Dirt.boy

Towing with the SS vs a 3/4 ton suburban with the 8.1 is night and day. I tow a 7500 travel trailer and I never knew how marginal the 6.0 and smaller trans (especially the trans) were until I got the 'burb. Towing isn't work anymore!

pm sent

Not to hi-jack, but.... How do you tell the difference between piston slap and lifter noise? My 8.1l suburban sounds like a diesel on start up. Dealer thought it was lifters and flushed the engine but didn't change much. Greg

Dealer said they had it figured out, the Tech2 that is. They reset the oil life with the Tech2 unit but my readout still says 88% and doesn't move. Is there anyway to reset the gauge cluster "computer". It is looking like that is where the problem is. The PCM resets just fine. PS I have tried disconnecting the battery but not the gauge cluster. Greg

Mine was at like 20% when I brought it in. How did yours get "stuck"?

Dealer couldn't figure it out with the Tech 2. They wanted to charge me to hook it up and reflash the PCM.

Not sure if this is the right forum but anyway.... Got the 8.1l engine in my suburban flushed last week at the dealer (knocks on cold start, hoping its the lifters). Now the engine oil remaining resets to 88% and doesn't appear to be dropping. I put over 300 hard towing miles on it this weekend and its still at 88%. I have reset it with the accelerator and the DIC steering wheel controls to no avail. What gives?? Greg

I have power folding mirror on my 03 suburban. I would swap with you if it is possible. I would like to have the towing mirror for a bit more visibility.

I had a flo-pro dual in/out that I had welded into the stock piping. The interior resonance was more than I wanted. Resonance was gone after dumping the exhaust right after the muffler. I have reported this before and others have tried it with mixed results. The flo-pro is a huge muffler, I think that has something to do with it. Greg

less than 48 i guess

Almost never, just a drive through now and again.

Looking for a plug to close up the keyholes. Yeah I know I buy new dishes without the holes but I'm too cheap and busy. Any help would be appreciated. Greg

I got the whole shootin' match, all brand new Gm parts. I bought them off of e-bay from gandrautoparts.com. They have them for $225 right now. Anyway I don't need'em since I totaled the truck. Make me an offer. Greg

Driving out of town the day after Thanksgiving I rolled the SS. I didn't see the that the guy in front of me was taking a left hand turn. As I made the decision to go around to his left he started his turn. I cut it as close as I could but I still had to put two wheels in the ditch. I barely nicked his front bumper but never really made it up out of the ditch. Ended up rolling several times (at least 2.5 my wife says 5.5) down the asphalt at 70 MPH. Slid to a stop 150 yards or so later on the roof of the cab. We are recovering but all told we where extremely lucky. My wife and daughter were in the back seat unbuckled. The last thing before the accident my daughter remembers is my wife grabbing and holding her during the rolls. She also vividly remembers angels holding her inside the truck so she didn't fly out the window ( I still get goosebumps everytime I tell that to someone). My daughter was bruised and shaken but not admittted to the hospital and has fully recovered. My wifes foot and leg were out of the rear window for at least one of the rolls. The tar ground off part of her big toe and one third of the bone on the first joint of the same toe. It took two surgeries to clean it out and sew everything back together. She is back to work now which is saying allot because she walks for a living teaching blind people how to use the cane and Minneapolis bus system. I broke a rib when I hit the armrest on the drivers door but am pretty much back to "normal". It was a life changing/defining moment. Our family has grown closer together through it all. Everyone has been wonderful, from the people at the scene to the first responders, doctors etc. Even all of our friends who kept us fed for weeks and weeks and came to our house to help with recovery. It all happens so quickly, in the blink of an eye. One second I was tooling down the road thinking I was the shit in my blue SS, the next second I'm hanging upside down and my truck has given its life for ours. Next time you think your the shit and it won't happen to you think again. Greg PS. Insurance totaled the truck. I just bought an 3/4 ton '03 suburban with the 8.1l. Plenty of torque but wow the 4L80 first gear doesn't have the snap of the 65!! The larger truck should pull our camper trailer a little easier and I think we will use the extra row of seats more than the pick-up bed as well. The cab roof was crushed all the way doewn to the passenger headrest, the only seat that no one was in.... We slid with the driver side leading. We rolled once in the ditch then on the next roll the rear wheel caught the asphalt snapped the axleand launched us. Probably did a roll or more in the air before landing on the roof.

Not a big deal if you have a programmer.