Cateye article

[stutaeng]

Just found this article about the cateyes: https://www.motortrend.com/features/cat-eye-chevy-truck/

I've seen more and more guys trying to buy these. (*)

Also, I had found another article that they were referring to the GMT800 as the "First-Generation Silverado." My buddy said he's been hearing that as well recently...

(*) Edit: the 03-06 Tahoe/Suburban, et al. are technically not "cateyes" because they kept the same 99-02 headlights, but they do share the electronics (and engine controls) the article talks about the same as the cateyes. I'm sure folks know that, but in case they don't.

 

[DateNight]

Never thought about it as “first gen Silverado” but Technically yes they are the first Silverado. Before gmt800 trucks Silverado was just a package and where c1500, k, c3500 etc.

Now gmt800, gmt900 and later years are called Silverados and have packages like LTZ, LT, WT

But I’ve never heard the term “first gen Silverado”, I called them NBS (bubble eye or cat eye)

 

[99Sierra2500]

Around here in the midwest, cateyes, a good rust free one brings 3-5k more than others. The article is funny in talking about the interior, I like it simple, leather is good for not picking up dog hair like the cloth.

 

[ORVietVet]

The first GMT800 I ever owned was a 2003 Duramax and I liked the truck. I had a hauling need at the time and it did the job with ease. Then I have owned a 2002 Tahoe LS and now a 2005 Tahoe Z71 and now the 2004 K2500HD LT crew cab. At my age, this will be my last truck. I have always liked the bubble eye look but the cat's eye is growing on me. I read the entire article and did not know some of the SS/Intimidator info and glad to know now. Great info thread here. Thanks @stutaeng.

 

[99Sierra2500]

The first GMT800 I ever owned was a 2003 Duramax and I liked the truck. I had a hauling need at the time and it did the job with ease. Then I have owned a 2002 Tahoe LS and now a 2005 Tahoe Z71 and now the 2004 K2500HD LT crew cab. At my age, this will be my last truck. I have always liked the bubble eye look but the cat's eye is growing on me. I read the entire article and did not know some of the SS/Intimidator info and glad to know now. Great info thread here. Thanks @stutaeng.

It is a good article thanks @stutaeng for posting it. I have been looking for a second vehicle after selling my car, and a tahoe or yukon is sounding good, I saw this one in Idaho, I was born there so I still go back to visit family. A 99 with a 5.7 and barn doors:

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[Cadillacmak]

It is a good article thanks @stutaeng for posting it. I have been looking for a second vehicle after selling my car, and a tahoe or yukon is sounding good, I saw this one in Idaho, I was born there so I still go back to visit family. A 99 with a 5.7 and barn doors:

View attachment 2695

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Very nice, did you buy it?

 

[99Sierra2500]

Very nice, did you buy it?

It is nice, still thinking about it, if it is still there when I go back to visit I will look at it. I have done that before, waited a few months to see if a vehicle is still there. People out in the middle of nowhere have few people to sell it to, and usually the space to have it around. Ad doesn't look like a scam which is a plus. One time I answered an ad, and where they said the truck was it wasn't there, and the place looked abandoned, so I decided to just keep on going. I mean it could have been tucked in back behind the house, though that is way too sketchy.

 

[stutaeng]

Yeah, I'm more of a bubble headlights guy and prefer the more basic interior controls.

But I'm starting to like cateyes now. And the wiring (although more complicated) is nice because the modules are more integrated. For example, I recently installed an aftermarket stereo on my 06 Suburban and the backup reverse camera is easy to wire because the wiring is such that a signal is sensed when the lever is put in R. Also, the mirrors with those blinkers are a direct swap if your truck doesn't have that. I'm sure there's other cool upgrades you can do.

Aside from the 05-07 classic 1500s reverting back to rear drums, I think the later GMT800 are nicer for sure. Rear discs can easily swapped from the 99-04 though.

 

[ORVietVet]

My 2002 Tahoe LS had barn doors. I wish my 2005 Tahoe Z71 had bard doors. I am completely spoiled on the "no distributor" GMT800's. I like the Yukon in the pic but I am lazy about distributors.

 

[99Sierra2500]

I have had everything from Action Lines up to GMT900's (a 2012 Sierra), I went and looked at a new truck, it was ok, a lot bigger than earlier models, a lot of electronics, and they also seem to have frame rust problems. GMT800's are sweet, I went back to them because I missed my old one. Distributors can be a pain, what I generally like to avoid are the pre-OBDII ones. I had a TBI squarebody, was ok, I think the only thing the ECM did was read the O2 sensors, pretty basic. People are sometimes amazed when I take a big screwdriver and put it on a bolt, touch it behind my ear to listen to inside an engine. I worked at a shop and we would hook up an oscilloscope to read the distributor.

 

[stutaeng]

Distributors? Don't get me started. I friggin' HATE distributors! I spent way too much time on my stomach screwing around with the distributor/cap/rotor on the 4.3 on 99 Silverado . I had a crank-no-fire on wet or damp mornings. They should have put that stupid thing on the front of the engine because they are so troublesome when you rack up the mileage on them. When I pulled the transmission, there were like 3-4 of those torxs screws cap/rotor embedded on the bellhousing grease. SMH

Thank God I swapped a 5.3 and don't have to deal with that anymore, LOL. Give me an LS over anything with a distributor.

 

[ORVietVet]

I started in shops in 1976. How many distributors do you think I have been in to?!.
That 99 Silverado likely had a clogged vent screen on bottom of the dist. Yea, just sold my girls 1990 K2500 and so glad to see it go. Great truck but I knew the dist was gonna give me problems eventually. Yea @99Sierra2500, have used the long screwdriver for hearing before. We used to have a big Sun machine we would roll up to the car. Had a sniffer we stuffed up the tailpipe.

 

[99Sierra2500]

I had a car with dual points, prestolite. I remember also the shop having an attachment on the wall, we'd hook air to it, and would clean the spark plugs, styrofoam beads I think it used. First snap-on scanner I used had a suitcase, with a bunch of different cables, and plugs; with various cartridges. Tiny LCD display, scrolled with a big dial. I also spent time as a woods mechanic, working on heavy equipment, work all through the night. Trudge up a trail in ankle deep mud, to hook the cable around a tree, and winch our work truck up, a one ton dually with a utility body. I was also a VFD firefighter at that time, used joke, we roll this rig it would spill out ten thousand tools, and parts.

 

[INW-Iron-Steel]

GMT800's are sweet, I went back to them because I missed my old one. Distributors can be a pain, what I generally like to avoid are the pre-OBDII ones. I had a TBI squarebody, was ok, I think the only thing the ECM did was read the O2 sensors, pretty basic.

GMT800s are sweet! I think they are the best trucks ever produced, but that's why we're all here right? I actually prefer the TBI stuff to the Vortec (5.7 Gen-1) stuff. In my opinion, TBI is like optimized carburetion where the Vortec GMT400s were early MPFI setups, and the kinks were still being worked out. For me, part of what makes the TBI great is how simple it is. ECM reads the O2s and does some timing control, but that's about it. I agree that distributor at the rear of the engine is a pain! I always hate trying to get a distributor wrench snuck down between all the **** on the intake. But I have grown to really love the TBI, as obscure as it is. I may be a little biased, my TBI 'Burb is running TPI heads and a Vortec roller cam now, and I really like that combo. Still not as good as a Gen 3 drivetrain though...

My preferences are pretty strange; I prefer the look of nearly all other GMT800s over the Cateyes (all 99-02s and the 03+ GMCs). I actually find the cateye front-end to be quite ugly... just my 2 cents.

 

[ORVietVet]

GMT800s are sweet! I think they are the best trucks ever produced, but that's why we're all here right? I actually prefer the TBI stuff to the Vortec (5.7 Gen-1) stuff. In my opinion, TBI is like optimized carburetion where the Vortec GMT400s were early MPFI setups, and the kinks were still being worked out. For me, part of what makes the TBI great is how simple it is. ECM reads the O2s and does some timing control, but that's about it. I agree that distributor at the rear of the engine is a pain! I always hate trying to get a distributor wrench snuck down between all the **** on the intake. But I have grown to really love the TBI, as obscure as it is. I may be a little biased, my TBI 'Burb is running TPI heads and a Vortec roller cam now, and I really like that combo. Still not as good as a Gen 3 drivetrain though...

My preferences are pretty strange; I prefer the look of nearly all other GMT800s over the Cateyes (all 99-02s and the 03+ GMCs). I actually find the cateye front-end to be quite ugly... just my 2 cents.

I was not a cat's eye fan either but I bought one and I was not gonna find as good a truck for the money if I waited longer and the 1990 K2500 ext cab was not gonna continue to hold a $10k value indefinitely. I bought a 14 year newer truck, 118 miles, with an LS engine, 4L80E transmission, crew cab and pretty much perfect interior, perfect exterior, spray in bed liner, ReTrax bed cover, K2500HD....for $6k more. No way I was passing that up. Especially when I believe that at my age of 72, my days or wrenching as much as I can, are gonna slow down. We want to get a nice hitch type trailer and travel around the states and I believe this new to us truck, is just the rig for that. Plus, it has brand new BF Goodrich K02's on it.
The seller is the father of my shop owner friend and I know the truck is in great shape when I got it.

Besides, my girl likes the look better than the bubble lens look. As good as she takes care of me, I was not gonna argue about it.

 

[99Sierra2500]

GMT800s are sweet! I think they are the best trucks ever produced, but that's why we're all here right? I actually prefer the TBI stuff to the Vortec (5.7 Gen-1) stuff. In my opinion, TBI is like optimized carburetion where the Vortec GMT400s were early MPFI setups, and the kinks were still being worked out. For me, part of what makes the TBI great is how simple it is. ECM reads the O2s and does some timing control, but that's about it. I agree that distributor at the rear of the engine is a pain! I always hate trying to get a distributor wrench snuck down between all the **** on the intake. But I have grown to really love the TBI, as obscure as it is. I may be a little biased, my TBI 'Burb is running TPI heads and a Vortec roller cam now, and I really like that combo. Still not as good as a Gen 3 drivetrain though...

My preferences are pretty strange; I prefer the look of nearly all other GMT800s over the Cateyes (all 99-02s and the 03+ GMCs). I actually find the cateye front-end to be quite ugly... just my 2 cents.

TBI got rid of the mess of vacuum hoses on the last carburated engines, mine ran good too, until it cracked a head. Sold it to someone and they still had it, after getting a new head. The biggest downside of that truck were the 4.10 gears, and TH400; a strong setup, terrible mileage on the freeway at 70mph. Spider fuel injection isn't the best, that is another thing maybe I don't feel like dealing with. Parts availabiltiy on the older vehicles is getting worse too. I recall seeing the first cateye design on the Avalanche, which had that terrible plastic body cladding. Someone called my Sierra a cateye design too, I guess. GMC's used to be the premium GM truck, "Working Man's Cadillac" not that there is a lot of difference. I like the way they look. I looked at cateyes at the same time buying the Sierra, and it was hard to find one that wasn't modified, I didn't want one with a cam that has "all the chop." Not modified, they were a few thousand more, not really that much difference, except being more desirable, so much more of a case of being in the right place at the right time. GMT800's are becoming more popular, and the downside is that they also get stolen. Maybe skip that with the older GMT400's, don't know. That Yukon too at 150k for 5k if it can get another 100k miles, would work out to about a nickle a mile. Not bad. I do see a lot of Yukon's and Tahoe for sale on the west coast for cheap, maybe not too high of mileage, I get leery of seeing them for 2-3k such as something has got to be wrong with this. I forget though that gas is more expensive there, here, last tank was $2.99 a gallon, and I am usually only 15 minutes away from anywhere I am going, unless taking a long trip. I could definitely use just an average 4.8-5.3 Tahoe or Yukon.

 

[4silverado]

I’ve had 4 extended cabs from 2002 through 2004; 3 of them were cat eyes. When I had the 02, I thought they were ugly. Now, well I’ll probably be buried in one.

 

[stutaeng]

Yeah, I think a lot of youngsters are getting into them now. They are probably the kids' growing up that remember their Dads owning one of them.

Then there's the guys that just held on to them and kept driving them like me. LOL

I considered selling mine around 2018 or so. A former coworker that had a 2003 Tahoe with like 400k told me that a lot of folks held on their GMT800s and were better than GMT900s. K2xx were just coming out then. Probably why I didn't sell mine and actually bought a few more... SMH.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Just found this article about the cateyes: https://www.motortrend.com/features/cat-eye-chevy-truck/

I've seen more and more guys trying to buy these. (*)

Also, I had found another article that they were referring to the GMT800 as the "First-Generation Silverado." My buddy said he's been hearing that as well recently...

(*) Edit: the 03-06 Tahoe/Suburban, et al. are technically not "cateyes" because they kept the same 99-02 headlights, but they do share the electronics (and engine controls) the article talks about the same as the cateyes. I'm sure folks know that, but in case they don't.

my 1996 C1500 was a silverado,

but as stated it was a trim level.
it being silverado meant it had Options over the base models
I didnt know the 03-06 tahoe/suburban didnt use the cateye front end. im sure people have swapped?
already knew the tail lights didnt change, because they had different tail lights to begin with

 

[stutaeng]

my 1996 C1500 was a silverado,

but as stated it was a trim level.
it being silverado meant it had Options over the base models
I didnt know the 03-06 tahoe/suburban didnt use the cateye front end. im sure people have swapped?
already knew the tail lights didnt change, because they had different tail lights to begin with

Yes, it's possible to swap a cateye from into a Tahoe/Suburban. I've seen a few swapped around here: https://www.google.com/search?clien...HRlTBR8QtKgLegQIGRAB&biw=412&bih=767&dpr=1.75

And in Mexico GM actually did produce SUVs with the cateye clip. I'm not sure why they kept the bubble front clip on the 03-06 SUVs in the States TBH?

The one I always forget about is that all 1500 Silverados in 2006 got the HD clip. So basically GM swapped an HD clip for free on the 1500 06 and 07 classics. Pretty cool.