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What did you do to your Avalanche today?

The front driver and passenger seat bottom leather covers from The Seat Shop arrived Friday.

I spent a good part of Saturday installing both seat covers.

I think they came out looking pretty good.

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But, as usual for me, the project was not without it's drama.

After I got everything wrapped up, I started the Avalanche and immediately was treated to a Service Airbag error message and a flashing Bubblegum Man light.

After popping on my scanner I got a code that pointed to the passenger presence sensor.

No big deal, right.

So, this morning I pulled the passenger seat back out and went back over all of my work and all of the under seat wiring.

Everything checked out, but when I put the seat back in, I still had the same error.

Out came the seat again and I proceeded to unwrap all of the wiring bundles and I began to check every wire at every location for continuity.

I finally found a poor connection at one of the pins on the connector under the seat that connects the seat to the truck.

And it was the absolute last wire to be checked.

:E:

Every other wire and connector checked out fine.

Well, at least I now have a complete wiring diagram of all of the wires and connectors under the passenger seat.

I then carefully disassembled the wiring connector and pulled out the offending connector pin.

There was no obvious sign of a broken wire, but I narrowed the break down to the last 1/4" of wire right before the connector pin.

A little solder job and some careful reshaping of the connector pin and I was able to get everything back together without breaking anything else.

Whew.

All of my wiring is now complete and secure and I have no more airbag errors.

That wasn't how I had planned to spend my Sunday morning and afternoon, but it's done.

:)(y)
 
Installed a new stereo, so this 10" replaces my 6.5" screen. Man what a difference, as you get older things get harder to see, well your not going to miss them with radio now. Using the Nav and seeing the routes are easier on the eyes now.

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Nice job... Matches great.. Also, you know your suppose the check the last wire first..
 
Installed a new stereo, so this 10" replaces my 6.5" screen. Man what a difference, as you get older things get harder to see, well your not going to miss them with radio now. Using the Nav and seeing the routes are easier on the eyes now.

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Where can I find one of these? And how do I obtain a sim card for my radio? And if you would share, how much is a monthly service for it? Thanks
 
Car wash and popped the Snugtop on yesterday. Loading it up this morning to move my younger daughter to Cleveland for her co-op at the Cleveland Clinic.
 
Car wash and popped the Snugtop on yesterday. Loading it up this morning to move my younger daughter to Cleveland for her co-op at the Cleveland Clinic.
I was just out your way yesterday and I'm heading back out there again today, I have to go to Williamsburg and unload my work van. SMH
 
Soo, this weekend project has taken a turn for disaster. Replacing both front fenders (one damaged and they're both rotting out), so I worked on getting everything pulled apart, prepped, cleaned and ready for the new ones yesterday. Everything has been great so far. Today, I go to bring out the new OEM, professionally painted fenders annnnd.... they aren't fitting! :eek: I think I just screwed myself out of an Avalanche... why oh why wouldn't genuine body parts not want to properly fit. It's like I'm dealing with lousy aftermarket parts... ugh... :mad:

And now I just confirmed that the other side doesn't align at all, impossible to install. Holy smokes... did GM mess with the body panel design for later years... yikes.
 
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Snap a pic, maybe they need to be shimmed
 
Snap a pic, maybe they need to be shimmed

Passenger side was jammed on. Lower lip was forcfuly bent with a massive flathead screwdriver to the point of almost breaking it. Infact, I did slightly damage the form just to get it to fit and it's still very wrong. When fully seated against the body it sticks out maybe 3/16" from the the door alignment and about 3/16" away from the door line. It's insane but you can't realign things with the way all the bolt holes have to match up to the rest of the body. Even if I somehow managed to fit the panel that extra 3/16", the hood would no longer fit.

After trying to squeeze that side on we tried doing the driver side again. Put it on, checked it out... so far out of spec it's not even funny. It's like these weren't even made to any spec and just free handed. Much of the panel is spot welded so you can't just reform things. These are meant to be bolt on parts with minor movement at the bolt holes.

When the driver side is seated in place the top folds down into the windshield molding and the lower lip sits about 1/2" away from the rocker but the panel is exactly where it's going to sit relative to the body mounts under the windshield. It's simply not possible to realign. Ended up reinstalling the old one (which fit like a glove) because it was just impossible to get any further.

I'll probably end up checking with the dealer I got these from who purchased them on my behalf and painted them. I can't imagine they would screw me over with non-OEM parts when I specifically requested them and he even verified the part numbers and I paid full dealer pricing for them. The parts do look exactly the same as the old ones I took off but they just aren't formed right, at all. I feel sorry for the poor sap who has to fix any of these GMT-900 models if this is what GM is pumping out for body panels. Not even sure what recourse there is here. I know these things usually have a 1 year warranty or something. It's not exactly the dealers fault the parts are screwed up and even if I did get them replaced I'll probably have to pay to have them repainted. The fact that both panels are way wrong leads me to believe they're all screwed up.

So physically and mentally exhausted at this point. Just want to shove it back together and throw in the towel.
 
Passenger side was jammed on. Lower lip was forcfuly bent with a massive flathead screwdriver to the point of almost breaking it. Infact, I did slightly damage the form just to get it to fit and it's still very wrong. When fully seated against the body it sticks out maybe 3/16" from the the door alignment and about 3/16" away from the door line. It's insane but you can't realign things with the way all the bolt holes have to match up to the rest of the body. Even if I somehow managed to fit the panel that extra 3/16", the hood would no longer fit.

After trying to squeeze that side on we tried doing the driver side again. Put it on, checked it out... so far out of spec it's not even funny. It's like these weren't even made to any spec and just free handed. Much of the panel is spot welded so you can't just reform things. These are meant to be bolt on parts with minor movement at the bolt holes.

When the driver side is seated in place the top folds down into the windshield molding and the lower lip sits about 1/2" away from the rocker but the panel is exactly where it's going to sit relative to the body mounts under the windshield. It's simply not possible to realign. Ended up reinstalling the old one (which fit like a glove) because it was just impossible to get any further.

I'll probably end up checking with the dealer I got these from who purchased them on my behalf and painted them. I can't imagine they would screw me over with non-OEM parts when I specifically requested them and he even verified the part numbers and I paid full dealer pricing for them. The parts do look exactly the same as the old ones I took off but they just aren't formed right, at all. I feel sorry for the poor sap who has to fix any of these GMT-900 models if this is what GM is pumping out for body panels. Not even sure what recourse there is here. I know these things usually have a 1 year warranty or something. It's not exactly the dealers fault the parts are screwed up and even if I did get them replaced I'll probably have to pay to have them repainted. The fact that both panels are way wrong leads me to believe they're all screwed up.

So physically and mentally exhausted at this point. Just want to shove it back together and throw in the towel.

I can not even imagine.

I hope you can get some recourse from the dealer, but I would think you are still going to be out some dough.

My feeling is you somehow got some aftermarket parts.

Would it be possible to try to get one of the parts you need from another source and test fit that part before having it painted?

If you get a good fit then buy the rest of the parts and then have everything painted and reinstalled.

I know you want new parts, but you could also try to source some salvage parts.

At least you would know those parts were once installed on a truck and should fit.

I had to find some salvage parts for my old 1993 Ford Explorer when it got wreaked.

After the paint and bodywork, you could not tell the parts came off of another truck.

I hope you find a good resolution.
 
I would take a few measurements and see if the mounts are in the correct spots. They may be off a little. That would make it a more lagitamant complaint to the dealer.
 
Spent 8 hours cleaning her up, not bad for 228k miles on a 2010, I also gave her a new oil change. I change the oil in her very very often, it stays so clean that you can barely see it on the stick, lol
 

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After assessing things further it looks like the body is twisted. That would explain why the passenger fender is being stretched and the driver's fender drops 1/2" below the body mount (too loose). I tried jacking up the frame to see if I could twist anything but so far no luck. Maybe I'm twisting from the wrong spot. No idea why it would be so out of whack. I think I need to get it to twist 1/4" to even off both sides.
 
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Rut Roh hopefully it's just something that needs an adjustment. How do the body mounts look.
 
And how did the old parts fit?

Something doesn't smell right here.

:unsure:
 
Oh, man I'm sorry to hear that. You may have mentioned but I don't recall, has it ever been wrecked?
 
Old parts fit perfect. I've also confirmed my parts are indeed OEM. I really think something is out of whack with the body form. It may have been like that day one from the factory. It's like someone took the driver side of the body and pinched it. Maybe the robots at the factory dropped it ? Adjusting the mounting points would raise/lower the entire hood assembly which would throw things further out of whack.

My only choice now is to take it to a body shop and see what they can do. It's back together and drivable enough to get it somewhere for now. Will see what happens tomorrow. I've already started looking at new vehicles just in-case but don't really want a Silverado, don't really want a Suburban, I like having a hybrid. Curse you GM for ending production! ?

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Oh, man I'm sorry to hear that. You may have mentioned but I don't recall, has it ever been wrecked?

The passenger side fender got bumped into which lead to this whole project. I let the guy pay me direct (he was hoping to avoid getting hit with the insurance rate increases) so I put that money towards replacing both fenders myself and figured I'd just slap new ones on and it would be a win-win for me. But noooo... haha

However, it was the kind of bump that only dented the fender and that was it, nothing that would ever have affected the frame. In fact, if the bend wasn't at the fender crease it could have been pulled out using dentless paint repair. Other than that, never been in anything substantial enough to mess with the body or frame.
 
I hate to say it but where are the pics?
 
I hate to say it but where are the pics?

I knowww I knowww ? wish I had snapped a few when things were apart. Maybe I can make a quick video to show further details of what's going on. Since I only had myself and a helper and we're working with freshly painted panels I wasn't in a position to take photos of anything being installed or test fitted. Will see what happens tomorrow.
 
Removed rear passenger door panel and adjusted and lubed the door handle mechanism. It was slightly rubbing on the inside of the door, making it difficult for the kiddos to open the door from the outside. Works great now.

Added hose clamps to the transmission oil cooler lines as a test. I clamped down right on top of the factory crimped connection where it transitions from hard line to soft, hoping to stop the leak. The leak has never reached the garage floor, but the lines sweat just enough to make a mess on the lines themselves and the lower splash guard. If this doesn't work I'll just replace the lines, but from everything I've read the new lines will start leaking at the same crimp eventually anyway, maybe the hose clamps will help instead!
 
Actually it was yesterday. I changed the oil and pushed the button on the console to read the mileage and saw my 2002 hit 150k.
Took me over 17 years to get there. Man I love a short commute.
 
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