How To Change Spark Plugs On 2002 Gmc Sierra

The verdict:

Versus the competiton:

While Chevy and Ford trucks are ubiquitous at any regional rodeo, General Motors' GMC lineup amend recalls Rodeo Bulldoze.

With its confident stance, big-rig persona and a somewhat pretentious aura inside and out, the 2015 GMC Sierra 1500 perfectly accommodates today's movers and shakers, with capable moves … and virtually no shaking.

Still fresh from its 2014 redesign, the Sierra's changes for 2015 are relatively small: Trucks equipped with the optional 6.2-liter 5-8 at present go an viii-speed automated in identify of the previous six-speed, which bumps efficiency while maintaining capability. And as you lot'd guess, beyond the hardware is software, including features such as text/messaging alerts, Siri Eyes Complimentary and a new built-in 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot, all standard on SLE, SLT and Denali trims. Run across the 2 model years compared side by side here.

We collection various versions of the Sierra, merely this review concentrates on a 1500 crew cab SLT with four-wheel drive and the half-dozen.2-liter V-8, which nosotros pitted confronting similarly equipped Chevrolet, Ford, Ram and Toyota trucks in the Cars.com/PickupTrucks.com 2015 Light-Duty V-eight Challenge. Aggressively optioned and sporting a window sticker of simply under $55,000, our test Sierra would be perfect for a long weekend or longer vacation.

In addition to our full-size crew cab, GMC offers extended (double cab) and regular cabs. While the double cab comes simply with a 6.6-pes cargo box, the coiffure and regular cabs each offer a selection of two cargo box lengths, tied to the truck's wheelbase (and thus its overall length): Equally an culling to our test Sierra'south five.75-foot box, the coiffure cab can also exist had with a half-dozen.v-foot box; regular cabs come up with half dozen.6- or 8-foot boxes.

With concluding twelvemonth's redesign, GMC and Chevrolet made a real effort to accomplish greater design differentiation between their sister trucks, the Sierra and Silverado. All Sierras are fronted by an aggressive, big rig grille handling. There, the amount of brightwork is variable; on base of operations trims the grilles are adorned with black, while on the top, Denali trim they're blinged-out. The grilles in the centre of the lineup (SLE and SLT) split the difference, offering but enough subtlety to keep y'all rooted in the country and but plenty chrome to park at the state club.

The Sierra comes with a choice of four.3-liter Five-six, 5.three-liter V-8 and 6.2-liter Five-8 engines; the 2 smaller engines however pair with a half dozen-speed automatic manual. Our examination vehicle, equipped with the 6.ii-liter and eight-speed transmission, was as capable equally any lite-duty pickup you'll find. Generously supplying 420 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 460 pounds-anxiety of torque at iv,100 rpm, the Sierra moves with potency: In our Challenge testing, information technology went from zero to 60 mph in less than 6 seconds with no cargo, and added simply 1 second with one,200 pounds of payload in the bed.

With vi,700 pounds of trailer and cargo, the operation is even more than impressive. In our testing against a similarly powered Silverado, F-150, Toyota Tundra and Ram, in that location was nil — in my opinion — that towed with the potency exhibited by the Sierra.

Of course, what goes also has to stop. The Sierra was fully competitive in braking, coming to a halt from 60 mph in 138.9 feet, or 148.seven anxiety with 1,240 pounds of payload. The best braking was achieved by the Silverado (133.7 feet empty and 132.ii anxiety loaded), while the longest braking distances came from Toyota's Tundra TRD Pro (159.six/157.viii feet), likely because information technology was equipped with off-route tires and a raised ride height.

With today'due south pickups, trucklike adequacy doesn't automatically interpret to a trucklike ride. Again in our comparison, nosotros found the GMC to best combine unladen ride comfort with the necessary composure while loaded or towing. The Sierra's steering feel, comfortable ride and composed treatment combined to provide a level of confidence that both a trucking novice and a savvy veteran could appreciate.

With all this over-the-road goodness, the Sierra delivered well-nigh 19.six mpg on the Cars.com mileage loop without a trailer; it got 10 mpg when towing 6,750 pounds. Those efficiency numbers were helped in no small part by the V-8's cylinder deactivation and the manual's eight speeds. The Silverado equipped with the aforementioned powertrain was the best in the unladen test, achieving 19.8 mpg, and the F-150 was the about efficient when towing, with xi.0 mpg observed.

If a buyer's budget and/or usage demand less deportation and a comparatively lower window sticker, my fourth dimension behind the wheel of the smaller 5-8 and V-half-dozen left me comfortable with the thought of owning either one of those, as well. The biggest surprise was the smallest engine, which had trucklike torque emanating from a pocket-size block that was no longer trucklike in its behavior. Regardless of drivetrain, know that GM has done an optimal job combining capability with simplicity — and the feeling of immovability that goes forth with it.

This isn't (to channel an former Oldsmobile advert) your dad's GMC. With the exception of the base Sierra, yous'll savour an interior with upscale appointments, careful attending to detail and nearly nothing in its execution that confuses or confounds.

Although the Sierra'southward step-in summit is higher than your mom's Buick Lucerne, neither she nor anyone else in the immediate family should exist challenged by the Sierra's accessibility, even if information technology'south not equipped with running boards. In one case within, both driver and passengers will enjoy comfortable, supportive seating, forth with generous headroom, legroom and shoulder room. Upwards front end, aluminum accents frame a premium look, and there's a soft feel. Contrasting stitching provides an upscale, contemporary attribute to 1 of America's oldest vehicle categories. Two glove boxes combine to provide adequate storage, and while the bachelor center armrest/console doesn't supply enough room to warehouse an role, there is convenient infinite for the miscellany that often comes with a "mixed use" (business and pleasure) environment.

Functionally, the GMC's instrumentation provides a full menu of information, including engine speed and mph, along with alternator, fuel, temperature and oil-force per unit area readouts. The instrumentation is well-lit and appropriately sized, regardless of light weather condition or whether your reading glasses are in identify. In sum, the Sierra supplies all the info you need in the absence of your own flight engineer.

In the dorsum of our exam crew cab, passengers enjoyed easy admission and, once seated, virtually 2 inches of additional legroom compared with the previous generation. (GMC'due south available double cab has half-dozen inches less backseat legroom — 34.vi inches versus 40.9 inches in the crew.)

Compared with the other crew cabs in the Challenge, the Silverado is identical and the Ram crew cab'south backseat legroom is a half inch shy of the Sierra'southward. The F-150 SuperCrew beats them all, with 43.half-dozen inches. The Tundra Crew Max has 42.three inches of backseat legroom. (Encounter our Sierra'south specs alongside those of the Chevy, Ford and Ram here and against the Tundra here.)

GM made a huge try to insulate passengers from road dissonance, and while the quiet may not be library-similar, it is notable in the pickup category. And with a generous glass area both front and rear, passengers can savour the view while the driver suffers nary a blind spot. Finally, while we drove a Sierra SLT, owners of the Denali will enjoy even more luxurious appointments, fully in keeping with their upscale Naught codes and expensive pursuits.

Nigh Sierra models provide a backup camera, which proves to be just the ticket for a big truck confronted with pocket-sized spaces or congested parking lots. The optional Bose sound does exactly what you'd hope a premium system would: George Strait volition audio like George Strait, and George Jones will — correctly — sound like George Jones.

Nosotros checked out the Sierra's OnStar 4G LTE hotspot, the connection speed of which varied by location (as is true of all cellular devices), merely it was e'er fast enough to stream video — something that'south often not possible with a 3G connection. If you lot've checked the appropriate option boxes, the Sierra provides up to six USB ports, four auxiliary power outlets and a 110-volt outlet, all designed to keep both front and rear occupants fully continued and powered.

That connectivity is made easier and more accessible past the Sierra's available 8-inch bear on-screen. Of form, you could also turn the electronic distractions off (I did) and simply drive … .

The 2015 Sierra — in any of its powertrain iterations — is uber-capable of hauling virtually anything you lot might want to haul. In base class, with nada under the hood merely six spark plugs and an oil filter, you can tow up to 7,600 pounds. Those with a equus caballus trailer, horses and a gas card should opt for the 6.2-liter V-8 and Max Trailering Package; the terminate result is up to 12,000 pounds of towing capability. Drib down to the five.three liter V-8 and that towing number drops to a still-respectable xi,200 pounds.

Towing, of course, is one aspect of capability; payload is the other. Over again, with our 6.ii-liter V-8 coupled with four-wheel drive and a iii.42:1 rear beam ratio, the Sierra's available payload was 1,960 pounds (all Sierras have a payload of at to the lowest degree one,700 pounds). Of course, load the crew cab with five adults weighing 220 pounds apiece, and your remaining payload capability is less than 900 pounds. That remains a substantial amount, though, and comes close to equaling the one-half-ton descriptive assigned to the light-duty category. The GMC payload was the best in our sampling, besting the F-150 by 80 pounds and almost lapping the Ram 1500, at 1,120 pounds, as equipped.

Beyond the numbers, of course, is the feel. And as mentioned earlier, no pickup in the comparing felt quite so confident — or inspired so much confidence — as the Sierra SLT when towing or hauling. Credit the improved structural rigidity (first with the 2014 redesign) of a fully boxed frame, as well as its widened runway and wider wheels. GMC'southward Max Trailering Packet takes all that engineering science goodness and supplements information technology with a ix.75-inch ring gear, trailer brake controller, enhanced cooling, revised shock tuning and heavier-duty rear springs. If you lot're going to tow, exercise it to the Max … .

In National Highway Traffic Condom Administration testing, the GMC Sierra 1500 crew cab earned 5 stars out of 5 in all crash categories except the overall rollover rating, where information technology earned four, which is the most you can await from a pickup. Full results are here.

Across passive safe (the ability to survive a collision or rollover) is active safety, which is the ability to avert an accident in the first place. And hither the GMC's aforementioned stability, braking and steering come up to the forefront. Those built-in attributes are augmented by standard StabiliTrak electronic stability control (with rollover mitigation), trailer sway command and hill-start assist.

GMC also has an optional Commuter Alert Packet, which can notify you of an imminent forwards collision and/or lane divergence.

Despite harboring a very real disconnect between "pickup" and "$55,000," I found our test Sierra 1500 SLT to be an extremely good value when compared with its competition, which ranged from the mid-$twoscore,000s for the Toyota Tundra and Ford F-150, to the Silverado Z71 LTZ and Ram 1500 Longhorn, whose stickers nudged the Sierra's $55,000 (all as tested). With simply a few hundred dollars typically separating the Sierra from its comparable Silverado counterpart, I might opt for the smaller, more personal selling environment of the typical Buick/GMC showroom over the big box "splendor" of the Chevy store.

While buy price is always a consideration, know that the price of ownership is what you lot spend minus what yous get in return at trade-in. Historically, almost pickup trucks retain a higher percentage of initial price than exercise most family vehicles. And while I still wouldn't spread the payments over 72 months, at least trucks provide a level of durability in excess of that six-year schedule.

In short, I'yard more impressed past trucks priced below $40K than those nudging $60K, but the Sierra SLT — and its maximum capability — make a compelling argument for spending (or financing) that most-princely sum.