Chuck FB

Unfortunately that is how GM leaves those parts, all unpainted and same here with my truck that came from the factory as a special order so not like it had sat around after the build or was being used as a demo vehicle on our salty winter roads. An interesting item this brings up though is that are all four of your upper/lower A arms painted, mine are but I noticed in the show room at the dealer that at least one side of the upper A arm of a HD trail boss was not painted and was all rusty just like your axle tube and that surprised me, somehow it must have gotten missed in the painting process unless there was another story to that particular truck.

Last year as I was looking for information on the GM HD trucks, this was one of various threads and the topic of suspension that I was trying to sort out what made the most sense to buy if I had a choice ( and I did since I ended up ordering one vs something off the lot ). I don't know what future endeavours my truck may have but I really didn't feel the need to make a GM truck ride like the front end of a Ford super duty or at least how I know they rode just a few years back with the gas engine "like a dump truck". So based on feedback from here and other comments I felt it made the most sense in my situation to order the truck with the standard torsion bars. The only downside I can see is GM then puts a sticker on the truck claiming it doesn't give it any weight rating at all for hauling a camper. Andrew, if you happened to see my question I was wondering if you have a micrometer or accurate vernier caliper that you could measure the diameter of the 6000 lb rated bars as well as your new 4800 rated ones. Mine are the 4800 lb rated units according to the pillar sticker and I come up with a diameter of about 1.523 thousands with a micrometer. One bar is 1 thou different than the other, manufacturing tolerances. One thing that I still have never had a definitive answer over and that is what diameter the Cognito comfort ride torsion bars are as they only mention fitting on a whole list of trucks from 2020 up to 2025, they never say a word about what engine the truck has as per compatibility since that makes a significant difference, nor what the spring rating is. I even sent them a note quite some time ago and I heard crickets. Some have even even had the feeling from the markings on their bars that they may be a GM bar but I can't confirm that either. They only state that their bars feature a reduced rate over the OEM bars but which OEM bars !, I think there are 5 different ratings that GM has on these bars depending on wheel base and engine choice and plow package etc, from 4400,4800,5200,5600,6000 Going back to my new truck as well as a prior GM branded truck from years ago also with the torsion system, GM does a crappy job of levelling the trucks from side to side on the front end, some trucks come off the line fine while others are quite out of wack, my old one as well as this new one was certainly far from adjusted evenly height wise from side to side and the adjust bolt differences helped back that up. While I had no intent of "levelling" the truck front to back as all that does is make a harsh ride with the keys cranked right up and give the suspension and steering a short life on the front anyway, I wanted the truck to at least sit level from side to side ... its a new truck after all. When it sat on a level floor I could also see the difference in the space or lack of on the jounce bumpers from the higher side to the lower side. I measured the rear from side to side and it was being twisted over as well from the gross difference in the front factory adjustment. The guide I used to do the actual adjustment was the fender opening to center of hub distance, it can't be too far out doing it that way. It took a total of 4 1/2 turns "in" on the right side and a 1/2 a turn "out" on the left side to get to level across and I ran the truck some on the road after the adjustment just to work the suspension and then measure again and its bang on, so is the rear now from side to side. After the truck gets a few miles on it I will probably take it into an independent alignment shop in case they have to make slight adjustments to the caster or camber and before I did any adjusting I see the steering wheel is off ever so little to the left, I swear GM lines up the steering wheel to the cockyed steering cowling they designed. It steers exactly how it did before I touched the torsion key adjusters so I can't have thrown it off too much. I should also add that the high side had been 24 3/4" and I had read where its said a good high end goal OEM wise would be 25" and so that is what I chose but could have evened it up to the 24 3/4 instead and would have meant less turning up of the right side. I expect them to sag down a bit as the truck gets used so should be quite fine.

I totally agree with how your keeping constant tabs on the level, its no different than running any type of construction or farm equipment, highway tractors etc, its part of a daily maintenance routine in those circles. I certainly hope my L8T will turn out to be a good one but I want to know sooner than later if there are any issues like using excessive oil. There was a reason years ago why service stations were full service, they ( if one would let them ) check the oil level and while not accurate as per having sat long enough, it was in theory someone at least checking it and adding if required. Its a good practice to get into and scan over the other fluids as well and add windshield washer fluid etc. Grumpy Bear, yes I recall seeing that video from the oil geek and every engine design would have its point where the wind would affect it and in fact there is nothing to say that some engines could have such an issue due to design even with their intended oil level at high revs. There is some Russian youtube channel or a country in that area of the world and he's always doing some wacky test, he moulded a clear oil pan and bolted that to the engine, then started adding more and more oil in steps to see what would happen with aerating but also just how wild it would get by adding so much oil that the crank was partly submerged.

Now that you say that, I should have clarified from where I was calling the full mark and how far down the levels were from full, on the front and rear diffs and the transfer case. So from the considered "full" level as per the bottom of the threads of the fill ports is where I was referencing from. I know I have seen some specs in the past as to the lower acceptable range on the diffs as well as the full mark claiming to be at the threads on the diffs. Oddly I can not find any full level spec in the owners manual that has the limited amount of maintenance information, nor do they even say what the oil volumes of the diffs are or even what type of oil, "see your dealer" seems to be the theme there. However it does happen to state in the manual that if the transfer case level is found to be below the fill plug threads that the course of action is to fill it to the threads but they don't give a lower acceptable value which may mean they don't really have a lower level limit on it, just make sure its full. In topping up the diffs, the factory oil is 75W90 rear and they call for 75W85 front but of course 75W90 has been run for years in the front diffs, its all about getting that last little bit of fuel mileage. Anyway I wasn't too worried about the front since it wasn't going to take much volume and used from my five gallon pail of 75W90 I use in highway tractors and so on with the pump on it, same for the rear. Its the rear diff out of everything that concerned me as being well below any spec I have come across and yet it seems to be a theme and have seen mechanic youtubers that have bought an HD truck and they found the same thing with the oil being down 1 inch when they measured it. It would be nice to have access to a shop manual, not that I would understand all the jargon but there would be a lot of invaluable information in it. By the way the automatic trans, I had it up to temp and then pulled the check plug on the bottom and only the dribble from its stand pipe came out so there was no way of knowing where the level really is, is it there or is it down some. So let the truck cool off as the exhaust is right there by the fill plug port, I went ahead and pumped in a quart of ULV and then repeated the warming up of the trans and once again checked it and decided to catch the oil assuming it would flow out with a spotlessly clean measuring container and literally one quart ( ok so I am working with liters up here but whatever ! ) ran out and capped it at that volume I had put in as I think the trans temp was slightly higher than the first test. In any event it will be right there where it should be but what a pain, too full and excess runs out until its flow slows down but too little oil and a person is clueless unless putting more in and I certainly wasn't going to do it how I was equipped with the exhaust right there that I am squeezing in between with my bare hand to get my little sucker/filler hose into the port. But at least that satisfied me that I would not be driving around with low levels including the trans, a good starting point anyway vs wishing I had done it looking back from the future.

I should have quoted your post when I posted my comment the other day explaining how what you showed in your video worked ( even though the system cut your audio ) . It worked like a charm following your procedure and I don't have a subscription with my truck or any apps or phone connected to it so I can only assume that what if anything would show up in the GM system should be showing my settings I inputted, and very well could be changing them over time as the use of the truck dictates for needing to bump up the tire pressures from the near empty weight requirement at the moment ( near empty for a one ton that is ). When I bought the Autel TS508WF the other day from Napa, the young guy who went to the back and got the unit I had ordered over the phone, he said oh yes I've used one of these lots at the tire shop he had just prior been working at and they used this same wifi version to do all this constant updating and transferring of information within the shop, all completely useless tech to me but was the cheapest version to buy at Napa as its probably more common now than the other versions. He also said be sure and update it before I even try using it, resister it and update it right off the bat as the vehicle info will be guaranteed to be out of date on it otherwise. I also had rounded up a used set of factory 20" wheels for the truck at the time of ordering the truck and was proactive in having a set of Nokian LT3 studded mounted on them, the problem is that I was not aware of the special GM sensors at that time and I had said specifically what these tires were going onto and it went over the heads of two different staff at the tire shop as they figured they knew for sure it would take a sensor they typically use. True, it probably will work but they won't self orientate themselves like these new GM sensors and have recently talked to the tire shop and they will pull their sensors and put in the ones I just bought from GM ... had I realized this a few months ago I could have saved myself and them the hassle but it is what it is. I also realized since I have not been messing with tpms systems before, that once a tire drops below the pressure the system decides is time to set the alarm ( if it is 25% below the placard set pressure or whatever the vehicle computers system was programmed to do ), inflating some isn't good enough as its as if it wants to have the tire pressure put up closer to the actual set placard pressure, then once the alarm goes off as per the green pressure reading from orange, lower the tire pressure back down to the pressure one intended to run the tire at. Its all new technology to me personally using it, have driven other vehicles that have it but haven't personally owned one with all this new ( and frustrating ! ) technology.

I'm with you on your line of thinking in the scenario where if they really did F up and put in the wrong oil that was never recommended for a good reason for these gas engines. I don't know if its physically possible to 100% see the initial signs of damage by a bore scope into each cylinder as I gather this type of pre-igntion is happening just above the compression ring rather than with old school pre-igntion which started melting/flaking off parts of the top of the piston. Having said that don't take my word for it as I am not a mechanic but have seen some ugly photos/videos of what can happen with this low speed pre-ignition if a very wrong additive package type oil was used. It may have been the tribologist Lake Speed Junior on one of his episodes that showed that type of damage. In an instance like this I don't know if lets say GM ( although it would be the dealerships fault, not corporate GM ) would offer a long term engine warranty or if they would want to just make it all go away and claim there is nothing to see here and shuffle you out the door, I have no idea. It is also a good question about the over fill aspect, each engine design would have its limitations to how much extra oil it could hold before odd things start happening, I am only "guessing" that with an engine of this size and two quarts over filled, perhaps it could cause a bit more misting of oil in the crank case and more of that finding its way into the pcv system and the air/oil separator system in the valve covers and then more oil mist able to get into the intake and onto the back side of the intake valves. Having said that, think of an engine attitude when its climbing up a steep off road hill, that oil is piled up in the back of the sump, or pointed down hill its sloshed to the front, yet there is room down in the pan to allow for that and not cause any major issues ( until the vehicle rolls onto its side or upside down ).

New member here, I decided to sign up after some months of reading mostly through this particular GM forum since its official that I bought the truck I had ordered back in Oct and have it in my possession for over a week now. I believe I will have two free engine oil changes available to me within the next 12 months but I am one that is leery about bringing a perfectly good operating vehicle to a shop, certainly not some shady oil change place. Unfortunately even dealerships are not immune to screw ups as after all the people in the oil change bays are from what I understand anyway as typically new hires with often minimal if any experience prior, nor are they mechanics but they may have desires to go into that trade. If you kept that old oil filter, hang onto it as well as the used oil but don't cut it open. Get that oil sample done and back into your hands and then go from there. My fear and don't mean to go fear mongering, but lets say it turned out to be diesel rated 15W-40, it in theory may have a higher additive package as per zinc etc that could cause low speed pre-ignition that the Dexos 1, Gen 3 oil is designed to prevent. At this point one can just hope its the correct oil but with two quarts excess, otherwise if not its to the dealer to explain what was found in your engine and a course of action they would take. Speaking about oil levels on my new truck, again because of this forum talking about their findings with some fluids being low from new, I went over my truck to check things out. Before it had left the dealer I happened to talk to the service manager who's background is a GM mechanic ( but I had never met him officially until that moment ) and we were talking about some of the issues with vehicles in general in the last few years, yes the valve body issue in the 10 speed HD etc and he said they had a couple of rear diffs/wheel bearing ends blow up on them a couple of years ago due to too low a factory fill and claimed that now they make a habit to check the oil levels. Now granted maybe he thinks they are doing that when bringing in new trucks but sadly my truck proved otherwise or mine slipped through the cracks. Engine compartment wise accessed fluid levels were all good as per engine oil 1/8" above full, brake fluid full, power steering fluid in the middle of range, coolant good. However the rest of the driveline varied and of course a pain in the butt to do the auto trans but did that as well just to be sure. All levels taken on a flat shop floor with fluids having sat over night ( other than the auto trans check which is done hot ) using a wire bent at 90degrees and measuring tape. Front diff ; 1/2" low Auto trans ; right on level after a whole procedure ( can explain that after ) Transfer case ; approx 3/8" low and also measured what I had to add which was about 200 ML Rear diff ; exactly 1" low ( for F's sakes ... )

I had ordered my 3500 gas on Oct 10th and I am only speculating that the dealer had allocation as I never specifically asked that question, however I did ask if it was possible to get it before year end and he claimed with how fast they were being built that it could. In hindsight that was more than likely salesman smoke up my butt to get me to commit to ordering vs chance my checking elsewhere. Since I wanted a higher trim gas truck and he did a search of sorts ( not sure how far his search was ) and came up with nothing that met my criteria and I expected that anyway as looking online at dealers in western Canada or random large dealers in the USA to just see what type of inventory floated around, I would say 90 to 95% of HD trucks were Duramax's so it was what it was. I wasn't given instantaneous up to date information from the dealer on all event codes, it may have been around 3 weeks/ early Nov when they had a TPW of the second week in January and I attempted the online/email chat thing with GM and I found that pretty useless, just didn't want to be bugging my salesman. As far as I know it was then built on that week in Jan and well prior I had asked the salesman if there were any holds on my build as per the time line from accepting the build and TPW to the actual build taking place being fairly stretched out and he said there was nothing showing up but did add that the workers take a Christmas break and that shortens up the Dec build ability. From beginning of TPW week to the day it landed here in northern Alberta was about one months time. I had been assuming it would get built in Oshawa as its a short box ( a claim had been made by a truck oriented content youtuber that the long box version does NOT get produced in Oshawa Ontario ) but as it turned out it was built in Flint so however the logistics worth with the rail system to get it shipped across and dropped in Edmonton Alberta at the rail yard to make the final trek up here. So with that holiday issue and having to ship across borders and the distance, that very well would have eaten into some of the time, so 4 months from ordering to being dropped at the dealer in my scenario. And for all I know GM could have a theme of building a whack of gas trucks for a while or diesels vs jumping back and forth throughout the day or weeks with both engines on the same assembly line, someone might have that answer as I sure don't.

I had not signed up until now on here but I've been reading through some of the various threads on this forum for a few months now, some other forums seemed to have such a jumbled mess of various vintages and weight ratings of trucks that I found it impossible to scan through the good and bad of a certain segment of truck type to gain any insight into information I was looking for, this site seemed to stand out for grouping trucks into some decent categories. That brings me to the truck I had just picked up from the dealer a couple of weeks ago after ordering it in early Oct of 2024. Be it GM or Chev, going up the trim level scale, the 20 inch wheels were forced upon a guy and that was that as a 65% aspect ratio side wall isn't my idea of a great riding tire as I would have preferred a 70 if not a 75 aspect ratio. Seems to be the theme these days with the manufactures, large wheels and low profiles. I knew I wanted to stick with stock offset wheels to keep the tires mostly in the fenders due to the gravel roads and all the crap they spread on the winter roads. So my plan I had all along with lowering the placard pressures and figured out from sites like this etc that it was physically possible on the 2024/2025 model with its even more complicated and nanny like system to at least do that much with the truck to stop it from screaming at a guy if lightly loaded and wanting to lower the pressures. I had asked the service manager at the dealer if they would be willing to lower the pressures and the answer I got was of no surprise to me as he said GM says no so we have to abide by what we are told, he said of course we are able to do it, but we are bound by GM not do do it so that's something he said I would have to outsource. The problem is even some tire shops have their rules and they won't do it either, people in high places making rules that don't use logic and common sense !. So it was Bob from Vermont with his own need of lowering pressures and buying the 508 and the video you made to help walk through how you found the right place on the unit to get to the placard setting to change it, that prompted me to order a unit and ( I am not a techy person ) fumble my way through registering and updating its software and the easy part was doing the actual placard change due to your video Bob !. I may have to experiment more with my new placard pressures I computed to put in to get the trigger to happen in the ballpark I want it to but at least I have the tool and can do that as time goes on or jack them back up if I need to if I find I am hauling heavy and not depend on a somewhat unwilling tire shop to change the placard settings again etc and charging me hourly rates to mess around to do it. I should also add that the actual tire pressures I will run will be based off of tire inflation charts for the tire type/size and here in Canada the free DOT highway scales I can slip onto and weigh my axles whenever I feel the need. I have heard say that the trigger for the tpms alarm to go off is around 25% give or take under the placard pressure setting pressure, I don't know how exacting that is so that is my unknown, and so I took a guess so that the tpms alarm will in theory go off a few pounds below my minimum planned pressures to run in the tires.