Beware of rotting frames on 2011 to 2021 Chevy Silverados

[beav]

Road salt also teaches drivers it's ok to go 70mph when it's raining and 29° outside.

[Southside]

There is nothing wrong with going 70 in the rain at 29 degrees. Stopping or turning on the other hand... 

[snowstorm]

with enough salt and traffic it will stay lucid. down into the 20,s 

[moodnacreek]

Once the rust starts you have to spray on some kind of oil at least once a year to slow down the rust. I have been doing this and more on a '71 and a '91 f 350's for years and they are both sound.

[farmfromkansas]

The frame on my 04 Chevy 2500 is rusty, has no coating at all.  Seems driving it down a gravel road keeps the rust worn off.  Knew about the older Tacomas having rust problems on their frames, so bought a newer one, 14 as well as all the others on the forum.  Have not noticed any frame rust yet.

[SawyerTed]

There is nothing wrong with going 70 in the rain at 29 degrees. Stopping or turning on the other hand...  

Sometimes you get to go 70 in the rain at 29 degrees, turning and turning and finally abruptly stopping whether you want to or not!   Freezing rain is the worst here.  We get more freezing rain than snow most winters.

[moodnacreek]

Road salt also teaches drivers it's ok to go 70mph when it's raining and 29° outside.

Wrong.  That's 80 mph here.

There is nothing wrong with going 70 in the rain at 29 degrees. Stopping or turning on the other hand...  

Sometimes you get to go 70 in the rain at 29 degrees, turning and turning and finally abruptly stopping whether you want to or not!  Freezing rain is the worst here.  We get more freezing rain than snow most winters.

Wrong. That's 80 mph around here.

[21incher]

Well 2 weeks later  it's still sitting  at the dealer.  Sounds  like they have a employee shortage  and keep pulling the guy off it to do other big jobs. They  had no one trained  to do the TSB and it's  the worst rusting they have ever  seen on a new truck frame. I still have the brand new Silverado  loaner and don't  know why anyone would  buy one with  the 5.3 and auto stop. The 5.3 is a dog compared to my 6.2 and a gas guzzler.  They also put a pin through the hitch so I can't use my trailer with the loaner. Hopefully next week I will hear more.

[snowstorm]

i know someone that bought a 20 last year with the 5.3 he is claiming 20 tp 24 mpg seems a bit high

[21incher]

I found the sticker they scraped off in the dash and it says 16 / 23. My 6.2  is between 19.1 and 19.6 local driving per tank calculated out. It drops to about  18.5 towing my 8k dump trailer. Hits about 23 to 24 Highway.  There is a big difference between them.  My 6.2 going  along at 55 mph is usually just running  on 4 cylinders.  If you step on it a little  to pass someone It switches to 8 cylinder  and smoothly takes off with no drama . This 5.3 if I step on it a little at 55 it kicks down 2 gears and screams like a sewing machine motor. I never  realized  there would  be a noticeable difference between the 2 because I only test drove the 6.2. I can't  imagine what those little  4 cylinders they are putting in them now sound like. 

[Tacotodd]

Screaming for their life.

[barbender]

Wow, that is incredible fuel mileage!👍🏻👍🏻

[HemlockKing]

I had the 5.3 and noticed the same, falling on its face then screaming like crazy 2 gears down. I imagine is even worse with the 4.8

[Hilltop366]

I used a 2014 (I think) truck with the 6.2 in it to tow my tractor home from the camp, I was rather impressed with the power and milage. I had towed the tractor to the camp with a 1995 dodge with a 5.2, talk about a difference! twice the power and used less than ½ the gas.

[Hilltop366]

On the other hand I was throwing some wood in the back of the Dodge and a block slipped out of my hand and hit the rear fender hard .... never left a mark, if that had been the newer GM it would have stove the side in at least a couple inches.

[snowstorm]

We were out west last spring and rented a new youkon the most I saw was 17 mpg for the week. What is up with the transmission in those things? Coming down the mountains of co. It would drop 4 or5 gears at once with a Big Bang 

[21incher]

On the other hand I was throwing some wood in the back of the Dodge and a block slipped out of my hand and hit the rear fender hard .... never left a mark, if that had been the newer GM it would have stove the side in at least a couple inches.

That's why  I bought the dump trailer 

We were out west last spring and rented a new youkon the most I saw was 17 mpg for the week. What is up with the transmission in those things? Coming down the mountains of co. It would drop 4 or5 gears at once with a Big Bang

That's what this one does. Drops a couple gears at a time but I think it's  because it's still in the learning mode.
Mine always shifts extremely smooth and you don't notice them during normal driving. Put it to the floor or in the trailer mode the shifts stiffen up but don't skip any up or down. I have the 8 speed but I think they changed to a new 10 speed last year. When they change transmissions there always tsb's to improve them That one probably was not treated nice during learning  period being a rental or could need an update. 
Those numbers I gave are for 2wd mode and drop slightly when I  go out in the winter using 4wd auto but we usually wait for the snow to melt and I haven't run a full tank in 4wd to do the calculation.
I test drove one of the new RAMs and that felt like something ran into the back of it everytime I stopped. It would  ban down 3 gears after  stopping shaking the truck.  I quickly took RAM off my list because of the tranny.

[Ianab]

What is up with the transmission in those things? Coming down the mountains of co. It would drop 4 or5 gears at once with a Big Bang

If it's downhill it will be for engine braking. Dropping one gear in an 8+ speed isn't going to do anything to hold you back as the ratios are so close together. 

With an old 4 speed you might drop one gear and get the same effect as 3 gears on an 8 speed. Doesn't mean the have the shifting program perfect of course, but downshifting one gear would be pointless. 

[Peter Drouin]

I like my 06 6.0 5 speed standard 2500 4x4 oiled every year, goes like a hot rod. Just turned 100,000 miles.
I hope you do well with your truck in the end.

[21incher]

Thanks  Peter still no word on when it will be done.

What is up with the transmission in those things? Coming down the mountains of co. It would drop 4 or5 gears at once with a Big Bang

If it's downhill it will be for engine braking. Dropping one gear in an 8+ speed isn't going to do anything to hold you back as the ratios are so close together.

With an old 4 speed you might drop one gear and get the same effect as 3 gears on an 8 speed. Doesn't mean the have the shifting program perfect of course, but downshifting one gear would be pointless.

I guess you haven't driven one of these 6.2s. I have a button to drop one gear at a time when going down a hill loaded and each gear does make a big difference at holding the truck back. Cruise control could probably overreact and drop a couple gears if you are using that.  The biggest cause of low gas mileage on them is usually under inflated tires and that's why there is a reading of the pressure  in each tire on the display.
I just read the 2022s will have the ability  to run on from 2 to 8 cylinders pushing the mpg of these engines even higher. It's my favorite engine of any trucks I have ever owned and gets over 3 times the gas mileage of the 460 I had with  much less hp and torque than this.