Attention: TDR Forum Junkies I had taken my truck to the dealer I bought it from for some warranty work and they had kept it three days and never even touched the truck. At that time I posted a rant-and-rave note about my experience. After I calmed down a bit and realized I really needed to get these things fixed before my bumper-to-bumper ran out, I started doing some research on dealers in my area. A couple fellow TDR members e-mailed me with their dealer recommendations for my area, which I very much appreciated. Anyway, I used a rural dealer the next county over who sells (and works on) a lot more trucks than the dealer in town. They had my truck one day and made all the repairs I needed. I came out a happy camper. Here's what I had done to my truck.
1) I had the TSB reflash for the cruise control issue for manual transmission's.
2) I had the TSB reflash for the intermittent "check gauges" issues. Neither of these reflashes affected the performance of the truck at all. Fuel mileage didn't change.
3) The reverse lights were flickering when in reverse. They repaired the light sockets, which seem to be an issue with these trucks.
4) They performed the TSB on my alternator bracket and install the heavier one.
5) They installed the new steering hose with the vibration dampener on it. While not perfect, this did significantly reduce the 2000-2200 vibration I had.
6) My speedometer started going whacko. It would bounce all over the place, even when sitting still. Also, my 4X4 light would come on and off all by it's own, along with a couple other gauge lights. I thought the gauge lights was related to the TSB reflash issue but turned out it was not. All the problems were due to a bad instrument cluster wiring harness ,which they replaced.
No messes in my engine compartment, no messes inside the cab of my truck, and the service department called me a week later to make sure I was satisfied with the repairs. My point being, there are some reputable service departments out there who at least act like they care. I wish we had a database on here where TDR members could look up and see which dealers had good or bad marks from members. I guess in the world of lawsuits that's probably impossible, but it sure would be nice.
1) I had the TSB reflash for the cruise control issue for manual transmission's.
2) I had the TSB reflash for the intermittent "check gauges" issues. Neither of these reflashes affected the performance of the truck at all. Fuel mileage didn't change.
3) The reverse lights were flickering when in reverse. They repaired the light sockets, which seem to be an issue with these trucks.
4) They performed the TSB on my alternator bracket and install the heavier one.
5) They installed the new steering hose with the vibration dampener on it. While not perfect, this did significantly reduce the 2000-2200 vibration I had.
6) My speedometer started going whacko. It would bounce all over the place, even when sitting still. Also, my 4X4 light would come on and off all by it's own, along with a couple other gauge lights. I thought the gauge lights was related to the TSB reflash issue but turned out it was not. All the problems were due to a bad instrument cluster wiring harness ,which they replaced.
No messes in my engine compartment, no messes inside the cab of my truck, and the service department called me a week later to make sure I was satisfied with the repairs. My point being, there are some reputable service departments out there who at least act like they care. I wish we had a database on here where TDR members could look up and see which dealers had good or bad marks from members. I guess in the world of lawsuits that's probably impossible, but it sure would be nice.
