As far off topic as possible, aftermarket pick-up motor and tranny question?

[moorepower]

Originally Posted by GLWenzl

You are worse than me... I’d go a long ways to shoot PDs but ain’t no way, no desire to drive anything through what you have done just to pop PDs lol I admire your determination

But on the other side of that I don’t buy a vehicle to look at and have no issues using it the way I need too... I’m old enough and crippled up enough now that it’s just so much easier for me to have one all around pickup verses two... but back in the day two was the way for me with a 4” lift.

I’d consider a Tahoe if I ever had the desire to do some serious off roading. Being a little heavier may cause some issues but they manouver around so much better than a full size pickup... lots of ways but the bottom line is the best is whatever is in your heart....

Two years ago, on my Wyoming PD trip, they had 2" of rain the first night I was out there, so 640 miles latter I was not going to stop. The Cheyenne river had a concrete crossing at the bottom but it was a little unnerving. Last year, out around Crawford, they got 4' of rain, and there are some places that there is mostly one way in, unless you want to drive much further. An example is the first place I hunted was either a 45 mile drive on "mostly" blacktop or around 20 straight thru on county roads/ open range. Every low spot on the road was now a pond after the rain. IF the rancher that owned it had drove up on the grass to get around it, I did, but if not I did not. In eastern Nebraska if I drove on a low maintenance road like that in the mud, the county would send me a bill for repair, if they found out I did it. Out there it is what they have to drive on, and they all told me that was what they did. That's why I did the work on my pickup I guess, "lift, tires, shocks". I can't say there was no doubt in my mind that it would go everywhere I was driving, but I had no issues. My wife told me to just get a Raptor but, I have visions of towing a camper when I retire! 57 and hoping to retire at 61-62.

[montdoug]

Originally Posted by Stan from Pa.

Hello Doug,
I've nhttp://www.saubier.com/forum/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=282888ever personally tried the Jasper products, after my father in law burned up 2 Jasper transmissions in his 03 Dodge behind his Cummins, I've made a mental note to stay away.
Jasper advertises a bunch and I've heard some good things about them, what you do need to know, their warranty starts with the first unit used, if the first or second unit goes south, your warranty still started with the first!
I personally would go GM if possible but I'm biased
Funny you ask about the 89 year, I just came back from riding in a 88 or 89 GMC Suburban in Heron Mt for a week(looking for a color phase black bear), brought good memories of the 89 3500 I drove for 5 years.

I currently have a my 95 Tahoe/Blazer 2 door setting in the barn waiting on a ground up, not because it makes sense but because I can

Stan

The engine and Transmission are GM "Crate new", going from what I find was mine was born with 195 horse and will now be 330HP out of the GM performance shop. Not balls to the walls by any means but certainly a long way from what I originally had .
Also had the ground up redo suspension and this one was made when they were making real trucks. The Toyota probably makes the most sense but if what makes the most sense rules why do so many of us have wildcats in our safe. Also it's yours the way you what it. Easier to just go talk to the store and say "Give me the bright red one, just like 49 other guys have in my zip code have.
What ever blows your hair back.
Me and that truck been through a lot together, gonna be a lot more now, suppose to be getting an all new finish and and guts in the interior by the 4th give or take. New AC and steering already in it, wheels and tires already on. Gotta get an elk in the back by November. Perhaps most importantly, Nancy loves this ole truck. We've had this truck places that'd work as a laxative for a lotta the "my trucks just like everybody elses that can afford em" guys.
To each his own and I'd love a lottta that new metal out there but I got to many memories in this one.
And George, no more calling my truck a POS though it may well a been when ya called it that .
I bought and sold beaucoups vehicles over the years but I gotta admit I'm having a lotta fun on a new old one rebuilt. I definitely got a good shot a Gear-Head in me.
Happy Birthday America and God Bless our Beloved USA! And Happy 4th to all, lets see some fur flying.

[JSH]

I was thinking about this project the other day. Buddy has an 88, four door dually. He was going to put all new door hinges on as his we noticed were pretty worn out. Also he was putting new window assemblies in while he had the doors off.
Crank or electric I would at least do your drivers door hinges and window.

Another buddy had a GMC Yukon he bought brand new, forget exact year. It was a darn good truck. He and the wife drove the heck out of it. Rebuilt both differentials, transmission and transfer case when it had 110,000 on it. They put another 30-40,000 on it, then traded it off on an Avalanche. He whined and carried on for about four years. One morning he was reading the paper and saw a Yukon for sale. He called, went and looked at it, sure enough it was his old one. The guy had put new springs and shocks on it. Lol, had less than 10k more miles than when he sold it. To top that he bought it back for about half of what they gave him on trade for it. They drove it another few years and traded it off on a 2017 four door short bed Chevy. He showed me what they gave him on trade in and it was more than they did for the dang Avalanche!!! Yukon had real
close to 300,000 on it. The rig had been to about 40 states.

I can only hope this Toyota will do close to that.
Jeff

[georgeld]

Doug:

Don't see where I called anything a POS.
IF I did, show me, ok?

Hell guys, I've got a '69 C10 keeping the sun off the back lawn.
Sure wish I had the health and funding to get it back on the road.

Trans: T400 long shaft. A/h kids put some rocks thru the front glass.

Has a 350 with 400sb heads, straight drive shaft, leaf springs.
Rides like a new lincoln, nice n smooth after I rebuilt the springs.
Got rid of the sway bar coil setup one of the first things i did to it.

Needs: a trans or rebuild, glass all around, brake booster and far as I know
one wheel cyl leaks and a tire and battery. New battery was gone one day I saw the hood up.

Sure not gonna put any $12 grand in it though.

Next door: has TWO (now) '55 Chevy p/up's. Had one the two yrs he's been there, and bought another last weekend at the Street Rod Nat'l show.

Hey Doug, good luck with it, hope it turns out just the way you want.

[montdoug]

Long time ago George and good clean fun, you referred to my old 89 as something about about "where'd ya get that POS" or something like that. As I said, I took it as good clean fun". It was dirty, been hunting looked like a classic example of a POS . Truck's 30 years old, I'm not easily insulted about it, I'm mechanically and maintenance wise a fanatic, runs like a top and it's gonna run a lot better . I ain't built a hot-rod in a long time and I know exactly what I got with it now and I know the mechanic and body man both longer then I had the truck, it'll be better then it ever was new. I use a truck and even putting what I'm putting in that truck now it don't owe me nothing. I love that ole POS!
Should be up and running in a week to ten days, Montana wind flag and all . I know my back and hips are gonna like the suspension on this now better then how it's been lately. Who says ya can't put lipstick on a pig?!!

[georgeld]

You've got a better memory than I do.
Ok, if I said it, sounds like I did. Didn't mean any harm then or now.

Sure hope it turns out the way you're hoping for.
And you can run it til it needs another rebuild.

[Bayou City Boy]

I had to chuckle at another poster's knowledgeable comments concerning trucks and maybe vehicles in general. I live in a large metro area on the Texas Gulf Coast with a bit over 6 million people. Some folks call it the Houston metro area. I notice other vehicles similar to mine when driving here. Depending on where you are on any given day, you can see a lot of vehicles in one day. And believe it or not, 4WD trucks are a very common sight here.

In the roughly 16 month time frame while I've owned my ZR2 4WD Colorado, I've never seen another one on the road here just like it. The only red car that I own is a 7 Liter 465 HP Camaro, and I've seen maybe 3-5 others of them just like mine with a distinctive functional hood air scoop, but none in red. I probably see more older/vintage silver BMG Z-3 convertibles like my 2002 model than any others of all the cars that I own, including my wife's SUV.

Surprisingly........... Earlier this spring I and my wife traveled to Montana in the Colorado in case we hit bad weather and roads on the trip, and at a Convenience Store in a little town maybe 100-120 miles south of Missoula, I saw another one identical to mine with the exception that mine has a hard bed cover cap over our travel cases in the back end and his had a dog in the back end. While gassing up, the owner approached me and asked me how I liked my Colorado. We talked for awhile and he told me that he had gone through quite a few 4WD trucks in his time while living and traveling in Montana for years, and he liked his Colorado the best of the bunch, both on and off the road. I had no reason at the time to ask him if he'd ever owned a 1989 Chevy 4WD to compare his Colorado to. I in fact did own a 1992 GMC 4WD years ago, and it has been gone for years. It was red if that's significant............

My wife will quickly tell you that she likes the ride in my Colorado better than her "far more yuppy" SUV. There's nothing wrong with modern conveniences in my world. Another person's mileage might vary, and I'm good with that too. Still. the comments struck me as being silly based on my experiences......

-BCB

[georgeld]

Hal:

How long have you lived in that jungle?

I was last there in '75, no desire to get back yet either.

I hauled a 12' dia x 130' long "vessel" from the south loop to
Minot ND. Nightmare load, sure paid well though. 9 days of misery.

Used to visit Wade's Steak house, then go a half mile E to Gilley's and
party til we'd had enough, or made a hook up. Now and then we went to
the Red Barn for the same doings.

Been to the South end of that hwy several times too.

One hot muggy August, sleeping naked in the sleeper, windows partly down I made the sleepy mistake of kicking the sheet off.
Took most of a month to heal the skeeter bites on my "arse".

Those days the south loops and circles interchanges was still being worked on. I've wondered if that has been finished yet.
Same question about the eastside of Bozeman Pass. The west side was finished and nice.

Yes sir, Hal, you can have ALL my share of that Houston area.
Has to be a reason so many folks like it.
I never discovered them other than the Texas cowgirls.

[Bayou City Boy]

LOL..!! George, I can tell its been years since you have been in the Houston area. Houston is no longer the wide open wild west oil town that you remember from the 1970's. Some who reluctantly move here have maybe a 2 year adjustment period getting used to life in a big city. Others adapt much quicker. I haven't been bit by a mosquito for I can't remember how long....its been years......thanks to modern science. If you go to the country that's a different matter as lots of areas have beau coup water around them. Texas is not all barren desert as some depict it to be.

Loop 610, which is what I assume you're referring to, has been a done deal for years dating back to the late 1970's. Now there are two additional loops outside of it; one simply called the "toll way" and the Grand Parkway. They allow you to get anywhere you want to go in a very quick time frame anywhere around Houston proper. Rush hour in the morning (~5:30 to 7:30) and evening (~5:00 to ~6:30) can be a hassle when everyone who commutes to another place in the Metro is on the roads. Otherwise travel is very easy to do with the expressways and arteries. And those same expressways allow you a quick exit to go other places away from the Houston area if you choose to go. We actually live in the NW part of Houston and we are probably 40 miles from the downtown area. You only go to Houston for reasons such as going to sporting events like the Astos or Texan games, or for other cultural things, but you can get there quickly from anywhere else in the metro area.

We actually moved to Houston from West Texas in 1989 per an oil company request for me to move to where my check was going to be sent. It always seemed to work that way....... Over the years it has become home and no one who lives here actually "lives" in Houston except for those who like the high-rise life style with a walking commute to work downtown. Everyone else lives in what are referred to as bedroom communities which are like small cities unto themselves in that they have everything that you might want in the way of living in a small circle from your location. Kind of like living in a smaller scale Pueblo. Cypress and Kline where we have lived/live are both NW Houston bedroom communities.

Pasadena, the oil refinery area which you referred to (Gilley's, etc.) is maybe 55-60 miles from where we live. Some people (many refinery workers) choose to live in the area for convenience, but its not my cup of tea. Any town of any size has good and not so good places to live based on your wants. That area has many new community areas around it but its still the home of maybe 25 oil and chemical refineries located along the Houston Ship Channel. Where we live is away from the industrial areas and is a mix of people from other places which is a Houston characteristic due to the diverse economy here. Houston is no longer (since the early 1980's) just an oil town. Believe it or not, I can be in the "country" within 10 minutes of my home. For years we lived in Cypress, but last year we sold the original 1989 "Homestead" and move about 10 miles NE to an area called Kline. Like most people, we live in a subdivision of maybe 200 homes with all essentia and non-essential needs and wants close by to our location. 2 of our 3 kids live with their families in the area - both maybe 20 minutes from our home and the third lives in Georgetown which is a NW suburb of Austin on the edge of the Hill Country. Jump on the Grand Parkway, which is close to us, in about 10 minutes it takes us to 290 (Austin FWY) and from there we can be at his home in 2.5 hours total trip time. A lot of the trip is very nice lush rolling hill country with a couple of old historical towns along the way just off 290 if you want to stop at either for lunch, etc.

That's a quick and dirty explanation, but its not a hell hole unless you're in the wrong part of the city for some reason. Everyone knows where that is inside Houston proper and you avoid the area. This is all kind of a diversion from montdoug's project but he could quickly put lots of miles on his truck here if he wanted to. I'm sure he doesn't want to........... For me, I like the city life and know that I can get to the country quickly if I want to go. It's not a bad life for me and my wife. We enjoy the diversity of living styles. Probably not for others who have spent their entire life in small communities.

One aside related to getting old in Houston.... In the past ten years our home has been a haven for three other friends and spouses from our past in Wyoming. One guy and his wife were here off and on for well over a year. They all came here for specialized cancer treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center. They are all still alive and thriving today. A fourth is on their way in just a couple of weeks for however long they need a place to stay. All came from small towns but quickly adapted to the Houston environment by necessity. If/when our time comes, excellent medical care is just minutes away for literally anything you might have a need for.

-BCB