Faults:

Replaced brakes and Goodyear tires at time of purchase as cords were showing on the tires and the brakes were completely worn out.

Replaced Delco battery at 90000km with another Delco Battery.

General Comments:

I am very impressed with my 97 Z71 extended cab. I have had virtually no trouble with this truck.

The cabin storage cannot be beat as there is compartments everywhere.

This truck is so much easier to work on than it's Ford counterpart.

The truck is quick off the line and has gobs of horsepower. However, I pull a 24' cabin trailer and find at highway speeds it lacks high end torque. One has to serious RPM's to keep it from bogging down.

The only real issue I have is with the steering. When driving straight, the truck seems to have steering similar to a Camaro which is very tight. When turning corners, it turns real hard and then goes back to normal. Almost like going over a knot in the steering. Somehow it only does this for myself and never for a dealership or steering shop. All GM dealerships I've contacted have never heard of this and offer no real insight into the problem. I believe it to be a sticky solenoid or a sensor in the speed sensitive steering that the dealerships say the truck doesn't have?!

The truck rides like a lumber wagon, but what else can I expect from a Z71.

My fuel economy is 19 MPG on the highway @60 MPH with out using air conditioning and the cruise set on flat roads. I also get about 8 MPG in the city. It's a 5500 LBS truck so that's not too bad.

Faults:

I haven't had the truck for a long time, so nothing serious has gone wrong. The guy I bought it from had no serious problems except for some mishaps with the belts. I bought the truck knowing it leaked anti-freeze. My uncle looked at it and thought it was coming from the intake manifold gasket, which I've heard isn't uncommon. My truck also has a rough 1st to 2nd gear shift, making a "clunk" sound. This bothers me because I've had transmission problems with my past two vehicles. The biggest problem I have with my truck is the steering. I've been told that the 97's have a speed adjusting steering, but while making very slight, higher speed (freeway) turns, the steering wheel will jerk to the side I'm steering to. Very annoying to deal with, especially in the wind.

General Comments:

I am very happy with the truck, I hope to get all these little problems taken care of because it's a very nice, comfortable ride. For a high mileage truck, she really pulls like no other. The truck has very strong heat, and air conditioning. The interior is very friendly, except to a smaller guy (5'5") I find it feels a little big sometimes.