opinions on 96 chevy 3500

[Soundguy]

yesterday i noticed the guy down the road with his chevy 3500 pulled up front for sale. went by and talked with him today. His family owns a small dealership in town, and he used the 3500 to pull a car trailer for a few years. just recently upgraded to a 3500 srw.

the unit is a gasser with 454 ( 7.4L ? ) auto ac, etc. has 190k on it. tires are about a year old, he has reciepts for new front end work ( tie rods, etc ) a water pump, some ac work and an o2 sensor, and injectors, plus an alternator all in the last 3 ys. It's goin up on their lot on monday for 6k$.. but he would take 5500$ he indicated.

has rails for 5th wheel in bed, though he says he never used it , only bumper pull. has a prodigy brake controller. I noticed the check engine lamp was on.. he said he'd check that. he has a new set of fog lamps inthe back seat that he will put on as the oem ones have clouded up.

My every day truck is a 98 dodge 1500 gasser 5.9L with about 130k on it. nothing special.. it does have a pop up gooseneck ball though I have rarely used it over the years mostly cuz I just now have a gooseneck.

the chevy is a couple older and a bit more miles.. but wonder if it's an ok 'upgrade' for my dodge..rear end on the chevy is something not too bad.. like 4.1 paint's still good ont he chevy.. paint on my dodge is letting go.

just casually thinking about it... might be nice to have some extra capacity in my daily truck vs having to pull my f450 out for any large hauling.

anyway, just noticed it up by the road and had the questions.

I welcome all comments. I'm not familair with that engine, etc or the chevy trucks of that era.

soundguy

 

[Diamondpilot]

I drove that very truck for a few years as a company vehicle. It was a 96 Dually 4x4 with the 7.4 and a auto tranny. I pushed snow mainly with it via a 9' Boss V Plow. I would have rather had a SRW for pushing snow but that is what the county bought us for the airport so that is what I had and came with my job.

Its a good pulling truck up to 10,000# then a pig but with that many miles on a gas truck I would not touch it. If its a auto that is the weak point. I am sure pushing snow did not help. I did have a larger cooler on it but it was always giving us troubles but I will not hold that against it because like I said I pushed snow with it. Never had much trouble out of the engine. I found it to be more fuel efficient than the 5.7 in a truck of its size.

The 7.4 only had 235 to maybe 260 HP depending on year in the trucks. It was also a low end torque monster that saved it but still only made around 400 ft lbs. Like I said though it makes the torque on the bottom end so its a good puller.

Around here all the GM trucks of that era rust out in the cab corners. I am guessing its not a issue in your part of the world. Even though I would pass on any vehicle with that many miles.

To top it off I will not support GM any more so I would not buy it period but that is just my opinion so take it for what its worth.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

That's the stuf I want / need to hear.

I'm also not very fond of GM .. they are my last choice when it comes to a vehicle.

no rust on this one.

So other than it being a GM.. from what I see.. the milage is a killer?

I'm not sure what the typical lifespan of that type of truck would be.. I'm guessing it's the engine is the problem.. not the chassie so much. Too bad it wasn't a diesel.. 190k might not be so bad..

Just curious. other than it being GM is he pricing it right?

I'm looking for a daily driver replacement for my dodge gasser. Am thinking I don't want a half ton any more. I seem to have a trailer on my trucks or something heavy in the bed 80% of the time any more.. not looking for new.. but again.. not looking for used up and beat either. Too bad that wasn't a dodge..

soundguy

 

[JESSE1]

That truck would have had the 6.5 turbo diesel. If I had a choice between a 454 and the 6.5, I'd get the 454. The pricing sounds high for the mileage. The mileage is pretty high for the engine and trans, of course they could be rebuilt for a lot less than it'd cost to rebuild a diesel. If you could get them to come down another $1000 I'd say go for it.