First off, thanks to everyone on this forum (and others) for help in my vehicle selection. I think I ended up with exactly what I needed (wanted? :victory
.
(this may get a bit ramble-y... typing off and on while working)
My needs:
Primarily a daily drive commuter in a small town. Not a lot of traffic or tight maneuvering.
Needs to be reliable and capable for Search and Rescue call-outs to anywhere, anytime, in any weather.
Haul the wife and I, and our two furry children, in safety and style.
Load up all the crap necessary to make the wife enjoy camping and outdoor excursions.
most extensive offroad will be logging roads and hunting trips.
Also will be used as a workhorse around the house, and in the future we plan to build a house.
-----
I had a 2006 Nissan Frontier Nismo. Great vehicle, maneuverable yet capable, built tough, powerful, comfortable. However, it had a couple things against it:
1. Fuel economy was horrendous. I was averaging 14 on my daily commute. (large tires, etc).
2. Wasn't quite enough truck sometimes. Needed a little higher towing capacity, little larger bed, little larger cab. (1/2 ton probably would've met these needs)
3. Depreciation. I couldn't pay it off as fast as it was losing value. With no Gap coverage on that loan, $4k in negative equity was a scary thing!
The answer: diesel 3/4 ton!
1. With my current driving habits/patterns, I will save approximately $600 a year in fuel (at current prices).
2. haven't tested it yet, but this should be MORE than enough truck. Spacious, comfortable interior, larger (6.5 ft) bed, way higher payload, towing, etc.
3. Worked a sweet deal, and I am only about $1k negative as of now. And this truck will depreciate much slower, so I can actually catch up and have some equity! (Plus, I rolled in Gap insurance on this one, just in case)
2007 Classic (old body style) Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD
6.6l Duramax Turbo-diesel--Engine Code LBZ is known to be best-of-the-best. No injector problems, no overheating problems, no emissions/dpf/urine injection BS. Many instances off 300, 400, 500k plus. Loads of power (360hp/650ftlbs stock), great economy (getting about 17 in my commute right now, will be better after exhaust and mild tune. Also haven't gone through trans yet. Sidenote: I drive a lot of powerstrokes for work (wildland fire/SAR), and have known many Cummins well (friends/family), and the Duramax is BY FAR quieter, smoother, more civilized. Perfect for a daily driver.
6 speed Allison transmission--purely amazing. Has a manual shift mode that will probably prove handy when towing, but I haven't once yelled "Shift!!" yet. :bike_rider: Very smooth operation as well.
4x4, LT3 (every option but nav and sunroof)
Only aftermarket are 17" aluminum wheels and 285/75/17 Nitto Dura Grappler tires. No impression on these yet, but they ride nice and quiet on the pavement. Torsion bars are cranked a bit to clear. Rides like a donkey right now, but I believe new shocks will help. Torsions are not maxed out, and their is clearance at frame and bumpstops. Also Linex'd bed/rails.
One previous owner out of Arizona. Was a fleet vehicle (must have been owners personal, as has definitely not been worked hard, and flawless interior), with a 100k GM Maintenance plan. Contractor went out of business, truck was repo'd, auctioned, and made it's way to me. sitting about 109k right now.
Mods so far:
1. Removed the faded, etched rubber side molding.
2. Removed all the badges, except Dmax/Allison while I was at it (purely cosmetic)
3. Pulled off the stupid fake billet grill insert
4. Spent $450 on Amsoil fluids, bumper-to-bumper. So far have the diffs and engine oil/filter done. Rear diff fluid was burnt and black with lots of powder on the drain plug. Don't think it's ever been changed. Used Amsoil's new engine flush before draining, and the oil (changed by dealer, only approx 250 miles on it) was FILTHY. I think the flush did it's job. Waiting on Trans, air, and fuel filters from dmaxstore.com.
Things to address:
Stock shots are complete rubbish. Were probably rubbish when brand new, now with 100k+ (and who knows how many of those were with t-bars cranked and shock out of specs) they are worthless. Will replace ASAP with Bilstein 5100s, unless I find a great deal on something better first.
Front end components will be strengthened/replaced as feasible. This is the major weakpoint of this truck (although I am not going to be wheeling and crawling).
Figure out a fueling solution. Dmax's are wonderful engines, with woefully inadequate stock filtering. There are several options: nicktane adapter (allows a much better, and cheaper, cat filter to be used, but then no water separator?), maybe combine nicktane with inline separator. However all this filtering will put larger load on cp3, so maybe go all-out on an Airdog? Need to do more research on this
Performance mods:
full exhaust (power and mpgs)
low-level tune (power and mpgs)
gauges (may go with a boxed programmer with built-in gauges, cheaper, or EFI Live custom tune with real gauges, better)
Interior mods:
install gps, detector, cb (upgrade to vhf?), more lights. Better storage. Inverter.
Pics for clicks:
(sorry for quality, dealer's cell phone)
.(this may get a bit ramble-y... typing off and on while working)
My needs:
Primarily a daily drive commuter in a small town. Not a lot of traffic or tight maneuvering.
Needs to be reliable and capable for Search and Rescue call-outs to anywhere, anytime, in any weather.
Haul the wife and I, and our two furry children, in safety and style.
Load up all the crap necessary to make the wife enjoy camping and outdoor excursions.
most extensive offroad will be logging roads and hunting trips.
Also will be used as a workhorse around the house, and in the future we plan to build a house.
-----
I had a 2006 Nissan Frontier Nismo. Great vehicle, maneuverable yet capable, built tough, powerful, comfortable. However, it had a couple things against it:
1. Fuel economy was horrendous. I was averaging 14 on my daily commute. (large tires, etc).
2. Wasn't quite enough truck sometimes. Needed a little higher towing capacity, little larger bed, little larger cab. (1/2 ton probably would've met these needs)
3. Depreciation. I couldn't pay it off as fast as it was losing value. With no Gap coverage on that loan, $4k in negative equity was a scary thing!
The answer: diesel 3/4 ton!
1. With my current driving habits/patterns, I will save approximately $600 a year in fuel (at current prices).
2. haven't tested it yet, but this should be MORE than enough truck. Spacious, comfortable interior, larger (6.5 ft) bed, way higher payload, towing, etc.
3. Worked a sweet deal, and I am only about $1k negative as of now. And this truck will depreciate much slower, so I can actually catch up and have some equity! (Plus, I rolled in Gap insurance on this one, just in case)
2007 Classic (old body style) Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD
6.6l Duramax Turbo-diesel--Engine Code LBZ is known to be best-of-the-best. No injector problems, no overheating problems, no emissions/dpf/urine injection BS. Many instances off 300, 400, 500k plus. Loads of power (360hp/650ftlbs stock), great economy (getting about 17 in my commute right now, will be better after exhaust and mild tune. Also haven't gone through trans yet. Sidenote: I drive a lot of powerstrokes for work (wildland fire/SAR), and have known many Cummins well (friends/family), and the Duramax is BY FAR quieter, smoother, more civilized. Perfect for a daily driver.
6 speed Allison transmission--purely amazing. Has a manual shift mode that will probably prove handy when towing, but I haven't once yelled "Shift!!" yet. :bike_rider: Very smooth operation as well.
4x4, LT3 (every option but nav and sunroof)
Only aftermarket are 17" aluminum wheels and 285/75/17 Nitto Dura Grappler tires. No impression on these yet, but they ride nice and quiet on the pavement. Torsion bars are cranked a bit to clear. Rides like a donkey right now, but I believe new shocks will help. Torsions are not maxed out, and their is clearance at frame and bumpstops. Also Linex'd bed/rails.
One previous owner out of Arizona. Was a fleet vehicle (must have been owners personal, as has definitely not been worked hard, and flawless interior), with a 100k GM Maintenance plan. Contractor went out of business, truck was repo'd, auctioned, and made it's way to me. sitting about 109k right now.
Mods so far:
1. Removed the faded, etched rubber side molding.
2. Removed all the badges, except Dmax/Allison while I was at it (purely cosmetic)
3. Pulled off the stupid fake billet grill insert
4. Spent $450 on Amsoil fluids, bumper-to-bumper. So far have the diffs and engine oil/filter done. Rear diff fluid was burnt and black with lots of powder on the drain plug. Don't think it's ever been changed. Used Amsoil's new engine flush before draining, and the oil (changed by dealer, only approx 250 miles on it) was FILTHY. I think the flush did it's job. Waiting on Trans, air, and fuel filters from dmaxstore.com.
Things to address:
Stock shots are complete rubbish. Were probably rubbish when brand new, now with 100k+ (and who knows how many of those were with t-bars cranked and shock out of specs) they are worthless. Will replace ASAP with Bilstein 5100s, unless I find a great deal on something better first.
Front end components will be strengthened/replaced as feasible. This is the major weakpoint of this truck (although I am not going to be wheeling and crawling).
Figure out a fueling solution. Dmax's are wonderful engines, with woefully inadequate stock filtering. There are several options: nicktane adapter (allows a much better, and cheaper, cat filter to be used, but then no water separator?), maybe combine nicktane with inline separator. However all this filtering will put larger load on cp3, so maybe go all-out on an Airdog? Need to do more research on this
Performance mods:
full exhaust (power and mpgs)
low-level tune (power and mpgs)
gauges (may go with a boxed programmer with built-in gauges, cheaper, or EFI Live custom tune with real gauges, better)
Interior mods:
install gps, detector, cb (upgrade to vhf?), more lights. Better storage. Inverter.
Pics for clicks:
(sorry for quality, dealer's cell phone)
