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2015 GMC Sierra "Ol' Bue" Sleeper Turbo Build

Regan Menzies
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Regan Menzies Enthusiast

Regan Menzies

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Hello, my name is Regan. I am new to this Forum but not new to the LS world. I am creating this thread because I'd like to share my upcoming mods, along with some how to's. For now, this will be a boring thread full of parts but as time allows I will be installing them.

 

A little back story on me, I have made the mistakes in my past of never creating build threads or videos in the past. I've done many big builds. Many for others but some for myself as well. My biggest build was my 2001 S10 Extreme fully built LS. It was a frame off complete build.

 

Now that I just recently purchased a 2015 GMC Sierra Crew Cab with a 5.3, I hope I can help and entertain others with what I have in mind. I bought this truck in August 2021 with 112K miles from Gay GMC dealership in Dickinson, TX. I drove about 2 hours away to purchase due to it being so clean. This truck has never towed a trailer and was a daily driver for a 65 year young man. The man didn't plan on trading it in. He took it in for routine maintenance, tires and brakes. He received a 2021 sierra as a rental and ended up buying it. Anyhow, that's the story behind "Old Bue"

 

Follow along, there's a lot in store for this truck...

 

Parts listed in thread:

* Smart Liner custom floor mats.

* HP Tuners

* Transmission Cooler

* Bilstein 5100's (front) & 5160's (rear)

* Traction Bars

* E85 Conversion

* Mishimoto 169 Degree Thermostat

* Much more to come!

 

 

Front Of Truck At Dealership.jpg

Rear Of Truck At Dealership.jpg

Truck Backseat At Dealership.jpg

Truck Front Seat At Dealership.jpg

Engine Bay2.jpgEngine Bay1.jpg

Edited by Regan Menzies
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Regan Menzies
Regan Menzies

I love floor mats. That's always one of my fist things to upgrade. What do y'all think?      

Regan Menzies
Regan Menzies

HP Tuners and transmission cooler came in today! Parts are starting to come.        

lucas287
lucas287

With HP Tuners you can just adjust when the existing e-fans come on. Best/simplest solution since you want a colder stat!

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Regan Menzies Enthusiast

Regan Menzies

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I love floor mats. That's always one of my fist things to upgrade. What do y'all think?

 

 

 

Rear Smart Liner Mats Seat Up.jpg

Front Smart Liner Mats.jpg

Rear Smart Liner Mats Seat Down.jpg

Edited by Regan Menzies
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Regan Menzies Enthusiast

Regan Menzies

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HP Tuners and transmission cooler came in today! Parts are starting to come.

 

 

 

 

HP Tuners.jpg

Transmission Cooler.jpg

Edited by Regan Menzies
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JimCost2014 Senior Enthusiast

JimCost2014

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Posted
52 minutes ago, M1ck3y said:

What are those vents on the back of your seats?

That is the "exhaust/intake" for the heated/cooled seats in the 14 and 15's.

Regan Menzies Enthusiast

Regan Menzies

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13 hours ago, 2015 High Miler said:

Looking forward to the build.  Would love to turbo my truck as well. You doing the pill flip  for the trans?

Thanks!

I will not be doing the pill flip YET. The only issue with pill flip is the transmission never warms up to the preferred operating temperature from what I hear. People are seeing typical condenser temps. I will be doing something better down the road. I wish GM didn't put the OEM cooler built into the condenser. I prefer having it in the radiator like the previous generations.

 

I get it though. GM put the thermostat in place to heat the trans faster. Then when the thermostat is open, the condenser cools it because it runs at much lower temp. It's a good idea, just not efficient for anything other than daily driving it.

 

I prefer the previous method of routing to the radiator to warm the fluid with the engine coolant. With this method, I ran external cooler and a lower degree thermostat. This is what I plan to do once I figure out how to make it happen.

 

If you're running the pill flip, are you seeing temps under 175 within 10 minutes of normal driving? I would definitely be willing to have open ears if others have opinions on this. 

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Regan Menzies Enthusiast

Regan Menzies

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Waited a month for these to come in. 5100's for the front and 5160's for the rear. I'll be installing these this weekend.

 

 

 

Front Struts.jpg

Rear Assembled Shocks.jpg

Rear Unassembled Shocks.jpg

Edited by Regan Menzies
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  • Regan Menzies changed the title to 2015 GMC Sierra "Ol' Bue" Sleeper Turbo Build
pokismoki Senior Enthusiast

pokismoki

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yank the the trans stat, and maybe add cpu fans to the trans cooler, I use the ac switch to activate them. Check out Pmoore4321 on Youtube. save you a lot of RanD time.

 

I would also have a trans shop pull the converter and install the 6 bolt converter from a 2500 truck, or go with the cts-v for more stall.

 

Katec has the 175 engine stat you need

 

 

 

 

Edited by pokismoki
lucas287 Enthusiast

lucas287

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, pokismoki said:

yank the the trans stat, and maybe add cpu fans to the trans cooler, I use the ac switch to activate them. Check out Pmoore4321 on Youtube. save you a lot of RanD time.

 

 

With HP Tuners you can just adjust when the existing e-fans come on. Best/simplest solution since you want a colder stat!

  • Like 2
pokismoki Senior Enthusiast

pokismoki

Posted
Posted
On 9/2/2021 at 7:18 AM, lucas287 said:

 

With HP Tuners you can just adjust when the existing e-fans come on. Best/simplest solution since you want a colder stat!

hptunes has an aux control for aftermarket cooler fans on a trans cooler? i need a walk thru video on how to do this

Regan Menzies Enthusiast

Regan Menzies

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Posted (edited)

The main reason I'm running a lower degree Mishimoto thermostat is to help lower engine oil temps.

 

E85-Thermostat-Pushrod-Charger.jpg

Edited by Regan Menzies
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lucas287 Enthusiast

lucas287

Posted
Posted
 

hptunes has an aux control for aftermarket cooler fans on a trans cooler? i need a walk thru video on how to do this

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that. With an aux trans cooler I can't imagine why temps would be such a problem to necessitate additional fans. I just meant the factory set point for the factory efans can be adjusted down to accommodate a lower coolant stat. Which of course will keep oil temp down and trans temp down too. I've had up to 3500 stall before and never struggled with temps even in TX. 

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