Looking at a cheap 1996 Chevy 2500 for light duty towing and general pickup truck usefulness. It has the 305. What say you?
Looking at a cheap 1996 Chevy 2500 for light duty towing and general pickup truck usefulness. It has the 305. What say you?
Only if it's blue and will allow you to bring your Elise to Lincoln next year. Actually, I would try to find one with an extended cab. It's so useful to have that extra space. I paid a similar amount for my ford which is basically the same with more cab and less bed.
mw wrote: Only if it's blue and will allow you to bring your Elise to Lincoln next year. Actually, I would try to find one with an extended cab. It's so useful to have that extra space. I paid a similar amount for my ford which is basically the same with more cab and less bed.
No doubt it would help my street cred with the ladies in downtown Lincoln :)
the 96 305 has more power and torque than the 95 350 thanks to the roller cam and better heads.
that 3/4 ton truck will allows you to do more than "light duty towing". that's a good thing.
extended or regular cab? i prefer regular cabs, but i'm weird like that.
long box or short box- i prefer long box because it's a truck.
2wd or 4wd? i like 4X4 because of the extra versatility, but that's just me.
being a 3/4 ton it probably has the 4L80E trans- which is essentially a TH400 with overdrive and a good upgrade over the 4L60E. it probably has the HD cooling setup with external oil, PS, and trans coolers- again, a good thing.
the big 14 bolt full floater rear end is all but indestructible.
ZOO wrote:mw wrote: Only if it's blue and will allow you to bring your Elise to Lincoln next year. Actually, I would try to find one with an extended cab. It's so useful to have that extra space. I paid a similar amount for my ford which is basically the same with more cab and less bed.No doubt it would help my street cred with the ladies in downtown Lincoln :)
You could offer girls free truck rides for their 21st birthday.
I like 2wd and standard cab w/ long box. 4x8 sheet of plywood with tailgate up? Yes. Fit in garage? Yes. Tons of extra moving parts to wear out? No. I'm surprised at the 305 in a 3/4 ton. Is it a light or heavy duty 2500? Count the lugs, 6 is light, 8 is heavy.
I had a 2500 with the 4.3L that did well towing. I towed a Midget (MG, not human) on a heavy steel trailer for 3 hours with a rod knock and it never missed a beat. I imagine that the 305 has more power than the 4.3 and would be fine for most things.
Gearheadotaku wrote: I like 2wd and standard cab w/ long box. 4x8 sheet of plywood with tailgate up? Yes. Fit in garage? Yes. Tons of extra moving parts to wear out? No. I'm surprised at the 305 in a 3/4 ton. Is it a light or heavy duty 2500? Count the lugs, 6 is light, 8 is heavy.
6 lug is actually a heavy half ton- what they would call the "1500HD" starting around '01 or so. they got the "small" 14 bolt rear axle that is only slightly better than the 8.5 that the half tons got... i don't know why they put the "2500" badges on them- maybe so they wouldn't have to post EPA fuel mileage ratings on the window stickers.
As long as it is in generally good condition, price is right and you are good to go.
It's a fair bit of $ for that kind of mileage, but it does look like it's in good shape, and they are very good trucks. He says it's located in Brantford. I'm just south of Brant, and you're in Kingston. I could look at it for you, if you want.
I bought a 1995 2500hd with the 454 in it a few years back for the same uses. It's a great truck. The 3/4 ton suspension rides pretty rough when it's empty but the truck barely notices 5,000 pounds of trailer. If I had it to do over, I would consider a half ton truck, but I'm not going to let go of what I have. If you're towing an Elise on a light trailer, the 3/4 ton might be massive overkill. But you won't be lacking for braking/cooling/etc capacity, which is good.
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