Power steering

12th MS · February 7

I know this thread is a little old, but for what its worth, I just bought a 2026 3500 LT / Z71 Trail Boss (man, how many labels can they put on a truck) and it does the same thing. It is especially noticeable when going through traffic circles, and you can hear it a little bit when sitting at a stand still.

A little annoying especially coming from a 2024 Colorado ZR2. That thing was deathly quiet in every respect.

Great truck by the way. I just needed more functionality for the very long term.

Pryme · February 8

20 hours ago, 12th MS said:

I know this thread is a little old, but for what its worth, I just bought a 2026 3500 LT / Z71 Trail Boss (man, how many labels can they put on a truck) and it does the same thing. It is especially noticeable when going through traffic circles, and you can hear it a little bit when sitting at a stand still.

A little annoying especially coming from a 2024 Colorado ZR2. That thing was deathly quiet in every respect.

Great truck by the way. I just needed more functionality for the very long term.

Your Colorado had car like electric power steering the HD trucks use hydraulic reticulating ball steering, which is from like the 60’s. They are not silent. Just drive your truck. They are built to work. When ppl buy them thinking they are Cadillacs they nit pic every little sound.

12th MS · February 9

On 2/8/2026 at 7:19 AM, Pryme said:

Your Colorado had car like electric power steering the HD trucks use hydraulic reticulating ball steering, which is from like the 60’s. They are not silent. Just drive your truck. They are built to work. When ppl buy them thinking they are Cadillacs they nit pic every little sound.

Thanks for the info. Is it normal during the first few hundred miles (or however many) for the transmission to have some occasional hard / rough 2-1 downshifts (like coming to a stop at a red light)?

Pryme · February 9

Yes it is. My 6L90 did it 2 or 3 times mainly when coasting down to a very slow speed in a parking lot but never does it anymore. It’s a learning thing. The transmission has to learn your driving habits.

NaturallyAspirated · February 10

Mine did that too.

And it cleared up with time.

But I still can get a hard 2-1 downshift in the right circumstances.

Byrds8 · February 16

Haven't had a single hard downshift in my 2026 2500HD LTZ TB. It's been pretty smooth. The only thing mine does is have a whine around 3rd and 4th gear up to about 38mph. This is supposedly normal operation too.

Another JR · February 16

The hard downshift seems to occur when you are coasting approaching a stop in 2nd, and then give it a little gas for some reason, such as a slight incline up to a red light or you just want to add a little speed before subsequently stopping. As others have said, the computer seems to learn that you are not suddenly asking for max torque when this happens, and it softens the 1st gear clutch application. My 6L90 did it several times when it was new, but stopped within weeks. I have an intersection leaving my neighborhood that was just the uphill situation I described above, and it shifts smoothly on the approach now. The shift is still fairly firm, like it’s not messing around, but not clunky.

Edited February 16 by Another JR