Older Chevy and GMC C/K Series (20+ years) General Discussion
I am seriously looking at a 1986 454 GMC 1 ton dually to tow my 5th wheel. I just totalled my truck and have searched the local market and found nothing that has impressed me. I know it's 21 years old, but has only 86,000 original miles. Carb needs a little adjusting but belts/hoses are in great shape, it fires right up. Tires are new. Only one thru spot of rust on the drivers rocker panel and a few surface spots around the fender wells, one tear in the drivers seat, nothing that can't be fixed. And it will be a classic in four years. Any suggestions on what to look for that might give me problems. Hey I'm a girl and can use some manly advise on this.
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Sorry to hear about your truck being totaled. While I don't tow (at the moment), I swear by my "training wheels" - been driving dually pickups exclusively for the last 11 years.
That generation of GMC/Chevy trucks were very durable... I would have loved to have had a 1980 GMC Indy Pace Truck dually (watch "Cannonball Run" if you're not familiar with it
Good that the truck you're looking at is a gasoline engine... whether it's the 350 or 454, lots of shops will be able to work on them - the 6.2L diesel was just not up to the task. Same with the transmission... GM automatics of that era only break if abused.
Be sure to glance through the Chevy C/K Series: Problems & Solutions discussion. There are posts about the pre-1987 trucks in there if you look carefully, covering the Chevy and identical GMC trucks.
kcram - Pickups Host
Will painting the whole truck (rather than just touching up the couple of bad spots) decrease its value as classic in a few years?
Your information was priceless, thank you.
kcram - Pickups Host
If I were you, I would have bought the truck. The small things (rust, etc) can easily be fixed, and yes, it is correct - technically this truck already is a classic. I am personally considering a K5 Blazer.
I recently disconnected and bypassed the oil cooler hoses from the radiator while troubleshooting a curious high oil pressure indication. When I went to reconnect the hoses I found the lower fitting on the radiator stripped (the rad was replaced several years ago, too late to raise a warranty issue).
The nut that threads into the radiator is fine.
My question is...Is the female thread in the radiator an insert, sort of like a helicoil, or is the thread milled into the radiator body?
I'd really prefer to not have to put in another new radiator.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
Warren
Heater: I can't get the heat off the floor. It won't blow on the mid range dash vents or on defrost. I have removed and taken apart all three actuators and they all seem to work. I have pulled apart as much of the dash as I can to get to the vents thinking they might be jammed or rusted shut. I am unable to get close enough to manually open them. I noticed the radio controls for speaker settings are sketchy and wondered if it isn't the push button controls for the heater system that are bad.
4 wheel drive went out on me Christmas morning, stranding me in the sand for a couple of hours.It went into 4 high, the fell out into 2 wheel only. I have the stick on the floor shifter system, light doesn't go on. I had to be pulled out. I have read about the "shift actuator" in other posts. Maybe that's it, I don't know. I figure with the low miles and barley used 4 wheel drive by previous owner, it can't be anything big like the transfer case. I can't figure out why they don't make these actuators fail in 4x4 only so you don't get stranded in 2 wheel drive..
Radiator leaks. I can handle that though. Kind of disappointed as I am used to old Jeep CJ's with manual hubs and go anywhere attidtude.
Body is in great shape and it is a looker. I want to get it up to speed mechanically and drive it lightly. I appreciate any help.
Thanks