Most reliable older truck?

BCGPER

Starting Another Thread
Location
Sunny Arizona
Ha, Toyota owners......

That is one clean looking truck, I'd jump on it! The only down side to that one is no back doors, if memory serves me right. If you can live with the crappy mileage do it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Vonski

nothing to see here...
Location
Payson, Utah
FWIW, I picked up a late '90's GMC 2500 4x4 with vortec 5.7, NV4500, with the full float 14 bolt. Nice ones can be found between 3 and 4k and should be about as reliable as anything and parts are cheap. Plan on doing ball joints, as the previous owner has probably ignored them on purpose (and for good reason). Gets about 14 MPG city/hwy and expect 8 to 10 towing as long as you're not getting too crazy with weight.
 

Vonski

nothing to see here...
Location
Payson, Utah
I was curious about GM's gas mileage "claims" for my '96 model, and it was 12 city/17 hwy./14 combined. Like I said, I've gotten 14 with mostly hwy., but there is no way this thing could ever get 17.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
What gear ratio are you running Von? My '98 1/2 ton was running 3.42's with tall tires and a steep OD... it was pretty easy to pull down 18 MPG w/o trying.
 

Vonski

nothing to see here...
Location
Payson, Utah
What gear ratio are you running Von? My '98 1/2 ton was running 3.42's with tall tires and a steep OD... it was pretty easy to pull down 18 MPG w/o trying.

Its got 4.10s and came with brand new 245s that i'll replace at some point. I haven't had it very long and have limited data, but 14 is the best I've noticed so far.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Its got 4.10s and came with brand new 245s that i'll replace at some point. I haven't had it very long and have limited data, but 14 is the best I've noticed so far.

I'd imagine the 4.10's have a lot to do with it. With my gearing I was running around 1,800 RPM at 65 MPH and the Scangauge (which is usually pretty accurate) indicated 18 MPG or so.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
They aren't quite comparable to modern diesels, the 6.5 isn't a performance-oriented engine by any means and had some well documented flaws. It would pull OK, although a little slow... and probably get decent MPG's unloaded.
 
Top