junk knowing it's old junk, and when I really need to get to work, I'm getting in something made in the last 25 years. Bonus, it'll have Sirius and hold my 24oz coffee. "Ah ain't gunna hav nun dat gub-mint cylinder shutoff in mah truck MAX POWAAAAHHH grunt grunt......" - Cletus Overalls

My dad bought the '07 new, and gave it to me with 21,000 miles on it. So basically I've had it since new. I know this is the wrong answer, but I listen to the computer....when it tells me to change the oil (or maybe at around 20% life left) I change it. Who am I to second guess the engineers? No synthetics or anything for it, either....it's only ever seen the cheap stuff at the local lube-N-squirt, whatever I get for my $30 and not having to lay on my back in the driveway. Been doing this since new. I have enough cars that are actually worth my time and money - the squeaky wheels get the (literal) grease. Now watch....I haven't paid a lick of attention to that truck since I've owned it (haven't even washed it in 7 years) and now that I say something, it's going to crap out on me. My son has been driving it all summer now, so as far as I know the dash could be lit up like Xmas and the wheels falling off and he wouldn't know the difference...maybe I should take it for a quick ride this afternoon. Oddly enough I'd so much rather keep the '07 than the '14....it's like GM built the perfect truck, then said "let's ruin everything". Still undecided what I'll do when the boy goes to college in the fall and I've got extra trucks around and the herd needs to be thinned.

Awesome, thank you!

Thanks, I had found this bulletin before, but it doesn't list a part number for the dampener. Do you happen to know what it is? Also looking on sites like GMPartsdirect doesn't show anything in the explodeds. It does it all the time, 100% of the time every time in AFM, regardless of engine or road speed. V4 = shake, V6 = no shake.

Yeah the '07 is around 200k and no issues at all (other than the rear fenders falling off). The '14 only has 40k and shakes like a leaf. Supposedly the earlier GMT900s were fine (like mine) but then they changed something that kinda ruined the system. I had a boss with a '13 that burned 2 quarts every 500 miles until he programmed it out.

Oh gotcha. Thanks!

Thanks. I'm not interested in masking a problem, so I'll fix it one way or another...besides I like the gas mileage I get and my '07 with AFM has been flawless for 200,000 miles now. I'll start out with an oil change and see how things progress. Anyone know anything about some sort of exhaust damper the dealers were trying a while back?

Repost from the general troubleshooting board, they recommended I come over here... 2014 LT Z71 with 4.3. When the cylinder deactivation kicks in and the truck switches into V4 mode, it has a very noticeable vibration or shake. Not unlike driving on a washboard road. This is not a wheel balance / driveline issue, it's definitely when the cylinders are deactivated and it's pretty much like a light switch. Anytime, any speed, the truck is in V4 it's shaking. Engine is totally smooth in V6 mode with all cylinders firing. The shaking occurs the entire time the truck is running in V4 mode, NOT as it transitions in and out of it (as most of the other guys seem to have indicated). The entire time the truck is in V4 mode, it feels like it's driving on a washboard road at all speeds and under all driving conditions. V6 is perfect. DIsclaimer: I "inherited" the truck from my dad, who swears it never had any vibration, but I felt it driving the truck home from his house for the first time. My dad also doesn't know how to put gas in his own car, and is the sort of person who goes into a dealership and says, "I would like one car, please." Thanks, Darel

I'll do that, thank you!

OK, oddly enough I found a few references to guys with similar issues. To provide some more info if anyone's experienced this, the shaking occurs the entire time the truck is running in V4 mode, NOT as it transitions in and out of it (as most of the other guys seem to have indicated). The entire time the truck is in V4 mode, it feels like it's driving on a washboard road at all speeds and under all driving conditions. V6 ins perfect. Also seeing a couple of references to GM firing the parts cannon at this. So it's not unknown, but it also doesn't sound like in seven years there's a confirmed fix? Also please don't suggest one of those chips that eliminates the V4 mode. That's a bandaid, not a fix. You're just hiding the problem then. Also I love the gas mileage this truck gets, I'm comfortably getting 21 mpg and loving it.

Uh-oh. Any ideas where I should start to look for the source of the vibration? The cylinder deactivation on my '07 is like yours, invisible and seamless, but that's the 5.3 and I thought maybe the inherent balance was different. Thanks.

2014 LT Z71 with 4.3. When the cylinder deactivation kicks in and the truck switches into V4 mode, it has a very noticeable vibration or shake. Not unlike driving on a washboard road. This is not a wheel balance / driveline issue, it's definitely when the cylinders are deactivated and it's pretty much like a light switch. Anytime, any speed, the truck is in V4 it's shaking. ENgine is totally smooth in V6 mode with all cylinders firing. I know I got the crap motor, but did Chevy really do this poor of a job balancing in the V6 (and therefore this vibration is normal) or is something wrong? I did search pretty extensively and can't find ANY reference to this, which I thought was really odd. If it was normal I'm sure I would have read a ton about it, or at least found one or two people whose engines grenaded right after this. DIsclaimer: I "inherited" the truck from my dad, who swears it never had any vibration, but I felt it driving the truck home from his house for the first time. My dad also doesn't know how to put gas in his own car, and is the sort of person who goes into a dealership and says, "I would like one car, please." Thanks, Darel

I have been searching around for a complete driver's side bedside panel for my 2007 (new BS) Silverado with the 6'6" bed. I've got the usual rust but I also backed it pretty hard into a pole so I figured at this point it'll just be easier to drill out the spot welds and replace the entire panel. I managed to find a part number for the passenger's side (however no one has it in stock) but I can't even find a part number for the driver's side, let alone someplace to buy it from. Any ideas? I'd also be willing to replace the whole box, since I've also got to patch the rust on the passenger's side but the only decent one I could find was $3500, which is more than the truck is worth. Any thoughts? Thanks, Darel

Actually this is a government regulation....all cars that have a combined DRL / turn signal have it shut off. If there is any lamp within ****** centimeters of the turn signal it has to shut off. So no, you wouldn't be able to bypass this.

The experience that kind of triggered all this (sounds like you did the same) was on my wife's Mercedes, which had similarly rock hard seats but also some structural issues. Me and another guy on the MB forums took our seats apart, added a rolled up towel in the very back of the lower cushion (under the cover), bent some support wires outward and after several trials and back-and-forth figured it out, and now the German seats are fine for my large American butt. Figured I'd see here if someone already had done that homework on the Chevy seats but I guess I'll be the guinea pig. Thanks!

Were you using the eggcrate under your butt or behind your back? You're probably right. Thanks for a coherent, useful response.

I've tried this. For some reason even with it fully deflated it feels like it's pushing into my tailbone (too low) and my shoulder blades aren't even touching the back of the seat. Leaning the seatback WAY back like I've got my mind on my money and my money on my mind seems to "move" the lumbar a little higher up where it's tolerable but again, shoulders not touching, and geez what a ridiculous driving position. Just thought maybe there was someone out there who had the same experience, and maybe did something like "I took off the back cover and put a 6"x8" piece of hi-density foam in ****** spot" but evidently my 25+ years of wrenching on trucks isn't enough to validate my problems to all you hardcore experts out there. Anywhoo, sorry to bother you guys with such trivial concerns...you may return to your BroDozer discussions on 22s vs. 20s and 8" lifts on trucks that never see a dirt road.

Maybe not the same result if it's not the same readers.

Upgraded my 200k mile 2007 NBS for a 2014. My God, WHAT have they done to these seats? My '07 had absolutely, hands down, the most comfortable seats ever installed in a road vehicle. Like a 4wd La-Z-Boy. The '14 (LT, with the split front seat/fold-down center console) seats are absolutely hard as concrete. Like a park bench. The lumbar doesn't "deflate" far enough and my shoulder blades never really touch the seat back. And have I mentioned HARD AS A ROCK? I am not exaggerating when I say the 15-minute drive home from picking it up, I had to get out of it and go lay down. I don't have back problems or any other kind of health issues and my back was in spasms. 3 days in it's no better. I have a 25-minute drive to work and it's causing me physical pain. I feel like I've tried every seat position I can and this thing is just horrendous. My 3-hour trip to the base for my drill weekend coming up has me losing sleep. How could Chevy have gotten something they had absolutely perfected, and screwed it up so badly? And more importantly, has anyone done anything to fix it? I can't even imagine an aftermarket cover or anything helping, because of the fact that the lumbar pushes so far it's almost like you'd need a pad way up high to fill the gap between your shoulder blades and the seat. And yes, the lumbar is on the absolute lowest setting. It's like the entire structure of the seatback needs to be changed. I thought my wife's Mercedes had the worst seats imaginable but that turned into an easy fix, taking the seat bottom apart and bending some support wires. I don't think this will be as easy of a fix. Help, I'm now stuck with this medieval torture device and need some way to fix it. As I sit here at work typing this I can barely hold myself upright in my office chair because of the pain in my lower back. DISCLAIMER: Before you say "didn't you at least test drive it", no, I did not, because the truck is a hand-me-down from my father. Beggars can't be choosers and I need to make this one work.