cautious optimist

I've used my lights a couple times. They're too dim to be worthwhile facing the front. I've folded my mirrors to get some extra light to the side. I'd love a mod to swap them out for something with power. Something to light up the edges of the road to spot deer with shields to avoid blinding oncoming traffic.

I like this as far as the actual truck looks like this. My only negative is the giant L shaped trim below the headlight. It looks like a massive filler. The current truck is too busy with major elements way out of scale. This is a huge step forward in my mind. I hope they don't break the Sierra, but this makes me hopeful that they get that one right too.

2.99 for regular gas 3.79 for Diesel Utah

I pulled up next to a late model GMC Sierra HD today that had a good part of the interior of its headlights painted to match the truck. It was gorgeous! I've seen it on older models but never on these newer trucks. To be fair I don't like the look in bright colors like white, but this was the Horizon Blue and it looked sharp. Mine is Pacific Blue Metallic and I think it would look good. After doing a quick internet search and searching this page I could only find images of the 2014-2018 and older. None in the 2019-2021. I'm seeking pictures if anyone has done this before. Maybe it isn't possible to do this on the newer headlights?

I was aware that they have the side seal. I need both the side seals and now two of the folding hinges. I've done a black duct tape temporary fix until I can buy a new cover. I may go with a shell as I'm finding the covers just don't give me enough room underneath for what I do.

I guess I am using the A/C a lot more than Feb, March and April. I don't idle it to cool it down. No computer codes or check engine lights. I do have a lot of around town driving and shorter trips traveling from jobsite to jobsite. Many of these trips do include about 10-15 minutes on a freeway. A couple 500 mile round trips to visit a project in Colorado in the last few months. I thought to start with cleaning the DPF to see if it's that or another problem.

NICE! That looks good. I agree with Bakflip about it being a liability issue. I was freaked out going down the freeway hoping the air wouldn't catch under it and send that back panel flying. I finally "fixed" it for now with some black gorilla tape just because I was fearful it would go flying. I need something to protect my tools so taking it off wasn't a good option either. The Gorilla tape has held up longer than I expected. It's not my first choice, but until I solve whether to get a Smartcap or another Tonneau, it will get me by.

Great suggestion. I looked a bit on Facebook and other local classifieds. People still want $500+ for used ones where I'm at. I guess that would get me 5 hinges, but still that's a steep price.

Thank you. I'll look into that brand. Lighter weight would be great. My wife and kids can't unfold my cover when it's all folded up.

TL;DL: Seeking instructions on how to clean a DPF on a LM2 3.0 Duramax Diesel. Long version: Hello all. I bought a 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 with the Duramax about 8 months ago. When I first purchased it, I was getting roughly 22-24 mpgs around town. About two months ago, I had to pound the gas to avoid getting hit by a redlight runner. Checking my rear view mirror I noticed my truck had belched out a significant amount of sooty exhaust. It had never done that before or since. Since that day, my mpg's have been dropping. First, I struggled to get it above 20mpg. This last tank it only reached 17.1mpgs. No check engine lights or anything indicating an issue. No major change in my driving habits or regular daily routes. I have no idea when it regens, so I don't know if it goes into regen more often or not. I topped up the DEF at 84800 miles (My first DEF Fill-up), then again at 87450. (2650 miles) Then yesterday at 90560 miles. (3110 miles) So it doesn't appear to be eating more DEF. I've wondered if somehow the DPF filter got clogged with that hard acceleration? I've read that there are cleaning kits for DPF's and I've seen videos on YouTube but I can't find any instructions specifically for how to do it on a LM2. Specifically I'm trying to find which port to use if it can be done. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I've given up on Bakflip. They refuse to sell this part. They refuse to reply to a single e-mail and I've sent many. As such I refuse to ever buy their products again. My growing business needs trucks with bed covers. I won't put a single bakflip on any truck I have. I probably won't ever source parts from realtruck.com seeing as they own Bakflip. The time and energy I have spent on trying to solve such a simple issue won't be easily forgotten.

Great suggestion. I did this, but sadly it did not turn up anything. I've searched for hours trying to find a solution. There doesn't appear to be one. I will never buy a Bakflip. I don't recommend them. This is a rather rational part to sell. It's obvious they won't sell it hoping to sell more covers, but they will only end up selling their competitors covers.

TL;DL - Does anyone have a solution or a generic part to fix the Bakflip rubber hinge between the panels? Mine failed and Bakflip refuses to sell the part. The long story: My recent truck purchase included a REV industries tonneau cover. Shortly after purchase I noticed the back panel rubber hinge was split in two. I tried to find parts and I found many parts for this cover, but not the rubber hinge. I couldn't find any contact info. for REV industries. I contacted the dealer, and they informed me that REV industries is now Bakflip. All I could find for Bakflip was an e-mail address, so I wrote them. Went about my work and realized a few weeks later that they never responded. I sent another message. Crickets. At this point the side seals are ripping because they carry all the force involved in flipping these covers. I noticed today that Realtruck.com sells this cover so I called them to see if they could order parts. I soon learned that they own Bakflip. They offered to replace the side seals, but they said they don't sell the panel hinge rubber. When I pushed back he claimed they require special glues and lubricants to install and they are not field serviceable. He said the only thing they can do is give me a discount on a whole new cover? After the call I went out and in literally 10 seconds I removed the hinge seal. It slid right out as I imagined it would. There is no evidence of lubricants and glues in those seals. Now I'm furious about this whole endeavor. I feel lied to. I feel scammed. I've spent roughly 5-6 hours searching the internet and e-mailing a company that won't publish a phone number and won't return e-mails. I have to be gingerly careful opening my cover, which I need to do multiple times a day, yet the problem is just getting worse. The longer this goes the more frustrated I get. So my question is: Does anyone have a generic solution that isn't rubber tape (I found that video on YouTube) to replace these hinges?

I was shocked to learn that my truck automatically locks the upper tailgate when the hitch is installed. I just bought it and maybe the last owner installed something? With the hitch installed I lowered the tailgate then pressed that upper button 28 times and it never released. Removed the hitch, lowered the tailgate, and it released on the first push.

Diesel near me has been bouncing alot from $3.35 - $3.45 - $3.35 - $3.45 for the last two weeks. No in-between. Up one day, down the next, then back up the next day. It's weird. filled-up two days ago for $3.17 thanks to gas buddy card. I don't check unleaded anymore. No idea where that is at.

I'm glad I read this post. Didn't know that was even possible. I've been changing my own oil for 25 years and it never occurred to me too check that gasket. Thank you for posting this for us naive lucky people.

I'm curious how you knew what gear the transmission was in? My dad's Ford has it on the dash, but my truck doesn't seem to tell me anything about this.

Almost a month ago I finally pulled the trigger on a new to me truck! I had some tight parameters that made this search really difficult. Standard bed, 3.0 duramax, 6 seats, not white or silver, under 60,000 miles, under $40,000. I've been looking for about 6 months and I finally found it! I was fine with an SLE, and preferred the Elevation, but then this SLT popped up at my nearest GMC dealership. It's even my preferred color. I'm not a fan of the rims, but that's an easy change. The bed has a bunch of fine scratches, but I'll buff those out when it warms up. I added the PPE Transmission bypass valve a few days after buying it thanks to comments on this forum. I bought a new dash camera and hope to install it this weekend. I'm looking to tone down the chrome in the grille. I'm also working on a 3D printed cup holder to fit my wife's Stanley water bottle among other things. I've been stalking these pages for a while now, and I am grateful to all the wonderful people who have shared tips, tricks and beautiful mods. I hope to give back by being a good contributor as I make my truck my own.

There is no getting around short trips in any vehicle. Grocery store, dropping off a kid to school, driving to church. Our days are full of short trips. I wouldn't worry too much about short trips; even a commute. I just bought a new to me Sierra SLT 3.0. I have about a 10-minute, 5-mile commute. it ranges from 25-35mph. I'm getting 22-25mpg on that commute. I used to borrow my dad's F-150 Ecoboost when he was out-of-town. That same commute was roughly 15-17mpg's in his truck. I never saw his truck above 18.5, yet a 3 hour trip this weekend I saw 31.2 mpg's in the Sierra. In my short experience, you will see better fuel economy in all conditions with the 3.0. I compared the cost this morning after my third fill-up on my new to me SLT. The 3.0 is saving me about $12-$14 per fill-up for commuting and $20-$22 for long trips not towing. That's with Costco 87 octane gas at $2.85, and the local diesel station at $3.45. I towed a 32' bumper pull trailer with my dad's truck a few weeks ago. I got 10mpg's on that trip. I'm towing that same trailer next week with my Sierra. I'll report back on the mileage after that trip.

Hello and thank you to all of you that documented your use with this unique truck! My cousin introduced me to them as he nearly got a job with them in Orem. I'm considering one because it fits the ethos I'm establishing with a new business service. however, I am nervous to pull the trigger on such a truck. I am a tinkerer, and I love to play with new technologies. However, in my recent past I had an event that nearly bankrupted me. I'm doing better financially now, but still digging out of the financial hole. The pros for wanting one of these: They are certainly cheaper to get into than a similar full-size truck. I had been considering a Colorado or Canyon before discovering this type of truck. The electric outputs could easily power the all-electric equipment I'll need. (I'm adding gardening upkeep to my landscape architecture design business.) I love the idea of cutting one of the biggest expenses of this type of business, fuel. I live 10 minutes from their office in Orem, Utah and I could somewhat easily get the truck to them for repairs. Cons of getting this truck: Reliability. It will be my first truck for this business and if it goes down, especially for weeks, then I'm in trouble. In this situation I could borrow my dad's truck, or one of my FIL's two trucks, but they would likely only be okay with this for 1-2 days. Maybe a week tops. So that isn't ideal, and I don't feel it looks professional. I could also rent, negating the cost savings this truck promises. It could get expensive real quick. I would need a significant discount to make this worth it to me. (Like in the $10,000-$12,000 range) Could I find one, that is running, for sale when I need it? Other thoughts: With solid-state batteries on the horizon, and if the promise that they could be significantly cheaper, could this one last long enough to swap to one of those when this battery dies? Could that kind of swap be mostly simple? If I could get one cheap enough, would I still be ahead moneywise to do a junkyard swap to a 5.7liter (or the 3.0 diesel) if the price matched the cost of a new battery/other repairs? I could sell off the electric materials from this truck to save on the swap costs. The junkyard vehicle could have everything I need, however those junkyard vehicles from 2015-2018 are getting older and higher mileage now. Other options: Spend a fortune on the Dodge Ramcharger. (And very likely have the same growing pains of new tech) Buy an older higher mileage full-size truck that fits my budget. Buy a newer lower mileage mid-size truck and add solar panels and electric generator to my trailer to charge my equipment. Just writing this makes me think the Mid-size truck is the best solution for me at this time. I won't be towing more than about 3,000 lbs so that isn't an issue. Many of them with low miles go in the $20,000-$25,000 range where my budget is. The biggest con to a mid-size is I have a family of 6 and I'm 6'-4". So if we ever want to use that truck to go camping, we won't all fit. I know I can fit but only if no one sits behind me. (My kids are all getting tall too.) So I guess my question for those of you who have experience with these trucks: are my fears overblown? Would this be a good truck for simple landscape garden maintenance? (I'm talking about spending an entire day at a wealthy estate. Maybe 20-30 miles a day tops. Not run from site-to-site mowing, blowing, and going. I intend to have only 3-5 clients with large acreage estates my first year.)