[Keith Seymore]

Example:

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

There are some "architectural" things we did, too, that you might not notice. These were required to even give us a shot at getting in the game.

The '96 and beyond GMT400 models had the round element air cleaner on top of the fender, with the battery in the RF corner (passenger front) of the engine compartment.

It became obvious to me that I needed a flat filter in that spot to minimize the turns in order to even have a chance at meeting the aforementioned very aggressive flow requirement. So - I started a movement to displace the battery to some other location. Naturally the battery guy wasn't very happy about that.

We were stuck in a stalemate until the Chief Engineer, Ken Sohocki, took notice and called us into his office. He made each of us pitch our idea. In my case, I had actual flow data generated on the bench using rapid prototype material, and could demonstrate the effects with objective test data. The battery guy's response: "but we've always been right here".

The Chief's direction was swift and clear: "Seymore - you get the front corner. Schaule - find another spot".

So he moved the battery to the front of dash (rear of the engine compartment) so that he would have some structure to support his bracketry.

The engine air induction has been in the RF corner since that time, for GMT800, GMT900, K2 and now T1 generations of full size truck.

K

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

We weren't out of the woods yet, however.

The next hurdle was that the engine coolant overflow bottle was on the front of dash. That allowed the assembly plants to evacuate and fill the coolant system prior to fender install.

With the battery now on the front of dash that meant the coolant bottle had to move somewhere else, the only other place being top of the wheelhouse on the RH fender. Unfortuately that meant you couldn't fill the sytem until after the fender was on - or - you had to move the filling station. That wouldn't work because it was one brazillion dollars to move a "monument" per plant times 7 truck assembly plants = 7+ brazillion dollars.

So here is what we did: we developed a way to "stage" the coolant bottle on the radiator support temporarily by adding two "buttons" on the rad support and a corresponding tab on the bottle. The bottle could be hung in this temporary location, evac and filled, and then moved to its permanent location on top of the wheel house after the fender was installed. Problem solved, with no tooling change and pennies in piece cost.

We briefly discussed if we should remove those buttons or if it made more sense for them to remain on the truck for the life of the vehicle. In the end it was cheaper and didn't hurt anything, so they stayed. If you look at any GMT800 fullsize truck you should see those two buttons on the back of the rad support, just going along for the ride.

K

K