Worth upgrading to GMT800?

tahoe.mkIII · Jun 7, 2019

DerekTheGreat said:
Nope, just nope. That 5.4 is indeed just junk. Was yet another modern engineering mistake. Two piece spark plugs, mile long timing chain, twin cams, terrible exhaust manifold design that rots out and camphaser crap that doesn't hold up over the long haul. 1991-1997ish Ford trucks are all I'd buy and have bought and all I'd recommend. Although Ford has acknowledged that 5.4 & 4.6 were mistakes because now they've built a 7.3 or 7.4 gasser and guess what? It's two valves per cylinder, single cam in block and doesn't have a mile long timing chain. Perfect for a truck and a true time tested design for over 60 years now. Just because it's "old" doesn't mean it's obsolete.

I agree with this statement. Had a f350 utility with a 5.4 in it for work. Total garbage and the motor is a huge pain to work on. I vote big thumbs down on those things

L31MaxExpress · Jun 9, 2019

884x4310ci said:
X2 on what you said. I have had a coup!e of 4.8 trucks drove many 5.3 and the feel gutlass. High reving motors. yes. But I like my truck motors with torque. I don't want to have to go to 5k.

I will go so far to say I had a 305 Vortec in my 99 Tahoe before the 8.1 went into it after the 4L60E died had more guts than a 5.3. Had a Lunati 268 flat tappet cam in it. Long tube headers, 2.5 exhaust to the muffler and a PCM tune. It would tow my 6,000 lbs Jayco travel trailer 70 mph down the highway in 3rd gear at 2,700 and almost never kickdown. The little 305 had more guts than any 5.3 I have driven in the low-midrange. The cammed 305 was not bad power wise on the top end either it would downshift to 2nd at highway speeds and continue to make power up to 5,500 rpm shift points (90 mph). I would take a lightly moded 305 over a stock 5.3. Not towing that Tahoe saw more than one tank average 23 mpg on highway trips. Probably thanks to 3.42 gears and P305/50R20s that had it at 1,700 rpm @ 70. We have to truck fresh water into the lakehouse thanks to oil and gas fracking messing with the water well there. We pull in 300 gallons at a time on a 12' utility trailer. It happily pulled that down the highway in OD. Probably hastened the demise of the 4L60E.

884x4310ci · Jun 10, 2019

I will always like the gen1 sbc more then the gen 3 but that's just my opinion. To each there own.

GreenZ98 · Jun 10, 2019

Ive got a 98 and an 06 and they both have things I like and dislike. The 98 definitely has more grunt and pulls stuff better but if I had to drive any distance i'm taking the 06. Honestly if i would quit putting it off and change out the 3.42s in the 06 it would be my do everything truck and the 98 would only get drove on the weekends.

tahoe.mkIII · Jun 10, 2019

The big question is, do the gmt800s have adequate crotch ventilation?..I can't recall if they have the air vent in the steering column, you know that one that is aimed directly at ya yarbles
Scenario: It got warm this weekend and I had to move a bunch of banquet tables. Some level 2 maybe even level 3 swamp ass was occurring.
Solution: ac on hi with crotch vent properly ranged and targeted.

Wiscoburban · Jun 10, 2019

Honestly I don't think the newer trucks are not good but with 120k miles and the stuff you described is wrong your truck will last a long time with minimal money needed compared to a newer vehicle that could have been beat on and not maintained.

billy bee · Jun 12, 2019

I am considering a similar upgrade. My 1996 K1500 ECSB is out of it's league when towing our race car. While it only has 145k on it and is a CA truck, I am getting tired of working on it.

The replacement will likely be a 2001 2500HD CCSB. The 800 seems better in every way. Mostly, I need something that can tow better. The truck I'm considering has 4wd, 6.0, and 4:10 gears. But I am also a little sour on my GMT400 right now...it's parked with brake problems. Otherwise, it has been a great truck.

The economics of an upgrade are really reasonable: I bought the '96 for $3500 about 10 years ago. I put 75k miles on it an had to put a $2k transmission in it. I think I could sell it for $2500 - $3000 as it's still in really decent condition. Not perfect but it's a solid truck.

The '01 has 116k miles on it and will set me back $7000. I expect it will last 10 years and be worth $2500 with 175k miles on it. That seems pretty reasonable.

One thing I'm trying to figure out is the increase in insurance on a new truck. Waiting to hear from my agent. Otherwise, I think it won't be any more expensive to operate than the old truck.

94burbk1500 · Jun 12, 2019

billy bee said:
I am considering a similar upgrade. My 1996 K1500 ECSB is out of it's league when towing our race car. While it only has 145k on it and is a CA truck, I am getting tired of working on it.

The replacement will likely be a 2001 2500HD CCSB. The 800 seems better in every way. Mostly, I need something that can tow better. The truck I'm considering has 4wd, 6.0, and 4:10 gears. But I am also a little sour on my GMT400 right now...it's parked with brake problems. Otherwise, it has been a great truck.

The economics of an upgrade are really reasonable: I bought the '96 for $3500 about 10 years ago. I put 75k miles on it an had to put a $2k transmission in it. I think I could sell it for $2500 - $3000 as it's still in really decent condition. Not perfect but it's a solid truck.

The '01 has 116k miles on it and will set me back $7000. I expect it will last 10 years and be worth $2500 with 175k miles on it. That seems pretty reasonable.

One thing I'm trying to figure out is the increase in insurance on a new truck. Waiting to hear from my agent. Otherwise, I think it won't be any more expensive to operate than the old truck.

You do realize that's still an almost 20 year old truck, right? There's nothing new about it. I doubt your insurance would go up much, if at all. If you finance it, you will need full coverage and gap insurance, which could be more expensive if you currently have liability only, but even that is not likely to be an astronomical rate.

Old77 · Jun 12, 2019

billy bee said:
I am considering a similar upgrade. My 1996 K1500 ECSB is out of it's league when towing our race car. While it only has 145k on it and is a CA truck, I am getting tired of working on it.

The replacement will likely be a 2001 2500HD CCSB. The 800 seems better in every way. Mostly, I need something that can tow better. The truck I'm considering has 4wd, 6.0, and 4:10 gears. But I am also a little sour on my GMT400 right now...it's parked with brake problems. Otherwise, it has been a great truck.

The economics of an upgrade are really reasonable: I bought the '96 for $3500 about 10 years ago. I put 75k miles on it an had to put a $2k transmission in it. I think I could sell it for $2500 - $3000 as it's still in really decent condition. Not perfect but it's a solid truck.

The '01 has 116k miles on it and will set me back $7000. I expect it will last 10 years and be worth $2500 with 175k miles on it. That seems pretty reasonable.

One thing I'm trying to figure out is the increase in insurance on a new truck. Waiting to hear from my agent. Otherwise, I think it won't be any more expensive to operate than the old truck.

Why not just fix the brakes on the '96 and keep rocking and rolling :shrug:

Unless you're just itching for a "new" truck, of course. If you're tired of working on the '96 I can make a solid bet that you'll also have to work on the '01, too. It's gonna need some work to bring it up to speed on maintenance I'm sure.

billy bee · Jun 12, 2019

Old77 said:
Why not just fix the brakes on the '96 and keep rocking and rolling Unless you're just itching for a "new" truck, of course. If you're tired of working on the '96 I can make a solid bet that you'll also have to work on the '01, too. It's gonna need some work to bring it up to speed on maintenance I'm sure.

94burbk1500 said:
You do realize that's still an almost 20 year old truck, right? There's nothing new about it.

Appreciate the feedback, guys. I agree that the '01 won't be trouble-free. But there are really two things at play: towing capacity and itching for a new truck. My '96 is at capacity when towing our race trailer. The '01 will have tow capacity to spare. And yes, I have an itch. I have owned a few cars for longer periods, but I generally go through cars and trucks at 8 - 10 years.

bb

PS: Didn't intend to hijack this thread. Rather, I had hoped to share some of my rationale for considering a similar "upgrade."

Worth upgrading to GMT800?

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