Help me decide pls?

You can save a bundle if you don't have a need for 4WD and buy 2WD. Slight improvement on gas mileage too, all other factors being equal.

If you can turn a wrench to do repairs as needed, I suggest you go with the more comfortable, and affordable, Chev.

No wrote:

4WD is a must have.

4wd is completely useless if you dont have locking differentials. If half the truck is on pavement, and the other two wheels are in the mud on the side of the road with no grip at all, your truck becomes two wheel drive again, its just not the rear two.

Two wheel drive with an ARB locker can get you out of more places then 4wd with open diffs

r

OP said he wanted truck for occasional weekend use, trips to the airport. Doesn't need 4WD for that.

automatic.......

I am 45, and can drive a stick, just don't want to have to with my health problems.....

and take into consideration I was sorely tempted last night to outbid someone for a clean, 53,000 mile 1980 Chevrolet Citation X-11 (sports model) with a 4-speed.

someone got a great deal for $511

Way more than you need to spend for what you say you need a truck for.

Too many miles on it.

You could end up tossing a ton of money into this puppy.

Buy a 2wd truck. Why pay for somthing that you won't use?

Roy

What if he needs to pull a loaded grain wagon out of the field and plow snow that's laying on top of an inch of ice on the way to the airport?

I the old J20 I have started life as a farm truck with my father inlaw and was used to pull grain wagons and trailers weighing up to

23,000lbs out of the field and it has no locking diffs and I bought it off of him 16 years ago when he bought a new truck also with open diffs. I pushed snow with it for over 11 years in all kinds of conditon including a blizzard once and never got stuck in all those years. I also have a 2000 K3500 with open diffs that has been stuck twice once when it slipped of of a lane with all tires slipping and once on a country lane and when it did all 4 tires spun on the icy under snow and a locker would not have done anything. I pulled it out with the J20 with its open axles. If you really want good preformance on thick ice you need studded tires or chians and some weight not a locker because you want positive directional control with no fishtailing which a locker will do on ice most of the time. (I run 4 studded tires on one of my trucks and it is NICE in ice, especailly when transporting or speading salt on ice coverd lots) Directional control is paramount when plowing snow. I plan to restore J20 someday as itis now retired to sitting in barn though it still runs well. When I meet my wife I had a 72 3/4 T GMC with a 4 speed and open diffs and we used to have "contests" to see who could pull the biggest loads out of field and up to mill. It was about a draw. (after he sold his 3 year old 2wd ford with a locker and got the J20) WHen he or I would get bogged down we were spinning all 4 tires and we could disconect and drive away and use a tractor to pull out wagons that were sunk in too deep to pull out with truck. When I ran with 3 to 4000lbs of grain in bed it never got hung up and rarely did without it. There are some instances where a locker will help but it is not the must have that some make it out to be with a 4x4 and if I bought a new 4x4 plow truck tomorrow it would have open diffs. With a 2wd, a locker does tend to be more helpful sometimes.

Sure, a locker is not 100% required, but there are some areas I have taken my truck where I had a wheel in the air, and the other three on the ground. The adjacent tire would just spin. I also know that in the rain, the limited slip in my truck makes the truck fishtail a lot quicker then an open diff. A friend of mine was parked on the side of the road in his 4x4 excursion. The two driver side wheels were on pavement, and the passenger side wheel were in the dirt/mud. He put it in 4wd, and the passenger side tires just kept spinning and didn't go anywhere. I guess if you have enough weight to overcome any traction issues with the HP output, then the locking diff would not be all that helpful.

"Trey" wrote: > "SnoMan" wrote in message > news:1_590382 snipped-for-privacy@autoforumz.com... > > "Trey" wrote: >  > > "Lena" < snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com> wrote in > message >  > >

I think the best setup would be a selectable locker (lockable on demand) that is a open diff otherwise as you would have no surprises and could lock it if when you want it locked, not when it wants to. I would try one of them I think if it was a OEM option on a new truck. Maybe someday it will be widely availble instead of on a few select vehicals. One more thing, if you are looking at making/configuring a plow truck, pay attention to front axle weight and capacity because a plow will add about 1000 to 1200 lbs or more to it for offset leverage and weight. Get the stiffest springs possible and I prefer gas engines because they weight a lot less so there is less weight on axle with a plow than with a diesel. My K3500 weighs 3300lbs up front without plow and 4300lbs with it in carry and GAWR is 4800 so I am in limits for warranty. With a diesel it would be over and that wht Gm generally does not warrant plows on diesel P/U?s. Dodge upgrade axle in O3 to

5600lbs or so because of problems with D60?s with Cummins and plows. Even still a truck that weight over 5000 lbs on front axle with a plow mounted and 3000lbs or less in the rear is not going to be the most stable thing on slick pavement.

OP here

Thanks for all the replies. 4WD is on my list of nice to haves, not must haves. I do live up a steep hill in an area that gets a lot of snow and ice. I do do occasional off road hauling (Brush, wood, etc.) at my campground. and I have been called to action in helping pull someone out of mud, snow, etc. on more than several occasions. So, 4WD is a very nice to have for me. I do have an SUV that has, and will continue to, serve me well when I need the greater towing and 4wd capabilities. (02 Z71 Suburban.)

I have decided to wait a couple of weeks to see what some additional funds I have coming in will do to the picture. I am leaning toward the dodge. The low miles is the key thing for me there. I figure I can keep it a lot longer than the chevy.

would that be the old J20 with the 401, 360, or 304. Coupled to the turbo400 auto tranny in front of a the original QuadraTrac transfer case? Great transfer case, good tranny. didn't think much of the engines Put a Buick in mine, today would probably go caddy power. Main harness has a bad habit of coming unclipped from its mountings and dropping down on the wiper arm linkage under the dash, makes for a great let the smoke out experience. Long wheel base gave it the best ride of any 3/4 4x4 on the road, but center hangs easy. Best looking truck too. Weak upper shock mounts in the front. Transfer case had what amounted to a limited slip unit in it, it would shift the power to the axle with the most traction. Took the fun out of driving it sometimes, didn't slide turns very well, front axle would kick in and she would straighten out. Some used motorola charging systems, voltage regulators junk. She was a '77 camper special, harvest gold and oxford white with wood grain trim. I traded a '69 Chevy C10 short bed step side 327, Saginaw Super T-10 4 spd for her. Still kick my self for that one, but had to have a 4X4 to go play on Ft Hood on the week-ends, when I didn't have the duty.

Whitelightning

If the Chevy has been well maintained that milage is not bad as I have see some go well past 200,000 with no problems to speak of. I do think the price on it is to high though in view of mileage. I would offer them at least 1000 to 1500 less than their firm price and tell them that you can buy that truck or another one. The biggest problem you can have with a used truck is the nickle and dimeing of repair for the whistles and bells and such. The 97 body style is well proven and (in my opniion anway) a better design than newer ones and not much to go wrong with it either and it still has real metal bumpers and the newer Vortec engine as well that is based on the proven Chevy small block. Also the frame rails bottoms are smooth on that model with no cross member hanging down like on newer GM trucks and Chevies are easy to work on too and you will likely get better MPG from it than the newer Dodge because full sized Dodge truck have never been known for fuel efficency. Finally if it is a weekend truck, if you scratch and bang up a bit the 97, it will bother you a lot less than the more expensive and new Dodge for what it is worth. Least we not forget either that the constant velocity joints in front axle make steering in 4WD, even in sharp turns, smooth as silk unlike any straight axled front end as you have experiance with your suburban.

It has a 360 in it and it is one of the best or they best motors of that size in a truck I have ever owned. It has a lot of low speed torque and feels bigger than it is with the grunt it produces. It has always started and ran well and still does. I actually had it out in Montana for a year in the 90?s and drove it out there and back. I got about 15mpg while transporting it and it never missed a beat. Going up Bozeman pass which is a long steep climb on I90 it maintained 70 to 75 without any real effort and it surprized even me because the altitude did not effect it as much as I though it would. Great engine and if you take off front drive shaft and lock the tcase so it will drive rear wheels, it will light the rear tires (both) without much effort. In fulltime 4wd nobody will beat you up to 30MPH or so because even are part throttle it takes of like a shot and in 2wd mode you have to realy feather it to keep from chirping tires some, especailly on turns. Smooth running engine too. AMC made some great motors in my book.

The 304 (3.75" x 3.44), 360 (4.08"x 3.44) and 401 (4.165" x 3.68"), were over square, ie bigger bore than stroke. Mine had a 401 when I bought it,and it had grunt no doubt, it also had weak rods. when it let loose, in went a

360 with the 401 heads. Still ton of grunt, and still weak rods. Both engines had rod failures in the same area, where the "beam" meets large journal area.. In low range, coupled with 5:31 gears in the axles it was too easy to over rev the AMC engine, hind site says I should have installed a rev limiter. They never let loose out in the boonies, always a couple days later, and never any knocking, just boom. A Buick 350 went in, case swap on the tranny. The old tranny case almost paid for the complete swap. I sold the 401 heads for a good profit. 70mph was pushing my rig in high range, it was much happier running 60. And fuel mileage with the 401 was horrible, one long trip with it from Ft Hood Texas to Fenton Mich.to visit wife's relatives, $360 in gas round trip, drove her grandfathers car while up there, as it had been taken away from him, health reasons. Filled 42 gallon tank in Killeen Tx, and barely made it to Texarkana. She had LT11:00 X 16.5 tires one her, which , as its been a long time, I believe were 31" diameter. I wanted 12.5 x 16.5 but they were 35" dia. and wouldn't clear the fenders turning.

Whitelightning