Do I have a K3500HD or just a random beefier truck?

[mountainfarmer]

Hi all,

Forum said if I didn't know where to stick a topic to put it here. Feel free to move wherever it should go.

I just bought another GMT400 (1993 GMC Sierra K3500) truck for our farm, which brings me up to 3 now.

I have a 94 Chevy C3500 dually with a pickup truck bed that has an NV3500 rated at 9k to 10k GVWR as a Class 2 truck. Naturally I expected this new 93 K3500 to have a similar GVWR and class.

However, I looked up the VIN on my new truck on NHTSA and it's showing as a Class 3 truck that left the factory as a cab-chassis. It shows the GVWR on this new truck as 10,001 to 14,000, the vin also shows this truck as equipped with an NV4500 which explains why this new truck drives more like a bus whereas my other dually with an NV3500 drives with more pep.

Do I somehow have a K3500HD? I didn't think those existed, however I know very little about the HD models of the 2500/3500 other than they had higher GVWR with beefier trans.

Any help here would be appreciated as I'm very curious. Either way, somehow the GVWR is 3k to 5k more than I expected when I bought it.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Interesting....got any pictures of this truck?
Some of our members have a bit more experience with the big 400s. Paging @someotherguy .....

 

[mountainfarmer]

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[454cid]

I have a 94 Chevy C3500 dually with a pickup truck bed that has an NV3500...

That's probably a swap.

 

[454cid]

You must be registered for see images attach

That's the 12K cab&chassis.

The 3500HD, that's 15K, was converted to 4x4 by upfitters like Monroe. All were 2wd from GM.

 

[Sean Buick 76]

I doubt any 3500s have a NV-3500 but I could be wrong. My 92 2500 light duty has a NV-4500

 

[mountainfarmer]

I doubt any 3500s have a NV-3500 but I could be wrong. My 92 2500 light duty has a NV-4500

I'll try to find the VIN info from CompNine for my 1994 C3500. They messed up my access so I can't run VINs until they open tomorrow and I give them a call.

I'll happily be wrong as I'd prefer a 4500 to a 3500 haha.

I just checked the RPO codes in the dash, but they're unreadable in the C3500. It was worth a shot haha.

 

[mountainfarmer]

That's the 12K cab&chassis.

The 3500HD, that's 15K, was converted to 4x4 by upfitters like Monroe. All were 2wd from GM.

Awesome, so mine is likely a 12k GVWR. Any tips for the future so I can distinguish between the 10k GVWR 3500, 12k GVWR 3500 and 15k GVWR 3500HD when buying them?

I suppose the 12k was a middle option between the basic 9k-10k 3500s and the 15k 3500HDs.

I haven't checked the curb weight on a scale yet, but I expect it weighs ~6000lbs to ~8000lbs which means I've got a payload of 4k to 6k. Pretty good. Still a few thousand more lbs than I expected.

 

[movietvet]

Either way, welcome to the forum from Oregon.

 

[454cid]

Awesome, so mine is likely a 12k GVWR. Any tips for the future so I can distinguish between the 10k GVWR 3500, 12k GVWR 3500 and 15k GVWR 3500HD when buying them?

I suppose the 12k was a middle option between the basic 9k-10k 3500s and the 15k 3500HDs.

I haven't checked the curb weight on a scale yet, but I expect it weighs ~6000lbs to ~7000lbs which means I've got a payload of 5k to 6k. Pretty good. Still a few thousand more lbs than I expected.

I'm not sure of the differences on the 12K chassis, but the HD is completely different..... frame, transmissions, front suspension, rear axle, brakes. Everything is different except for the body, and even that has a few differences, like the core support and extra filler panel between the bumper and grille.