Today I got to drive it to work and back. First impressions are...
I hate it. I hate almost everything about it so far. I would rather daily drive the Blazer than this thing. The manners are that bad. This truck has a long way to go before I'm comfortable with it. I am so disappointed right now. I want to throttle the throats at CPP.
1) The 4wdb setup I paid close to $2k has tons of stopping power and feels very firm. Unfortunately it takes a little more effort than it should to hold the truck at a red light. Almost like the booster is underpowered, so that needs to be addressed. The brakes are also VERY VERY loud. It squeaks, growns, and howls like a donkey. It also drags some and I can hear at least one disc is not cut true. Nothing like being stuck in traffic and receiving the wrong kind of looks. The truck only has about 100 miles on it. Three discs have equal pad wear on them, one of the rears has good inner pad wear but bad outer wear pattern. I pulled all the brakes apart, re-greased and checked for funkiness, and put back together. (I even swapped pads on the one that was wearing wrong) The noise is the same. I believe the pads are too hard, I think there is too much rotor wear for the mileage and it could also cause the noise. But, I dunno. I do know that the noise is not isolated to that one corner with the bad wear, that is for sure.
2) During sweeping turns, like a chicane, the front growns badly. I hear a combination of brake noise (without braking) that pulses and a sound that reminds me of rusted wheel bearings that are either too loose or too tight. The wheel bearings are brand new, as well as the grease, spindles, races, etc. I checked the spindle nut already and it feels good, the grease still looks good too. I have not pulled the bearings yet.
3) The steering is so god damn tight it's nerve racking. The truck has ZERO return to center. My blazer, with hydro assist, has more RTC. A manhole cover bump will gar the truck and kick it to the side. My alignment is Zero camber, Zero toe, and -5* caster. I can turn the wheel while stopped, but it's not easy. When I got home I checked the fluid. When I pulled the cap off it hissed a little, pressure that is, from the cap. The fluid looked fine. I haven't checked the sector shaft on the steering box yet, maybe it's got too much pre-load. Dunno.
4) GE NightHawk LED headlights are not worth the money. There is little to no distance light, at least not like my S10.
5) ECM controls the fans. Not sure how the tune is setup but the fans run all the time. The engine is always at 205 it seems. I guess that's how they run but I'm considering tuning the computer to see lower temps and run a lower stat. I also hit a trans temp of 210 while driving home. This is what the computer sees, from the OBD port, not a funky gauge readout. Seems awfully high for just street driving an empty truck.
6) Doors need new weather strip sooner than I thought, the rattle is terrible.
Now I have to deal with CPP again.