The 2019/2020 Gen 2's active suspension update is a nice improvement, especially for mixed-use (such as for using the truck for travel, but sticking to unpaved roads as much as possible).
I cannot say I'm a fan of the 10R80 10-speed transmission in the gen 2s, though. Its self-learning is prone to learning 'bad habits,' especially harsh 3-4 and 4-5 shifts (4-5 typically being the worst). We had ours burn out
every single clutch plate by 15k miles, and while the truck freaks out and loves to go into limp mode for an assortment of relatively minor issues, it literally didn't set a single code or realize anything was off, even when the transmission got so bad that it felt like you got rear-ended during some of the shifts! It
finally said there was an issue with clutch plate E "taking longer than expected" to reach the commanded position as the sole DTC, after it tried to shift into reverse, but repeatedly failed, eventually giving up after three attempts. The post-mortem verdict was that the clutch plates burned out because they would not fully actuate, causing them to be in a constant state of slippage, causing the extreme wear rate…and this was due to a very small voltage drop, below the threshold that would be seen as a problem by the truck's computers, caused by a partially-severed ground wire under the truck.
Other than that, the truck has been great. And I've been watching the rebuilt transmission almost obsessively, and no new problems yet…I also froze the shift learning state after I had gotten it to shift well (did not delete/reset the learned profile, but suspended future learning). I'm sure I'll have to re-enable it for a while eventually, due to normal wear and tear over time, but at least it's kept the truck from 'learning' excessively harsh shifts after a couple of days of aggressive off-road driving, and bringing those habits back to the streets, haha).
Another thing to consider is that there is very little space for any aftermarket additions under the hood in the gen 2s…that is an incredibly stuffed place, haha. I managed to fit everything in by building custom mounting brackets and plates and getting creative where things squeezed in (as well as running a thick power cable to an interior subpanel that is responsible for all cab and bed auxiliary circuits). Even finding a small blank area to mount to is difficult in the engine bay. It's not bad if your accessories are within the current limits of the factory aux switches, but if you run high-amperage lighting (it's not too difficult to go over the 2x15A, 2x10A, and 2x5A limits of the OEM aux circuits), large accessories, want to complicate the lighting logic with things like using the high beams as a master trigger for off-road lights, with an optional override for keeping them on without the high beams (which I discovered the need for after realizing that I couldn't run the amber fog lights without blinding myself with the high beams, haha, but also having the high beam trigger is soooo nice when you do face the occasional car on a mostly empty back road, and want to flip all of the auxiliary lights on and off without taking your hand off the wheel. Flipping several overhead switches over and over gets old fast.
www.hooniganracing.com
