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Post by meskie on Apr 4, 2024 7:24:34 GMT -6
Have 532 thousand km and change on my "farm Truck" which is a '94 chev with auto OD trans. Never have ahad an issue with it yet, although I did to a fluid flush about 150 thosand km ago. Now this truck never tows anything and just takes me to work and back and the daily running around on the farm. religiously put minimum of 500km on it each week. This is also a 350 gasser, doesnt burn any more than 1/2 Litre of oil between changes. Now it is gettin tired as it has no power although I never thought it had any power when new. I know the trans was a weak point with these, but if you used them properly the will work ok. Towing heavy loads where the are constantly shifting in and out of OD will have you sitting on the side of the road in no time. A cam swap and higher compression pistons wakes those 350s up real good. On regular pump gas 10:1 or 10.5:1 compression is fine on them. Aluminum vortec heads and you can push 11:1 on them without any trouble. Stock compression is only 8.5:1 for emmisions purposes. 700r4 transmissions are good if they don’t get heated up. |
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Post by hardrockacres on Apr 4, 2024 10:02:31 GMT -6
Totally agree, did up a '85 350 back in the day that had the t400 trans. Corvette camshaft, 202 heads, new pistons, headers, intake, exhaust. Truck was your typical teenage chick magnet, lol. At this stage in the game I dont think this farm truck will be getting any performace upgrades. When a full tank of fuel doubles the value it is hard to budget throwing any more money at it. I squealed enough putting new tires on it last fall at around $1600, (235/75-15). See how many manufacturers still make that size.
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Post by northernfarmer on Apr 4, 2024 10:08:34 GMT -6
So my 2011 chevy transmission gave up again for the third time in 230 some thousand km. Just spent $4500 on the engine last fall because of a bad head gasket due to a dowl pin that was pushed up into the head allowing it to move around. Pretty sure we have spent more money fixing this truck than it cost us brand new. Anyway way looking for something else as I am done with it. Tired of fixing the pos. Not looking for anything new but not sure what to do. Anyone take a mid 90s truck and rebuild it and been happy with it? Had enough of this new overly complicated junk for now. What model ( 1/2 or heavier ?) of truck and transmission is that ?. The problem with the older trucks as per the mid 90's theme typically is that they have seen salt/calcium for longer and are now a pile of rust. If you luck out and find one that has hardly or never been on a winter road, then it would have potential value and worth putting some money into if need be. And the rust issue is not just body panels, its everything else from brake lines, fuel lines, fuel tank, and the frame all rusting through to name off a few items. If it was not for what they put on the roads there would be vehicles that could stay running for a very long time with mechanical repairs as required. |
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Post by northernfarmer on Apr 4, 2024 10:28:55 GMT -6
Have 532 thousand km and change on my "farm Truck" which is a '94 chev with auto OD trans. Never have ahad an issue with it yet, although I did to a fluid flush about 150 thosand km ago. Now this truck never tows anything and just takes me to work and back and the daily running around on the farm. religiously put minimum of 500km on it each week. This is also a 350 gasser, doesnt burn any more than 1/2 Litre of oil between changes. Now it is gettin tired as it has no power although I never though it had any power when new. I know the trans was a weak point with these, but if you used them properly the will work ok. Towing heavy loads where the are constantly shifting in and out of OD will have you sitting on the side of the road in no time. What model of truck is that, a 1/2 ton or heavier ?. If its the 4L60E transmission then you must have a massive collection of golden horse shoes !, I know of one person that approached the 500000km mark with one of them but that is not at all what typically happens as they normally start slipping as orings etc start leaking, the pump not putting out as much oil anymore and the pressure is not high enough to keep the 3/4 clutch pack engaged and the 2/4 band starts slipping and its all over in a short distance once there is any amount of slippage. Have had that happen with two different trucks here with that transmission multiple times and neither of them were used hard or hardly did any towing. To the transmission shop to get a reman or them rebuild it and start over again. I did multiple flush oil changes and filter changes on one of the transmissions, oil always looked perfect and nope, still failed. It seemed if one got 200000km out of one it was doing really good, do any amount of towing with one and then its all over much quicker. |
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Post by northernfarmer on Apr 4, 2024 10:43:12 GMT -6
Totally agree, did up a '85 350 back in the day that had the t400 trans. Corvette camshaft, 202 heads, new pistons, headers, intake, exhaust. Truck was your typical teenage chick magnet, lol. At this stage in the game I dont think this farm truck will be getting any performace upgrades. When a full tank of fuel doubles the value it is hard to budget throwing any more money at it. I squealed enough putting new tires on it last fall at around $1600, (235/75-15). See how many manufacturers still make that size. As per the tire topic I brought up lately, without a doubt I have paid a few times over what some of these farm heap ... er, I mean trucks are "worth" just to buy one set of tires. And yes, those 235/75R15 tires that were once extremely common are now fading away as new vehicles have not used them for years and they want insane prices for that smaller size of tire in the more name brand names, however if one is willing to go "Chinkland", there are some low cost options but I've had no experience with them. I see Kal Tire has a selection of off shore tires in that size. It might have been the tire brand you bought but also where you bought it that it cost that much for a set of 235/15 tires as that sounds awfully high as I didn't pay quite that high for the LT 235/85R16 mud tires I put up a photo of but they wanted quite a bit more at some tire shops for the same tire. |
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Post by hardrockacres on Apr 4, 2024 12:52:41 GMT -6
It is a 1/2 ton 2WD with the 4L60E, still works like a top. Truck drives 90% time on gravel so you have to spend a bit more for tiress that will stand up. And the 15" are more than almost anything if buying name brand - that is the few that still make them. Put a set of 18" KO2's on my other truck and they were less money. I know its not my tire dealer gouging me as we are grade school friends. I have one that I dont have an issue putting some money in...1998 6.5D with 170K on it. Owned it since 2000. Hasn't been winter driven for the last 15 years. has the rims off of the Harley on it now but I dont have any pics of it here.   |
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Post by iamwill on Apr 4, 2024 13:39:25 GMT -6
Mine is just a half ton. 4.8l with the 4spd auto. It is just a plain work truck that GM sold thousands of around that time, a/c, cruise, tilt, 4×4, auto and a hitch. Hard to find used regular cab long box trucks that haven't been worked. The first time the transmission gave out the planetary assembly grenaded, the second time I backed out of the carport put it in drive and nothing, the third time a seal went and lost drive and overdrive. I guess this is the forth time; the truck just lost all gears going down the road. The oil looked good everytime no burnt smell or discoloration. As far as rust it doesn't seem like vehicles here get too bad unless you have neighbors that insist on putting calcium down in front of their yards. Our vehicles seem to wear out long before they rust out.
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Post by northernfarmer on Apr 4, 2024 15:27:33 GMT -6
It is a 1/2 ton 2WD with the 4L60E, still works like a top. Truck drives 90% time on gravel so you have to spend a bit more for tiress that will stand up. And the 15" are more than almost anything if buying name brand - that is the few that still make them. Put a set of 18" KO2's on my other truck and they were less money. I know its not my tire dealer gouging me as we are grade school friends. I have one that I dont have an issue putting some money in...1998 6.5D with 170K on it. Owned it since 2000. Hasn't been winter driven for the last 15 years. has the rims off of the Harley on it now but I dont have any pics of it here. The photo tells it all, you either have an entirely different theme of what they spread on the highways or you are rarely on them during the winter. It takes nothing for the rear fenders just above the wheels to bubble the paint on a truck like your 1994 and then rust through and then its the rocker panel, rear corner of cab and the front fenders, In fact GM trucks in the 2010 and even newer range have a common theme of fenders rusted right through, same with Ram and Ford as as well until they went aluminum. I am positive that they mix calcium chloride with the salt and sand in varying proportions and in some stretches of problem roads such as hills they must pour on 100% calcium as I have seen on the shaded side of a river hill at -40, the road is completely wet.
I hopped in a seed plant managers truck to borrow it many years back, it was either the same year or very close to your GM and a two wheel drive extended cab short box. It felt way lighter and more powerful than my 4x4. No doubt that is part of the equation, its not packing around the same weight nor has the same driveline drag.
Now you got me wondering what model of 15" tire had you bought as I am very surprised it cost more than the KO2 in the larger size. Having said that, your right that they are way over charging on only a 15 tire size period. Not sure where your located but if you have a local Kal tire and also can go on the Fountain tire website for your area as well, look at the price comparison between the tires, 15" vs the 18" KO2 as one example.
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Post by northernfarmer on Apr 4, 2024 15:49:46 GMT -6
Mine is just a half ton. 4.8l with the 4spd auto. It is just a plain work truck that GM sold thousands of around that time, a/c, cruise, tilt, 4×4, auto and a hitch. Hard to find used regular cab long box trucks that haven't been worked. The first time the transmission gave out the planetary assembly grenaded, the second time I backed out of the carport put it in drive and nothing, the third time a seal went and lost drive and overdrive. I guess this is the forth time; the truck just lost all gears going down the road. The oil looked good everytime no burnt smell or discoloration. As far as rust it doesn't seem like vehicles here get too bad unless you have neighbors that insist on putting calcium down in front of their yards. Our vehicles seem to wear out long before they rust out. You are very fortunate that your not having the rust issues and perhaps you are able to find better older trucks in your area. Having said that, in my own mind if your truck is in good shape I would be tempted to have a transmission thrown into it. Here's a question though, are these failures tied to a transmission shop that was rebuilding it or were they bringing in reman transmissions ?. All "generic" reman transmissions are not the same I am being told, some have a higher quality standard than others with what they replace and what they replace the parts with. I had a stupid issue with my last transmission, its not that it even had all that many km on it and something jammed up and I could hardly get it out of park, I had a mechanic swap it out for a different brand of reman, I needed the truck right away and don't have a transmission jack to do the job myself. In hindsight I should have not spent all that I did on engine and transmission as soon after all that the rust really took over. Had it not been for the rust, then I would have felt ok about what I had spent on it.
I see this year the county is talking about charging the full rate to the ratepayer for calcium I believe, they don't have the website updated it seems but I recall 8 dollars a meter and minimum 100 meters so 800.00. I can only guess that there will be fewer who want to pay that and hopefully that is the case as its all a pain to me to have to deal with that mess and creep along with equipment on it and that is a big part why so many vehicles on this farm are ruined, the idiotic plan the county had some years ago for a pilot project that plastered that crap past this yard for a stretch of a few miles, then the contractor goofed and somehow drowned the road in calcium like a swimming pool, someones head was certainly up their ass over creating that mess.
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Post by hardrockacres on Apr 5, 2024 6:27:14 GMT -6
As I mentioned this 98 Diesel hasnt been driven in the winter in 15 years. Now the 94...it has all the rusted out spots that you mentioned. Along with a few dents from deer over the years. never had it adjusted or fixed as I know that any insurance claim will write it off. Still a plenty goood truck for farm use and miling up on my daily trip to work.
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Post by northernfarmer on Apr 5, 2024 7:56:01 GMT -6
As I mentioned this 98 Diesel hasnt been driven in the winter in 15 years. Now the 94...it has all the rusted out spots that you mentioned. Along with a few dents from deer over the years. never had it adjusted or fixed as I know that any insurance claim will write it off. Still a plenty goood truck for farm use and miling up on my daily trip to work. I assumed the teal truck was the 1994 as that sits very low for a four wheel drive pickup. On your 1994, have you had the brake line rust through behind the fuel tank yet ? |
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Post by hardrockacres on Apr 5, 2024 10:04:32 GMT -6
Yea it looks low with the boards, but it is one of the few I can slide under without my belly getting caught. lol
On my 94 I have had to replace that line and 1 that runs along the rear axle.
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Post by northernfarmer on Apr 5, 2024 10:53:09 GMT -6
I know the feeling, its hard to work on pickups that have running boards that are too low or the truck belly over all due to not enough suspension height. And then trying to go through places where the truck gets hung up.
Yup, that brake line as it passes between the fuel tank and frame is a bad spot and traps the crap and then it rusts through, and I've certainly replaced the small axle lines as any time a wheel cylinder leaks the fitting being backed out twists the line off and they would rust through regardless if they had never been replaced. So if you have to take your fuel tank down, that is when the steel portion of the fuel lines will let go, the engine oil pan rusting through, the rear diff cover rusting through, the fuel tank .... it just goes on and on !.
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Post by Oatking on Apr 6, 2024 21:51:18 GMT -6
  my 93 Chevy Cheyenne . this project is on hold . It needs some transmission work . Back in 93 , dad had the tranny go after 15000 km. I haven’t priced out a torque converter . Truck runs very nicely , replaced the brake lines and fuel tank . my dad took really good care of it . makes it harder for me now to make a decision what to do with it, too bad the Cheyenne name is gone . remember the Scottsdale ! |
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Post by northernfarmer on Apr 6, 2024 22:55:40 GMT -6
my 93 Chevy Cheyenne . this project is on hold . It needs some transmission work . Back in 93 , dad had the tranny go after 15000 km. I haven’t priced out a torque converter . Truck runs very nicely , replaced the brake lines and fuel tank . my dad took really good care of it . makes it harder for me now to make a decision what to do with it, too bad the Cheyenne name is gone . remember the Scottsdale ! If you don't mind spending the money on it, either have the transmission rebuilt or have a decent reman installed. A new or rebuilt torque converter gets installed every time a rebuilt or reman transmission is put in because of the lock up converter and crap that can contaminate the converter from the clutches in the transmission, there is way too much chance of cross contamination to risk mix and matching new/reman transmission parts with used. Of course the transmission and if a shop swaps it will cost more than what the pickup is worth book value but if you don't care about that, I would not worry about it ... just have it repaired. And any decent transmission shop flushes the transmission cooler line system with some type of solvent I believe in case it too got contaminated with metal shavings. If you have all the tools, the trans jack and so forth and feel like changing it yourself, one can certainly do that too. |
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