http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php GM Truck Club, the premier forum for CHEVY TRUCKS, SUVs, VANS and more. Chevy Truck forums, photo gallers, how-to and more. en Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:09:29 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.chevysuburbanclub.com/forum/images/funkyfresh/misc/rss.jpg http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=210 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:11:25 GMT Huh, you would think that I could figure out how to hook this blog up to Technorati ... NOPE, guess again.

I've been trying off and on for about a month and I can't get Technorati to connect into this so I can "claim" my blog on that site.

Hmm, anyone have any ideas? ]]> Steve http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=210 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=207 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:20:44 GMT q6zshrj5ta q6zshrj5ta ]]> Steve http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=207 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=206 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:48:41 GMT xz6yh75sfc xz6yh75sfc ]]> Steve http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=206 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=203 Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:22:51 GMT *DEATH OF THE VUICK (BUICK ANTHEM) AND THE FUTURE OF BUICK* *In late August, I was invited to a small six member round-table with Susan Docherty,... DEATH OF THE VUICK (BUICK ANTHEM) AND THE FUTURE OF BUICK

In late August, I was invited to a small six member round-table with Susan Docherty, the General Manager of Buick and GMC, and Bryan Nesbitt, the General Manager of Cadillac. We talked about the GM Customer Event, GM’s brand positioning and how GM is listening (finally) to customers.

The meeting was held during the dealers conference in Dallas and the other members of the panel were journalists from regional papers. I suppose I was the "forum guy" that so many big companies are just now starting to wake up and court (GM clearly is) even over and above traditional media.

I walked into the meeting with some knowledge of the current mass-vehicle GM lineup for 2010. You know, the trucks, the cars, the crossovers, the SUVs and of course the Chevy Volt. However, to be honest, I didn't know a whole lot about what makes Buick tick. In my research I was startled by the fact that Buick only currently offers three products. Really, only three?

Given that, it's a natural question to think that Buick is winding down. Is Buick headed to the same fate as Pontiac, Oldsmobile, or even Plymouth? If it does survive, how does it move forward and thrive? How will GM handle this? Here's the discussion we had and my thoughts.

Culture Change - Customers First at GM

Susan started by discussing the Detroit Customers event (see: Invited to GM) that I went to and how the GM culture was in the process of changing to meet customer needs.

'What changes?' you might ask. Well, for the first time in the fifty-plus year history of the design center in Warren, regular customers were allowed into this special place to see how the design process worked for future products. huh, I guess I didn't know how cool it was to be up there!

Bryan quipped, "You REALLY had to know someone to get in there," speaking of the way that GM had worked in the past. Some might say that this is a fairly easy curtain to open up - selecting a few customers to bring to Detroit. I say that it's much deeper than that - this is an outward sign of inward change. GM had a serious wake-up call to find a solution to not let this happen again.

Moreover, the driving event at the proving grounds sought to get feedback directly from Joe Customer. One-hundred people were given the keys to all of the new launch products and drove the proving grounds with management members riding shotgun. This gave them a direct method of feedback and I'll testify that they were in-fact taking notes on what we said.

For example, Sue Wilson, who oversees the crossover platforms like the Equinox, asked a lot of questions when I drove with her. Gary Arvan, the chief engineer for the Duramax, took plenty of notes as well in the Express van. Fritz Henderson and Bob Lutz were walking around as well.

What's perhaps most important to this new paradigm is that the customers came the day before the journalists, which the press didn't care for much. GM did this on purpose, to be cusomter focuses, they wanted to hear from us first.

"That's all good and well, but what does that have to do with Buick?" I'm glad that you asked.

Taking in Feedback from Customers and Making Decisions

BUICK ANTHEM (DOA - 2009)

While inside the Buick design center in Warren, we saw what was to become the Buick Anthen. Ok, guess what? It was a rebaged Saturn Vue. Everyone said it was a Saturn Vue. It looked like a Vue, it walked/talked/quacked like a Vue. Someone even called it the "Vuick" crossover. Ha ha, big laughs.

After the showcase with customers and gathering feedback, they made the decision to kill the Buick Anthem that same week "in about eight minutes." This process could have taken months before at considerable expense.

Susan Docherty explained, "We were going to take the Saturn Vue, re-do the interior of that product, redo the front-end, some of the lamps ... and make that product the Buick Anthem." The consensus from the customers? "That one doesn't fit." and they killed it. Actually, people called it "hideous" and there was a firestorm on Twitter about it.

The Anthem was designed to help GM in a couple of areas. First, it was slated to have the Plug-in Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Technology planned for the Saturn Vue, but now that Saturn is going to Penske they needed to put that technology somewhere inside a GM vehicle for the process of learning. Plus, they need a midsize crossover on the same level of the GM Theta platform Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain, but don't want a simple rebadge either getting back into the same category confusion as before. So, the question remains - what does Buick put in that slot?


LIGHT LINEUP FOR 2010 – Three offerings

The 2010 Buick Lineup consists of the GM Lambda-platform Enclave, the Epsilon II Lacrosse and the H-body Lucerne. Yup, that’s it folks, not all that many categories filled in on the automotive scorecard. Is that enough to drive a customer base to dealerships? Especially considering how GM had been moving Buick/Pontiac/GMC together for so long and Pontiac is winding down.

Looking forward to 2011? Earlier in the year there was a much longer list of vehicles that were planned for 2011 or later launches. This did include a new subcompact Skyhawk (a little sportier than the new Chevy Viva), a new compact Skylark (upscale from the Cruze), a compact Sports coupe Reatta (former Pontiac Sky?), the new Buick Regal, a midsize sports coupe with the Grand National, a new fullsize Park Avenue, and a new compact crossover Buick Rendevous.

What’s survived the last six months? It looks like only the Buick Regal will be moved forward with from this group according to GM. That dramatic paring back is as significant as it is dramatic and now I see what they saw as quick and easy in the Saturn Vue rebadge offering. There are plans for other vehicles in the hopper for a new mid-size and compact sedan (which I saw in mock-up form in Detroit), I guess we’ll see what those look like as they take shape.

THE FUTURE?

I guess time will tell how the market accepts the small Buick lineup. The brand name is strong and universally well-known, most companies would kill for that, but is that enough in the big-box world that we live in today? I suppose we’ll see over the next year how well differentiated Buick can be from the competition and from big-brother Chevy. ]]> Steve http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=203 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=202 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:32:20 GMT General Motors is hoping to jump-start its revival by guaranteeing car buyers that if they don't like their new Chevrolet, GMAC, Buick or Cadillac, they have 60 days to bring it back for a full refund.

The marketing effort that starts Monday is called "May the Best Car Win" and aims to win back customers leery of GM since it filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The nation's largest automaker needs to improve sales so it can repay billions in government loans and stay in business.
New GM Chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. will appear in the initial burst of ads, telling viewers in his folksy, Texas accent that he too had doubts about the company when he joined this summer. Now, he likes the cars he's seen, and consumers should too. If they don't, they can have their money back.

Running through Nov. 30, General Motors Co. will allow buyers of new GM vehicles to return them, no questions asked, for a full refund within 31 to 60 days.

The vehicles must not have more than 4,000 miles on them and the drivers must be current on their payments.

The offer applies to the Detroit company's four remaining brands: Chevrolet, GMAC, Buick and Cadillac. The Pontiac brand, which GM is phasing out, is not eligible. Leased vehicles are also ineligible.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews ]]> Steve http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=202 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=199 Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:35:30 GMT Well, I finally caught up with 2 years worth of projects that I have been meaning to get done, but needed another person to help me complete them. I... Well, I finally caught up with 2 years worth of projects that I have been meaning to get done, but needed another person to help me complete them. I changed my front brakes, greased the front bearings, replaced the hood release cable, and replaced the heater core on Saturday. I still need to replace my brake hoses because they are rotting out and my ball joints. Then I'm on to a front end rebuild and hopefully swapping the entire drivetrain and suspension out with 3/4 ton parts and possibly moving up to 4 wheel drive.

I have been investigating the 3/4 ton upgrade some recently and I've found out some interesting things. First, my entire K member assembly just bolts onto the frame, so swapping out to a 3/4 ton front end should be relatively simple: unbolt the old one and wheel it out, and wheel the new one in and bolt it in. The rear end is getting upgraded to 3/4 ton by replacing the leafs with new 1/2 ton leafs, adding in air ride air bags to help offset the weight, and swapping out to a 14 bolt axle.

Well, I'm getting tired of typing at the moment, so I'll save the rest for a blog post later... ]]> Crawdaddy http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=199 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=194 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:12:34 GMT The question being, would you let your friend take your truck for 10 days on a 600 mile trek towing a boat? I did this and was full of anxiety... The question being, would you let your friend take your truck for 10 days on a 600 mile trek towing a boat?

I did this and was full of anxiety the whole time. He drove to lake george in upstate New York and left the truck parked at the dock while he camped on an island. Knowing that he was not even close to my truck made me uneasy. I trust him fully and know he would assume all responsibility but still My truck was out of my sight for too long.

All anxiety was washed away when he returned and the tank was full the truck was washed and he handed me $100. I didn't want to take it but he forced me. But as I drive my truck now every odd noise I hear and everything that doesn't feel right makes me think that maybe he didn't treat my baby too good. Maybe I am just a little too overprotective. ]]> bry2500 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=194 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=193 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:53:00 GMT Yep! I feel like Jerry Reed. I want to start singing about the open road.. about the miles of straight strip... convoys! Got me a CB Radio... Yep!

I feel like Jerry Reed. I want to start singing about the open road.. about the miles of straight strip... convoys!

Got me a CB Radio a'comin'!

I've been wanting to get a radio for some time now. Ever since I moved and haven't been a FF/EMT anymore I've missed the radio chatter! I've found myself on YouTube, listening to videos with trucker radio traffic on it. How sad is that?

So I set about trying to find the perfect setup for The Sarge. I knew a few things I wanted to avoid. Two of which were major to me.

1. I don't want the remote controlled truck look. You know the one... the truck/car with the single long antenna sticking straight up out of the roof. Makes it look like if you had the right frequency you could get our your Futaba radio and make it take off into the ditch.
2. I don't want some big, honkin' radio crazy glued to my dash, bolted underneath the dash in the way of the 12v plugs, cut into the center console where I'd have a mic wire hanging out of it.

I had a few options for the radio:

Smaller unit that would fit in place of the now non-functioning and redundant CD unit on the lower part of the mid-dash. That didn't look like the best option because the very few units I saw that met the size requirement had NO extra options at all and looked like they were better suited to hold that stubborn window open that keeps slamming shut in the living room than to hear trucker radio traffic.

A hand-held unit that I could use on and off the road. I had a few good options there but didn't know about how the range would play into it. The biggest piece of advice I seemed to run across on the CB sites were "get the options you need in a radio, but then get as big and tall as an antenna you could get. You get what you pay for." The little rubber antenna on the handhelds didn't seem to be the best option.

Then I saw it. It was like a beacon of light shone through the window, onto my screen, highlighting it. Sounds of angels singing in my head. The Cobra 75 WX ST. It's a radio that mounts out of the way. The controls are on the mic itself. It has weather band, dual channel monitoring, backlit LCD display, full channel scan....the angel voices grew louder.

What's more, it came as a kit. The singing grew even louder.

Included the antenna...
...and antenna mount of my choice...
...and external speaker...!...
...and SWR meter (to tune the antenna)..!!...
...and it was all for less than $200, shipped (fast shipping guarantee!)

Ok, I have to admit, at this point the angels were pretty much screaming like Steven Tyler in the last minute of ever single song he ever sings.

So after all was said and done I ended up getting everything needed for a nice clean install, including the tuning equipment needed for a good install, and what looks like a great customer service for post-purchase questions and help.

I can mount the unit under a seat or under the center console, mount the extra external speaker wherever, and have the mic with all the controls placed neatly on a mic mount somewhere easily accessible.

Oh- and the kit also comes with a mirror mic hanger so I can have the mic dangling off the mirror for easy access if I want.

Too cool.

Now... let's hope there are no hold-ups from UPS. I'm leaving on the road trip on Wednesday and the radio was shipped out Thursday. Only leaves about 3 work days worth of shipping time!

C'mon little radio...!... c'moooonnn!!!! ]]> Springthing http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=193 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=192 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:27:38 GMT Well, it's Friday. It's just after 10am. It's the 3rd of July. No big whoop. Just hanging out at the bookstore's coffee shop, browsing the GMTC, and whiling away the time before I go home, put the Suburban in the shop building and get to cleaning the wheels with polish. I've already washed and waxed it yesterday but I'm sure I'll be doing it again on Tuesday.

See, here's the thing..

I'MGOINGTOCANADAVIAROADTRIPINFIVEDAYSANDICAN'TFREA KIN'WAITCUZIT'SGOINGTOFREAKIN'ROCK!!

I'm sorry. What I meant that I will be going to Canada soon and it should really be a blast.

So much to do before the trip!

I've a second appointment with my mechanic for the truck. The one the day before yesterday was for rear brakes and rear servicing. (not THAT kind of rear servicing - get your mind out of the gutter... filthy!)

The appointment on Monday is to check on the door lock actuators and a small surging the truck does at red lights. Not looking forward to hearing the diagnosis on THAT one!

So I'm getting the truck all prettied up in the meantime. I know I'll have bug guts to wash off The Sarge before I leave on Wednesday morning so most likely on Tuesday evening I'll be washing. That means I'll also be waxing because the hard water here leaves nasty marks all over the black finish and if I'm going to wipe those up may as well kill two birds with one stone and just wax the damn thing!

But the really fun part is the packing!

Nonononono.. not the clothes and the sunscreen and the toothbrush and that. I mean PACKING THE ROCKER PODS!

Road trip means pack up the Rocker Pods full and get use out of them!

So! In the back of the truck I'll have the suitcase, big tackle box and road trip provisions. That's it.

Which leaves me to load up the RPs!

Jumper cables!
SAE and metric socket set!
Pliers!
Screw drivers of different kinds!
Wire cutters!
Electrical tape!
Tow strap!
Extra windshield washer fluid!
Tow bars!
Wheel lug wrench!
Small pry bar!
Multimeter!
Gloves!

And... then of course the stuff that I'll use for filler/fun.. fishing rods, glass cleaning wipes, leather protectant wipes, liquid paste wax (Thanks Joe! (aka Flashvan) that stuff works great!), clean cloths, smaller, soft-case tackle box, and whatever else I can find to bring along. I have NO shortage of space, that's for sure.

I've got a few surprises yet in store for Doberman. Muahahahahaaa!!! This is going to rock. He's got no idea what I've done!

Oh! And this past week I've finally ordered a CB Radio! Read about THAT experience here.

This. Should. Be. Awesome!

Wish me luck! ]]> Springthing http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=192 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=191 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:27:10 GMT Yesterday morning about 9am I was heading out to do chores, I tried to get on I20w and it was shut down. Ok we'll use the service road, gives us a legitimate excuse for going by the Harley shop and having a beer or two.
Traffic only got worse and every street around the Interstate was either shut down or blocked with cars so after a couple beers at the H/D shop I went home, only 4 blocks from the Interstate to home but it took me 50 mins.
The local Fox news reported that a man was on a bridge over I20 threatening to jump off, he'd been there since 6am.
Unfortunately he eventually jumped and killed himself but what really stuck with me were;
1. People on the Fox Blog were so hateful to this guy for inconveniencing thier lives with traffic, they were blogging some of the most hateful things you could imagine. I hope the hateful things they blogged come back to haunt them, I'm sure this guy didnt plan to intentionally disrupt thier lives, whats a little traffic compared to a life.
2. My mom is presently fighting the final stages of terminal cancer with every ounce of strength and my dad died of cancer/treatment side effects 2 years ago, either one of them would have changed places with the jumper in a moment to be able to live a longer life, his problems were so bad he wanted to give-up life to be rid of them he couldnt see any way to reconcile things?
I would encourage anyone that suffers from Depression no matter how minor they feel it is to seek help, these are trying times we live in but at some point things will change, once you make the decision to end your life you can change that it's permanent. ]]> tbplus10 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=191 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=190 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:38:11 GMT Purchased a new 2009 Chevy Silverado Std cab long bed with the 5.3 4sp auto. Now to let the HHR do the crusin and the Silverado do the towing and... Purchased a new 2009 Chevy Silverado Std cab long bed with the 5.3 4sp auto. Now to let the HHR do the crusin and the Silverado do the towing and hauling. ]]> TomsHHR http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=190 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=188 Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:25:33 GMT Well Pete sent me a PM and my Rocker Pods were going out the other day to receive their Lin-X coating. Finial assembly was going to be done today so... Well Pete sent me a PM and my Rocker Pods were going out the other day to receive their Lin-X coating. Finial assembly was going to be done today so I guess I have to plan a trip up into Canada to pick them up. I hope I can find time next week and drive up and get them. There seems to be a lot of interest in me getting the RP's on and posting some pictures. I believe this is due to my choice of getting them color matched RED to my truck.

For everyone that has interest in Ultimate Truck Gear's Rocker Pods and wants to see them in person give me a call if you are in driving distance of me in the Ann Arbor/ Detroit area. Once I have them installed you are more than welcome to see what they look like. Also watch for postings by me on where I'm doing shows at.

6/24/2009

Well where to start. I left my house this morning just before 7AM to drive up and see Pete and the gang at Ultimate Truck Gear to get my RP's installed. let me first say this, I have crossed the border into Canada at least 15 to 20 times in the past 10 years. So it wan now 8.25Am or so and I pay the toll to cross the BlueWater bridge. When I get to immigration on the Canadian side the lady in the booth just hammers me with questions and then tells me to pull up by the offfice and go inside. There I sit and wait for 20 or so minutes untill it was my turn. Then here is one more lady that just treats me like garbage and says you know you have a record. I say yes I have 2 DUI's from over 10 years ago what does that have to do with anything. She proceddes to tell me that I am not welcome in Canada and she could have me arrested and deported. I was utter astonishment over this. Like I said when I strted I have crossed the border many times and never had any problems. After like 45 more minutes of this lady drilling and telling me she could arrest me she gives me a form to sign that says I give up my rights to enter Canada and have to turn around and go back to the USA.
Now I drive back to the US border and I have to have my truck searched (routene procedure for being denied to CANADA) ans go inside immigration there also. The US people basically told me there should of been no problem with me crossing and that lady singled me out for some reason. They were good about the situation.
So now I had to call Pete and tell him that he needed to ship my RP"s that I could not cross over the border. The good guy that Pete is knowing that I can't wait to get them on my truck said he would try and send them out for me tomorrow. THANK YOU PETE! So an 1.5 hor trip to the bride and 2 hours tied up at the border then anothe 1.5 hous back home there went half of my day and just added alot of stess in between.

]]> 1st Synthetics http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=188 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=187 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:31:31 GMT Image: http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/1st-SYNTHETICS/Charts/6-09SeverGear.jpg ]]> 1st Synthetics http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=187 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=186 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:24:17 GMT Image: http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv130/1st-SYNTHETICS/Charts/6-09ANTruckDriverSavings-1.jpg ]]> 1st Synthetics http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=186 http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=184 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:15:38 GMT With the recent addition (http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=179) of the Rocker Pods (RPs) from Ultimate Truck Gea... With the recent addition of the Rocker Pods (RPs) from Ultimate Truck Gear (UTG) I was looking forward to a road trip to Florida for a family vacation. I had just installed the RPs and was thinking of what to fill them with. So much to choose from!

Below is a list of what I ended up putting in the RPs for the trip:

• A box with an array of handtools including, metric/standard wrenches, m/s mini socket and wrench, several different pliers, wire cutters, allen wrenches, several small prying tools, hole punch, small digital meter, and a few things that escape me right now.
• A small size pry bar
• Full set of s/m socket and two sizes socket wrench with a few extensions
• Electrical tape and connectors, switches, fuses (it's all one box I put everything in with dividers)
• Heavy jumper cables
• Tow strap
• Two different sized hitch & balls, plus the pin adapter, locking hitch pin, and regular hitch pin
• T-shaped tire iron (after market wheels.. the factory tire iron doesn't fit my lugs - learned that close to home one day, thank goodness)
• A few fishing rods
• A soft case (worm) tackle pouch
• 2 clear utility boxes with extra line, grease, and small screwdrivers and such (salt water fishing... I'm not used to it so I have to have a seperate kit for fixing stuff up!)
• A tube of windshield washer juice pellets
• Work gloves
• Mag light

...I'm sure there's more but I can't think of it right now.. but you get the idea.

Here's the kicker: I didn't even fill up the two boxes! I actually had most of the stuff *easily* put in one box on the passenger side (roadside emergencies.. which side do you want to be kneeling on when you're on the side of the road? Think smart, ppl!) with the other only having the fishing rods and reels, and the few small tackle boxes that would fit, and then I had the hitches and related equipment there, that's all! Everything else fit nicely on the other side, and nothing was cramped. I was very impressed.

Anyway! On with the roadtrip...

So we left Missouri, me, my wife,l granddaughter and one dog and made our way through TN, LA, GA, etc.

Well, about halfway through our first day the driver's side door handle popped and was nonfunctional from then on. I knew what had happened because I'd changed out the doorhandle a few weeks back. The rod that pushes down on the latch to open the door must have come loose and popped out.

So the rest of the trip I had to have my wife get in and open my door from the inside for me.

We did an overnight in GA (hardly slept... it was the type of motel where you pull in at 10 pm and everyone is sitting outside of their door on the balcony...the hair on the back of your neck standing up... So I took Moose (the bulldog/mastiff mix) out for a walk and a few times told him there's a stranger. "Stranger" at home means I see someone on the property that I don't know and Moose will normally go to the window and do his big dog bark. Well, that worked and while we were walking around for him to 'do outside' I silently told him stranger.

*Wooof*......*Woof!*.... with the big deep throat bark while he looked around with that "who's screwing around here, anyone..?... anyone wanna screw around here..?."

I digress!

So we spent the night in GA, left early morning and arrived in Florida the next afternoon.

After unloading the Suburban and showing my father, my parents down from Canada for a vacation, the RPs I got to work! With the tools I'd brought with me I was about to take off the inner door panel (without breaking clips!), undo the inner door a little to be able to reach my arm in, take off the handle, gerry-rigged the rod back on (used a twisted fishing swivel to take the place of the broken clip!) and reinstall everyting. Total time.. less than 1/2 hr!

Had I not had the tools with me I could have spent about $20 at the Dollar General to kind of get the tools I needed to do the fix.

Anyhow.. I was happy as a clam. For some reasons we seems to think of clams as happy. Why? I dunno.

I have to say that the trip down to Florida was QUIET!

I know it's not just my imagination as well because my wife said, without my prompting, that she's noticing how quiet the drive was - with less wind noise than usual especially with the windows down.

The conclusion I came to is that the RPs , installed between the tires, let the air flow around the bottom half of the truck a lot easier and a lot quieter than when I simply had the running boards.

So off we go on our vacation. Beach, rain, boating, rain, pool, restaurants, rain, shopping, aquarium, rain, etc.

Here's the fun part:

TWICE I was honked at while stopped for a red light. Come to find out, I was being asked about the RPs. Where did I buy them, did I install them myself, how do I like them, etc etc! My wife was laughing because 4 out of 5 ppl would stare at the truck. I'm not even joking!

Luckily I had a stack of pamphlets in the netting behind my seat and a stack of business cards in the console. My wife, bless her, got out both times and handed the information to the admirers who were very thankful for the quick information.

This is not to mention all the questions and looks (and PICTURES) while at gas stations and restaurants. I had quite a few conversations with folks about the Rocker Pods.

The trip home was much of the same. Lots of looks on the highway, conversations at truck stops, and the like.

My granddaughter, all 7 years old of her, found a great appreciation for the RPs as well with the extra foot hole so she could actually get in the truck without having to jump her second leg onto the running board.

All in all I was very pleased with the Rocker Pods and the attention they got. ]]> Springthing http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/blog.php?b=184