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Cabin Air Filter on 2004 Silverado?

If anyone knows how to locate and change the Interior Air Filter on a 2004 Silverado, please post the information here.

From the research that I have done, is appears that the cabin air filter (also known as the "Interior Air Filter" was discontinued on the 2003 Silverado. Apparently, there were a few early 2003 Silverados which used up the last of the 2002 under-dash units which had previously contained the Interior Air Filter, but the actual air filter elements were not included. For the last 2 years, I have assumed that my 2004 Silverado has no Interior Air Filter.

Now, I am not so sure, because the Chevrolet website is claiming a victory over the Ford F-150 by stating that the 2005 Silverado has an Interior Air Filter, while the 2005 F-150 does not. From the Chevrolet website:

[Interior Air Filter is Standard on the Silverado 1500 Regular Cab 2WD Work Truck Long Box while Not Available on F-150 Regular Cat 4X2 145-in. WB XL Styleside.]

Unfortunately, you need to go to the page below and punch in Model, Style and Trim to get to the comparison page. Then, place your cursor over the blue-highlighted word "Standard" on the line reading, "Interior Air Filter."

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It's the same story for the 2006 Silverado:

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But wait, It gets better! Go to the 2007 Chevrolet comparison page and punch in any Tahoe model (which is the only 2007 vehicle available) and you will see that the "More Responsible, More Capable, More Refined" 2007 Tahoe has no Interior Air Filter, but this item is listed as "Standard" on the 2006 Toyota Sequoia SR5 4X2.

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(Incidentally, the Interior Air Filter is not even mentioned on the 2005 and

2006 Tahoe comparison pages.)

So, did Chevrolet discontinue the Interior Air Filter on the 2003 and 2004 Silverados only to bring it back on the 2005 and 2006 models? This hardly seems likely when drum brakes replaced disk brakes on the rear of 1500 series Silverados in 2005. For more on this, see my post noted below:

Thursday, February 16, 2006 9:31 AM

Silverado: Same Truck For Less Money???

Reply to
One-Shot Scot
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Greetings,

There is no cabin air filter on the 2004 Silverados, or at least there isn't in my 2004 2500HD crew cab (and Yes, I've looked). For whatever reason, the trim cover that you have to remove under the dash in the 2004's has the fasteners placed where you can't get to them, so I guessing that GM thought if it was too difficult then people wouldn't routinely change the cabin filter, which in turn causes reduced vent performance and an increase in service work from neglected filters. It appears that in the newer models the cabin air filter is back because the access to it is easier. Is a cabin air filer a genuinly needed item or just another selling point? Oh My God, how did we ever live without them before?!?!?

As for your assumption of rear disc brakes making the truck cheaper both in cost and quality, that is way off base. From a production aspect, it cost less to produce a disc brake unit than a drum brake unit so per-unit costs in materials and labor alone are higher for drums. However, GM realized that the vast majority of their trucks spend the vast majority of their time with an empty or lightly loaded bed - one consequence of having more and more people buying trucks but using them like cars. Since discs are much more powerful than drums two things were happening with rear disc brakes. First, they had to use a valve that reduced the power to the rear disc brakes when unloaded (a cause of poor pedal feel that was often complained about), and second the antilock braking system was activating more often because the rear wheels wanted to lock up too easily under hard braking with no load over the rear axle (another complaint). Remember, a typical car has about a 50:50 to 60:40 front-to-rear weight distribution ratio, while a truck runs in the range of 80:20.

On the other hand, you will notice that the 2500 and 3500 series trucks retained rear disc brakes mostly for two reasons as well. First, the rear end is heavier and less prone to lock-up and ABS activation, and second the

2500/3500's are expected to tow and haul more frequently (and more heavily) than the 1500's so rear disc brakes were a necessity because of their strength and other qualities.

The fact is GM listened to their customers and corrected the issues that were causing the most complaints. Everyone always gripes about how they think GM never listens to them, and yet here we have a prime example that they do. In fact, it would have been a case of them NOT listening if they chose to make no corrections and keep the rear disc brakes in the 1500 series trucks. The moral of this story is be very careful just how loud you choose to bitch about an issue because someone just may be listening and take steps to correct it, and you may not always be happy with how they do.

Cheers - Jonathan

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Reply to
Jonathan

"Jonathan" wrote in message news:OzMJf.1713$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...

Reply to
One-Shot Scot

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What years did they put changeable cabin air filters in trucks?Does my 95 > Silverado Z71 5.0 have one?Checked a couple of sites and did not see one > listed for my truck,just need to be sure as sometimes the airflow > fades,especially on wet days..Thanks... Earl

Reply to
benick

Reply to
hendryfiji

Did all 2002 - 2500HD come with the cabin air filter?

Reply to
connietobin44

Just checked mine (2004 Silverado HD) and where it was before is now a permanently closed section. No air filter! That's really a good thing. Less to worry about.

Reply to
lrmppt

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