Purchasing a new truck

[Kenrbass]

I have a 2500 gmc on order, BUT, if you want a smooth riding half ton truck go test drive a ram. The truck I'm getting rid of is a 1500 ram and it's the closest ride to a car, out of a truck that I have seen. 

 

In the 3/4 ton trucks the rams ride terrible and thats why i have a gmc ordered.  

 

On the chevy's, I have a neighbor that has a 14 and a 16 both 1500's. He loves the 14 and hates the 16 with the engine and tranny changes.

 

On your current truck breaking..... they all break.  That's why all of the dealers have repair shops.

 

I'm not brand loyal, I have had them all.  Best overall trouble free truck I have had was a ford.  It is more what fits what I need a the time and who has the best fit.  That's why when you said 1500 and smooth ride, I say ram. 

 

 

[Gianni76]

@Kenrbass Right on, thanks for the input. I'm also not brand loyal. Something that has turned me off of ford though is that since the early 2000's they started designing their vehicles so you have to get issues diagnosed and fixed at the dealership. My mechanic that i have been going to for years couldn't  work on my 2011 ecoboost for a few different issues because he didn't have specific tools for the job and he couldn't get cheaper aftermarket parts because Ford holds a patent on their products for a long time so he was forced to purchase parts directly from ford. I really did loved that truck but the company is like the Apple of the technology realm.

 

Ill look into Ram as well but I don't particularly like how they look internally and externally but maybe the driving experience is better. Thanks. 

 

When did they make the engine and tranny changes?

 

 

[wforrest08]

2 hours ago, Gianni76 said:

Has anyone had or heard of any issues regarding the engine? Isn't this new system where the engine drops 4 cylinders while driving fairly new? Just don't want to run into the same issue like i did with my F150. 

AFM was introduced on the previous model trucks and carried over to this generation. In the last gen it has been proven that they caused excessive oil consumption for some owners supposedly in 011/013 GM fixed this. Some owners still claimed oil consumption on trucks after. IMO the verdict is still out on 14+ Trucks as to oil consumption and or valve train failures but there has been reports of both. Either way the number of trucks effective seems to be a rather small amount. I bought my 15 new and the AFM has been disabled since 500 miles so I can’t comment on this one. 

 

Second one is the shake/vibrator problem. This seems to be one of the most discussed things on here with all kinds of “fixes” again seems to be a small % of Trucks again I can’t comment as mine don’t do it. If I was shopping for a used 14+ Chevy part of my extended test drives would be a 90mph run on the interstate with a mile or so at every mph between 50-80. Out of all the fixes on this (as I have read it some for fun) the driveshaft balance and or replacements seem the most logical to me.

 

The third and I don’t think there’s a sticky on this one is a lot of new owners comment on the way the transmission shifts with the 014+ 6 and 8 speed trannys. IMO most of this is the way GM programs/tunes them for what I believe is max mpg and prolong transmission life. Again I can’t really comment on this as my truck was tuned at 3k miles mostly because I disliked how it shifted and couldn’t stand the torque management built into these trucks. The “fixes” for this range from people telling you “to get a tune” to full blown transmissions being replaced under warranty. If you don’t notice it on a extended test drive of a used truck I’d say it don’t exist and/or don’t worry about it. Again seems to be a small percentage of trucks.

 

Fourth would be electrical gremlins. Everything reported from buzzing in the speakers when opening the door to electronic steering failure at low speed. There was even one guy his truck would lock him out and randomly start and run in his garage, come to find out somebody set up an On-Star account for another truck with his vin and apparently the other guy was to dense to stop trying to start his truck that never starts. Again all kinds of fixes and I believe there is a GM fix for the steering problem but some owners still seem to have it. I can comment on this one as my 15 the radio volume, seat belt chime, and turn signal click will not activate on start up once in a blue moon. My fix shut the truck off and restart. My factory battery has been stone cold dead 3 times for no reason. Radio screen has gone black couple times. Again seems to be a small percentage of trucks.

 

Fifth would be the “I thought this thing has x horsepower” or “I hit the gas and nothing happens” or “ this thing is slow” or “the Ram is so much faster than this” This is IMO because of the toque management system I can’t really explain how this works (I’m not a electrical engineer and I think those are the only people who truly understand this system) and partly rear end and transmission gearing. These trucks make great horsepower and torque compared to previous generations but IMO the TMS kills the feel of power (if that makes sense) and the gearing is there to help optimize MPGs (maybe I’m dumb but it seems to me the more gears in the tranny the rear gear would stay the same or get steeper than previous gens). TMS seems to be there because GM wants to protect us from ourselves and to possibly prolong tranny life. I own my 15 and a 01 2500HD 6.0, 4 speed auto, 4.10 gear. That thing smoked the 15 off the line but top end the 15 hauls. So when I bought my 15 I said why is this lacking down low so much as both truck had roughly the same HP and TQ? I’ll tell you this with a tune my 15 drives and feels like I would expect now. No I don’t race it, no I don’t think it’s a Vette, but I do like to go when I hit the gas to pass. There is all kinds of “fixes” for this from sticking paint sticks behind the gas pedal to adding blowers and changing gears.

 

Sixth would be the Direct Injection system and catch cans. “The ticking noise you hear when you open the hood is the drive for the fuel injection”. This is what it should read on the drivers side visor and under the hood of all 14+ GMs with DI. There is a lot of talk with ALL MAKES currently using DI about carbon build up on the valve train and possible long term effects of it (relatively new technology). Lots of ideas and “fixes” floating around from using injection cleaners to pulling the intake and scrubbing the valves by hand. Same with the catch can thing, the PCV system takes the pressure inside the motor and sucks some of it back though the intake (this is not new been around since carburetors) The idea of the catch can is to collect that pressure and whatever else (ie. oil vapor) is in it to keep it out of the engine. Do they work? Yep as long as you get a good one there’s some real junk out there in this market. Are they necessary? Nope otherwise they would have been installed on the assembly line. Either way with both these there at least at this time seem to be minimal to no failures of engines.

 

Other notable things about 014+ trucks to look at

Some owners report shortened battery life from factory batteries (location is to blame)

Most owners agree factory Goodyear SRAs are NOT an All Terrain Tire and wet traction is lacking 

Some owners report leaks from XM/OnStar antenna, sunroof, pass side fire wall, or 3rd brake light

Some owners report wind noise from door gaskets and/or mirrors 

Some owners report excessive gas in oil do to DI check dipstick (at least monthly after purchase)

Some owners report shortened life out of AC condensers 

Some owners report early GMC Sierras had poor lighting from headlights even after GM update

Starting with the 014+ trucks dealers can no longer program added options (ie adding electrical things to the truck that didn’t come with the truck) there are some “work arounds” to this for some options but your better off IMO buying a truck with the options you want to start with.

014 & 015 truck have 5year/100k powertrain but 016+ is 5year/60k 

 

 

 

 

[Gianni76]

@wforrest08 First of all thank you for providing such an extensive and through review i really appreciate that. I have a couple follow up questions. 

 

You said you disabled your AFM. Is that something you can do within the options menu or did you get the shop to do this? And why did you decide to do that? 

 

Ive been reading a lot about people getting there truck "tuned" properly. I don't understand what they mean by this. Where do you get it tuned and what are you tuning it for. I thought this was more specific for someone who adds multiple MODS on there vehicle ( bigger turbo, Chip etc...) 

 

So overall are you happy with your 2015 truck, does it ride smoothly? Im going to pick up a 2015 later this week for a few day test drive and i will definitely refer back to this info you provided. 

 

Thanks again  

[wforrest08]

AFM was with the Range device from 500-3,000 miles then BB tune since, there is no factory setting to shut it off. The Range plugs into the OBD port under the dash all it does is tell the ecm to stay in 8 all the time. It’s the go to answer for guys who want to lose AFM but retain warranty I wasn’t really impressed with it anyway. I bought my 15 new in Oct of 15 at that time the K2s been out only a couple years so IMO the verdict wasn’t in as to if this generation of trucks would have the oil consumption problems like the last gen. I bought this truck with the intentions of keeping it 10 years so I figured if I give up a minimal amount of MPGs for not having a oil burner it’s worth it. There’s a lot of discussion on the previous gen and some on this gen as well about if it’s worth deleting it at all, at what mileage, if it even saves fuel, if it hurts performance, if you can feel it kick in & out, if it leads to valvetrain failure, etc. IDK to me it’s just more crap I don’t really need anyway. 

If you go to the instant MPG function on the dash screen there’s a green V8 in the corner, as you drive it will cycle between V8 and V4.

 

I did ALOT of research before buying mine and came to the conclusion if I bought one it would end up “tuned” sooner than later. I did a Black Bear tune. BB is a custom tune as opposed to a off the shelf tuner you buy and DIY. Reason I did it was because I didn’t like the way the six speed shifts from the factory, to correct for oversized tires, and to reduce torque management. I also have a Airaid intake tube and custom Flowmaster exhaust. The truck came with all the power I will ever need so increasing horsepower was a plus not my goal. Getting a “tune” used to be all about getting “max” power out of the engine. Now they have all kinds of uses and applications. It’s not about “tuning it right” it’s personal preference on how you want it to run/shift GM programs these trucks the way they do for a reason. Once you get into some serious mods ie. headers, porting the intake, etc. then it becomes a necessity not a want. Also with any kind of “mod” or “tune” you run the risk of GM denying warranty claims and/or flat out denying service. To me and my situation the reward outweighs the risk.

 

My 015 rode great for the first 3k miles then I leveled it and added oversized wheels and tires so now I can’t comment anymore. I’m a Chevy guy and have owned many trucks this is the newest one but also the nicest riding one (when it was stock) by far. Last Ford truck I owned was a 95 4x4 shorty Waldoch which doesn’t count. I did test drive a new 013 5.0 crew but it was only a couple miles with the salesdouch, my in laws all drive newer Dodges, and IMO they all seem comparable in ride.

 

Overall I’m happy with my 15 but I went into it knowing I’d have to do some work to be happy with it and I’m still particularly jaded on it as I never would have bought a new CC truck if I wasn’t married but that’s a whole nother story...

 

Since your coming from a truck to a truck if your pulling a trailer with any real weight or going to in the future I’d be a little leery of the rear coil suspension on the new Dodges as there is more than a couple guys on this forum that came from them to GMs due to lack of towing capacity. Be something worth checking out.