blackhawk17
OBS Enthusiast
Ok, so I've been around here for a while. I've got a 92 Z71 that is my daily driver, and I intend to keep it. I've got an appointment to get it painted, and I'm working on the suspension, and I really would like to keep the old thing. I like old things and in this day where a car payment runs $600 or more, I'd rather save that money and put some of it into this. It doesn't need anything to be a daily driver (it has been for 5 years), and with new paint it will genuinely be a nice looking truck. I'm pretty attached to it.
I foolishly bought a 2000 k3500 dually sight unseen in the spring when I got back from Afghanistan. It's purpose was to pull our camper and be my new daily driver. Paid too much, spent too much, sold it for too little. It looked good, but it was too much trouble to fix all of the gremlins. My old 92 was in better shape.
I know that most of you older fellas have had many of these trucks, but have finally moved on and updated to more powerful, more comfortable machines, but I'm not ready to do that. I still want to hold out and have a classic for as long as possible.
Money is not as much of a concern as it used to be, so I'm okay with spending a little money. After all, I'm about to have to rebuild/replace the drivetrain anyway.
Additionally, I'd like to be able to tow about 7,000 lbs comfortably (my max), so we're looking at some real numbers, not "ultimate TBI mods" kind of stuff, no offense. I know the trans will need upgrading. We have a newish (2016) that I thought we were going to sell, but it looks like we're going to keep it.
I obviously want to stay with fuel injection, and I need low end power, not a high RPM LS race motor. Maybe a 454 or 6.0? I'm pretty much assuming that I won't be able to keep the TBI 350 unless I want forced induction from what I've read- but that makes me worry about reliability.
I have 3.73 gears and don't really want to change them, and I'd like to stick with my 33" tires. I've done some research, and I'm not 17 years old, so I know that we're talking money and time. I'm just hoping there is someone out there who has legitimately done some of this stuff and can tell me if the juice is worth the squeeze.
Additionally, I'm in the Clarksville, TN area and am in the market for a good shop to perhaps do some of the above-mentioned work if I'm unable myself. So if anyone local has any recommendations I'd be much obliged.
Thank you for your experienced responses.
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I foolishly bought a 2000 k3500 dually sight unseen in the spring when I got back from Afghanistan. It's purpose was to pull our camper and be my new daily driver. Paid too much, spent too much, sold it for too little. It looked good, but it was too much trouble to fix all of the gremlins. My old 92 was in better shape.
I know that most of you older fellas have had many of these trucks, but have finally moved on and updated to more powerful, more comfortable machines, but I'm not ready to do that. I still want to hold out and have a classic for as long as possible.
Money is not as much of a concern as it used to be, so I'm okay with spending a little money. After all, I'm about to have to rebuild/replace the drivetrain anyway.
Additionally, I'd like to be able to tow about 7,000 lbs comfortably (my max), so we're looking at some real numbers, not "ultimate TBI mods" kind of stuff, no offense. I know the trans will need upgrading. We have a newish (2016) that I thought we were going to sell, but it looks like we're going to keep it.
I obviously want to stay with fuel injection, and I need low end power, not a high RPM LS race motor. Maybe a 454 or 6.0? I'm pretty much assuming that I won't be able to keep the TBI 350 unless I want forced induction from what I've read- but that makes me worry about reliability.
I have 3.73 gears and don't really want to change them, and I'd like to stick with my 33" tires. I've done some research, and I'm not 17 years old, so I know that we're talking money and time. I'm just hoping there is someone out there who has legitimately done some of this stuff and can tell me if the juice is worth the squeeze.
Additionally, I'm in the Clarksville, TN area and am in the market for a good shop to perhaps do some of the above-mentioned work if I'm unable myself. So if anyone local has any recommendations I'd be much obliged.
Thank you for your experienced responses.
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