Sup, nerds?
Last week my 2001 Silverado 2500HD rolled over 400,000 miles.
I bought it in high school, paid cash for it the day I got it, and I've owned it for almost 17 years now. It's still my daily driver and my work truck, so it doesn't get babied.
DD has always been an incredible technical resource, so I figured this would be a good time to ask the guys who have been keeping these trucks alive forever:
What modifications have actually stood the test of time? What isn't worth the money? What have you found that improves on the factory design? What's easier to service? What have you done that you'd absolutely do again?
Thanks to everyone who's contributed over the years. I've probably spent hundreds of hours reading this forum. A lot of what I've done to this truck—and a lot of mistakes I probably avoided—came directly from information posted here.
It needed a transfer case almost immediately (pump rub). We swapped in a low-mile takeout from a wrecked truck, and I rebuilt that transfer case again recently.
Around 180,000 miles it got a lift pump, EFI Live, and a built Allison all at once. That was an awakening, as you all know.
That combination has been so good I've just driven the wheels off it. Sometime in there it hung an injector open and needed a head gasket, so I stepped up to 45% SACs but surfaced the head and went back with head bolts. Maybe that was a mistake; 5-6 years later it knocked the head gasket out again so I went back with ARP studs and fleece heads here recently.
But now I find myself wondering if I've become the old guy who says, "Eh, it works fine."
Am I wrong by still running the stock air box, stock turbo, stock CP3, and basically stock exhaust? When I had the heads off, labor was essentially free to throw a turbo or CP3 at it, and I just...didn't.
The truck pulls hard, tows great, starts every time, and I've never really felt like I was lacking power when I hook onto a trailer.
I've looked at compounds plenty of times and always come to the same conclusion: "Man...that's a lot of money."
Then again, I'll probably end up talking myself into buying a set of those 6-lug Wherli PY0 wheels for my half-ton, so maybe I'm not the best judge of financial decisions.
If this were your truck sitting at 400,000 miles, what would you do next?
Last week my 2001 Silverado 2500HD rolled over 400,000 miles.
I bought it in high school, paid cash for it the day I got it, and I've owned it for almost 17 years now. It's still my daily driver and my work truck, so it doesn't get babied.
DD has always been an incredible technical resource, so I figured this would be a good time to ask the guys who have been keeping these trucks alive forever:
What modifications have actually stood the test of time? What isn't worth the money? What have you found that improves on the factory design? What's easier to service? What have you done that you'd absolutely do again?
Thanks to everyone who's contributed over the years. I've probably spent hundreds of hours reading this forum. A lot of what I've done to this truck—and a lot of mistakes I probably avoided—came directly from information posted here.
The Truck
- 2001 Silverado 2500HD 4WD
- Extended Cab Short Bed LS (Leather, Power driver and passenger seats, Side airbags, Center console / CD rack thing)
It needed a transfer case almost immediately (pump rub). We swapped in a low-mile takeout from a wrecked truck, and I rebuilt that transfer case again recently.
Around 180,000 miles it got a lift pump, EFI Live, and a built Allison all at once. That was an awakening, as you all know.
That combination has been so good I've just driven the wheels off it. Sometime in there it hung an injector open and needed a head gasket, so I stepped up to 45% SACs but surfaced the head and went back with head bolts. Maybe that was a mistake; 5-6 years later it knocked the head gasket out again so I went back with ARP studs and fleece heads here recently.
Current Setup
- Stock air box and stock-style filter
- Stock turbo
- Stock CP3
- Stock exhaust with the muffler replaced by a straight section
- Lift pump
- EFI Live
- Built trans
- Fleece heads
- ARP studs
- 45% SAC injectors
- Eaton Truetrac rear differential
- 2006 PY0 wheels
- FICM kill switch
- Jimmy Jammer door reinforcement plates (because Denver...)
- Bluetooth conversion in the factory CD radio
Here's My Question...
The lift pump, tune, and built transmission were worth every penny.But now I find myself wondering if I've become the old guy who says, "Eh, it works fine."
Am I wrong by still running the stock air box, stock turbo, stock CP3, and basically stock exhaust? When I had the heads off, labor was essentially free to throw a turbo or CP3 at it, and I just...didn't.
The truck pulls hard, tows great, starts every time, and I've never really felt like I was lacking power when I hook onto a trailer.
I've looked at compounds plenty of times and always come to the same conclusion: "Man...that's a lot of money."
Then again, I'll probably end up talking myself into buying a set of those 6-lug Wherli PY0 wheels for my half-ton, so maybe I'm not the best judge of financial decisions.
If this were your truck sitting at 400,000 miles, what would you do next?
- What's the best modification you've made that most people overlook?
- Anything on my truck you'd have done differently?
- Any upgrade you regret?
- Is there something obvious I'm overlooking?
Just remember you'll become that old man some day with that truck and be super thankful you kept it the way you did. Sounds like one solid running truck!