Grumpy Bears 2015 Silverado 2WD

Grumpy Bear · March 20, 2019

2 minutes ago, Nasty said:

I have the 342. Oem tire height was 31.8. When i went down to a 29.7 it made a huge difference for me. Ao if you are on oem size. A 373 willkick ass for you

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This is VERY useful. The OEM tires on her at 31.1" tall. I will be needing tires sooner than later and was curious how stacking changes would effect her. I know you've tired a number of combinations and haver first hand knowledge.

To that end...I have made a choice then. 3.42 PLUS a set of Continental Cross Contact LX-20 in 255/65R-17 that are one inch shorter and weight the same as the Duelers. Lower inertia moment a plus. That gives an effective ration of 3.53 and fills the hole between the 3.42 and 3.73's I've been waffling over.

A 9.4% increase! Your tire example worked out to 7% (effective ratio 3.66) and if you felt that was huge I'm sure I will not be disappointed. Again....THANKS!!! Look at that, two choices in one day.

Nasty · March 20, 2019

The lx20 is an awesome tire but to be honest on the freeway i averaged better mpg with higher rpm. Just my opinion but id go a 373

Of course i do have the 5.3 but still

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Grumpy Bear · March 20, 2019

3 hours ago, Nasty said:

The lx20 is an awesome tire but to be honest on the freeway i averaged better mpg with higher rpm. Just my opinion but id go a 373

Of course i do have the 5.3 but still

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You are right. That is not as uncommon as most people think. But it does have it's limit. I've run enough miles in fifth gear tow mode M6 at 55 to know that the equivalent 4.10 gear the creates cost me about 10% in fuel. Even thought the AFM in that case in on nearly always. Currently the other changes I've made have increased the use of the AFM allot and part of the reason she does so well in open country. I'm looking to maintain the current duty cycle while increasing the severity of conditions it will maintain it under. I.E. take a bit more head wind before dropping out. Climb a bit steeper hill before kicking back a gear. Thinking tac hammer not sledge hammer.

Honestly, if yesterdays outing would have showed me a bit more oil pressure at WOT Red Line I'd go 3.73 and change project direction entirely but having access to such leverage and not feeling comfortable using it would be an itch that sooner or later I would be compelled to scratch with no good outcome. The gear spacing v the engines torque/hp spread would have me increasing the red line to cover the spread. She hasn't enough to cover the current shift rpm. IMHO. It bothers me enough I will be looking into that.

On the tires. We have Conti Contacts on the wife's Buick and I am impressed. They both share the same tread pattern too. Crazy.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Grumpy Bear

KARNUT · March 20, 2019

What restraint you have papa bear. I have to pin the ears back in something once a week. Usually it’s the 92 usually second gear speed limit restricted. I never let it shift full song to the next gear. No TM.

Grumpy Bear · March 20, 2019

2 hours ago, KARNUT said:

What restraint you have papa bear. I have to pin the ears back in something once a week. Usually it’s the 92 usually second gear speed limit restricted. I never let it shift full song to the next gear. No TM.

Why thank you Stan. I learned restraint the hard way. Took me about 6 gearboxes one summer when I was young dumb and broke to find that cord between my right foot and my pocketbook and to cut it. Walking stunk but eating was nice.

Grumpy Bear · March 22, 2019

Tire Pressure Note

Being anal about tire pressures I've noticed something about Pepper I have no explanation for, just an observation. Having a very nice tire gauge I can measure a fly fart in a windstorm. For quite some time I've thought the unusual reading in right front pressure displayed on the DIC was some fluke in the program as no matter what tire I put in that position during rotation the warm pressure eventually reads a pound higher than the others even though they are set meticulously cold.

Then the other day we had a day that was roughly 30* warmer than average and after a short time driving and noticing the ride was awful I scrolled to the TPMS page to see pressures hot were over 40 psi. As much as I hate to adjust pressure hot but knowing that they, with this tire and on this truck, run about 2 psi over cold I reset them to 37 and left the screen up and drove another half hour. Left front rose another pound so I rechecked them all and it was what it was. Reset the right front back down to 37 where it remained with all others at that setting the rest of the day.

This morning Rex waking up earlier than the chickens I wondered out to get a cold reading expecting them to be all over the map. What I found was the right front 1/2 pound lower that the other three which were even. On the DIC they all read the same so there is some rounding error in that position but by gauge reading that position is generating more heat that the other three. Enough to require a half pound adjustment cold to get even pressures hot. Just can't explain it. Yes alignment is good. Weight? My chunky and a gas tank on the drivers side? More caster and less camber in this position by a quarter degree each. If weight then why is it not affecting the right rear as well? Rake? Weight distribution? Road Crown? It isn't hurting anything just a curiosity. An itch in need of a scratch.

Rear axle notes

It will be early next week before I get together with Ben to order parts and acquire lead times. After repeated emails to Red Line I have the lubrication issues handled. There were more choices than I imagined and that need resolution before I lay down project money of this sort. I will also be adding a new diff cover to the list. PLM or B&M alloy.

swathdiver · March 24, 2019

On 3/22/2019 at 9:21 AM, Grumpy Bear said:

Then the other day we had a day that was roughly 30* warmer than average and after a short time driving and noticing the ride was awful I scrolled to the TPMS page to see pressures hot were over 40 psi.

More heat from a manifold on one side than the other?

My driveway faces east and down here the sun rises in the ESE so the tires are all over the place until they warm up. Then again, if I'm driving north on the highway in the morning the right side tires are higher then the left. These are LT tires which are more susceptible to temperature changes.

Grumpy Bear · March 29, 2019

See updated Blackstone Universal Average labs below

Edited March 31, 2019 by Grumpy Bear

CadillacLuke24 · March 30, 2019

Looks good...and familiar

elcamino · March 30, 2019

On 8/21/2016 at 12:14 PM, Grumpy Bear said:

At one time there was a Ziebart on nearly every corner in North America. Good market for them too for about three decades. Then coach work got much better and put them and their cousins out of business for the most part. As soon as this was so coach work went straight south as fast as it could retreat.

The concern with these rust proofing services is the quality of the installation work by the servicing dealer and many were sub-standard amateurs. One around here lasted about 5-10 yrs before their reputation caught up with them due to slip-shod work and screw you attitude of the owner. Friend had an accident (minor fender bender) and the body shop showed him the Ziebart rustproofing was hardly anywhere to be found, lots of plugs on holes but nothing or very little applied and the undercoating was falling off. That shop in under new ownership (his son) and they no longer do rustproofing, they now sell cars, have quicklube and do detail/custom accessory installation.

Grumpy Bear · March 30, 2019

26 minutes ago, elcamino said:

The concern with these rust proofing services is the quality of the installation work by the servicing dealer and many were sub-standard amateurs. One around here lasted about 5-10 yrs before their reputation caught up with them due to slip-shod work and screw you attitude of the owner. Friend had an accident (minor fender bender) and the body shop showed him the Ziebart rustproofing was hardly anywhere to be found, lots of plugs on holes but nothing or very little applied and the undercoating was falling off. That shop in under new ownership (his son) and they no longer do rustproofing, they now sell cars, have quicklube and do detail/custom accessory installation.

Line-X dealer that did the undercoat and bed liner was suppose to do the rustproof as well. He got his $400 for that part of the job but when the tail gate panel and a door panel and front fender inner panel were examined...not a drop of anything, anywhere....

You can't even pay people to work anymore. Sadly this is all to common.

diyer2 · March 30, 2019

2 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

You can't even pay people to work anymore. Sadly this is all to common.

True dat.

Yesterday I had a new windshield installed in my truck.

This is 70 miles round trip from home to town.

We dropped the truck of at the glass installer and were told to come back in 2 hours.

1 hour to install and 1 hour to let it sit before driving it.

So we walk around town on a blistery day killing time.

Eat lunch, walk through some shops to browse and also to get indoors.

Get back to the glass shop and they installed the wrong windshield.

The one they installed didn't have the tinting across the top or a shade band like the original, just plain glass.

They also got black sealer on the interior.

Have an appointment for April 8th to get it replaced with the correct one.

This is why I try do to everything myself.

I go to the pros and get sub par work.

Same reason warranties don't impress me.

Edited March 30, 2019 by diyer2

Grumpy Bear · March 31, 2019

Updated table further down page. I want this right.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Grumpy Bear

CadillacLuke24 · March 31, 2019

21 hours ago, diyer2 said:

True dat.

Yesterday I had a new windshield installed in my truck.

This is 70 miles round trip from home to town.

We dropped the truck of at the glass installer and were told to come back in 2 hours.

1 hour to install and 1 hour to let it sit before driving it.

So we walk around town on a blistery day killing time.

Eat lunch, walk through some shops to browse and also to get indoors.

Get back to the glass shop and they installed the wrong windshield.

The one they installed didn't have the tinting across the top or a shade band like the original, just plain glass.

They also got black sealer on the interior.

Have an appointment for April 8th to get it replaced with the correct one.

This is why I try do to everything myself.

I go to the pros and get sub par work.

Same reason warranties don't impress me.

It is so hard to find quality shops anymore. Impact PDR is an exception to the rule, those guys are LEGENDARY. The glass shop I've used is pretty good too, though I supply the windshield, so there's less for them to screw up .