[VAC] Re: Installing a trans temp gauge

[jim clark <jec1938@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the input... I am at a dangerous point... the upgrade to a 
Duramax will cost over 20K and right now almost anything seems like a good 
deal compared to that...

The fun will be working up to what ever I finally do, as usual its not the 
destination it's the trip....I did find some nice gauges from Banks 
Engineering complete with pillar mount which I find attractive...I'm going 
to talk to the dealer about changing the rear end ratio and get some prices 
from the US Gear dealer who just happens to be about 5 miles from the 
house....Also found that US Gear is in a suburb of Chicago... ( so am I )...

I find it interesting that just about anything ( half ton to a ton) is 
rated at 7-8k lbs towing (see 
http://gscsp.tl.com/towratings/tr99_chevrolet.cfm) depending on which 
engine and which rear end... then a jump to 10K or so with the diesel or 
the large V8...I would not feel too bad about getting into a 10K rated big 
gas 2500 or 3500 series, but I am afraid it would take a lot of gas to keep 
it happy...

The US Gear unit is kind of interesting as it would give two selectable 
ratios, in my case, 3.42 and something between 4.10 and 4.56 for the heavy 
hill pulling....I don't think I am too far off using the half ton for 
pulling the approx. 7K load... the previous owner pulled the thing all over 
the country this year with a 1500 series that was prepared for towing by a 
custom shop in South Carolina... They take their custom work seriously in 
that part of the country...he used a standard Reese with sway bar and I 
have managed to talk myself into a Hensley... and that is another story... 
I saw a pretty good size new Airstream being pulled by a Dodge Intrepid at 
the Hensley gathering this year.. The trans on the 99 model has a tow mode 
and it won't get into OD unless I go over 60 which is rare...I was afraid 
that gas mileage would drop like a rock with the tow mode on and not 
getting into OD, but I have not found it to be much different... maybe even 
a little worse when I try to hustle a bit more..

One thing I have not been happy with are the brakes on the Silverado... The 
pedal acts just like the system has air in it... The dealer says all the 
1500 series were like that in 99 and the 2500 series acts like you would 
expect a brake pedal to act... anybody know anything about that 
wrinkle??..I would love to hear about a bulletin that says change a valve 
or something....Hard braking gives that lump in the throat as the pedal 
heads toward the floor...and keeps on going down...

As usual, thanks for the help, and I will let you all know if I do anything 
radical....

Jim Clark