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Chevy C/K Pickups (1996 - 1999)
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David... sorry about the helm address. It was a "senior moment".
On the subject of gas mileage.......who cares !! At least we don't live in France where all cars and trucks are small and gas is $5/gallon !! If we wanted gas mileage, we should've bought a Honda Civic !! But that isn't as cool as a Chevy truck !!
Like the other posts, my 97 Z-71 ext cab stepside also is plagued with spongey brakes and a wildly flexible structure !! But I love it--it is a truck cab and bed on a long ladder frame, it comes with the territory fellows !! When I get in my Honda Accord I can really appreciate great handling when copared to trucks. Think of your C/K as a big, heavy, tall smooth riding car with terrible handling and a hose out trunk !! But we love it--we're truck guys !!!!!
On gas milage, it's a good idication of proper operating conditions as well as the fact that i have better things to do with my money.
Also I am getting a noise in the locking rear and a transmission guy said to have the rear differential fuild changed. I've had 3 quote ranging from $20.00 for gear oil to $150 from Chevy for the chevy fuild.
What's the deal? Synthetic or mineral oil. And is it something i should do myself?
Anyone got any suggestions?
I know the Z71's had Skid Plates and Bilstein Shocks, What else was included that my Truck doesn't have??
The ride height appears to be the same on the Z71's I looked at as my 4X4.
I also crawled under some Z71's and they had a Stablizer on the front but not on the rear like my Truck.
Am I missing something or was this option mostly just the plates and shocks?
I don't care about the Shocks but would like to add the plates, How many skid plates are on a Z71 and can I get them anywhere else other that a Chevy Dealer??
Thanks in advance for all advice and info.
The GM's use a standard axle gear oil and a little tiny bottle of limited slip additive. If you can take the cover bolts off the rear end and drain out the fluid the gear oil change is no harder than an engine oil change.
It fills thru the side of the rear end case thru a small plug, fill it till the fluid runs out the plug and it's to the right level ( if your truck is level ).
Do yourself a favor and buy a pump style container to fill the rear with, it will take all of a minute with that pump and it shouln't set you back more than $15.00 - $20.00 if you do it yourself.
the noise is a "clunk" while going under 20 MPH usually while coasting then as soon as i step on the gas there is a defined clunk. I have not been able to simulate it while i was outside the truck with someone else driving so i could isolate where the noise is coming from. I've been told that with the 5.7L engine and limited slip with no weight, it's the limited slip kicking in due to the "massive amount of torque." I don't quite believe that. And I just crossed 36,000 miles so Chevy doesn't care a bit. There's a topic on it, but it's for the '00 anyone had problems or advice??
thanks, David
PS The manuals from Helm arrived. 2- 2 inch GM manuals and a A/C update of about 15 pages. The manuals have trouble shooting advice about a clunk, but it's for the front loose or bad CV joints.
Sorry, wrong. I've pulled with both. The 5.3 easily outpulls the 350. I have a 350, I've pulled with a friends 2000 5.3. The 5.3 has VERY noticeably, more low end torque. And on the highway, in a passing situation the 5.3 blows away the 350 and Dodges and Fords.
As far as pulling a trailer, when you put the new GM transmissions in Tow/Haul, it is only lets it shift into O/D when going downhill. It keeps it in 3rd more often than not, holds 2nd gear longer when accelerating, and shifts much much firmer...really a great (and easy) towing mode.
Driving empty, i never noticed the 5.3 shifting out of OD anymore often than the 350.
I'm comparing 350 with a 3.42 and a 5.3 with a 3.42, so apples to apples...
Which one tows better in overdrive? Or when you are going down the road pulling a load (in drive) and you come to a hill, which one requires more throttle to go up the hill.
The people I talk to say that the 99- will get the trailer moving but just doesn't want to keep it moving.
I do not have first had experience in towing with the 96-00 chevies. I have been around some TBIs though.
Did you know ford has a swith for tow/haul mode?
Here's the deal: the older Chevy half tons have a sticker that says not to tow in OD. I don't know if the new GMs have the same sticker or not, never looked. I pulled a little in O/D, not much though. Trucks really can't pull 5000+ lbs with 3.42 rear ends. The 2000 will shift out sooner than the pre '99s, but it doesn't lose any speed. The older Vortecs would lose a couple mph before they would upshift.
My 'feel' is it takes less throttle with the 5.3 to get up the same hill. The low end torque curves of the 5.3 is better than the 350. The 350 has a higher peak, but only over a couple of 100 rpm range. Drive a 5.3, and you won't doubt its power.
One theory about your friend: If he had a 350 with a 4.10 rear end, he didn't have a 1/2 ton--only the 2000's offer a 4.10 in the 1/2 ton. I have the vortec 350 with 4.10 in my truck (one ton), and its a pulling beast. i also have a lower geared tranny, not a fair comparison to the half tons.
I would say that my truck cruises the highway better, but I pull in O/D at 2300 rpms. but my friends half ton is faster from dead stop, and in the passing lane, will blow me off the road. My vortec starts running out of breath between 4000-4500 rpms: his truck has the same torque all the way up to 5000--so if he floors it, it goes until you let off, mine is praying to upshift. unfortunately, i have to pull my loads thru maniacal Austin traffic, so I find myself in that situation fairly regularly.
Actually my computer compensates for a trailer. When pulling a heavy load, while barely touching the gas it will hold the rpms to 3,000.
When chevy came out with the tow/haul mode, ford starting putting in their brochures something to the effect of (it doesn't need any buttons to push the computer automatically senses when you have a load and adjusts accordinally).
So have you towed with a similarly equiped 350 and 5.3? The one ton is no comparison.
I thought the ignition switch on a Ford was like slot machine, sometimes you win, most times you don't! just kiddin.
yes, i guess i never mentioned the other truck I compared to, '98 1/2 ton ex cab w/3.42 rear end. low end torque is about the same, maybe a slight edge to the 5.3. High end passing power, hands down, the 5.3. cruising down the highway, pulling in 3rd gear both trucks, the 5.3 is probably a hair stronger. But it will downshift to second quicker than the 350, cuz like I said, the new GM's refuse to lose speed (in cruise control), while the older 350's will lose 3 mph before they shift.
I opted for a remanufactured engine by Jasper, it came with a far better warranty then GM's new engine and what I can hear they stand by their product. Installation of the engine with a tuneup, new water pump and all new fluids, hoses and changing all the fluids underneath was $3,500.
Steve, what was the symptoms of your yours? I have an occaisional knock with my 5.7, but it never really bothered me. usually at start up, normal for GM, every once in a while, i'll think i hear a hot knock, but its pretty random in occurence. Whats your take?
AOL p----- me off! Anyways, the Ford was a P.O.S.. Now I'm wondering if my "new" Chevy is going to give up the ghost and break the bank. The Ford was not a work truck and neither is the Chevy. It's never been a tow vehicle. Are you guys with the engine problems putting the trucks through their paces, or is this just under normal conditions? Are there any other pitfalls in the Chevy I need to be aware of? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. BowtieZ71
I forgot that AOL's disconnect did not allow my earlier post. I recently purchased a 96 ext. Z71
and postings on this site are giving me concern over its reliability. I owned an 88 F-150 that ate me alive financially and will never buy ford again. My summer driver is a '74 Nova with a stroker and 9in. rear. Building it made me a Chevy fan, but reading horror stories under 60,000mi. on these trucks is making me doubt the wisdom of my purchase.
I now drive a 2000 3/4 ton with the 6.0L and 3.73 gears. I am not sure if I would say the new truck pulls better, but it is different. Seat of the pants feeling is that the 5.7 had more power at its peak, but the 6.0 has a much flatter power curve. You get x amount of acceleration and it doesn't change as you go up through the rpm band.
Did the sloppy differential set-up create a "clank" on 2-3 shifts or into reverse? Or is this possibly related to the 4L60-E. Shaft and U's are o.k..
most of my daily driving is stop and go, and flooring it on the freeway--I get between 12 and 14.
Highway trips at 75 mph, unloaded, get me upper 15s, low 16s mileage.
the 350 won't pull quite as well as the 6.5, but i suspect you would be happy with it. The 4.10 gear keeps the truck in peak torque at highway speeds. i can tell my truck pulls much stronger at 70 mph than it does at 55!
Although I guessed wrong buying the 6.5L turbodiesel in 1994, I am still pleased with the 25'1989 HILO trailer, which essentially has no wind drag. It is reduced so much that I miss not having some on the downhills!
Thanks again.
That was unfortunate regarding your Pop's tranny problems. My Pop still has his '74 Cheyenne. He
experienced tranny problems early on. He changes
tranny fluid every 20,000 mi. now. On 2nd engine.
477,000 mi later still running great.
I just bought a '00 C2500 5/7L 3:73 with auto/overdrive. Truck has 8600 GVW, HD Tranny and tranny cooler, HD everything. Hope I got a good one. have heard horror stories from both camps,
F series, Dodges, GM, imports and great service
from same. Had a lemon '80 GMC Heavy half with
horrendous tranny problems. had two F150's, an
'83 5.0 and a '94 5.0. Both were flawless. Am
loyal to none. If I like a certain truck, I will
buy it. Never owned a Dodge, don't like the
wimpy 318 and 360 engines. If Dodge ever returns
to 440 magnum, maybe, just maybe I will consider
purhcase. V10 sounds formidable and awesome.
Perhaps a letter to Chevy zone manager or a visit
to your lawyer may get your Dad some satisfaction...
good luck
regards,
Your engine has 255 hp and 325 ft lbs of torque.
www.gmpowertrain.com
I have another question, but lets not push it yet!!!
Thanks all!!
Bob
Thanks
Bill203
-A good percentage of the time, the pulling is a result of the tires. If you rotate them, the pulling may go away. Without any history on the truck, it is difficult to tell whether it is being caused by the deathstones or a bent frame. If it is the latter, don't buy it. You may want a mechanic to look it over before proceeding.
-The C/K style has been around for many years and thus have all the bugs worked out.
-Check the kbb.com site for pricing as it relates to the model year and options installed.
-Being that the truck is almost 5 years old, you can expect parts to start wearing out and must be prepared for additional maintenance costs.
-I would suspect that mileage would be something like 14/16
-On the transmission, again it depends whether the truck was abused in its history. You can check the VIN on carfax.com whether it was a lemon.
-nhtsa.com and alldata.com are sources for available TSB's for that particular year truck.
Good luck!!
I agree with obyones experienced comments.
I have a ’98 with very similar options. Mine has a 3.73 diff and softer BigZero P-series tires.
I bought it with 47K on the odo and the transmission went out at 48K. The dealer paid for it. I agree that we hear a lot of instances of trans failures, however, we hear of them on the other two domestics as well. Until Dodge gets a different trans – manual is the choice there. Would I choose this vintage Chevy again? Given the same vehicles to test drive (’97 F150 with similar options vs the K1500): Yes.
If the steering deal is tires, replace. Keep in mind that tires with lower rolling resistance will give better mileage. Like “highway” tires vs “all terrain” vs “off road” or mudders. The p-series I bought to replace the mix-match set that was already on mine (I thought I would use my truck as a grocery-getter/commuter) sounded like a good idea at the time. It’s a truck. I should have gotten truck tires. At least all terrain.
Your pedal foot has a major factor too. If I could resist going over 75 on the highway, my mileage would be better. I average 14 to 15 in town at 4500 feet and 17 to 18 on the highway. Did get 19+ once on a two lane that provided built in speed impediments.
I like mine.
Thank you.
Look in the glove compartment door, there is a decal with a bunch of 3 letter/number designations on it. They are all the options on your truck. G80 is a locking differential (Positraction), GT4 is 3.73's and GU6 is 3.42's. The best set up to have is G80 & GT4.
The difference between a regular 4x4 & a Z71 are these 3 things: #1-The Z71 has standard skidplates on the lower radiator (plastic), front differential (aluminum) and transfer case (aluminum). #2-Bright yellow Bilstien gas shocks on all 4 corners. #3-The Z71 decals on the bed !!! That is all.......the regular 4x4 is mechanically identical !!!! The code "Z71" should also be on the glove compartment sticker. some folks "fake" a Z71, this is how to tell if it is the real deal..................
I have a '95 K1500 with a 305 and when the dealer just put a new starter in it, they "noticed" a seal was leaking. But they were quick to say that is very uncommon... I have my doubts on that one... they estimated $350.
Also, I know that this forum is '96+ but anyone here with a '95 or older 305 that gets 14 mpg on the hwy using 87 oct? (3.73 and auto) oil's changed every 3k and all other maint. has been done when the book says so; and I have the credit card debt to prove it!