Lookin to buy soon, need advice

[dregs454]

OK guys, I'm going to be buying a 99+ 4x4 GM pick in a few months here, I need some advice on what motors, packages, options etc i should be looking for.

I know I will be getting a gas engine, diesel is out of my price range right now. I'll be lookin for a truck under 150,000Km on it. One point i can't decide on is whether I should get a 1500 or 2500. I might want to put bigger tires on one day, 33's max. I know for sure I will be gettin an extended cab SWB. I guess Z71 is a necessity?

any advice appreciated

[Palf70Step]

What are you going to do with the truck? If you will be hauling or towing alot, I would got with the 2500. If it is mostly a driver with ocassional hauling and/or towing...then go with a 1500. Normally the 1500's are geared a bit higher, so your gas mileage will be better. Either one can be lifted fairly easy to clear those tires. Around here 1500 4x4s are everywhere, but finding a used 2500 is not so easy.

[dregs454]

yea, i don't think i'll be towing much, just puttin a quad in the back maybe. I guess I don't really need a 2500, but it just seems like they look alot tougher in stock form, maybe a little more ground clearance from the factory? anyways, with gas prices, i should really go with a 1500. Does anyone know what size tires the Z71 1500's come with?

[1972ChevyCheyenne]

Tires On A Z71

265/70/17 (optional) I think 04 was the first year
265/75/16 (optional) all on our 3 Z71 since 97 had these
245/75/16 (OE according to Tirerack)

[cochran63]

If possible buy a 2000+ they dont seem to have as many "bugs" sd the 99 and 00 models did.

www.pistonslap.com

My 2000 gmc with the 4.8 v8 has the piston slap issue but ony on a morning. It will last for about 5 seconds and stop. Very anoying. The truck now has 160,000 on it now and no problems, so maybe it is normal.

[97silv5.7]

i agree on the 2000+ ive heard of a few 99 and 00's with problems, I would just save your cash and stick with a half ton dont sound like you need a 3/4

[Josh]

The piston slap is normal, they use a very short piston for less rotating mass (more power and mpg) the by product is piston slap when cold after a few miles. My moms 02 tahoe has been doing it since 59k miles, has 90k now, never a single problem. avoid the 99 4x4s, 00s are ok, 03/04 have some minor encoder motoer issues (encoder is the lil motor that chooses the gear on the tcase if its push button 4wd). All in all hard to go wrong with one IMO.

[jeefsilverado]

I get 16-20 mpg out of my 05 with the l33 engine, and my 04 with a 5.3l I got 15-19mpg. Both 1500s I have a customer with a 2500, he gets about 10mpg if he is lucky. I would get the 1500 if you dont need the heavy duty suspension. The stealership told me that there arent many differences between the z71 and the regular 1500s. You can always get the z71 shocks and skid plates if you find a regular 1500.

[amscholtz]

I get 16-20 mpg with my '03 and it can handle basic towing without any issues at all. Pulled the '77 home with it with a bunch of crap in the back and it didn't have problems. Just a 2wd though, I can't afford and really have no use for a 4x4 atm.

[dregs454]

wow, i didn't realize the 3/4 tons got such worse gas mileage
I think i'll be goin 1/2 ton for sure

[Joe67]

Good advice so far.

You don't need the Z71 package. Primarily it gets you a skid plate, stiffer shocks and the decals It does seem to help a little come resale time.

1999-2000 trucks had a couple very common problems:
Premature Fuel Sending unit failure.
Premature ABS sensor failure.

I can recommend getting the 5.3l with at least 3.73 gears if you plan to do any towing at all.

The largest tires you can run without any suspension mods on the 16 inch wheel versions is 285/75-16. Some guys crank the torsion bars to level out the truck and put a little larger tire on. I run 285/75s myself, the fill the wheel wells much better then the 265s IMO.

There are a ton of mods available for these trucks

Checkout www.FullSizeChevy.com for quite a bit of information related to these trucks as well

[67ChevyRedneck]

I've got the '00 Z71. Gets 15-18 mpg. 5.3L with 3.73 rear. I test drove the 4.8 and didn't feel it had the "umph" the 5.3 has. Very similar mileage between the two motors, so I went with more power. Truck has 80K and no problems yet. I use mobile one oil and it helps the "piston slap" immensely. I put the cheap stuff in and I heard the slap almost eveytime I fired it up. With Mobile one I only hear it on extrememly cold morning starts. It's about 30 bucks an oil change if you do it yourself though, but it's worth it. It's also good for 5K, I wouldn't trust the cheaper stuff for more than 3. If you get a 99-02 be prepared to run fuel injector cleaner at least once a month. I have also had to clean the front of my throttle body once already (bought the truck with 67K on it) and I think it needs it again. You may also want to run an engine cleaner every 15K. Check out GM-TRUCKS.com for more info.