If you have forgotten what older trucks were like

[George2615]

Also, the ride quality and towing capacity has improved greatly. I had an 86 Chevy 3/4T and suspension was so stiff that every minor bump felt like a pothole.

 

[JerryK]

I remember you had to learn each and every vehicle on how to get it started. Even then, you would sometimes flood it, run the battery down, or set there for many happy minutes trying to baby it to fire. Us folks now days are spoiled. Turn the key, and she is running already.....

 

[lilranch2001]

I watched this vid last night, and closed it thinking it was a stupid and reckless test

They should never have been on the road

Just my :2cents:

 

[Farmer495]

According to my engineering specs, a 1985 K-10 was only available with two gas engines, the V-6 and the 305 V-8. There were 3 manual transmissions; the 3 spd (RPO-MM3), creeper style 4 spd (RPO-MM4) and a 4 spd overdrive (RPO-MM7). Since the driver was shifting a floor lever for gear changes, it had to be one of the 4 speeds. The gear ratios in either 4 spd are such that you have 3 working gears like the 3 spd plus either a creeper low or an overdrive. Really not a good selection. So what axles were available?

V-6 = 3.42 and 3.73 with MM4 and 3.73 with MM7
V-8 = 2.73 and 3.08 with MM4 and 3.42 and 3.73 with MM7

GVW is 6100 pounds for all and the tires looked to be the optional 31x10.50.
With those cubic inches and the sad axle ratios, this truck had to be a real axle snapper. :thumbdown:
For what it's worth, I'll take any one of the pre-emissions trucks for towing.

Think it was the "granny low" creeper 4 speed, shift pattern on the knob on those was L123 and at one point they said shifting down to 1st and he pulled the lever toward the seat where "1" is on the stick.

 

[Farmer495]

I hauled a gooseneck cattle trailer once with an 1985 C30, 350 4 barrel(built and swapped in), 4 speed granny low. Not sure on axle ratio, but dually one ton.

Huge gap between 3rd and 4th gear, and your foot was in it the whole time. That truck worked good too.

 

[Industrial Toys]

For an off the beaten path owner, you can keep those POS disk brakes on the back of pick ups. I am not a race car driver. I keep far back of the guy ahead of me and watch as far up the road as possible. I don't use my brakes much but they cost me plenty of money to maintain. As far as the POS anti-lock brakes go. On a snow covered back road, I might as well not even have brakes if I had to stop in a hurry. GREAT technology!

 

[Diamondpilot]

It is not just the drive train that has improved. The handling and especially the braking of a newer truck is like night and day compared to that '85 model.

Got that right. He was white knuckles the entire time. Today's trucks would be like driving a Caddy and 6,000# wouldn't even be 2/3 of what a base model could pull.

 

[rankrank1]

Them old trucks got er done though. The real game changer was when GM came out with the 1988 body style. The 88 to 98 GM style rides and handles as good as anything built today from any manufacturer. The real ticket was the simple throttle body EFI that eliminated those troublesome carburators from the past. Have a 1992 Chevy C1500 with 4.3 V6 that I bought new (still have it today). Frequently got 23.5 mpg freeway with it. It spent many a year working like a 2500 with cargo coil shocks on the rear end.

My 1992 rides and handles as good as any of the new 1/2 ton trucks that I have test driven over this past year. Sure it is down on the supposed paper horsepower specs compared to the newer trucks but many of the new trucks base model engines have to rev to the moon to make that power. In the normal rpm range that I experience when driving a truck the hp is not really all that different from a newer truck. Not too many new trucks will get the mpg that ole 1992 does either. (My 2001 chevy 4.3 Silverado 1500 that I bought new and sold in 2005 supposedly had 40 more hp and a way superior fuel injection system to the ole 1992 but I never found that hp nor the better fuel economy either which is why it went bye bye).

 

[bigdeano]

If they fixed what was loose in the steering it would have been more pleasant to drive. Back in the '70s I owned property near Durango Co. I made several trips over some of those passes with my '73 Chevy K20 350 automatic with about 14,000 combined weight. If I had to stop on an uphill grade it just barely had the torque to start moving without going into low range, but otherwise it did just fine. It was slow uphill but most other things were too. I still use the truck a few times a year. Don't do much trucking anymore.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Cut my teeth on those trucks... '78 k10, '77 k20, rebuilt the '78 frame with '83 c10 body and '77 k20 drivetrain (it's now my oldest son's) got the '84 k30 diesel cucv military truck, (still have it out back) and a k5 diesel blazer. Then there's the '86 k20 project in storage... and half dozen other parts trucks over the years.

No match for my fords, but lots of fun over the last 20 years.