Spurshot

I'm not aware of any third party transceivers. I believe the onstar function is contained in Vehicle Communications Interface Module (VCIM). I had a 2008 that I wanted to install a 2009 VCIM to get bluetooth. I found out the VCIM is a restricted part. That is, you have to provide a VIN to get the module and they required me to turn in the old one. It's been quite a few years ago, but I think the VCIM had to get the VIN programmed into it so it could be identified in an emergency. A parts counter clerk at a dealer figured out how to game the system and got me the VCIM. I found this forum discussion about doing this in an Acadia. https://www.acadiaforum.net/threads/early-model-year-acadia-onstar-upgrade.36621/

Here's the modified jack pictures. It's a 4" O.D. x 1/4" wall, 6061 T6 aluminum tube cut to about 5" in length. There is a "hockey puck" I machined to fit nicely inside the aluminum tube, which I bored a hole with a counterbore for the bolt that anchors it to the jack. The tube simply slides over the "hockey puck", then there is another piece that slides into the top of the tube and acts as the pad. The top pad is drilled and threaded to bolt down attachments such as a curved piece to cradle an axle tube or a frame cradle.

I seem to run out of jacking height with some of my floor jacks when using them on my truck or jeep. So, I just modified my 3 ton aluminum jack to go to about 25" height. I made it to bolt on attachements on the top pad like a saddle to cradle the axle tubes as well.

To avoid under rated stands, look for the ASME-PASE 2019 rating, when buying new. That standard requires that any stand set of 2, be rated no more than what an individual stand can support. It's not an industry requirement and it's only self-regulated by manufacturers. So, buy from reputable sources. Some of the makers have gone as far as stating that their stands "meet ASME" standards, but don't go so far as to state they meet ASME-PASE 2019 standards. To me, this is a red flag that they don't really test and are just using vague statements to advertise. The 2019 revision to the standard is the one that increases the capability of each stand with regard to the rating. Being an engineer and having worked in several manufacturing fields, I have a particular aversion to the ratchet style stands after Harbor Freight had failures leading to recalls of massive quantities of these types of stands. The recall wasn't because the materials were deficient. It was because of a lack of precision in the manufacturing process. The upper support column of these stands is a cast iron part. A Chinese cast iron part, the lowest quality manufactured metal part on the planet, in my experience. That coupled with the requirement of this design to have a pawl (the locking part) correctly placed so there is sufficient engagement of the pawl, makes this design vulnerable to quality control issues that could cost you your life. I choose to just avoid that exposure and use pin type stands.

My 2014 Sierra 5.3 has 94K miles, no engine or transmission problems...yet. Mobil 1 since new. 1st trans fluid, transfer case, and axles oil change a month ago.

I have a topper on my truck and really don't see the third brake light or the cargo lights. My SnugTop has LEDs for the brake light. I did change a couple brake light (incandescent) bulbs a couple years ago. I'm kind of torn on the LED conversion. Don't all of them have resistors to control the flickering? The resistor effectively makes them use current like an incandescent bulb, is my understanding.

While doing some reading, I ran across this video. Enjoy. BTW, I'm going out and buying some of those aluminum tube stands to carry in the Jeep.

My jack stands showed up. I went with the Martins Int. 6 ton stands, which I found on Amazon for $138. I'm very impressed with the quality and heavy construction. The welds are the best I've seen on a Chinese product (yes, they are Chinese). I've taken some pix comparing what I had been using. Makes me feel foolish for trusting those cheap stands. They are bigger in all dimensions. Since they are taller than my cheapos, I expected they'd be broader based. They are, and it's impressively broader as you can see in the pictures. The wall thickness of the tubes is over 3/16" (.205" actual) and the pins are over 3/4" (.785" actual). Based on looking them over alone, I'd recommend them to anyone looking for a quality stand that is appropriate for our trucks. These stands are compliant to ASME PASE 2019. Here's what that means and why it's important. I learned this on this purchase. https://www.vehicleservicepros.com/shop-operations/service-repair/blog/21137455/robert-bosch-llc-guest-blog-asme-pase2019-standards-what-do-technicians-need-to-know My old stands are going in the scrap pile.

Harbor Freight did have a jack stand recall. It was on the ratchet type. Read more here. Even More Harbor Freight Jack Stands Recalled - McEldrew Young Purtell Merritt To their credit, they do have a recall system online. Customer Service at Harbor Freight Tools - Product Support Not sure if purchasers were contacted directly. All of the steel jackstands they sell of that style (ratchet type) now have a secondary cross pin lock. Although if that cross pin location in the body of the stand is not properly located, the result would be the same. It's still about quality control. There is currently a HF aluminum stand of the same fundamental design as the affected steel types, which does not have a secondary cross pin.

I'd love to have a Quick lift or even a 2 post lift. But I don't have a level driveway nor a garage with enough height and length for the truck (crew 6.5ft bed). Not sure of my curb weight, but it's probably close to the limit as well. Egg zactly. I was looking at some of the taller stands for my jeep after it gets lifted. The 10 ton, 4 post type with the round legs and round center post come in short, medium and high, inspire confidence. The short wouldn't be high enough for holding the wheels off the ground while under the frame of the jeep with a 3.5" lift and 37s. The MetalCloak suspension has a lot of droop. But those medium 4 posters are heavy and large. I think the 6 ton Martins above, will work for the truck and some Jeep work, but I may still have to find taller stands later.

Your post led me to reading a bit more about HF and Daytona brand. So, HF was sued by Snap-On over HF advertising claims that the Daytona jack was "99% the same" as the Snap-On jack. Apparently, Snap-On either didn't know they were assembling their jacks with essentially identical parts as the Daytona jacks or didn't care. There was a settlement in which it appears Snap-On did not prevail and HF is still selling Daytona jacks. Harbor Freight's Daytona DJ3000, the floor Jack Snap-On absolutely hates for this reason - Alt Car news (tiremeetsroad.com) But to my question about jack stands, Daytona/HF doesn't have a cross pin type stand that met my needs. I am not of a fan of the ratchet style, even with the secondary cross pin of the Daytona/HF stands.

Flashbacks of having my Webers or a Quadrajet all apart on the bench. Air correction jets, emulsion tubes, metering rods. Rebuilding and tuning those things is a lost skill.

The bumper bolts are loose or slotted enough to adjust the bumper placement. You can loosen it and adjust it.

Can't comment on "rebuild the injectors". But, they should be able to tell you which are bad and which are good. Seems like it may be cost effective to find out. But, if that's not a factor, $500 for a set, online, is a shotgun approach, if down time is a factor.

So, I had this happening on a 2008 GMT900. I had to go back and look, but it was the control arm bolts that were not fully torqued. Not loose, but not fully torqued. Other members have had the same experience.

GB, Thanks. That lines up with what I was thinking as well.

Question for those that have studied this a lot more than I: Is an open/no thermostat/pill flip going to give a quicker transmission fluid warm-up than a thermostat equipped transmission? I ask this because I believe my K2 routes the fluid through the engine coolant radiator, which warms very quickly. My question is more in the context of cold weather below freezing.

Your thought about the injectors being suspect, prompted a memory of the late Russ Collins (RC Engineering motorcycle racing/performance products). In his later years, he started a fuel injection business. One of the services they provide is injector cleaning and flow testing. A few years back, a friend with a small foreign car wanted to have his injectors flow tested and cleaned. That was my only contact with RC Injectors. They're in Torrance, CA. Here's their website. RC Fuel Injection > Contact

Old thread, but always relevant. Like most of you, I have a mix. Some Snap-On, Craftsman, etc. I've had a combination end wrench set from Tekton for a couple years now. I'd say the fit on fasteners and finish of the wrenches are on par with any of the best. I can highly recommend Tekton.

I am in the market for some new jack stands and saw this thread and thought I'd resurrect it. One pair of my stands are something the previous homeowner left behind. They are ratchet type of unknown origin. My other pair are the pin type that have a tube that is split into 3 legs. Very thin and light. Both sets are sketchy. I always leave a floor jack partially loaded under my vehicles when using these jackstands. I even leave wheels/tires under there when I can. I think I've used up my 9 lives. I have a soon to be lifted jeep on 37s and my mostly stock Sierra 1500 crew. Looking at something like the Martin International. What do you guys have?

How about this?

That's my truck. I didn't notice it for quite a while. Just a year before the pandemic started, I saw it because the leak was bad enough to have wet the bottom of the engine where I could see it during oil changes. It was getting onto the crossmember and on the AC compressor, and other things as well. There were no/few drips on the driveway. But it was getting pretty well distributed under there. Oil leaks tend to get progressively worse. I had taken it in to the dealer before the pandemic for the recalls. While there, I asked if they could let me know what it would cost to fix the leak (which was of unknown source, at the time). The service writer quipped "$5000". I'm sure to drive me off. It did. So, a couple months ago, I get up the steam to try to address this leak, leading to that thread you linked to. I think you'll find this is a very simple job, even if you don't do much of your own maintenance. Took me twice as long to type this as fixing it. You'll need a Torx bit set and a 1/4" drive ratchet and short extension. I'd recommend you clean the area before doing anything else. You don't want any dirt getting into the engine. I had oil everywhere and coated with many miles of dirt from off-road. So, I bought a few cans of Autozone store brand Engine Degreaser and went to a quarter car wash. I had to clean underneath as well. Your engine doesn't look bad at all. Still dropping that front splash shield and cleaning up a bit under the crankshaft area can't hurt. That seal/O'ring is about $9 at the dealership. Fixing oil leaks is particularly satisfying to me. I hate a leaky engine.

That lower pictured hub looks like it may have needed some persuasion to out of the knuckle. When I installed my hubs, I liberally greased the bores of the knuckles, the splines, and also the snout of the wheel side. When I disassembled everything, the brake rotor hats were corroded (aluminum hats of the Wilwood brakes) to the point they were froze on the hub snout. The silicone grease I used is 500F drop point. Hopefully, that helps keep the rust and aluminum corrosion down.

I recently bought a bunch of stuff from Rock. I guess I'd forgotten about the shipping issues I had in the past. One part left AZ and went to NY, then back to me in CA. It was damaged and had to be returned. The replacement part was missing special hardware.

So, being retired and having another vehicle to drive, I don't work very fast or hard on these projects anymore. Besides, half the time I was dealing with sending back damaged parts or lost parts in shipping. Turning the rotors didn't work out. Had to replace them. I found some close-out rotors on Wilwood's website that had the dimensions to fit my application. But they weren't drilled. I actually prefer not to have them drilled anyway. They were more than 40% off the drilled and slotted rotors that came with this set. $518 each is the regular price. So I was thrilled to find the close-out rotors. The sales staff verified fitment and I picked them up at will call in their Camarillo plant. Anyway, I'm back together except for greasing everything and putting the wheels/tires on, then rotating tires front to back. My fronts had been cupping which led me to this work. BTW, I just want to give recognition to the folks at Moog Automotive. I either misplaced one of the balljoint nuts or it may have been lost in shipping, since the boxes the lower control arms came in were compromised with holes everywhere. The nut is a high grade, flanged, castle nut, that is not available separately and not common in hardware stores. I called Moog Tech Support and Matt provided me with the thread size and said that this was not sold separately, but he could send one out as a courtesy. I accepted and thanked him. Great service from Moog. They have been my go-to maker for suspension and steering parts for a long time. Now, they are at the top of my list for customer service.