I know this topic has been beaten to death, but I thought I would just refresh it for the new guys (like me) who just got their trucks.

I have an 04 DMAX 2500 4x4 CC which was built in April 2004 and these were in need of some maintenance due to factory not making sure they were to spec:

Grease all 11 of your zerk fittings on your front end. Mine had very little grease.

Decided to change engine oil at 740 miles so I would KNOW what was in the truck. Factory oil was almost black. Factory (black color on mine) oil filter was installed and torqued by hydraulic-spin machine and required "military" grade intervention to remove! Beware!

Rear diff. was a quart low. Many have reported this. I used Mobil 1 synth 75w-90 to top off. No problems mixing with GM diff. oil and runs fine.

Just an FYI...I had orange-colored torsion bar keys. Turned torsion adjustment bolts 5 turns each and truck is level and drives fine. No steering issues.

Lube it!

You will always have black oil even after an oil change. It is the soot in the oil. Even a brand new one with 750 miles.

I have adjusted the torsion bars to level the truck before and I would highly recommend and alignment job after you do this. Even though it drives fine, after a few thousand miles you will start to see tire wear such as cupping on the edges. Just a suggestion...

I turned my bars up and it drove nice and straight. I ended up having it Aligned and its a good thing, it was way off and would have hurt the times in time. Edited by: dwrat