2500 or 3500

[STANG302]

I'll start. I'm running 3.73 gears.
city: 15-17
Highway: 16-19 (hit 20 only a few times, too much of a lead foot)
Towing 5-10K lbs: 10-12

 

[Junkfxr]

I just had to get in on this.
95 Chevy K2500HD (rebadged SRW 3500), 202,000 miles
454 TBI, 5 speed w/ od
4.10 gears
empty city 11 mpg
empty highway 11 mpg
towing 8000 lbs - 9.5 - 10mpg
have seen it as low as 6 mpg in the mountains

 

[Sparky8370]

There is a website for diesels that is very similar to this one in the type of atmosphere and a lot of very knowledgeable folks. The address is www.thetruckstop.us it has to be .us at the end, most of us are used to doing dot com so just thought I would stress that. I am new here, but I can see you all love to mod your saws. Once I joined a few diesel forums, it started. Take a ride in my truck now!! Earlier this year I had to have the tranny re-built, so of course it got re-built with a Suncoast stage IV kit and a 1056 triple disk billet torque converter.
EFI Live is expanding and may have cummins support in the next year or so. EFI Live is amazing. It's much better than any of the box tuners, because it's not a pre-packaged tune. It is fully customizable. It's software to let you reprogram the ecm to whatever parameters you want. The bad part is that you could destroy your motor if you go overboard. It's so much more than that with scanning, tuning and logging. Here is a screen shot of just one of the parameters under the fuel pressure section. There are hundreds of tables.

 

[chevyforlife21]

get a 2500 chevy diesel or gas

 

[Alan Smith]

trucks

by a ford or dodge3/4 or 1 ton diesel

 

[themaddhatter]

Great Post Madhatter.
I'm not sure I follow the "airbags" comment. are they in addition to the suspension ? I can't imaging the weight needed to justify airbags on top of the 12k GVWR. You hauling Mercury around ?
Does the rear "float" in 4 wheel drive ? or just in rear wheel drive ?
I guess the best ATV made is the M35a2...now I can haul one to the wood pile
I'll post come pics once I get her home.

Yeah I have the firestone airbags in lieu of bumpstops on top the rear axles.

When I would put the gooseneck on and it was freighted, it would squat a little too much.

Now I can load it up and it will only go to level (empty it sits ass high).

This summer I had bought a bunch of oak logs at auction, and had them loaded about 6 feet high on the gooseneck in a couple trips. If I were to guess, it was probably more than 6 tons easy. The bags are nice with that.

It pulls well in 4wd, and it deals better with the float then as well. I am currently running hancock commercial tires (like for a topkick) and they aren't really an all season tread. If it is raining pretty hard I can make it get squirrelly on command, just need to pay attention. Since I have the manual trans I have a little more control with it. I want to get some Blizzaks and run those on the factory rims as winter tires then swap out every season, just need to get the scratch together to do it.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have done it differently. I have been very happy with this truck for the last 5 years, and I got it as a used trade-in with 22K on the clock. Ideally my truck would have the NV5600 in lieu of the NV4500 (always reaching for another gear with the 4.10 rear end), the front end converted to regular bearings & lockouts (has stupid unitized bearings from factory) and a Gear Vendors OverDrive in it. But, all of those can be added to what I already have.

 

[angelo c]

Daddy's new grocery getter

She's home....

Wish me luck. It's my first Diesel, and first full size.

 

[angelo c]

Ebony and Ivory side by side on my driveway...

One small step for Man...one giant leap of faith.....

 

[angelo c]

Yeah I have the firestone airbags in lieu of bumpstops on top the rear axles.

When I would put the gooseneck on and it was freighted, it would squat a little too much.

Now I can load it up and it will only go to level (empty it sits ass high).

This summer I had bought a bunch of oak logs at auction, and had them loaded about 6 feet high on the gooseneck in a couple trips. If I were to guess, it was probably more than 6 tons easy. The bags are nice with that.

It pulls well in 4wd, and it deals better with the float then as well. I am currently running hancock commercial tires (like for a topkick) and they aren't really an all season tread. If it is raining pretty hard I can make it get squirrelly on command, just need to pay attention. Since I have the manual trans I have a little more control with it. I want to get some Blizzaks and run those on the factory rims as winter tires then swap out every season, just need to get the scratch together to do it.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have done it differently. I have been very happy with this truck for the last 5 years, and I got it as a used trade-in with 22K on the clock. Ideally my truck would have the NV5600 in lieu of the NV4500 (always reaching for another gear with the 4.10 rear end), the front end converted to regular bearings & lockouts (has stupid unitized bearings from factory) and a Gear Vendors OverDrive in it. But, all of those can be added to what I already have.

Thanks Mad,
I'm gonna leave her stock as she is un touched for now. She'll handle most if not all of my hauling needs as is.

A

 

[trialanderror]

There is a website for diesels that is very similar to this one in the type of atmosphere and a lot of very knowledgeable folks. The address is www.thetruckstop.us it has to be .us at the end, most of us are used to doing dot com so just thought I would stress that. I am new here, but I can see you all love to mod your saws. Once I joined a few diesel forums, it started. Take a ride in my truck now!! Earlier this year I had to have the tranny re-built, so of course it got re-built with a Suncoast stage IV kit and a 1056 triple disk billet torque converter.
EFI Live is expanding and may have cummins support in the next year or so. EFI Live is amazing. It's much better than any of the box tuners, because it's not a pre-packaged tune. It is fully customizable. It's software to let you reprogram the ecm to whatever parameters you want. The bad part is that you could destroy your motor if you go overboard. It's so much more than that with scanning, tuning and logging. Here is a screen shot of just one of the parameters under the fuel pressure section. There are hundreds of tables.

oh come on!! what's the worse that could happen? bend connecting rods? push the crank out the bottom of the engine? melt pistons? blow heads? that's half the fun!

 

[Junkfxr]

She's home....

Wish me luck. It's my first Diesel, and first full size.

Looks good! Ought to do everything you ask of it. Just keep an eye on the front end, ball joints, bearings, etc.

 

[1harlowr]

+1 on the front end. Looks good. Should handle anything you need it to do

 

[dsm382]

yep take care of her and she will be the LAST truck you will ever own, well, unless your a young whippersnapper


looks like she was a camper hauler?
or work truck?

looks clean, but then white do.....

good luck....

how many miles?
what year?
i know you probably already told us that.

 

[angelo c]

yep take care of her and she will be the LAST truck you will ever own, well, unless your a young whippersnapper


looks like she was a camper hauler?
or work truck?

looks clean, but then white do.....

good luck....

how many miles?
what year?
i know you probably already told us that.

She's an '04 with 118k. Used to haul carnival air rides cross country. 4-8k lbs at most. a work truck but never taxed seriously. Front end looks straight and solid now. Now pulls shakes or noises( man they would be loud over that Cummins)

 

[Sparky8370]

oh come on!! what's the worse that could happen? bend connecting rods? push the crank out the bottom of the engine? melt pistons? blow heads? that's half the fun!

There's not really much of that going on, probably because it's only available for GM at the moment.:hmm3grin2orange: I think the biggest issue with the people who are running a lot (and I mean a lot of people, the ones who make it into the magazines) of power is on the LBZs they are cracking pistons.
Usually when you buy it the vendor will include a couple tunes to get you started. It's a plus if you already have a built tranny, because they can build you a big tune right off the start.

That diesel truck forum I mentioned is all brand. Mostly GM guys on there though. Even the guy who holds the land speed record in the 6.5 gm diesel i on there, I think he has 159 mph on record but gone faster.

Mostly all working class guys there. There's gasser sections too. You should check it out, I am gonna give some love to this new (to me) site over there too, since I am sure a lot of those guys will appreciate this site.



Edit: Showed the love right here http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/showthread.php?p=215579#post215579

 

[Baldman]

Daddy's new grocery getter
She's home....

Looks good! How does it feel going from the 'toy' to that 'beast'?

Congrats!

 

[dsm382]

She's an '04 with 118k.

see that is where i am still having issues with spending $20-25k on a truck with over 100k miles on it, YES i know most diesels will go double that but still, it just rubs me the wrong way that the price is still soooo HIGH.

I mean i only paid $22k for her one year old dodge with 28k on the ticker...

 

[angelo c]

see that is where i am still having issues with spending $20-25k on a truck with over 100k miles on it, YES i know most diesels will go double that but still, it just rubs me the wrong way that the price is still soooo HIGH.

I mean i only paid $22k for her one year old dodge with 28k on the ticker...

that's the beauty of Adam Smiths Free Market Economy...
there is always a price and the market will set it.

Kidding aside (political perspective withstanding as well). Gassers are much less valued with a high mileage chasis/powerplant. It's just the way it is. People believe a 100k diesel is just "breaking in" where a 100k gasser is "broken". I don't believe it either but it is what it is. I have 256k on my toyota and still running strong. looks like heck but still runs. Any gasser today that can't do 250k with good maintenance is junk from day 1 not day 1000.

the Diesel club is a smaller one but very loyal to the product. definately many sides to this "value" discussion.

 

[trialanderror]

that is partly true. My friend has rebuilt his road tractor 2 times, each time with the 1 million mile mark....you'll never see that in the small non commercial trucks....

semi's will shut off a couple of times a year

small residential are always killing the engine; sometimes 10x a day, maybe more?; everyone here knows starting an engine is murder every time as there's no oil pressure.....

depending on the application, 100k mile is a just being broken in, if that route is taken...

my vehicles, i try and leave them running when pratical ( running into the store for a few mins, etc)

 

[Alan Smith]

87 f250

I have a 87 f250 6.9 diesel with 5000.00 still runs good