I CORNER

And the SSS has a classic and timeless design that gets me at least a compliment every single month, even though I need paint on the roof, Gaylord tonneau cover, hood, and front bumper & grille, after 215K miles and being parked outside in South Florida sun EVERY single day except maybe 20 days since 12/2003. In addition, I work at the St. Lucie Nuclear plant, which is about 150 yards from the beach (salt spray) and I am ONLY just getting body rust starting on the bottom of the front passenger door. I am amazed with the LQ9 (LS1 architecture) longenvity and the factory paint durability/quality considering! My wife's 2014 BMW 335i M-Sport with 87K miles has already needed the front bumper painted from water-based paint chipping off during highway driving! BMW paint is not durable like the SSS. Oh and BMW uses plastic for the charge pipe coming off the turbo to the intercooler and hard plastic line from the radaitor inlet hose to the overflow tank, which have both broken on me. What could possibly go wrong with using hard plastic on hot engine systems under pressure! BMW got me for $1060 to replace the 3 foot plastic turbo charge pipe, that took them 45 minutes to swap out. Geez!! SSS makes BMW look like an unreliable POS!

I just hit 215,000 miles. I still love the truck, and its still runs strong for basically stock. Getting ready to spend another $5000 to repaint and freshen up. Still on original alternator, radiator, power steering pump, etc. Replaced water pump at about 180,000 miles for $120 and it was the easiest WP I had ever done. Never stranded me. Only major failure was transfer case needed replacement at 150,000 miles for $2300 (on the road) as rear driveshaft yoke was flopping around in it, but as it turns out I still was able to drive from West Palm Beach to Harrisburg PA on the front differential. That failure might have been my fault as I replaced with transmission fluid via shop manual when I hear that the GM Autotrack fluid is the best fluid for the SSS. Can't use gear oil like 4WD in our AWD. Anyway, I prefer these trucks over new, as the new Silverados are much taller and bigger overall. My truck with 305mm tires takes corners very well, and remains a more capable handling truck than the larger and heavier modern trucks.

I am 6ft 1". I did them from the top and it all went all pretty easy. It is a truck. I replaced at 95,000 miles and they had low wear. I replaced with Bosch Platinum Plus 4's and the truck still runs real strong (for stock with PCM's for less tune, Magnaflow mufflers and Volant ram air thru the passenger duct air cleaner) at 215,000 miles. I am really amazed at the longevity of the LQ9 motor with its basic LS architecture.

I went with the thicker Crystaline 3M tint in 70% transmittance, due to its total block of infrared (heat) in hot Florida sun. It works fine in the SSS truck with the very bright LED headlights that I use. However, I did it in my C6Z too and regret it, as the factory HID lighting on that car is not so good. I hit a large racoon in the Vette last August causing $2600 damage to front bumper cladding, fog lamp and carbon fiber splitter. Now I am afraid to drive it at night, as a dead Armadillo in the road can due extensive damage to the car, which the truck would simply drive over. Oh, is that a Street Scene Cowl Induction steel hood? If so how long have you had it? I got mine painted, but since it is a double panel hood for strength, which cannot be painted between the panels without factory dipping, it began to rust from the inside out at about 1.5 years after painting. Now I am looking for a fiberglass hood to replace it.

I agree with some other guy that HIDs in reflector housings can be at high risk of blinding light scatter. Some of the very large Ford truck reflector light enclosures were particularly bad. My personal experience with our 2003-2006 Silverado light enclosures work pretty well with HIDs & LEDs. I have only been flashed by oncoming drivers once with the my LEDs (non with the Kensun HIDs), and it was only as I went over a sharp dip and rise in the road just as they approached and they momentarily saw my low beams. They thought that I flashed them as my lights are bright in the intended light pattern. The better LEDs use very small high output chips located very near the location of the original halogen bulb illuminating element. Also with chips on either side of the flat blade (left/right), there is little wasted light reflecting to the lower reflector surfaces which scatter the light upwards. Also the SNGLs are adjustable for insertion depth to limit light scatter by focus adjustments. Either way you need to spend some time aligning the lights after upgrade to avoid blinding other drivers. At $178 a pair, they are not cheap, but their outputs don't seem to be BS. I actually got a minor welders eye burn when I looked at the bulb to see if all 8 chips were on 6 months after original install. Note that I did have a SNGL led bulb burn out after 2 years. However, I use my lights all the time day and night for safety due the number of blind retired drivers in South Florida and at 215,000 miles driven I use them a lot. I have looked at the Morimoto's for the Corvette Z06 light enclosures, but at $1300 a pair I am not quite sold yet that they are my answer for that car. They cannot seem to answer which chips are used and technical light output they deliver. Phillips or Cree all publish extensive specs on their LED chips. Also, I have bought the plastic light enclosures in the aftermarket before only have them haze or craze over due to inferior quality plastics.

I would not recommend HID lights anymore. I tried Kensun 55W HID lights on my truck for both high and low beams. Low beam performance was good, but it takes the high beams too long to heat up to get good output to be useful on any roads where vehicles are coming towards you periodically. Also I felt that the hot HIDs are tough on the factory clear light enclosure plastic, and fogs them over time. I converted to 55W SNGL LED lights from Amazon, which I feel are brighter than then the Kensuns HIDs. SNGL claims 12800 lumens per pair, and I believe it. With high and low beam lights it is like a 747 coming in for a landing.. These LEDs work great in the SSS reflector light housings. The only downside, is that you will need to seriously trim the black plastic supports behind the lights to get clearance for the light fan coolers, but is well worth it. The replacement black plastic factory light supports can still be bought reasonably cheap to go back to stock later. I just wish that my 2008 Corvette Z06 had better projectors (which do not tarnish or block alot of the light), as I could use my SSS light output levels to see critters in the road better in that car at night, as I can't clear a dead squirrel in the road with 3.75" factory road clearance with the carbon fiber splitter.

I haven't been so active on the boards lately. Had some more health and work issues. Also keeping a 2008 Jetstream Blue C6Z06 nice and running. But I still have my 2004 Arrival Blue SSS, which has reached an amazing 215,000 miles with great reliability! In 2014 I replaced hood that had some rust around the latch hoop with a Cowl Induction hood from Street Scene thru Stylin Concepts. Price was good at about $400 shippped, but still cost $700 after painting. Unfortunately, being a double panelled hood for strength the paint could not coat between the panels and at 1.5 years it started rusting from the inside out, due to poor rust resistant coatings. So I decided to go fiberglass. I chose the Keystone Syling Good Hood last fall, but by the time I dealt with my wife's serious illness, Keystone discontinued it, Rats. For functional fiberglass, I am down to RKSport, which looks nowhere near as nice as the GoodHood looked, OR the Amerihood which has a broad narrow 2 section scoop and some smaller air extractor louvers towards the back of the hood. Anyone try either of these hoods, and if so what you thought about their quality and durability? It is still a great driving truck, but needs some paint, so I need to get this going. Thanks, RickR

Ahhh, Must have been one of your first header installs, as a truck is far easier to do header installs (when system is properly designed) than any F-Body of any year! Of course getting the exhaust system bolts/nuts off of a higher mileage vehicle is always a challenge. I have more tools for headers and exhaust work than anything else from prior 1970's Pontiacs, and my prior 94 Z28. The 96 Impals SS was not too bad. On F-Bodies, sockets cannot even be used on most of the bolts. It is common to use different types/lengths/angles of open, box and ratcheting wrenches (shorties, full length, etc). Use stainless header studs whereever you can, so you can hang the gaskets and header on the head using as many as possible to set up. Then for areas that won't accept studs, due to clearance with the nuts to tubes or length of the stud, use stainless bolts. Always use antiseize. Were room permits use bolt locks (i.e. stage 8). The Dynatech stainless header flange gaskets appear good, but I have found that the Earls aluminum gaskets with graphite inserts handle the heat and do NOT leak. Copper and Aluminum header flange gaskets did not work for me. Never use paper gaskets or any variant of paper, If collector flange is an old style 3 of 4 bolt flange, the only gasket that I found to work was a "flexitallic" style, which has spiral wound bands of steel wrapped around and perpendicular to the flange seat. Copper, thin or thick malleable aluminum did not work. Never use paper. For the pipe slip fits, the walker stainless steel band clamps work well, but I wrap a carefull layer of header tubing insulator wrap inbetween clamp and tubes, to avoid leaks. Extra hands always helps, but usually most of the work can be done without. Good comment on protecting header from scratches during test fit or install. Also invest in some spark plug wire slip on thermal heat barrier socks to prevent heat degradation to the plug wires. Ceramic coating is a must, or you will cook everything.

I have the original factory cat/pipe fail on my SSS (rattling, just starting to block & check engine light). Dealer wants $1050 per driver's side and pass side $2100 total) to replace ($883 for just each part)!! Local parts store can't ID part and online factory replacement simply do not seem to be the same quality level. So I might as well go with new Dynatech back to exhaust for less price, like I did on 96 Impala when factory manifold cracked (Clear Image set up that was great). I am curious to know how the Dynatechs do for you. Looks like plenty of room to work on the SSS from above and below (Dynatech has you going thru the fender well as well), so it should not be bad at all. I put in JBA ceramic headers in my 94 Z28 (which were tough to resolve collector flange leaks), which was a cramped hassle and of course I put headers in three 1970's Pontiac TransAms. If you can handle 1970's Pontiacs downward facing exhaust bolts into the engine crossover frame in an F-Body, then you can handle installing headers in about anything!! Man it would take 20 minutes per bolt to get the threads to start, as all you could only use 2 finger tips (no room for thumbs) to start the bolts on the thread! Chevys are SOOOO much easier.

I used a set of tri-Y headers with ceramic coating from clear-image on my 1996 Impala SS with their high flow cats. For the Impala LT1, they were probably the best quality and most effective street performance header out there. I ran them for 4 years without so much as a hint of a leak or any discoloring of the ceramic coating. It was a really good product. Their high flow cats were also VERY good quality with a 304 stainless steel wound core substrate, not this ceramic crap. Overall a thing of beauty/art! Not sure about truck headers he now makes.

Now I am curious, and will have to measure the impedance of my old yellow amber front turn-signal bulbs to see what the factory impedance is. Maybe the very high wattage of near 140 Watts per bulb (with a 1.5 ohm impedance) is ok, as the turn signals and hazards are not continuously energized. Last time I ran 160 W halogen high beams, 10 years ago, one bulb exploded after barely 10 minutes of use, due to the intense heat in a small bulb. Are you saying that you operated your turn signals or hazard lights "all night driving from Georgia to Florida"? Otherwise, I am not sure how that applies to intermittent duty turn signals or constant flashing hazard lights.

3 Ohms would result in 4.8 amps (almost 70 watts) per bulb, which is pretty high power (hi-po headlamp wattage here). Granted since it is flashing and not continuous duty, that should not melt anything. Leaving the hazard flashers on while on the roadside could be a big problem though. The interesting thing that I noted was that while pulling a U-haul trailer to move my daughter home from grad school 2 weeks ago, that the turn signal (with LEDs) was perfectly normal with the trailer lights connected. Last year when I pulled a U-Haul to move her to grad school without LEDs, I did not notice the turn signals going too slow.

Could you folks provide any assistance, for those successfully doing LED conversions? - My turn signals have the too fast hyperflash now with the front "switchback" turn signal LED bulbs (white - parking mode, yellow - turn signal mode, white with yellow flash when in parking mode with T-signal on). I tried a plug in module from JDBToy thru Amazon, but it did not work (no flash at all), and I have avoided the 6 & 10 ohm resistors, as they run hot, must be mounted to metal (& away from plastic), are big/clumsy and degrade the wiring in an area subject to driving water. I noted that I cannot just replace T-signal relay either as it is integrated into a block under the dash. Anyone come up with a good reliable fix with LEDS for this problem? - I discovered that my overhead console wiring (i.e. map lights, backup camera I added) are on some type of timed circuit (assumed battery saver), which also ties. When I had BU Cam alone, I could only energize the circuti by switching an incandescent bulb map light on then off. But when I went to LED map lights, that no longer worked and the map lights did not work either, unless I switched the bed light on then off. Problem is my last conversion is to replace the bed / 3rd tail light with LED as well, as which point, I fear nothing will work, as not enough current can be drawn to turn battery saver circuit on. Anyone come across this problem and figure out a fix? Thanks, Rick

Thanks for the help!

Thank you much gents. It is always helpful to get a baseline!