SuperDave

I don't recognize any of the names these days... what happened to Ben Key? Cody56, Dylan Von Kleist, etc... and have you always been from Missouri? I thought you were from back east.. I have kept up with RDSS, Charlie Kelley. He's doing great, still in the Navy and bouncing between Mass. and Jacksonville, FL. Has a cute kid now and a Harley! Sold his SS a few years ago. I'll never sell mine, at the rate I drive it I'll be 100 and it will have 50 K on it! So what's new? I'm out of work, got laid off... can't find anything to do in Oklahoma that pays! Any suggestions? Good to hear from a familiar SS'er

David Thomas, Anadarko, OK . I was on in the beginning. We used to chat back in 2003. You're Matt right? My SS had almost 200 miles on it because of dealer transfers and test drives probably! lol... Aren't you the one with a black SS and Blue ghost flames?

I'm at 28,300 on my 2003....

Sounds like you may need to spring for a new battery too. You're using the Jet Ski, but it's not keeping the battery up. Either a weak battery or a bad charging system. Any vehicle I've ever had that had a problem, the first thing the pros say to check is the battery. Is the engine water cooled? Does a pump circulate water through the cooling jackets? If so, and the battery is weak, it could not be cooling it properly. Just a thought... I don't own a Jet Ski, but just tried applying common sense to your problem. Good luck. Keep us posted.

Sorry you feel that way dude.... Times are tough, and I can't afford to do business with a company that would rape you over a stinking mandatory part. I've got plenty of brand loyalty, where is their appreciation for my 33 years of brand loyalty? It's not in paying a 450% mark up on a part for a 19 year old truck! I own a 1981 Camaro Z-28, 1991 Silverado C1500, 2003 Silverado SS, and in the past owned a 1976 Chevy Monte Carlo, 1976 Chevy Vega, 1982 Silverado 6.2 Diesel, and a 1984 GMC Sierra Grande. All GM products. I've never owned any other brand, so don't tell me I should be smacked. I'm just sick and tired of the way the world is going to shit, and want to try to make a difference. Refusing to be a part of their scams is my only option. If I ever buy another new vehicle, there is a really, really good chance it won't be a domestic with one exception... The Vette. My 2¢.

I'm venting here so bear with me. I own a 1991 Silverado C1500 and the HVAC controller unit went out in 2003. No big deal, I paid a local parts house 149.95 for the new GM replacement and installed it. Yesterday the same unit went out in my truck and they want 430.95 for the part plus tax, plus shipping! What the hell is going on here? They can't sell cars, so they're gouging the loyal Chevy patrons with triple or quadruple pricing on replacement parts? The truck is 19 years old this fall.... the damn part should be 50.00! Can anyone shed some light on this subject for me? I'm about done with GM and their crap... I vow to buy imports from now on! Sorry for the rant, but I wanted to hear if anyone else was upset with this stuff... David

Damn.... Guys, I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but I saw one up close and personal in the OKC, OK car show and I was NOT impressed. They just don't have the style of the old 69 I had, and my wife's 81 Z28 is still nicer looking than the new ones to me. It's just my opinion, and the one I looked at wasn't loaded like they should be, but it was kinda cheap and almost ugly. That was the general opinion of most of the guys I spoke with about it. I'm feeling really bad for the Camaro name, and the General. If they're counting on the Camaro to do for them what the Mustang did for Ford, we're all in trouble. It's gonna be a short lived car my friends. Sorry....

I think maybe they aren't putting the effort into the site like they used to. I actually expected it to disappear after they stopped making the Silverado SS trucks. I like the site, and I'm glad it is still here... don't get me wrong, I just expected interest to drop off and the site to gradually fade away. I've noticed the member map has been gone for some time now, and a few other features aren't monitored like they used to be. But... Happy Birthday Man! I hope it was a good one!

OK , it's been a while since I've posted about my SS. I took it in for some warranty work, because my 7/70 extended warranty expires soon and had a small list of to do items. Intermediate steering shaft is still rattling (third time in the shop for this one), glass fell off of passenger side mirror, and light lens on the bottom falls out and slaps around the mirror and door. Paint on dash, steering wheel, radio presets and HVAC vents is chipping off. Mirrors won't hold memory when changing between keys #1 and #2. Small items, but I wanted them fixed before I lose my warranty. While it's in the shop the service manager calls me and asks how long I've noticed the growling in the front differential. Slow turns to the right thing that's been going on around these trucks since they first came out. (mine's AWD) They've had my truck in the Dealership since last Friday morning. They call today to say all the claims have been disallowed by the Pinnacle (warranty company) people, except for the front differential. Problem is they want to put a used front diff in my truck. My SS is still brand new looking, and only has 25,000 actual one owner miles on it! Not a damn thing has been done to it and now they tell me that they're not paying for 99% of it... needless to say I'm pissed. Have any of you had the same luck with extended warranties? What rights do I have, and what can I expect of this whole deal? My wife was on the phone most of the day dealing with this for me, and I don't want to get taken advantage of here. I paid 2000.00 at the time of purchase of my SS for the warranty, and need some help getting things fixed. Any ideas? Thanks in advance

My 2003 SS only has 25,000 mile on the clock, but the 7 year warranty expires in less than a year, so I took it to the dealership in Norman, OK ( Marc Heitz Chevrolet) and they are doing all of my claims and complaints next Friday. I've got the growl in the front diff, chipping paint on the dash and radio buttons, passenger side mirror doesn't always go to the preset and the lens on the puddle lamp on the bottom of the mirror is falling out all the time. Oh yeah, the glass in the mirror is loose and falls out too. What a shame, only 25K on the odometer and all that stuff wrong. When is GM gonna get their acts together?

Man, that sounds so familiar. I worked at the inlaws newspaper in Anadarko, OK for the past 12 years, my wife for the past 32... her only job. January 15th this year we both walked off the job over financial reasons. We'd been living on less than 50K per year combined for the past 12 years. In fact, I only had a dollar per hour raise in 12 years! I was the head pressman, and the wife was the Production Supervisor over about 6 or 8 employees. Each time someone would quit or get fired, we would have to assume their duties, and work short handed while other departments had people sitting around playing on the computers etc.... To make a long story short, we quit, and I went back to welding in the oilfield in march of this year. Now I'm making more than our old combined income by myself. If the wife was working we'd be doing OK, but really we're just getting by still. I'm working 6 or 7 days a week , 11 hours a day... and it's taking a toll on me physically. I'm 48 and need a little more forgiving job. The day we left the office, my sister in law and company administrator changed the locks on the office doors, and cancelled our insurance. Our last paychecks were short, and they screwed us out of our remaining vacation time from the last year. And they were family! So, I'm with you man, I would never do that to my family or friends, and am still in shock that they could do that to us! My wife and I are looking for a small business that we can get into as a team again, but haven't a clue what to do with the economy the way it is now. Any suggestions would be very welcome! Keep your head up, be happy, and make YOUR mark on the work world. And reap the rewards for yourself! Our family relationship is now dead, and will never be the same... it's sad, but a fact of life now in our home.

My '03 just rolled over 18,000 last week. I'm in 2nd place for low miles I think.

The only power adders you listed that matter are the cold air intake, cam, headers and dual exhaust. My sources say 12 HP for the cold air intake, 20 on the cam and around 15-20 on the exhaust. The tune is probably worth around 20 or so, but is worth it's weight in gold for drivability. The converter and trans work helps there too as well as E.T.'s but not overall Gross HP. Total my quess is around 65-75 HP on the motor. Probably added around 40 HP at the wheels. A decent return for your investment. If you want to make a improvement of the ET or 1/4 mile times take out all the seats, remove the bed and tailgate and lose the spare! lol..

I've got a wife and a 14 year old son. That and an older sister in Cambridge, England and a younger sister in the SW OKC area. I hoped to find employment in the OKC metro area and buy a new home in a bedroom community, but it's gonna take top dollars for me to do so. I haven't welded in over ten years. My wife needs a job at the same place as me or very near, she suffers from anxiety and has driving issues... it's really complicated. Her only work experience is ad design at the newspaper and she was the production supervisor there. She's worked for her mom and dad for over 25 years there, but left when I did because of low pay, and all the crap that goes on when you work with family. Like I said, it's really complicated and we've found ourselves out of a job, without insurance, and not much in savings to hold us over, with no family support and in a small rural SW Oklahoma town of about 6500 people with mainly american indian population and not a single manufacturing plant in town, no govt. offices except the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which hires American Indian preference and the biggest employer is the school system, which is corrupt in administration. It's a wonderful opportunity to get away from here, so I'm trying to make the jump. I'm pretty worried about it, and appreciate all the input here. Like I said in other posts, it's a bad scene to find yourself in when most people are looking forward to retirement!

That's pretty much been the story of my life. I was a maintenance mechanic for a carpet manufacturer in Anadarko, OK and then went on to be a Tufting mechanic, which is the setup mechanic for the machines that sew, or "tuft" carpeting. It's a very technical and labor intensive job process but it only paid 9.05 an hour in the early 1990's. The company (Hollytex Carpet Mills) closed down. I was a welder for a trailer manufacturer and rode that job into a supervisors position at Squatdown Trailers, which originated in California. They built trailer beds with an airbag rear suspension that lowered the bed to the ground to drive up on the inflated them and drove away with the vehicle. They were scam artists and got a bunch of investor capital then cut town with all the cash. My inlaws lost 40K there! Needless to say, I outlast most of my jobs.... and need a secure full time good paying job so I can afford to sell my house and move away and restart the whole process over again. I was also a oilfield worker or roughneck. I worked Derricks, motors, chainman, and lead tong or floorhand positions. Did that for 6 years. Hollytex for 7 years and Head pressman at the anadarko daily news for 12 years. I guess I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I'm too grown up to go to school, and couldn't afford to go back to school at this time. I never went to any College or Trade School for any positions other than to get certified in welding. Now I can't think of what to try next. It really sucks!

Thanks for the reply, I'm only a High School Grad, and don't even know what Information Technology pertains to. What are the job requirements of this field, and job duties? Thanks, David.

Apologies for the freaky multiple posts... sbcglobal has been freaking out my DSL lately and aliens took over my computer. David

Great replies and info guys, I had no idea I was in such a depressed economy here. I've been making $9 an hour for three years and $8 an hour for the last 9 years before that. My insurance was paid by the company at 100% which expires this week. I also have a pretty good medication expense, so I'm in a world of hurt. Cost of living is very low here, but bills finally outran my wife's and my pay. Her parents owned the Newspaper we worked at and it was a total family operation. They simply couldn't afford to give any more money to us, so we had to leave under bad terms I might add. We're on our own, with 0 income and enough capital to last about three months. Gotta move fast here, so any leads would be greatly appreciated. It's scary to be 48 and broke with no income, but I'm looking hard and trying to remain optimistic. Thanks for the responses. David

Hi Guys, I'm 48 this year, and find myself without a job for the first time in 12 years. I'm in SW Oklahoma and there just isn't a lot to choose from. I was making 1980's wages in my last job working for family in the newspaper industry as a Head Pressman but won't be pursuing work in this field more than likely. I'm just wondering what you guys are doing for jobs and the average pay scale amongst SilveradoSS forum members... not trying to be nosey, just don't have a clue what's the best job to look for and what they might pay. It's a total world changer, gonna have to move, sell the house etc... and gas prices don't allow commuting very far so I'm at a loss here. The 14 year old is even worried about his next meal! lol... Give me an idea of what's paying well these days. Thanks a lot! D

I'm in SW Oklahoma and Super Unleaded (91) is $3.19 as of today. Yesterday it was $3.09.... Damn investers.... buying up unleaded futures and driving the price up on the stock market!

Merry Christmas everyone, On my way home from Christmas Dinner this evening I hit a huge skunk in the SS. I drove it to the car wash is spent 5 minutes on the undercarriage and passenger side wheel well (where I hit it) but now the damn thing is stinking up my garage and whole house! What the hell takes the stink away? Other than putting the SS out in the cold? It's only got 17K on it and has never spent a night in the weather, so that's not an option! I've heard about using tomato juice, but is that practical? Help if you've experienced this! Thanks

Just FYI... Modern paint is two stage and consists of a catalyzed activator. It dries by chemical reaction usually within the first 48 hours. If it's been a week since the paint job you can do whatever you want to it without worry. My bodyshop used R&M paint and clear on my truck and I washed by hand the day of the paint job. They buffed it and left a few swirls so I used a dual action buffer and 3M perfect it to get rid of the swirls and a few days later did the royal Zaino Z5- Z2 treatment and now it looks like a wet gloss mirror. Gotta love Zainos!

My SS is a 2003 with just over 16,000 miles on it. I mainly drive it on the weekends when the wife and kid and I go out of town. Not driving more than that the gas mileage issue is no big deal. It will be paid off in about a year, and the KBB says it's only worth 21K but the dealers only offer a little over 18K for a trade. I've decided to keep it for a while longer, at the mileage rate I'm racking up, it'll rust to the ground before I hit 100K so I've got no worries. The only issue from my perspective is not to get bored with it. Maybe I'll get wheels and an exhaust on it someday!

My SS T shirts are getting grungy, any more out there for sale in say a 3X? Or are they all collector items now?