yeah i know a couple people that have had there clusters go out...forgot all about that problem with them.
00-06 Chevy trucks are junk. There nothing but problems. I've always thought they made them as cheap as possible because they were on the verge of bankruptcy. I saw a 07+ Chevy today and the pinstripe was cracking and peeling off. You may or may not be able to tell. You can clearly see the difference between bed and cab
the transfer cases are junk, we had a couple in the shop I worked at for them, and my buddy had to replace the one in his '02 3500. Various internals can wear through the case, which causes the fluid to leak out, with very predictable results. Saw it on a 2500 and an Escalade for sure, in addition to the 3500 my buddy drove. The same Escalade had the instrument cluster issue too. I would stay away, the ford is a better truck, even with it's stupid spark plugs.
Too bad Sleeper ain't here, he'd be preaching about how bad ass Cheddys are, and how superior they are to Ford's junk.