Keep my truck or other options for tow rigs?

Blaze

Blaze

The Jeeper Reaper
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Location
Wake Forest, NC
OK, so I'm at a crossroads here. I need to make a decision here. My current truck has 260k miles on it, it is a 2000 Silverado 4x4 2500 with the 6.0L. The transmission is acting up, and it has some odd electrical gremlins. It is my daily driver and it works perfect for anywhere up to 30 or so miles before the transmission gets hot. Towing it gets hot really quickly. Can not figure out why, trans is relatively new and has had a ton of parts replaced, etc. Wasn't as bad when I got it a year ago, but it has gotten much worse. On top of that it has started leaking transmission fluid from the seal between the trans and tcase. Might actually be pump rub, but might just be a gasket. And it leaks oil from the oil cooler fittings even though I have replaced them and the orings.

My side business depends on me being able to tow my 16' trailer with a car on it, at least once a week when we get moved in to the new house. I need to make a decision on this thing. I am planning on keeping the S-10 Blazer I was trying to sell and use it as my DD. No one seems to want it for the price I was asking, so might as well keep it for a good DD. This means my truck will probably be used about twice a week at most.

So, trying to figure this out. Do I throw some money at the truck trying to fix the transmission and other issues, or do I punt. I figure I can get maybe $3500 as it is, probably more like $3000. I'm thinking of taking that and looking for an older dually. Something like either a squarebody crew cab dually Chevy or an extended cab/crew cab dually Chevy with the 454. Seems like I can find a lot of them with around 150k miles for around $3000-$3500. I know my old 99 2500 454 Suburban would tow like a beast, so I imagine these would be the same. The crew cab would be nice to haul the fam around in, but I guess an extended cab one would be ok if need be.

What do you guys think? Try and fix the current truck or go ahead and look for an older beast?

I'm leaning towards the dually. Because BBC and 19.5" wheels.....
 
Something else to keep on the radar is a van. They can haul and pull just like a truck but you have some advantages with a van. Easy to haul parts and tools without the risk of rain or getting stolen if you stop off for gas and a drink. Also, with you stripping cars and selling parts, a van makes it easy to haul miscellaneous parts to ship as well as you avoid the weighted tags requirement. Just something else to think about.

As far as where you are at now, just keep this in mind. You already know what is wrong with what you have. Fix what is wrong and it's done for a while. Sell it to buy something else and you start the learning process all over again with no idea of what has been giving problems to the current owner or for how long.
 
I'd find a junkyard 4L80E and swap it into the truck. None of the other trucks I've had ride and drive as good as the one you've got. Though for heavy towing a bigger motor is always better. And the fuel efficiency of the 6.0 leaves a bit to be desired.
 
I have 4 2500 burbs. 99 with 264k, 97 with 98k, 99 with 80k maybe and 01 with 221k. I'd find something with less miles, something around 100k or less. The electrical gremlins become more difficult to repair as age and milelage increase IMO.
 
It isn't that I don't like my truck, it is that I don't want to spend the money to fix it. Besides that, time I spend trying to fix my truck is time I'm not spending making money with my business. I can get a less desirable truck like a late 80s, early/mid 90s dually with less miles and no issues, with AC which I don't have now, for about the same price. And it will tow more and get about the same gas mileage.
 
Fix the AC and the trans!
 
The evaporator box is cracked and leaks onto the floorboard. Not just cracked, broken. I tried to fix it by constructing a new box out of plastic and caulk but it still leaks. I'm not about to pull the dash to fix it.
 
go the the old dually. Sounds like you can be into one for neutral cost exchange if you can sell for what you think. Put your fixin money into that one. But I'm always of the mindset that heavier duty is better so have a skewed perspective. And it sounds like you want to do that anyway from your posts. I give you permission - go for it:D. Then I'll use this example to convince my wife the same thing :driver:
 
I'd fix the truck you've got. An older truck will have more problems. Maybe not when you buy it, or the next week, but it will have problems.
 
Well, my wife and I talked it over extensively tonight. We're going to look for something around $5-$6k, probably around a 98 crew cab dually. Can get one in the very low 100k mile range in very nice shape. Going to drive the S-10 Blazer as my DD and sell the Silverado and take a loan for the remainder. Pay it off at tax time.

The main thing is my general annoyance with the trans issue, the annoyance of getting two kids in and out of a 3-door truck (with one being an extremely long legged 6-year old who is trending towards being very tall), and the higher mileage of it. We figure we are already upgrading the shop for the business, might as well get a more reliable truck with lower miles to support it.

The truck runs and drives awesome, but think it is time to upgrade.
 
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So change in plans, story of my life. Someone emailed me and is interested in coming up to buy the Blazer this weekend. Found a good deal on a trans and tcase on here, so figured it was worth a shot. I'll throw it in and see if it fixes the problem. If it does, great, keep it and move on. If not, I'll reevaluate.
 
Blaze said:
So change in plans, story of my life. Someone emailed me and is interested in coming up to buy the Blazer this weekend. Found a good deal on a trans and tcase on here, so figured it was worth a shot. I'll throw it in and see if it fixes the problem. If it does, great, keep it and move on. If not, I'll reevaluate.
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Got my fingers crossed for you man. You'd think after 2 years of trying something would have become self evident.
 
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