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  • Dan

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    • and today, the missing parts arrived..

      what a great seller
      the only mod I had to do was enlarge this hole

      the missing pieces installed

      and now it's taller
      Doing it all wrong since 1966

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      • Well.... dealerships and the monkeys that work there
        Storytime.
        There's been a vibration since I bought the truck in the front differential. put it in 4x4 and it has a vibration about 45 mph.

        Took it to the dealership a month ago. For those who don't want the entire story... here's the end. They claimed the differential case was defective and needed to be replaced with a part that is updated but not yet produced.... in short, I don't get my truck back for at least 6 months... but I get to drive a rental trax for the entire time.... I asked them to put in a used or 'defective' differential. They refused (ala GTO - wouldn't replace the throwout bearing because reasons). I told them I'd pay for the temp differential.... still a hard no, so I brought it back home.

        I find it incredibly hard to believe that an axle produced for a decade has that major of a defect. When they tried to reassemble the diff, it would jam the gears.... which makes zero sense... but I got it home - took the differential to my friend with the shop, it's back together and works, he's finishing it up tonight but I needed to get the truck in my shop so I could reassemble. I'll be stunned if GM makes good on this this side of a lawsuit (which not sure it's worth my time - just like not waiting 6 months... fact is a lawyer is a better mechanic then their entire dealership)....

        asked them to reassemble it so I could drive it.... nope, they couldn't do that.... missing parts, they finger tightened the suspension (thus putting the tow truck driver at risk)..
        the hole



        the long version is the dealership claimed there was a GM bulletin about the axle. Despite repeated requests to see the bulletin, they ignored that request. I talked to Yukon gear (the owner is a friend), he had no idea what I was talking about.... I think they had a oil change kid who just got ASE certified and he was the best they had for axles... they did offer (and this is what lit me) to give me $4300 in dealer cash if I traded the truck in..... that is so blindingly close to fraud... break the person's vehicle then offer them a pittance as trade in to 'soften the blow'.... GM, again, what I have to say to you rhymes with duck soup
        Doing it all wrong since 1966

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        • First the facts. GM has a new part number for front differentials for 2018 Colorado Z71 diesel trucks. It's new and not available - up to 6 month wait. There is old stock for now.




          Now the story. I love my Colorado and I'm not selling it but I think it's fair and right to detail the 'problem' so that someone else going through this doesn't go nuts.




          I have a 2018 Colorado, Z71,




          6" rough country lift.




          Ever since I bought it new, it's had a vibration when the rig is in any 4wd selection at 45 mph. Once I lifted it, the vibration became worse, but, knowing what would happen if I simply lifted it without verification from GM that the vibration was there - I documented it with my dealership from the start. I have 39,000 miles on it now, and wanted to get it fixed before the warranty expired at 60k. It was/is never a question that there is something going on.




          I took it to the dealership, they did: a t-case fluid change; changed tires; and put it on a lift and claimed that the vibration was coming from the front differential. They claimed (and I asked for proof because by this point, there were inconsistencies in what they were saying) the biggest one was I had put it on my lift and there was no vibration from the front diff. They claimed that GM updated the housing and that it was a problem with pretty much all 4x4 Colorados (strike 2). The third, they claimed that they had tried to put the differential back together and it simply jammed (strike 3). As an aside, I'm friends with the powers that be at Yukon gear. Because this had taken 3 weeks, I called and asked them if they had heard any of the things that I heard from the dealership. "No, but we'd love to see it." I get a phone call from the dealership. In that call they first offer me $4352 (why that number?) to trade my colorado in on a new truck because they think it could be up to 6 months before they see the new axle housing.




          *deep breath*




          Let me get this straight, I said, you disassemble my truck, you cannot put it back together, and now you want to me to trade in a functional 'totaled' truck. Show me the GM paperwork that supports your position. Seems reasonable, right? after all, if they're honest, they will show me their work and decisions will be made. Nope. By now GM customer service is involved (useless). I tell the dealership that I'll buy the axle, they can put it back in then when the new parts come in, they can replace and give me back my axle... nope.




          I tell the dealership I want my truck back - he said "we can allow you to do that"... "allow me?" the next things said are unprintable. I sent AAA to pick up my truck and the parts - brought it to my house. The interior now smells of gear oil, but we got most of the parts. Fun aside, they didn't tighten the cross members - so had the tow truck driver had to do an emergency maneuver, he'd have taken a Colorado to the back of the head.... kind of foretelling what's going to come next.




          Sure enough the differential is locked up, but the caps aren't even on it... Took it to friend who owns a shop - he has it back together, spinning as if nothing happened. All the 'replacement' parts and old parts are in the box.... nothing wrong with what they took apart. Seems the mechanic didn't know how to shim a gear (seriously). You'd think by now GM would pay me for my trouble... nope, they demand the truck go back to another dealership so they can look at it. Wait, you want my truck that you cannot get parts for... why? we want to look at it. And if you determine that you won't simply put the axle back together... 'we'll keep it until parts arrive'... How about 'no'




          I told GM that all I want from them is the tow bill paid, my mechanic friend paid, then when the next parts finally do come in - call, and they can replace it. (let's call it about $750).. hard no by them. Amateurs. To be honest, I may simply drop it - $750 is money but my time is more valuable to me and I may regear anyway. All I have to do is forget this little incident in the middle of this - I plow roads and make very good money doing it, lost out on it this year because the first problem was the dealer refused to buy a pinion nut from anyone but GM.... for those wondering, it's the same as a Dana 30 (thanks Yukon for giving me that jewel).




          Irony.... I think the real problem is the unitized bearings.... they've been leaking grease since new.... of course, if those lock up and cause an accident, well that's product defect....



          Doing it all wrong since 1966

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          • I used to think it would be nice to have a car with a warranty. These stories make working on my older cars not so bad.
            http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...-consolidation
            1.54, 7.31 @ 94.14, 11.43 @ 118.95

            PB 60' 1.49
            ​​​​​​

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            • Originally posted by Russell View Post
              I used to think it would be nice to have a car with a warranty. These stories make working on my older cars not so bad.
              well, if you would listen to your voice mail... "You should have received a mail for an extended warranty, before we close your file" 50 times a week.

              I don't know if dealership shops are better or worse since the last time I used one (bad experience) circa 1992. Wait, that's not entirely true, I paid a private transmission shop to hack a clutch into a Escape so I could "short term" it for a few thousand miles. It should have gotten a new flywheel, but it didn't. Only lasted another 80k miles since then that I'm aware of. The guy understood what I meant and did what I asked quickly. I'm a little bit intimidated by needing a network analyzer to work on new junk though. I think they are designed where you are supposed to trade it in when it does anything silly.

              I get the time thing, which is why I bought two new trucks before I threw the keyboard at the boss the last time. I still enjoy playing with cars, but not when I expect it to get me there on time for something like a job. I have very high expectations but sadly, little confidence in dealerships. Thankfully, the plain vanilla junk I drive hasn't had to visit them... and it's amazing that these days you can call 2hp / cubic inch "plain".

              Just out of curiosity, is this the same dealership that handled the GTO? I'm not sure I would have been within a country mile of returning there.

              /edit - and long about now we miss the wisdom of Jim Mahoney (SpiderGearsMan, RIP). He'd have the lowdown on this.
              Last edited by Beagle; March 4, 2021, 06:38 AM.
              Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by Beagle View Post



                Just out of curiosity, is this the same dealership that handled the GTO? I'm not sure I would have been within a country mile of returning there.

                /edit - and long about now we miss the wisdom of Jim Mahoney (SpiderGearsMan, RIP). He'd have the lowdown on this.
                no, different dealership.

                Yep, I miss Jim - I even thought that while I was trying to get the mythical GM service bulletin/recall/whatever...
                Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                • Sooo.... time to find out if I was right or the dealership was right (that the differential was impossible to reassemble)

                  looks assembled




                  and drives....


                  need to get it aligned because the idiots at the dealership took the cross member out to pull the differential (which you don't need to do - and yeah, I put it in without taking it out)...
                  Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                  • I wonder if the vibration will be history.

                    Dan

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                    • Originally posted by DanStokes View Post
                      I wonder if the vibration will be history.

                      Dan
                      nope
                      Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                      • Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post

                        nope
                        Bummer. Maybe in 6 months.

                        Dan

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                        • Originally posted by DanStokes View Post

                          Bummer. Maybe in 6 months.

                          Dan
                          I'm going with "run it until it breaks"... it may never... but my theory continues to be unitized bearings...
                          Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                          • This would be the perfect time to put a solid Dana 44 up there .
                            Previously HoosierL98GTA

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                            • Originally posted by Dan Barlow View Post
                              This would be the perfect time to put a solid Dana 44 up there .
                              seriously considered it.... to the point that I started looking at how to put a Jeep JK Dana 44 in.... track width is 61.9 for a JK and 62.9 for a JL against the 62.4 for a Colorado.... and I learned something - the Colorado has a track width of 62.4 in the front and 65.9 in the rear...

                              oh and Car-parts.com doesn't have a complete assembly from either a JK or JL available right now.... oh and the biggest problem is steering, the JK/JL still use a steering box and hydraulic pump against the electronic-assist rack on the Colorado.... all the other things are off-the-shelf doable....not that I looked at that at all....
                              Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                              • I have been hearing about mustang guys putting a Volvo electric power steering pump on mustangs. I wonder if that would power the jeep box?
                                http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...-consolidation
                                1.54, 7.31 @ 94.14, 11.43 @ 118.95

                                PB 60' 1.49
                                ​​​​​​

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