Again...this is all objective.

I have since spoken to Monroe's warranty department today, and although I invited them to call the dealer while the vehicle was in for service, they are doing it now. That is not proactive. I informed them that the GM mechanic said the alignment was Monroe's responsibility...and that it needed one. Monroe's initial stance was that "lowering" had no effect on the Kodiak's alignment, and that is GM's responsibility. They said they would stand behind their product yesterday... their response today is that "Monroe is not paying for an alignment." I guess things change. The Gen. Mngr. is to call me later.

Looking at the suspension design, toe is fixed...unless you change the castor angle. And in this case the steering wheel is out of alignment. So at the least, it needs an alignment to center the wheel. That is Monroe's responsibility, plain and simple. I cannot believe what is happening.

I talked to Goodyear about the vibration to get some further insight. My cab/chassis could have been sitting for 10 months, and I had questions about steel belt -memory- flat spots. I informed them that all the MD trucks that Monroe gets for upfitting do not have wheel weights too! (That information came from Monroe. GM is delivering MD trucks without checking wheel balance according to them.) Mine was an example of this. Goodyear agreed that GM is going to cause the new tires to cup at the least from bouncing down the road, and then here goes another line of fingerpointing and wasted time. Goodyear advised me to take it to a truck tire service center and have the radial and lateral runout of the tires checked, as well as the Alcoa wheels, at their expense. Goodyear was more than pleasant to deal with.

Another question...why isn't anyone balancing these vehicles before delivery? Monroe didn't see it as their responsibility, even though they are the one transforming it into a "premium" product. GM installed the wheels and tires...so it's another hot-potato.

I need to hire someone to take this truck around town and make calls, so I don't have to take any more time off work! That is costing me big $$. It's become my second volunteer job.

Trust me...if the situation was different, I would have turned around and abandoned this vehicle. Unfortunately, my trip to pick up the Kodiak happened on a Friday evening in the middle of a nice lake-effect snow storm. I just wanted to get home at that point in time, and Monroe had locked the doors. Maybe, I should drive it the 300+ miles back to them now.