engine knocks & trans clunking

I've read some of our posts up here about these 2 (at least) problems in the Silverado.

My question are: is this just for 03 and older? Did they fix any of them in '04? What's the chance of getting a vehicle with these infamous problems?

I was about to go buy one of the 1500LS today but ran across these posts which made me think a lot about my favorite. (this would be my first Chevy, I'm running a '97 Ford f150 now and want a change).

Also, where do I search for bulletins about problems/possible fixes?

So please help.

Thank you much for your time.

Nhi

GM fixed the piston slap in 2003.