Comments on a Chevy 1996 gas 3500 4x4 Dually?

I assume it is gas. The engines from that period were very reliable. The 5.7 might be marginal if you are hauling a heavy camper through the mountains, you might have to be patient on steep grades or pay the penalty in fuel consumption and shortened engine life. The 7.4 will likely pull anything you choose to throw at it but will require more frequent fuel stops. I HATE the 6.5 diesel.

My 1996 Silverado 3500 extended cab dually is only 2wd, but I have the 7.4 V8 and romore is correct. It will pull a house!.... at a price. Plenty of power on grades. Carrying my +/- 4,000lb Lance I just averaged 8.5mpg on a 700 mile trip WITH the AC on, including up and down grades like the Grapevine, etc. going 68mpg on the average (down to 60mph on the up grade with OD locked out and AC off of course). I have 97k miles on it now with no issues other than a warped exhaust manifold once around 15k miles ago.

Can't comment on the reliability of the 4x4 function though..

Dak

It all depends on how the previous owner cared for the truck as to how reliable it will be. I owned a 1996 ext cab 4x4 7.4 dually and it was a good reliable truck.

Cons- It had to down shift on every little hill where my current diesel does not. Maybe my engine was a bit worn and losing power? The fuel economy was not good either. I get better mpg on my diesel with my AF 1150 loaded then I did empty with my '96 7.4. I would get 7-8 mpg with the '96 hauling the TC about 12 empty. I get 13-14mpg with my diesel loaded and 20 mpg empty. When fuel price is the same, advantage diesel.

The other problem was it didn't have the weight carrying capacity I needed. When I was young and dumb I figured it was a dually so it could carry any TC. Boy was I wrong. If I recall correctly it has a 7500 lb rear axle rating and a 10,000 lb GVW. Seems like it had about a 2700 lb payload capacity which after putting in gear, camping supplies, and a couple of people left you with not much for a camper especially when owning a dually truck. I was going down the road at well over 12,000 lbs. I quickly upgraded trucks at a loss that I could have avoided had I done some research on TC weights and truck payload capacity first.

Interesting...

Yes, it is gas.
I may be able to get it for around $7,000 dollars... which is a steal. And it is the 7.4L V8 SFI with automatic transmission.

I am pre-qualified with my credit union for years 2005 through 2013.
I'm trying to keep the truck under $24,00... and around $20,000 would be wonderful.

This new information about gas 3500 duallies is great because if I find a good one, it's likely to cost less than the diesel.

FORD: The deal with the mileage, is that the Fords I have test driven in that period (2005 - 2013) are POWERFUL ... but they only average the same poor mileage... 9 to 12 mpg hwy.

DODGE: Today I go in for my first RAM test drive. Ram's in the 2005 -2015 period seem to cost more. Yes, I've heard about the

CHEVROLET: I was hooked on Chevy/GM because of the dependable, mid-range reputation. But the gas mileage in those years isn't much better than that '98 Chevy.

I saw a 2007 Chevy 3500 Dually Diesel for $23,000 ... but it ran hard. POWERFUL ... but the front end kind of trembled a bit and without a load on it, the truck felt like there was no shocks on it.

Perhaps I should go in and take it to an independent mechanic to be checked out?

But again... during those years... it seems like the best I'm going to get is 10mpg to 12 mpg regardless if I go diesel or gas?

If you are still talking about the 1996 I wouldn't say $7,000 is a steel. I bought the exact same truck 5 years ago with about 150,000 miles for $4,500. Highest NADA value on it is only $6,500. Make sure you double check the blue book values before you purchase.

Buy it. Chevy made a zillion of these trucks from '96-'99. There is viable aftermarket support for them. Plenty of parts available. That is a lot of truck for the money.

At 133k & 19 years old, expect to go through the mid-life repairs if not done already. Alternator, radiator, hoses, service transmission, water pump, service differentials, etc, etc. But once that is done, you will be good for an easy another 100k miles.

Will mileage suck? Yup! Take the price of the truck, add a zero to the end of the digits, now you have a new 1-ton truck with better mileage. The difference buys a heck of a lot of gas!

-Eric

Thanks you guys.
This is really valuable information "insp1505" and Eric.
(AND each of you above.)

I agree with insp1505. It would have to be a real cream puff to be worth $7000.

When I was looking for a hauler 5 years ago, $7500 was the common asking price for mid-to-late '90s DRW Chevys, and they were not selling quickly.

They're a good reliable truck. Bulletproof engines and transmissions, the last of the classic GM V8's.

I wouldn't worry about the payload capacity too much, as long as the tires are rated for whatever load you're carrying, are less than 6 years old, and aren't worn to the cords. They may have a 7500 RAWR, but trucks were much lighter in those days so 2+ tons of payload in the bed is not a problem.

You'll probably exceed the GVWR, but you won't hit the RAWR, and the truck is well out of warranty anyway. Just make sure you don't overload the tires, and prop it up with suspension mods as necessary.

With the 4.10 ratios, those things are towing/hauling beasts.

I have a 99 Crew cab dually 7.4 ,bought it new. it has 75,000 miles.
We put 7000 miles on it since june 2015.
The only failure to date is an idler pulley.
I have done some engine work, advanced the cam to lower peak torque, new injectors and custom tune.
I have a 24' boat and a Northstar 8.5 Truck Camper that it tows just fine.
7-9 mpg is the norm with a load .

As a data point I purchased a '91 F350 drw 2wd in '05 for $5k. It had 54K on it. I'm still driving it, it's carried 2 different TCs, pulled trailers, etc. it has 76K on it now.

Just like with the Cheviy, mileage stinks. Gets 8.5 mpg up or downhill, into the wind or against it, yada, yada. HOWEVER, I have less than $8-9K in it and I've been driving it now for 9 years. So who cares about the mpg?