Stopped by the dealership where I got my VHO during lunch today and they have 1 red and 1 white '05 VHO. Did a quick in and out look over for changes and this is what I noticed: E-fans (surprise, surprise ), drum rear brakes, traction assist, no manual passenger airbag shut-off (open compartment in it's place), digital dual climate controls and the wheel center caps do not have the gold bowtie, it's raised and chrome.

One thing that really surprised me is how much room there is between the throttle body and fans. On the '04 and earlier trucks, the air intake tube is obviously designed around the fan shroud due to lack of room between TB and e-fans. On the '05 there is so much room to use a less restrictive bend in the intake tube, but GM decided to use the exact same tube as on the '04! I guess they are using up inventory of '04 parts.

E-fans: How much RWHP are they worth vs. gear driven fans?

 

Most people say e-fans are worth 10-12 rwhp, I don't have them but will be doing the ls1 fans with a nelson harness before long.

 

I doubt that you'll see 12 rwhp from the fans alone, but getting to do the cheap intake tube would add to the gains. On my 99 truck, I pulled of the clutch fan between dyno pulls and saw something like 6 hp and 6 tq increase over the prior run.

 

sounds good. yea ive seen 5-15..

 

drum rear brakes, traction assist, no manual passenger airbag shut-off

My VHO has disc brakes in the rear, why would they replace that with drums, The TCS would be nice!

 

I saw a red 05 Silverado SS the other day. With so much space between the pulleys and electric fans I think they shouldve deleted or covered up the threads on the water pump where the clutch fan use to attach to. That was the first thing I saw when I opened up the hood. The rust on the threads didnt help either.

 

all 05's got drums in back.

 

Are you guys talking about the '05 Silverados? Sorry, but I don't know what a VHO is. And why would they go from discs to drums!?

 

I have an 05 ECSB Z71 with the new brakes and they are fantastic. I had a 97 ECSB Z71 and tried everything from the full Praise Dyno system, SS lines, to high dollar fluids and they did not come close to the 05's new brakes.
The rears actually get some use. With the Disc\Drum system of yore, the rears would show no signs of wear @ 90k while the fronts got changed as soon as every 12 to 15k. With all the braking coming from the front, no wonder Praise Dyno sold so many rotors.
I will say this about Praise. His rotors never warped on me and the pads worked a tad better and lasted some what longer.

Now it's about how far to move the pedal instead of how hard to press it. They are progressive. Such as when coming to a stop, one has to lift off the pedal a bit or they will stop short. As with before one would have to increase pressure untill the stop.

READ HERE ABOUT THE NEW BRAKES

The trade off here will be costly pads.

 

Also, the passenger airbig on/off is now controlled by the computer. It has a sensor built into the seat that measures weight. Once the required weight is met, it will turn on. This is displayed on the rearview mirror.