1994 Cheyenne K1500 shorty

[Samwise]

Hello all, been looking through the posts for awhile and decided to join. I have had several GMT400 trucks over the years and currently a 1994 Cheyenne k1500. Regular cab, short bed. Was not running when I got it and the NV3500 transmission was scattered in pieces in the bed. I have since upgraded to the early NV4500 tranny and got it running. It has a good running 305 tbi in need of head gaskets so I've built some 305 vortec heads for it with a little porting and polishing. Have a vortec manifold from Jegs to adapt my tbi. Thinking about a mild build with full 1.6 roller rockers and stock cam . I plan on upgrading the exhaust but leaving everything else pretty much stock. I know it won't be a power house but I don't really need it, just a good daily driver with some off road capabilities. My question is if this sounds like a good combination and if there is something I'm overlooking? Thanks

 

[slow_c1500]

If you’re looking for something daily drivable, I think this fits the bill perfectly. Also shorty headers will give you more power in the low rpm’s, also good for a daily driver. If it were me, I’d straight pipe it. IMO TBI trucks are one of the few that actually sound good with straights.

In terms of off-roading, it depends how tall you want to go, but the k1500s with stock suspension with the valence removed have decent ground clearance. All terrain tires would be a good middle ground between a daily driver and an off-road rig.

 

[boy&hisdogs]

Depending on what gears you have you could just put a set of 32-33 inch all terrains and call it a day. That's how I rode around for years and it got me to all the fishing/camping/hunting spots I needed to go.

I had 3.42s in my axles (with a 5.7/4l60e) and it was sluggish with 33s but still drivable. If I were to do it again I'd stay with lighter alloy wheels and narrower/lighter tires to conserve as much power as I could.

 

[slow_c1500]

Depending on what gears you have you could just put a set of 32-33 inch all terrains and call it a day. That's how I rode around for years and it got me to all the fishing/camping/hunting spots I needed to go.

I had 3.42s in my axles (with a 5.7/4l60e) and it was sluggish with 33s but still drivable. If I were to do it again I'd stay with lighter alloy wheels and narrower/lighter tires to conserve as much power as I could.

I have 3.73 gears and I want to get bigger tires, either a 31 or 32. I want to conserve power, cost, and mpg with 31s, but 32s look better and will be better off-road…

 

[boy&hisdogs]

I have 3.73 gears and I want to get bigger tires, either a 31 or 32. I want to conserve power, cost, and mpg with 31s, but 32s look better and will be better off-road…

With 3.73 I think it would drive pretty nice with either. My truck is a Z71 so it came stock with 265/75r16 (32") and I went up to 285/75r16 (33x11ish) and then on to 305/70r16 (33×12.50). The 305s were overkill imo, they added a lot of weight for no real benefit, or it least it felt like it.

The 265s and 285s drove way better and with your 3.73s either one should be fine.