Everyday/towing

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Frank Enstein

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Airbags FTW!

I only paid $2500 For Frank. Nearly rust free but he was badly beaten by crack-head ****** monkeys.
 

HeavyAsAChevy

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What sites do y’all look on when looking to buy a truck/car? The two I know of are Craigslist and offer up.
 

HeavyAsAChevy

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Can anyone tell me what this is? It melted together and it’s making my rpm and mph gauges go all over the place
You must be registered for see images attach
 

stutaeng

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Is that under the dash on the passenger side? Is that by any chance going to the blower motor? The blower motor resistors tend to blow out frequently on these trucks...I don't know if some changed something or wired it directly, causing an overload.
 

Schurkey

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So I currently have a ‘96 GMC Sierra 1500 V6 5spd. It’s a daily and a work truck but it lacks every single bit of power necessary to pull landscaping trailers. I WANT a 2500 or 3500. My question is, what motor/trans would best suit my needs? I’m leaning toward a 5.7 Vortec with NV4500, but idk.
How fast/how far/how often are you pulling that 7K trailer? Yes, a six-popper is not what you need to yank a heavy trailer.

I pulled my Trailblazer (roughly 5K) on a 20' "car (hauling) trailer" about 70 miles last week. Had zero problems at 60 mph through road construction. Third gear, converter locked. Tow vehicle is an '88 K1500, 5.7L/700 trans/3.42 gears.

I'd have used the '97 K2500 7.4L/4L80E/3.73, but the front end has been torn apart for months 'cause I'm too lazy to finish it.

If I were towing regularly, I'd want a big-block, a 4L80E, and gearing to suit my usual speed and trailer weight.

Diesels are super for towing, but expensive as hell to maintain if/when something breaks. The Allison trans is wonderful; but again expensive to rebuild. And, overall, I don't want a manual trans when towing. Manuals are fine in sporty cars, not that thrilled with 'em on work trucks.
 

VIKING_MECHANIC

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Here's my two cents: I have a 97 K1500 with a 4.3/NV3500 and I am currently doing a NV4500 swap mainly because I want to do some mild towing but also....I cracked the bellhousing on the 3500 when I was mounting to the engine. Because theses two manuals are fairly hard to find already, especially by themselves, I decided to go ahead and get the 4500.

My 4500 came out of a 93 so that means I'll have to get the input bearing retainer machined to accept the internal slave. If I didn't already have the engine and trans out of the truck, I'd be searching for a 2500 with a manual.
 

HeavyAsAChevy

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Is that under the dash on the passenger side? Is that by any chance going to the blower motor? The blower motor resistors tend to blow out frequently on these trucks...I don't know if some changed something or wired it directly, causing an overload.
It’s on the passenger side and I’m pretty sure it does go to the blower motor.
 

scottydl

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My prior 95 Suburban C2500 had the 7.4L and 4.10 gears with 4L80E trans. It was a great combo of family + towing rig (which is what I used it for) for its era, and did relatively well with our 32’ RV trailer weighing around 9500# loaded. Tongue weight was around 1300# and the Burb barely squatted at all. I did have a weight distribution hitch and airbags also to balance weight and smooth out the ride, but didn’t really need it for leveling. I’d imagine you could expect the same from a pickup of the same setup.

All that to say… now I have a 2005 Duramax CCLB DRW and I don’t think I’ll ever go back! It tows like there’s nothing behind it.
 
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