Did GM ever make this truck?

[Road Trip]

Greetings @carguy502 ,

As promised, I spent the afternoon in a local treasure yard. Was planning on visiting 3 yards, but 2 of them
weren't answering their phone? (Their websites said one thing, but reality is another.) Seems like all the yards
in this area are short on manpower?

Short answer first. Close but no cigar. Despite hundreds of vehicles in this yard, there was only a single GMT400-era truck in the yard -- '92 Silverado:

1992, LO5, both Manual & Automatic, "Light-Duty Trucks" GMT400 emissions sticker (But Federal EPA only)

You must be registered for see images attach

So, you will be looking for a very similar sticker that will state that the light duty truck meets Cali emissions.
(In my next post I'll share some early 2000's GMT800 stickers to show how the stickers vary between Federal, Cali, and even E85 versions.)

And as for the whole spark plug gap debate, check out the .035" gaps specified? Did the whole
.060" (revised to .045") gaps come about with the Vortec engines?

Sorry I couldn't come up with the magic sticker, but now I have learned that just because NY adopted Cali emissions in '94,
this doesn't mean that we also ended up with the YF5 'CARB* mandated' stickers, too. The only way I'd see the sticker
you need out here in upstate NY is if a YF5 GMT400 truck had originally been ordered/bought out in Cali & then it was
subsequently moved out to NY...and many years later eventually put out to pasture.

And one last thing. I looked carefully through a total of ~40 Chevy full-size trucks in the lot (1 GMT400 and the
rest GMT800-era) ...and I didn't see a single manual transmission in the bunch? As one who's always preferred
a standard, I'm not all that surprised, for people who drive standards can/will usually keep them running no matter what.

I'll keep looking, but it seems more likely that you will find the sticker you need in a west coast or adjacent state's
treasure yard. But if nothing else we've given you some proof that these were offered for sale way back when, plus
a few RPO-based bread crumbs that you can follow.

Best of luck with that S-10 project. If you get it put together, past the CARB referee, and actually on the road please
be sure to come back and share the good news.

Cheers --

*California Air Resources Board

 

[Road Trip]

I've been to many yards, and never, NEVER, have I seen a Commifornia emissions truck. I had an 08 Tundra that had that BS, one of the vacuum pumps went bad and set the check engine light. I bypassed it post haste. IMO, NY isn't as strict as Cali is, least where I am. As long as the check engine light ain't on, and everything works, no questions....

While I was out searching for the magic CA emissions sticker for the Cali V8 S10 guys,
I was able to find (3) different GM SUV or GMT800 stickers that illustrate the differences.

Here's a '02 sticker, Federal EPA emissions only:

You must be registered for see images attach

Another '02 sticker, this time Federal and California emissions:

You must be registered for see images attach

Last, here's yet another '02 sticker, this time a Federal + "E0 to E85" spec emissions:

You must be registered for see images attach

(FWIW I've never seen one of these E85 stickers in person before today.)

****

The NY law states that you have to repair the emissions back to whatever level
the vehicle was originally built to. (!) The good news? Anything 25+ years old
is *exempt*, so as I'm writing this the entire '88-'98 GMT400 fleet is home free.

And my '99 OBS holdover C2500 will also be exempt the next time around in '24. So like @b454rat
stated, in NY it's not too tough if you drive old enough. By the same token, it
ain't easy keeping them from rusting away before you hit emissions testing easy street.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

While I was out searching for the magic CA emissions sticker for the Cali V8 S10 guys,
I was able to find (3) different GM SUV or GMT800 stickers that illustrate the differences.

Here's a '02 sticker, Federal EPA emissions only:

You must be registered for see images attach

Another '02 sticker, this time Federal and California emissions:

You must be registered for see images attach

Last, here's yet another '02 sticker, this time a Federal + "E0 to E85" spec emissions:

You must be registered for see images attach

(FWIW I've never seen one of these E85 stickers in person before today.)

****

The NY law states that you have to repair the emissions back to whatever level
the vehicle was originally built to. (!) The good news? Anything 25+ years old
is *exempt*, so as I'm writing this the entire '88-'98 GMT400 fleet is home free.

And my '99 will also be exempt the next time around in '24. So like @b454rat
stated, in NY it's not too tough if you drive old enough. By the same token, it
ain't easy keeping them from rusting away before you hit emissions testing easy street.

Slightly different issue in Texas. The plastic trim falls apart long before the body and frame rust.

 

[RichLo]

Wow, I'm glad I don't live in CA!

This thread had me thinking back on the SMART FORTWO car.... remember that little pepper shaker that got around 20mpg? It got super low MPG because US Emissions wouldn't allow it to be imported with the diesel engine that got 80+ MPG in every other country because its NOx emissions was slightly too high for the small displacement (I think it was like 0.8l or 1.0l). But the gas engine that got 20MPG put out more NOx overall but it was below the threshold per liter of displacement. It could have avoided the 'gas guzzler' tax if it would have had the diesel engine that was originally designed for it but per USA standards you can pay a tax for 'gas guzzler' but if the engine doesnt meet emissions you cant import. Complete BS!

And the whole CAFE standard that depends on wheelbase is complete BS leading large manufacturers to make bigger and bigger trucks that get 20MPG rather than small commuter cars because they cant develop 60+ MPG cars at a reasonable price. But they can pump out cheap 40 MPG cars... but that is no longer acceptable apparently.

 

[b454rat]

There is a truck on market place that is a V-8 5-speed, doesn't say what V-8, but thought it kinda funny you were looking for one, and that showed up lol. I need a daily, I'm way over my lease mileage and still have over a year to go, but they days of finding something cheap are over. Only way is to look in PA, they can't have rust, NYS doesn't care....

 

[Erik the Awful]

It got super low MPG because US Emissions wouldn't allow it to be imported with the diesel engine that got 80+ MPG in every other country because its NOx emissions was slightly too high for the small displacement

NOx was a serious problem back in the '70s in the northeast. In some places, if you walked through the rain and then washed your clothes, you'd get pinholes from where the acid rain landed. It was also getting into lakes and streams and affecting the wildilfe. We tackled it a little more thoroughly than the European countries. Europe's had some real pollution issues because of how they pushed diesel vehicles back in the '80s and '90s.

 

[mars2878]

To save time & money on fuel hitting every yard, try this site : www.row52.com

Some yards use it.
You can search the inventory to see what vehicles are available. It also gives the Vin #'s of the vehicles.

Find a vehicle that fits your bill, then drive to that yard to get your pics.

 

[Road Trip]

To save time & money on fuel hitting every yard, try this site : www.row52.com

Some yards use it.
You can search the inventory to see what vehicles are available. It also gives the Vin #'s of the vehicles.

Find a vehicle that fits your bill, then drive to that yard to get your pics.

Greetings mars2878,

Thanks for sharing! This is a perfect example of why I think so highly of
this forum -- fellow enthusiasts freely sharing what works for them.

I just gave this website a spin, and it worked as advertised. (See attached
for the screen snap.) Note: There aren't too many participating yards in
upstate NY, but when I looked there's a lot of Cali locations that you could
make good use of this search tool? @carguy502 , maybe this is something
that will help you find an otherwise unfindable magic CARB sticker locally?

Good stuff. Again, sincere thanks for sharing the wealth!

Cheers --

 

[carguy502]

Greetings @carguy502 ,

As promised, I spent the afternoon in a local treasure yard. Was planning on visiting 3 yards, but 2 of them
weren't answering their phone? (Their websites said one thing, but reality is another.) Seems like all the yards
in this area are short on manpower?

Short answer first. Close but no cigar. Despite hundreds of vehicles in this yard, there was only a single GMT400-era truck in the yard -- '92 Silverado:

1992, LO5, both Manual & Automatic, "Light-Duty Trucks" GMT400 emissions sticker (But Federal EPA only)

You must be registered for see images attach

So, you will be looking for a very similar sticker that will state that the light duty truck meets Cali emissions.
(In my next post I'll share some early 2000's GMT800 stickers to show how the stickers vary between Federal, Cali, and even E85 versions.)

And as for the whole spark plug gap debate, check out the .035" gaps specified? Did the whole
.060" (revised to .045") gaps come about with the Vortec engines?

Sorry I couldn't come up with the magic sticker, but now I have learned that just because NY adopted Cali emissions in '94,
this doesn't mean that we also ended up with the YF5 'CARB* mandated' stickers, too. The only way I'd see the sticker
you need out here in upstate NY is if a YF5 GMT400 truck had originally been ordered/bought out in Cali & then it was
subsequently moved out to NY...and many years later eventually put out to pasture.

And one last thing. I looked carefully through a total of ~40 Chevy full-size trucks in the lot (1 GMT400 and the
rest GMT800-era) ...and I didn't see a single manual transmission in the bunch? As one who's always preferred
a standard, I'm not all that surprised, for people who drive standards can/will usually keep them running no matter what.

I'll keep looking, but it seems more likely that you will find the sticker you need in a west coast or adjacent state's
treasure yard. But if nothing else we've given you some proof that these were offered for sale way back when, plus
a few RPO-based bread crumbs that you can follow.

Best of luck with that S-10 project. If you get it put together be sure to come back and share the good news.

Cheers --

*California Air Resources Board

Thank you for going to the yards for me. This sticker gives me hope that I might yet find the unicorn truck. The search contuinues.

As a side note, are there any databases on the internet that will provide the RPOs for a given VIN? I know Mopar/Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler/Stellanis has a lookup, but I can't find anything like this for GM, only that you can take a VIN to a GM dealership and get a SPID printout.

 

[carguy502]

Greetings mars2878,

Thanks for sharing! This is a perfect example of why I think so highly of
this forum -- fellow enthusiasts freely sharing what works for them.

I just gave this website a spin, and it worked as advertised. (See attached
for the screen snap.) Note: There aren't too many participating yards in
upstate NY, but when I looked there's a lot of Cali locations that you could
make good use of this search tool? @carguy502 , maybe this is something
that will help you find an otherwise unfindable magic CARB sticker locally?

Good stuff. Again, sincere thanks for sharing the wealth!

Cheers --

I am running through it again (I have used this a a couple times), but I still think this is a unicorn truck. Anything helps the search.