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When a Ford and A Chevy could still last 10 years...

cdlaine
Explorer
Explorer
With respects to the great Mr. Haggard....


Celebrating my first 10 years with the big block (this month)...

may have just been lucky but it has been a great truck ! I hope

to get 10 more years from this one... built to tow.

Well done GM .

woohoo ! (easily amused).


Charles


2003 2500HD, 8.1L,CC,4.10,2WD,Allison
Standard bed
Ride-rite air bags
Prodigy
Husky 16K sliding

2013 Artic Fox 29-5T Silver Fox Ed.
Pin wt.(CAT Scale) 2660#
5th (Cat Scale) 12600#

I'll want the Frim Fram sauce with the Ausen Fey with
Chafafa on the side.... Nat
52 REPLIES 52

1320quick
Explorer
Explorer
cdlaine wrote:
Colorado...

That sure doesn't look like an 11 year old truck... does altitude
living/towing require any special tunings ? When I lived in Colo. Sprgs.
and we travelled to the ski resorts my prior Chevy ran a little rough...
but never did anything about it as I was returning to approx. 6000 ft. (Ft. Carson).

R.D,

Go ahead, show us the pic of your beauty... I too had sticker shock
looking at the 2014's... I'm going to do what it takes to get 10 more
years on my truck.

Really enjoy reading these stories around everyday use trucks and longevity.

Charles


Thanks I really try hard to keep it nice. I have never done any kind of adjustments for the altitude. Clearly the lack of air cause a loss in power but the truck seems to still run very smooth. The EFI and ECM do a great job of compensating for the altitude. I've pulled the 5th wheel over Eisenhower, Fremont, Monument and Kenosha passes so far and I have no problems keeping up with the traffic flow.
2002 GMC 2500HD 2WD, SRW LB 8.1 Allison
2014 Heartland Sundance XLT 285TS
1998 Champion 190SX - 175hp Johnson FastStrike

cdlaine
Explorer
Explorer
Colorado...

That sure doesn't look like an 11 year old truck... does altitude
living/towing require any special tunings ? When I lived in Colo. Sprgs.
and we travelled to the ski resorts my prior Chevy ran a little rough...
but never did anything about it as I was returning to approx. 6000 ft. (Ft. Carson).

R.D,

Go ahead, show us the pic of your beauty... I too had sticker shock
looking at the 2014's... I'm going to do what it takes to get 10 more
years on my truck.

Really enjoy reading these stories around everyday use trucks and longevity.

Charles
2003 2500HD, 8.1L,CC,4.10,2WD,Allison
Standard bed
Ride-rite air bags
Prodigy
Husky 16K sliding

2013 Artic Fox 29-5T Silver Fox Ed.
Pin wt.(CAT Scale) 2660#
5th (Cat Scale) 12600#

I'll want the Frim Fram sauce with the Ausen Fey with
Chafafa on the side.... Nat

Its4mykids
Explorer
Explorer
Love my 1994 w/ 52186 miles. We looked at the new trucks, and really liked them, but I can do a lot with that money when I have a beauty sitting in the garage that does the job just fine and is paid for. Plan on keeping it another 10 years.
R.D., Kathy, Jonah(16) and Meg(14)
1994 F-350 Crew Cab, Dually, 460 with Banks P/P (50k miles - showroom new!)
1998 Prowler 31 5R

Money you can beg, borrow and steal, but you only have your kids for a season.

1320quick
Explorer
Explorer
Nice to read all these positive things about GM trucks. I have a 03 2500HD with the 8.1/Allison as well and I sure do like it. It's got just over 40K miles on it. I had a 2500# slide in camper since I bought it and it pulled it fantastic. I was a little concerned about how the gas engine would perform when we upgraded to the 5th wheel last summer since we live in Colorado and do a lot of pulling through the mountains. I have been very impressed how well the big block pulls the 5th wheel. It still looks and rides like new so if I can get another 10 years, that would be fantastic.

2002 GMC 2500HD 2WD, SRW LB 8.1 Allison
2014 Heartland Sundance XLT 285TS
1998 Champion 190SX - 175hp Johnson FastStrike

Lessmore
Explorer II
Explorer II
We had over 180,000 on our '97 Chev Astro with the 4.3 Vortec V6, which as many know is essentially a Chevy 350 V8 with two cylinders cut off.

Towed with it, transported family all over...it put in 10 cold, hard winters...temps go down to 30 to 40 below here...winters last 5-5 1/2 months. All engine needed was one tune up during that time.

I miss it still.

mkirsch
Nomad II
Nomad II
I've got two Chevy trucks that are 10+ years old.

One babied and kept in the barn all winter with 39,000.
One driven practically every day that just ticked over 200,000.

Putting 10-ply tires on half ton trucks since aught-four.

catfishmontana
Explorer
Explorer
45Ricochet wrote:
catfishmontana wrote:
45Ricochet wrote:
I' m embarrassed you guy's with the nice clean bays. She has lived on a gravel road most of her life so I gave up making her look nice.



On edit
OPPS wrong photo of my 5.9 Cummins, let me look for it. Dusty for sure.


Can we see the rest of the boat?




Mostly on the London Bridge area this time of year in Lake Havasu :W


Very nice!
2016 F350 Platinum Dually, CC
2014 Cyclone 3800 toyhauler
B&W Companion 20K

cdlaine
Explorer
Explorer
happy to tow 12k lbs all over the Rockies for a few weeks this summer, trouble free, ...


That's the ticket ! .... the gas bill... inevitable with this size

guzzler. I *cough* am still trying to learn to embrace the gas station

visit part of the equation (10 years on...). Ha!

Charles

Bill.... awesome photo.
2003 2500HD, 8.1L,CC,4.10,2WD,Allison
Standard bed
Ride-rite air bags
Prodigy
Husky 16K sliding

2013 Artic Fox 29-5T Silver Fox Ed.
Pin wt.(CAT Scale) 2660#
5th (Cat Scale) 12600#

I'll want the Frim Fram sauce with the Ausen Fey with
Chafafa on the side.... Nat

danojeno
Explorer
Explorer
I wish I could say my 06 8.1 truck was bulletproof, but at only 65k miles, it might take a while to confirm this. I was happy to tow 12k lbs all over the Rockies for a few weeks this summer, trouble free, until I added up the gas bill. Great motor though.
2006 Chevy 2500HD 8.1 4x4 CCSB (sold)
2012 Eclipse Stellar 28SBG, Spring Over Axle (Sold)

Volkov
Explorer
Explorer
I don't get the Allison ๐Ÿ˜ž
Have to settle for the 4L85, not a bad tranny but....
No probs there yet.

cdlaine
Explorer
Explorer
Nicholas...

I've been more worried about the Allison then the 8.1... was
relieved when I had it serviced (routine) and no metal shavings
were on the magnets. Even dropping a grand or two (while painful)
is small taters compared to current market replacement. No signs
to date of fuel pump problems... knock on cast iron.

Charles
2003 2500HD, 8.1L,CC,4.10,2WD,Allison
Standard bed
Ride-rite air bags
Prodigy
Husky 16K sliding

2013 Artic Fox 29-5T Silver Fox Ed.
Pin wt.(CAT Scale) 2660#
5th (Cat Scale) 12600#

I'll want the Frim Fram sauce with the Ausen Fey with
Chafafa on the side.... Nat

Volkov
Explorer
Explorer
Love my 8.1 too, no replacement for it in the Burb/Yukon XL so I hope to keep her going for a while.
2004 150k km's/90k miles. Hasn't been trouble free, but almost all of that has been electronic/electric. Finally got shot in its achilles heel though and waiting for the new fuel pump, plus almost $2k of other things to fix her up fully. My wife was shocked, but it should last a while and sure beats depreciation on a new one.

partsman01
Explorer
Explorer
Here is my big block,
It is in my 1996 GMC 7.4 454

PaulJ2
Explorer
Explorer
Can't resist---04 8.1/3:73 2500 38k.