How reliable do you think a used 1996 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 4x4 Extended Cab would be? Good mileage.... only 133,500(good price too)I hear more people are buying gas for slide-in campers because:There's only a nickle or so difference between fuel Vs. gas pricePayload is the issue and not towing advantages that diesel givesCheaperWhat I'm concerned with is the reliability of the engine that year.

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.

Comments on a Chevy 1996 gas 3500 4x4 Dually? | Good Sam Community

Tom_Anderson
Explorer
Oct 26, 2015
sno-pro79 wrote:
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 .

I assume yours is not a California model? I had a 99 Suburban with the 7.4 (California model) and the idler pulley failed about 150 miles from home. Since the idler pulley was a California-only part, NO auto parts stores had it in stock (even though I live in California) and it took me a week to get it from Kansas.

Keep that in mind if you buy something of that era with a 7.4
cpres
Explorer
Oct 26, 2015
1988 7.4l owner, very happy with my dually. Gas mileage sucks, a bit slow up some hills but it gets me around with my camper and with no payments I can go out and enjoy. Bought my truck in 2014 with just under 63,000 miles on it, less than 6grand.
Flatbed_Fred
Explorer
Oct 26, 2015
Thanks everyone.
The interior is pretty beat up.

So now I'm at that other end. I see a 2011 Chevy Dually with 264201 miles on it? It's loaded and I don't expect very good mileage with this one, but it looks good... I'm just a bit worried about replacing the fuel injectors soon after I've bought it.

If I have to shell out another $5,000 on it, I might as well up my budget and buy a truck with lower miles on it. (Suddenly, there's like very few trucks on the market in my area....)

I've found a 2008 Northstar 9.5 Igloo that if I'll probably buy for $12,700. It's a bit pricey but it's in good shape.

So I don't NEED a Dually... I could get away with a 2500... but I might have to up the suspension later on. Same motor, might as well rest assured.

I'm just worried about the miles ... and yes it's a diesel.
I shouldn't duplicate this question (I just posted it above).

I'm just saying that I hope to get a few remarks on the 2011 now.
kjenckes
Explorer
Oct 26, 2015
I have had both the 7.4 and 5.7 in 2WD Suburbans. The 2 Suburbans with the 5.7 have a combined 630,000+ miles with minimal issues. They pulled my bassboats and campers w/o a hitch. With out towing they got/get 18mpg avg. My last 7.4 got a whopping 7mpg towing my boat to MD on her last trip with me. Sold that. I would imagine the SRW 3500s would get similar mileage. I would jump on another 5.7 in a heartbeat. My current 5.7 has 310,000 and is getting a used heater control set up today. Other than typical, expected, stuff like bearings, rotors, etc it has been a dream. Our 1st 5.7 needed a tranny rebuild at 150,000 and ran great at 320,000 when we sold her. That one had rear heat/ac issues at that point. We bought the 96 in 2004 with 120,000 for $5000 and put a total of 5k more inc the tranny into her. This one is a 96 we bought for $1300 with 240,000 miles. Maybe another 2k into her total inc tires. Pretty good return on our $ if you ask me. I had a 96 3500 crew cab 2WD pick up with the 6.5 that I absolutely loved but the motor hadn't been treated the best before I bought it. Great truck, hauled bassboat and PU TC w/o issues until the motor started going. I would buy another even with the 6.5 as I have learned a lot about tweaking them and caring for them. I currently drive a 96 7.3 PSD 2500 4WD which is a great truck but I was a lot more comfortable in the Chevys.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Oct 26, 2015
Wow Fred you're all over the place here!!!
Anyway the 96 could be the biggest pos you ever seen or could be a great truck. noone on here can tell you that without knowing more about the truck.
That said, I've maintained for years that the 90s models GM pickups are some of the most reliable vehicles for the $ still if in good shape.
Flatbed_Fred
Explorer
Oct 27, 2015
((LoL)) Literally and figuratively Grit dog.
I drove for two hours to look at some more trucks and wasn't convinced to buy either the 2009 or 2011 Chevy duallies they had up for sale (... one was much too expensive and the other had waaay too many miles on it.)
Then I drove another six hours to look at a camper.

Thanks for the advice Grit dog (and others).
I'll check back with them later.
tmartin000
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2015
Something you may want to consider. Look for a 4-season camper with a floor plan that is doable if you decide not to open the slide.

Second, Lance has an excellent reputation for offering a 4-season option. Including dual pane Windows and multi-individual heater hoses (9) from their 2-speed heaters that will definitely keep tanks from freezing and moisture from collecting excessively on their windows. Lance wants there to be no areas in the camper with significant heating differences (temps).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OqHxVpUw98I

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