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New 2500 owner. Comment and questions.

Rehmer70

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2018
Messages
2
Bought an 02 2500 8.1 last month.  150k, a 7 of 10 on the clean scale.

Absolutely love the truck.

Questions:
Is there any prayer of having a dry bed with the 3 piece top(missing a latch and gutter), or should I replace with a1 piece?

Does brake pedal on the hydro system always feel mushy on top, firm on the bottom,  or do I have qn issue?

Anyone had their inner box side panels out?  If so, is it an arduous process?
Thank you!

 
First welcome (one month anniversary and first post) on this website for you!
As far as the bed panels they can be repaired and adjusted to make them more water resistant. It can be a hit or miss thing though as some AVs seem to be more dry then others in the bed area. I would buy a latch and gutter then check all drains, seals and gaps to make sure they are "leak free" before spending money on a one piece aftermarket bed cover. You may want to use a gasket restorer to rejuvenate the seals too. My 2004 stayed bone dry all the time but my 2008 has a slight leak.
On the brake situation you may want to have someone check it out for problems but I have been driving GM vehicles for so long I'm immune to the feel that some relatively new GM owners state is a unique to GM brake feeling.
There should be various older threads on this website with photos of owners who have removed the plastic inner bed sides for various mods and maintenance so you may want to do a search to find them. What is your reason to do so though out of curiosity....as a general rule you can't remove them and go without them on a long term basis and still use the bed for hauling etc.
Hope you have many happy and safe miles in your AV!
 
Rehmer70 said:
Bought an 02 2500 8.1 last month.  150k, a 7 of 10 on the clean scale.

Absolutely love the truck.

Questions:

Does brake pedal on the hydro system always feel mushy on top, firm on the bottom,  or do I have an issue?

  I have the same question. There is so much difference between my 03 1500 and 04 2500. 
Was waiting until I started driving the 2500 and get a better feel. It's been years for me the last
Hydro system that I drove.

 
It does take some time to get used to the brakes on an 2500, it's 1000 pounds heavier than an 1500.

The curb weight is 6642 pounds add the passengers and other stuff in it you are well over 7,000 pounds

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Some of the things you could check are the soft(rubber) lines of the brakes.
Go to a more aggressive brake pad.
 
Thanks for the above.

I want to take side panels out of box to  check for corrosion, thats all.

Brakes work great, just takes more pedal effort tha  Im used to.
 
Another quirk you are going to notice, going down the slightest incline they pick up a lot of speed.
I notice this when I caravan with other AV members, they can take their foot off the gas pedal and cruise down a hill I have to brake to avoid hitting them.

You may want to take it to a road without much traffic and try a practice panic stop for confidence.
Unfortunately, I had mine at 70 mph when 2 cars thought they could occupy the same lane they both went into the wall then bounced back across 3 lanes
 
You got me thinking about the mushy brake pedal since I started driving mine again.

I'm going to change my master cylinder and see if that improves things. My rear pads always wear out twice as fast than the fronts.
 
Not heard of anyone really taking bed sides off to check for rust since rust seems to occur first on outside under cladding or on some corners and fenders..
 
Well I changed the master cylinder, not that much improvement but a little.

I changed it because after 2 flushes the fluid would still change to this color.


normal_0624181345.jpg
 
You got me thinking about the mushy brake pedal since I started driving mine again.

I'm going to change my master cylinder and see if that improves things. My rear pads always wear out twice as fast than the fronts.
My rear rotor temperature was almost twice as hot as the front. 220F in the front. 400F in the rear. Casual driving. 30 minutes.
 
You got me thinking about the mushy brake pedal since I started driving mine again.

I'm going to change my master cylinder and see if that improves things. My rear pads always wear out twice as fast than the fronts.
Wow, my rear pads went 160,000 before I changed them and still had life left. I had changed the fronts 4 times before the rears and I'm still on my second set of rears at 280,000..

You can rebuild the Hydro boost unit for under $20.00, the hardest part is taking the unit off which I think you've done before.. Rebuilding it is a 2 on a 1-5 scale, maybe a 3 if you have to make a tool to remove the push rod that connects to the pedal if it's crimped to the shaft, there are 2 styles but it can be done..

 
My rear rotor temperature was almost twice as hot as the front. 220F in the front. 400F in the rear. Casual driving. 30 minutes.
I never have measured the temp on mine so you may want to check to see if the brake pads are dragging or the parking brakes

.
Wow, my rear pads went 160,000 before I changed them and still had life left. I had changed the fronts 4 times before the rears and I'm still on my second set of rears at 280,000..

You can rebuild the Hydro boost unit for under $20.00, the hardest part is taking the unit off which I think you've done before.. Rebuilding it is a 2 on a 1-5 scale, maybe a 3 if you have to make a tool to remove the push rod that connects to the pedal if it's crimped to the shaft, there are 2 styles but it can be done..


I stopped doing component rebuilds years ago, I did not have the tools needed to tell if the bore is good
 
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