[69gmcc10]

It has been a while since I have reported progress or follow ups on this truck so I figured I would update for anyone who is interested.

To start off, I needed to reapply the night shades after 1 year. I faded and wore off from the elements. When I reapplied it I clear coated over it to see if it would last longer and it has been better, but again the darkness is fading away but it might last 2 years.

I have a squeak up front from the lower control arm bushing and I think it was caused by me tightening up the torsion bars, but I am speculating. I have polly parts to replace them, but have not got around to replacing them yet. I also figured I would replace the ball joints while I was there, not because they are bad, but after 170K miles I may as well while I am there.

The oiled air filter sucks! I have always felt that these GM trucks live and die by the MAF sensor and the second it gets oily you can feel the performance decrease and see the mileage fall off, so I Replaced just the filter with an washable AFE Dry filter and it works real well. It has good mid and top end response and power from the system. I have another truck I using an AFE dry filters in the stock box and it is awesome! I would recommend only changing out the air filter and keeping the stock bock over a Intake system any day.

The 4" Magmaflow certainly moves the air, but it is raspy when you stand on the street and hear it drive by under throttle. It also has a drone around 1600 RPM that is annoying when sitting in the back seat. I have a 3.5" tailpipe I am going to change it out with and see if that helps.

The transfer-case is running flawlessly after the rebuild after the pump rub was discovered and repaired.

The Computer tune is still the most significant upgrade. Trans shifting and drivability make it worth it alone. Mileage has been good in the summer, city is still just over 13 mpg and I often get 18 mpg if I can keep it at 69 mph or below. In Missoula we are force fed Ethanol and when that happens my city mileage will drop to about 9 mpg and the best I can do on the highway is about 14 mpg. I hate winter Fuel.

The electric fans have have proven of little benefit fore economy if any, but the coll factor and the extra room under the hood is nice.

My other favorite mod after the computer has to be the Huge trans cooler I installed. My trans temps never get above 200* even pulling long steep grades at 7000 ft elevations in triple digit temps hauling 8,000 lb loads.

I upgraded the Shocks all around. KYBs in the front did not survive long after a raised the nose, too much travel. The fronts are Bilstines and they are perfect, they ride smooth handle holes in the road real well, and are the only shock that was made to work without a spacer for the shock on a torsion lifted truck. The rear is outfited with Monroe OESpectrum shocks and they are a big improvement over the KYBs they replaced, more robust parts than the kybs (i am told that is good for heat transfer) and more adaptive to changing terrain (KYBs would hop along in rhythm with washboards and concrete seams in the road, frustrating!)

Still, all in all, I love this truck does 90% of everything I need it to do and I don't think you can ask for more from a truck because if it was 100% of everything all the time it would be multiple vehicles.

Thanks for thanks for reading, I plan to continue to add to this as needs and time and money permit.