GM HD Pickups

[VINIFIREWOOD]

Sorry just have to vent a little.

I have an 03 GMC 2500HD 4x4 Duramax, 125000 mls, 90% highway, never a plow truck.

I'm torn, I love and hate it. The Duramax and Allison I have no issues with but the rest of the truck &^%$#@!

In 03 they only had a 3/36 b2b and in that time I accumulated an inch high stack of warrenty reciepts, interior, exterior, mechanical.

Since then,
both front hub assemblies, front brake pads twice, front rotors and calipers, multiple rear axle seals, just last fall driver rear brake rotor sheared in two when all the cooling fins sheared off, luckilly no one got hurt, so a complete replacement of rear brakes, engine idler pulley failed taking out belt and fan luckilly not the radiator but had to replace both idlers and tesioner assembly, intermediate steering shaft rattles as they all do, and the list goes on.

Took the truck yesterday for align and tire rotate/balance. Come to find out one of the front hub assemblies is again shot, both inner tie rod ends, both upper ball joints, idler arm, and pitman arm, all shot. WTF!!!

The truck is all stock except for the tuner, no lift or plow, over sized tires, etc to put extra strain on the front end.

When the truck was still under warrenty I thought it worth my time to contact GM directly about some of this but in the end was a complete waste of time.

Don't really know where I'm going with all this just had to vent a little.

 

[VINIFIREWOOD]

money pit

Not at 125000 miles
Had a 94 Chev 2500 7.4 ltr gas 4x4 with well over 200000 on it and no where near the problems as this POS.
And my 91 toyota pickup has 256000 on it and biggest thing so far has been a clutch.
I can swap the parts myself thats not the issue its the fact that the parts are wearing out, imho, prematurely. I mean 2 front hub assemblies on the same side in 125000 miles, and to buy GM parts they are almost $500 a pop, $250 aftermarket.

 

[ray benson]

Are the front end parts sealed or do they have grease fittings?

 

[craddock]

Don't feel too bad as I have an 2007 dodge with a 6.7 cummins in it and I am at 22000 miles on the clock and it has been in the shop 15 times. I am in the process of them buying it back. I think some trucks just wasn't meant to be. Years ago chevy and dodges had quite a bit of trouble with the front ends because they didn't build them heavy enough for the diesel motors. Both have since beefed them up. The diesel engine out weighs the gas motors considerably and there for they wore everything out early which may be why you have had so much trouble. Sometimes there are aftermaket parts that are built stronger as they already know that there is a problem with a certain part so you might check into aftermarket and compare. My problems have been all emmisions. Good luck.

 

[cuznguido]

Those front wheel bearing/hub assemblies are a sore spot on those trucks. The thing would probably hold up if they had just drilled a hole and installed a grease fitting. But Nooooooooo. Might as well get ready for new ones about every 60,000 or so. It is not a bad design per se, it just needs some way to lube it.

 

[indiansprings]

They come in all brands, I had a Ford F250 super duty with the V-10 the first year it came out, I believe 1999 and this pos didn't make it through the first day. I bought it sight unseen as they had to transfer it from a dealer in Memphis and send a driver over with a vehicle to trade to that dealer and drive the truck back to Fayettville, AR. The truck broke down about halfway from Memphis, the alternator had went out. The V-10 was so new to Ford they didn't have an alternator in the repair parts system yet, it took three weeks to get an alternator. I finally got the vehicle, left the dealership got 15 miles and it just shut off, dead nothing, wouldn't crank, nothing. They hauled it back to the dealer on a flat bed, a week later got it back, this worthless pos left me stranded seven time on the side of the road in six months time. They had it took to four different dealers, none fixed it. Ford didn't want to but after a call from my attorney they bought the sorry thing back. I drove all the brands and run all their diesels, my favorite is the Chevy with the Duramax and Allison, the most trouble free trucks I've ever had.
My wood hauler is a Dodge with the 12 valve cummins, great engine, pos transmssion and the rest of the truck is a pos, but the cummins is great.
My 2005 Ford F250 6.0 diesel lasted 40k before blowing the heads off, the 6.0 is a pos.

 

[les-or-more]

I had a 01 gmc with a duramax loved the truck but what a pile. 16k needed new pads and rotors on all 4 corners.From the time i bought it the check engine light would come on but before you could get to a dealer it would go out, no trouble codes stored.At 30k the injectors went i got it back and if it sat for more than 24hrs it started and ran for about a minute and quit. Back to the dealer the fuel filter housing was letting the fuel bleed back to the tank.Three weeks later check engine light comes on again luckily in front of a chevy dealer they ran diagnostic on it, gave me the trouble code took it back to the dealer again the fuel pressure regulator was bad.A couple months later the brake pedal started feeling soft, the warranty was off, and i was in the middle of putting hay up,so took it to a buddy of mine, he calls me and tells me that it needed pads and rotors all the way around again. I told him to hold off and i traded the thing. The truck only had 33k when i traded it, i don't know what the deal was with it but the brakes were $1150 just for the parts.

 

[VINIFIREWOOD]

Are the front end parts sealed or do they have grease fittings?

only the pitman and idler arms are greasable. funny thing is the father inlaw has i think its an 07 chev hd, its the last model year of the same body style as my 03, anyway same same truck and his had 5 year 100000 mile b2b warrenty. He took it in for its regular oil changes etc. and asked them about the steering components being greased and they said they are meant/ designed to go 100000 without service.

 

[dingeryote]

only the pitman and idler arms are greasable. funny thing is the father inlaw has i think its an 07 chev hd, its the last model year of the same body style as my 03, anyway same same truck and his had 5 year 100000 mile b2b warrenty. He took it in for its regular oil changes etc. and asked them about the steering components being greased and they said they are meant/ designed to go 100000 without service.

Vini,

I'm sitting at 93,000 on my 03' 2500HD 6.0. Nothing major to snivel about here. Not yet anyway, and it's still tight even though it was used as a commercial plow truck before I started beating the crap out of it on the farm.

What IS annoying though, is all the knobs, trim, and non driveline stuff that is absolute GARBAGE. This thing is like a Lepper shedding bits and pieces everywhere it goes.

LOL!!!
The local junkyard gang just point to wherever the latest Chebby/GMC is in the yard when I walk in, and ask if I need any tools.

I MISS my old 79' F-250. What I save on Gas I spend on window cranks and dash knobs.

Did I mention the only reliable thing in the dash cluster is the odometer?
Somebody needs to curb stomp all of GM for that one.

The worst thing is, what truck to replace it with?
Nowdays, they are all crap, and only Ford is left if ya don't want to pay your taxes twice..

I'm thinking I'll just find a surplus deuce and a half and quit cussing the chineese.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[VINIFIREWOOD]

The failed rotor

I've done alot of brake jobs in my day and seen alot of unbelievably worn rotors and drums, rotors worn right to the cooling fins but never this.
Pics of the failed rotor

 

[VINIFIREWOOD]

Vini,

I'm sitting at 93,000 on my 03' 2500HD 6.0. Nothing major to snivel about here. Not yet anyway, and it's still tight even though it was used as a commercial plow truck before I started beating the crap out of it on the farm.

What IS annoying though, is all the knobs, trim, and non driveline stuff that is absolute GARBAGE. This thing is like a Lepper shedding bits and pieces everywhere it goes.

LOL!!!
The local junkyard gang just point to wherever the latest Chebby/GMC is in the yard when I walk in, and ask if I need any tools.

I MISS my old 79' F-250. What I save on Gas I spend on window cranks and dash knobs.

Did I mention the only reliable thing in the dash cluster is the odometer?
Somebody needs to curb stomp all of GM for that one.

The worst thing is, what truck to replace it with?
Nowdays, they are all crap, and only Ford is left if ya don't want to pay your taxes twice..

I'm thinking I'll just find a surplus deuce and a half and quit cussing the chineese.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

I hear ya on the interior stuff too.
Had the stereo "face plate" and climate control "face plate" , both about 5 bills a piece, replaced under warrenty cuz of burnt out bulbs etc and the "new" ones are now worse than the ones I had replaced.
And the dash Holy &^%$# don't get me started. Electical glitches etc, This POS has had it and all.

 

[bullseye13]

To the OP with the shot hubs: If you put the aftermarket ones on to save $, unload that sucker quick. I have not had good experience with aftermarket hubs, got a year and 15k out of them and my wheels damn near fell off. You could measure the play at the top of the tire in inches.

Granted, i dont have a gm truck, but i have an 02 impala and have been plagued with all sorts of crap with it very similar to what is mentioned here. I am running out of room in the glove compartment to stuff reciepts for crap ive replaced. Some is normal stuff since i have 128k on it, but some things are ridiculous. Every time that thing throws an idiot light on the dash it costs me between 4 and 5 hundred. Electrical components love to fail, and till anyone figures out what the hell it is, you owe some serious $.

 

[Toddppm]

I can't complain about my Chevy's ....yet. I traded in 2 F350 6.0 diesels and lost my ass because I had so many problems with them, not just computer stuff, mechanical too. F them, it'll be along time before I consider a Ford again, they wouldn't even consider a buyback on the 06.
Have 2- 07 2500 HD's , about 45k on 1 and 90k on the one I drive. These things get beat daily and barely go without towing and plow every winter.
The biggest problem I've had is my truck- the controls for the rear electric windows don't like to work?

Luck of the draw I guess?

 

[Lookin4lunkers]

I've worked in a GM dealership for 16 years and never seen a rotor do that.

 

[duramaxsp33d]

I had a 01 gmc with a duramax loved the truck but what a pile. 16k needed new pads and rotors on all 4 corners.From the time i bought it the check engine light would come on but before you could get to a dealer it would go out, no trouble codes stored.At 30k the injectors went i got it back and if it sat for more than 24hrs it started and ran for about a minute and quit. Back to the dealer the fuel filter housing was letting the fuel bleed back to the tank.Three weeks later check engine light comes on again luckily in front of a chevy dealer they ran diagnostic on it, gave me the trouble code took it back to the dealer again the fuel pressure regulator was bad.A couple months later the brake pedal started feeling soft, the warranty was off, and i was in the middle of putting hay up,so took it to a buddy of mine, he calls me and tells me that it needed pads and rotors all the way around again. I told him to hold off and i traded the thing. The truck only had 33k when i traded it, i don't know what the deal was with it but the brakes were $1150 just for the parts.

Pads and rotors r not $1150, not even from the dealer.