New GMC Sierra

[Panik]

So I've been a bit remiss about posting this up. About a 1000 miles or so ago we were able to replace our '06 Jeep Commander with a '14 GMC Sierra. Ended up getting a 2wd Z71 crew cab short bed with the 3.42 axle.



Gotta say it was actually kinda sad leaving the jeep at the dealer, kind like the whole King of the Hill episode when Hank's truck dies. It took me a couple minutes to realize why. The jeep was the car that we used to bring all three of our children home from the hospital. It was also the first car I purchased for my wife.

On the other hand the truck fits our needs so much better than the jeep did. If for no other reason than the crew cab gives me enough room to stretch my legs and not have the steering wheel in my chest, while giving the kids enough room so that they can't kick the seat backs.

It also is averaging a heck of a lot better gas mileage. At the end the jeep was down around 13 mpg. Two days ago I pulled our 20 equipment trailer (~2000 lbs) down to Atlanta to move my wife out of her grad school apartment and we averaged about 15 with towing. The last time I tried towing with the jeep mileage dropped to around 8mpg.

About the only two issues I might complain about are the grade braking while in tow/haul mode and the amount of bouncing the truck did while trailering when we hit rough patches. There were two times coming off a fairly steep off ramp when the grade braking kicked in hard enough to jump the rpm's up to around 3800. Surprised us both times when it happened because there was absolutely no lead up to it. From reading, my understanding is that some of that may diminish with time as the adaptive transmission "learns" we'll see.

As for the bouncing/porpoising I would suspect that is a result of going with the Z71 suspension. I probably don't do enough towing for it to be a big issue. I'll have to see how it goes with a heavier load. The jeep would do it as well, but it was both harsher and less drawn out at the same time. I can always look at doing some mods down the road if it truly is problematic.

Speaking of mods the first was installing the brake controller some where it was both accessible and not apt to be sideswiped by my knee. I hate the idea of drilling into the dash. I figure if velcro works for NASA it should work for this application:



Second mod was de-badging the bleeping tailgate of the truck. No offense to those folks who like their emblems, but 4x8 GMC logo, SLE badging and the Sierra badge were just too much for that piece of real estate. I still have to remove the dealer emblem, and may well take the door badges off as well. I always hate how stuff like that pics up wax build up.



Also it was kinda funny about a week before we bought the truck I found this pic online. Sent to my wife in a text while she was in school saying that whenever we got a truck she was going to have to let me treat her to a tailgate dinner on top of one of Lavender Mtn. Week later I wind up with almost the exact same truck as in the picture without realizing it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Why didn't you get the factory brake controller? They work 5 times better than any aftermarket unit.

I have them on my F150 and F350 and will never go back.

Chris

 

[nybirdman]

Nice truck,I really like that color.My 2014 Silverado is Ruby Red LT Z71 4WD ,double cab.My kids are grown so the double cab works for me;I have a friend with young kids looking at the crew cabs.

 

[Panik]

Why didn't you get the factory brake controller? They work 5 times better than any aftermarket unit.

I have them on my F150 and F350 and will never go back.

Chris

LOL! Short version is that I caved to getting a truck with almost everything I want and happily settled with it

Longer version is that it was a huge hassle getting to where I could say to myself that yes I can purchase a truck. To be honest at the point I found what I liked within my revised price range I was tired of the whole shopping thing. Of the 5 lots within a stretched reasonable driving distance, no one had brake controllers installed in vehicles that were under the 50K range and I really didn't want to deal with ordering or getting a dealer to dealer trade. Apparently on the GMC's the brake controllers are not something that can be done aftermarket or even at the dealership. Everything I have read in the GMC's forums indicates it has to be a factory item. Along the same lines absolutely no one had crew cabs with a "standard" bed for under 45K in my area.

I agree with you though the factory brake controller would be a nice item. Apparently though the dealers in my area have a skewed view of how to option trucks. Or more likely they have a good handle on which segment of the market pays their bills.

Nice truck,I really like that color.My 2014 Silverado is Ruby Red LT Z71 4WD ,double cab.My kids are grown so the double cab works for me;I have a friend with young kids looking at the crew cabs.

Thanks! The bronze alloy has grown on my wife. One of the reasons I like it is that it hides dust pretty well and should do awesome blending with the massive amounts of pine pollen we get :thumbsup: I think the red looks sharp as well. Our jeep was very near the same tone metallic red. Tell your friend to get a crew cab if he can swing it. The sierra certainly isn't a minivan like my wife's vehicle but the space is very pleasant. The folding seats are especially nice if you have furry kids who like to stretch out for car rides. There is some rhyme and reason as to why trucks like these are being used as grocery getters.

 

[schmism]

so is it the ground your parked on makeing it look like its 3" nose low?

I know for the past few years you needed a 2" "leveling kit" on the front of a lot of trucks to get them to "look right". (funny how a 2" kit 20 years ago would have been a lift kit...)

As for the bouncing/porpoising I would suspect that is a result of going with the Z71 suspension.

Pourpising is virtually never a suspension issue and almost always a lack of tongue weight issue. I suppose you could call it a suspension issue in that you dont have enough capacity to load the hitch with enough weight to make it tow correctly.

how do you put a Z71 package on a 2wd? Wasn't that always the designation for 4wd upgrade package? Like the TRD (toyota) or "Raptor" (ford).

 

[Panik]

so is it the ground your parked on makeing it look like its 3" nose low?

Combo of the truck being parked nose up an incline, and me being down hill and not dead perpendicular to the truck. There is a bit of a rake to the Z71 suspension but not as much as it appears in my photo. Here's a comparison pic I pulled:

Pourpising is virtually never a suspension issue and almost always a lack of tongue weight issue. I suppose you could call it a suspension issue in that you dont have enough capacity to load the hitch with enough weight to make it tow correctly.

Fair point - I basically towing both ways empty in terms of weight. We were mainly using it for moving a bed and a couple of other things - way over kill. Not that I have a huge interest in going this route, but I have to wonder if a weight distributing hitch would help with light tongue weight, hurt or be a moot issue. I know some folks have put air bags in thinking that it would help with sag as well as a trailer bounce, but it was my very limited (newbie) understanding that bags generally were more useful with in-bed loads (be it 5th wheel/gooseneck, or material)

how do you put a Z71 package on a 2wd? Wasn't that always the designation for 4wd upgrade package? Like the TRD (toyota) or "Raptor" (ford).

According to the GM website you do it by adding on:

- 46mm high-pressure gas-charged shocks
- A 36mm front stabilizer bar
- Off-road jounce bumpers to absorb large suspension inputs
- Under body transfer case shield helps protect the transfer case from rocks and debris
- High-capacity air cleaner
- Z71 chrome side emblems
- Hill descent control
- Recovery hooks

According to another forum GM started making Z71 packages more readily available in 2wd around 2000. Take that little nugget for what its worth, given the source. In either case Z71 packages have been offered for 2wd in various flavors of "useful" vs appearance for a while. And no I am not intending to start a debate with anyone about the merits or lack thereof of the above listed add-ons for a two wheel drive vehicle. I will however say that the large amount real aluminum interior trim that comes with the Z71 package is a rather nice upgrade over the standard faux wood trim. Whether its worth the package price? :confused3:

 

[s219]

Congratulations, and thanks for finally posting pics! Looks great and I know you will like the truck. I really christened mine today by sideswiping my gas grill when backing into my parking spot (forgot to move it after grilling chicken last night). Left a couple nice scratches on the rear door driver side. Good thing I am not real **** about trucks; if it was one of my former sports cars, I'd be losing sleep. In this case it's more like a character line....

I also had a hard time finding the factory brake controller (though I was able to find a standard bed, thankfully). But so far my Prodigy controller has been working just fine. The main thing you miss without the factory controller is the ability to modulate the trailer brakes when the stability control system detects the trailer wagging its tail. I've never had that happen, but it would be some nice extra insurance.

You'd think the factory controller would be easy to retrofit, as it does plug into the same spot under the dash. But I suspect the computer would have also to be reprogrammed for the aforementioned stability control features, and maybe other stuff I don't know about. Dealers do not have any technical documentation allowing retrofit of the controller. If the factory controller was not too expensive, I'd try experimenting to at least see if it would cover the basics. It sure looks/integrates nicer than having the Prodigy down between my knees.

I assume you got the 5.3L V8? Gas mileage on mine has been stellar.

 

[Panik]

I really christened mine today by sideswiping my gas grill when backing into my parking spot (forgot to move it after grilling chicken last night). Left a couple nice scratches on the rear door driver side.

I can understand. If its any consolation I bent the front air dam the other day because I dropped front left wheel into a drainage ditch. Wasn't used to the turning radius or the hood height. As you say, they are trucks and a little character is okay.

I also had a hard time finding the factory brake controller (though I was able to find a standard bed, thankfully). But so far my Prodigy controller has been working just fine.

For me the short bed turned into getting what I need vs. what I want. While the truck would've fit into the garage if I had been able to find a standard bed, it would have made navigating around it a wee bit difficult.

You'd think the factory controller would be easy to retrofit, as it does plug into the same spot under the dash. But I suspect the computer would have also to be reprogrammed for the aforementioned stability control features, and maybe other stuff I don't know about. Dealers do not have any technical documentation allowing retrofit of the controller. If the factory controller was not too expensive, I'd try experimenting to at least see if it would cover the basics. It sure looks/integrates nicer than having the Prodigy down between my knees.

I stand slightly corrected. Folks over on the gm-trucks forum are saying that it might be possible if your truck came with the RPO code JL1. Apparently there are several physical computer modules that are installed when that order code is requested. If you haven't already check the build code sticker in the glovebox you might have gotten lucky. I would guess that the modules handle the interaction between the stability code and the brake system. I'm still drinking my coffee this morning, so this link may provide a better explanation

Factory Brake Controller

I assume you got the 5.3L V8? Gas mileage on mine has been stellar.

Yup got the 5.3L. I love it so far! Going from a small 238hp V8 to this engine has been like night and day. While I don't completely trust the DIC, my gas mileage has been good. It would be better but the with children and dogs and errands the truck tends to idle a lot to keep everyone in the AC.

There are couple of things I would like to add if I ever get the time to putz around (LED reverse lights, cable connection for jumpers, etc) but those can come with time.

 

[nybirdman]

The 2013 Silverado I traded for the 2014 had the factory brake controller;the dealer was pleased it had it and said about one in five had it from the factory.I had no use for it myself.
I too was surprised that you could get a Z71 Package on a 2WD,don't believe I ever saw one.Most Z71's up north are 4WD.
Enjoy your truck.

 

[dodge man]

Nice looking truck. I like where you put your brake controller. When I mount things like that I usually end up spending an hour finding a place to mount it and a 1/2 hour actually putting it in.