Top shock bolt on driver side is loose enough to let the shock bounce and make a very strange rattling type sound. The fix is to get an 18MM deep socket and a wrench and a HUGE 1/2" ratchet (I used my 3ft long snapon flexy breaker bar/ratchet) and tighten the heck out of the bolt. Seen it twice so far. On my own truck, and on a customer's suburban. Doesn't mean it's an epidemic, but something to check for if you have a hard to track down suspension rattle.

 

I have a 98 Silverado extended cab 4X4 I have owned since 01. It had 36k on it when I bought it and currently has 187K. I have had a lot of problems with it over the years.

Hood won't open half the time, have to bang on it. Despite endless lubing.
Driver door handle broke
Tailgate handle broke
Fuel pump went out
Water pump
Tailgate cables have broken
Alternator
The connector to the motor from the cooling hose rusted out and had to be replaced
Manifold Gasket
Replaced all three O2 sensors
replaced fuel injectors
Slip yoke

My next truck is going to be a Ford F350.

 

'97 Silverado 1500 4X4-- Battery connectors constantly working loose resulting in not being able to start, poor charging, and early death of battery. I know of 2 other people as well as myself that have had this issue. Plus 1 on the sticky tail gate...but it is a 16 year old truck.

2000 Silverado 2500 HD 6.0L 4X4-- Bolts on exhaust manifolds prone to breaking resulting in exhaust tick. 1999-2002 Boxes will crack at front corners if you mount a tool box or headach reck without adding support described in bulletin #01-08-66-005A. (Just learned about this one the hard way).

 

i have an 89 GMC R3500, gear indicator(it its not a light up type, mines a basic truck, no lights really) probably is just a broken spring. becasue of the torque in mt engine, i dont really need it, just feel for what direction it jerks xD
along with that, my dash lights are all kinds of brightness

nothing on the dash works, (fuel gauge refuses to go below 1/4 tank, temp is stuck at 210, speedo used to bounce and randomly work, now not jack, oil kinda works, but when it feels it should, and volts move sometimes)

A/c and heater are dead and gone

in the engine bay, the block on the passenger side of the fire way leaks a tiny bit.

Gas tank wont fill all the way, it gets(best guess here) about half way and pukes

steering box is shot, im replacing next month, input shaft leak like no other.

normal dirty and grime under dash, i took off the dash recently and stripped all the foam and painted it matte black, looks nice really.

glove box sticks a little, will be lubing next week

bench seat doesnt move any more, ill find out why next week.

Engine light come on a random, no idea why.

cant find a damn service manual for it

hood sides on the front look like they are break dancing when i go over 40 mph(flap flap flap)

the little rubber hoses for the wipers/spray dont stay on more than 5 uses, infact the hose/wiper mount spray piece on the passenger side are completely gone(im assuming sun rotten, i live in vegas)

not sure if its age or abuse, by my truck will change lanes on its own(to the left) if i let go

wing window lock is busted, doesnt lock into closed position (drivers side only)

interior arm rests are just shot, the panels are fine, just dirty

windows used to be a pain in the *** to turn up and down, just take off the interior panel, roll it all the way up, WD-40 the hell out of the tracks/gears, scrub with tooth brush, then apply your favorite chassis grease

engine light cover(little semi clear piece of red plastic) is just gone, no idea where it is

seat belt has a locking mechanism that tends to lock on its own.

thats about it. lol.

oddly, i dont have a single leak in it

 

Frame rot,fenderwells both front and rear,can corners and underneith the bottom of the doors.

 

My '88 Silverado:
Headlight switch got pushed too hard & broke the ears off the inside. Fixed with model airplane screws.
Gear selector indicator (auto) is stuck somewhere between R&N. It is a silly spring & string affair with plastic tracks that get messed up. I got sick of it and put white dots on the steering column in case I can't tell if I am going frontwards or backwards.
The intake manifold gasket sucked in and that caused a lot of problems that seemed unrelated. A real cheap fix for what seemed to be a bad engine, $20.
Heater Hose connection on intake manifold. Well, they couldn't make money selling points & condenser so they needed another way to sell parts. If you have never replaced that pot metal piece of crap on the back right side of the intake manifold (left as you face it, by the distributor) then it is most likely bad. They will corrode and leak for quite a while before crisis mode erupts and you have to replace it. At that point you are pretty much f'd because it breaks off, leaving the threads full of crap you have to pick out bit by bit.
I replaced the intake...I bought the Holley, which I do not recommend, unless you know a LOT of four lettered words...and used a standard early model heater hose nipple and 3 feet of 3/4 inch hose. Ignoring the $200 manifold, the nipple and hose was @ $30, compared to a $35 fitting and a $75 hose that, by the way, restricts the flow of hot water through your heater. Remove it and the truck cab gets warmer at lower settings.

Overall, it had been a pretty good truck. I looked at some new ones this week and every time I see the prices, my truck looks better and better.

 

Man it just happened to mine last week and I just bought it two weeks ago! SMH!

 

2008-2013 Silverado and Sierra with power door locks...

The power door lock actuators seem to be a week link in the power options. So far on my '08 Sierra, I've replaced 2 of them, and the service writer at the dealership told me it's "...a very common problem".

$35K for a truck, you'd think they'd have this sort of thing ironed out by the time they reached the end of the body style.

 

Razoo,

I am sorry to hear you are experiencing an issue with the locks on your vehicle. Please know that I am here if you need any assistance.


Jennifer T,
GM Customer Care Service

 

Thank you for the offer, Jennifer, but, I doubt there is little you can do.
I'm extremely dissatisfied with the quality of my 2008 GMC Sierra SLE 1500 crew cab. I suppose the thing that bothers me most is that for the price, there are certain things that should not be an issue.
I also have a 2000 Chevy Silverado LS, it's got a quarter of a million miles on it. It cost me slightly more than 1/2 the cost of the 2008 GMC, and I believe it to be a better truck. In 13+ years of ownership, I have never replaced a lock actuator in the Chevy, nor the stereo. The GMC has had 2 lock actuators replace, so far, and the stereo has been replaced.
The 2000 Chevy has 4 wheel disc breaks,
the 2008 GMC (same trim level) has rear drum breaks.

The 2000 Chevy has required 2 brake jobs in 250,000 miles, the first was at 120,000 miles, and the second at 235,000 miles.

The 2008 GMC had it first break job at about 68,000 miles, I had the rear breaks done 4 weeks ago, at 87,000 miles, for about $250.00 and the front rotors are now no longer flat, and need to be cut, or replaced, and I'm told that going to cost 351.88.

At the same time that I had the rear breaks done, the truck also required service to the rear locking differential, as it was "ratcheting" when cornering.

Even though the 2008 GMC cost me nearly twice as much as the 2000 Chevy when purchased, I don't find it to be better truck, or, a better vehicle. Because of the reduction in build quality between the two trucks, I know have serious doubts If I will buy another.

I have received a number of calls from my GMC dealer who want's pushing me to trade my truck for a new GMC. Because of the issues I've had with this one, I am now seriously considering a Ram 1500 Hemi crew cab as it's replacement. You can be sure that Dodge did less to sell me on the Ram, than GM did.

I will keep the 2000 Chevy, since it's a much better vehicle, than the 2008 has ever been, and it's still running fine.

Thank you for your interest.

Frank