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IFS isn’t terrible and in someways very easy to work on depending on the year. New ball joints, TRE’s, idler arm, and pitman arm go a long way towards making it drive nice. Keep the torsion bar crank to no more than 1.5-2” and tires no bigger than 33” and it’ll do okay. Avoid bracket lifts, all...

I could see a V1500 with a 700R4 returning 17 if it was in tune on stock tires. My old V2500 could easily return 15 when it was stock on 265/75R16’s and that’s with a 4L80E and 3.73’s. 4” lift, 35’s, and 4.88’s and it was down to 12 at best. It was an awesome truck and I regret selling it. With...

I had a 14 Tacoma and a 17 T4R. The quality of the T4R is leaps and bounds above the Tacoma. Interior of the Tacoma was pretty early 2000’s Corolla compared to the T4R. The T4R also towed surprisingly good the few times I towed a 3k cargo trailer. The only reason we don’t have the T4R is the...

Whatever gets you out where you want to go works. The GMT400 rigs are cheap and easy to keep running and cheap to buy. You can buy a $2k truck and put $1k worth of repairs and have a solid runner. I would not run a drop bracket lift on either a 400 or 800, to much stress for a weak front end...

Shoot, enough gnashing of teeth here I’ll throw my two cents in. My opinion is there isn’t a terrible truck on the market right now, figure out your needs and then shop for what fits. I love Toyota’s and appreciate their conservative approach to vehicles. I love simple and Toyota is simple...

What are you wanting out of it? The 7.3 IDI is a good engine but there isn’t much out there for them as far as power adders and they are slugs. Easy to keep running, just be aware of block worm as the IDI engines seem to be more susceptible to it. They start easy until you get bad glow plugs or...

Still just driving it. Intake gasket is not leaking and now that it’s getting colder it’s nice having hot heat instead of just barely warm. I’ve had a rattle in my exhaust for a while and noticed a high knock counts when driving with the laptop hooked up to it. Turns out at some point the rear...

Towing with gas means single digits. Those that get better either drive slower than trucks or are towing low trailers with little wind resistance.

The question is what’s your budget? Are you looking new or used? Used there really is only one option and that is a Suburban. Worst case you get a GMT900 that needs lifters, but other than that they are solid. 2010+ have a much stronger transmission. Gen 2 Expeditions are good trucks but their...

Nissan will hopefully keep the Frontier going until they have a solid replacement. They are also a bargain for a mid size truck as a nicely equipped crew cab 4x4 can be had for under 30k. Toyota made a huge mistake with the Tacoma by using the 2GR-FKS. I think if they had gone to the dual VVT...

The nice thing with domestic full size trucks is they give you lots of warning before something fails catastrophically and leaves you stranded. My big concern would be the E4OD. I would make sure it has fresh fluid and that the cooler is up to snuff. They aren’t weak like the AOD, but towing...

Bone stock 2018 base model except for the 17” bronze Sparco Assetto Gara wheels and a cheapo Rola rack. We camp out of this rig and it works well. Put our snow tires on the stock wheels. 1 year and 18k miles and still love it. Averaging 25 mpg, which is par for the course with all our mountains...

Got the intake done. I think the trace of coolant in the oil was likely from the heater quick connect leaking and getting in through the distributor hole. There wasn’t gasket on the distributor. Also rebuilt the throttle body. The only hiccup was I installed the distributor a tooth off so my...

MPG isn’t everything and a diesel swap something you do because you want to not to save money. The nice thing about an SBC or to a slightly lesser extent the LSx is you can walk into any auto parts store and get what you need. My TBI v2500 with a 4” lift, 35’s, and 4.88 gears managed 13 mpg...

I was going to slap the intake on today but experienced some difficulties caused by me not removing the the oil pressure switch. Will get it tomorrow. I did fix my loose distributor cap. One of the holes in the distributor was stripped. Stock size appears to be 6-32. Drilled out with a #29 bit...

Decided to tackle the intake today, or at least take it off. No issues other than a snapped bolt - front most driver side bolt. I am not surprised as this where it was leaking. Got chased inside by the weather but the lifter valley and intake were both very clean. Only had a chance to snap a...

Did you buy new intake bolts? I’m planning on tackling this in mid September. Also have a throttle body rebuild kit. I haven’t had to add coolant since I tightened a loose hose clamp 1200 miles ago and the truck is running great.

Cottonwood Canyon. We have a 10x7 Springbar Campsite. Easily the best tent I’ve ever slept in. Comfortable, quiet, and no issues with wind. It is super windy on the John Day. Got back and had the new tires installed. Blacklion Voracio 31x10.50r15’s. They were cheap, C rated, 16/32” worth of...

This winter we made several trips into the forest to go sledding. On one of those trips I thought my starter solenoid was going out as the starter would spin but not engage the flywheel. Then it just stopped all together. I found my starter hanging by one loose bolt and the dust cover broken...

I thought I’d share my GMT400 adventure. These trucks are plentiful and cheap right now, but that won’t always be the case. Back in the beginning of 2018 it was apparent I needed a truck. We could only afford one newer vehicle so I decided to go for an early GMT400, preferably a K2500 or...