Help- which truck indecision!
 

in the market for a driver, 70+ Michigan miles a day 5 days a week, 3 miles dirt 20 miles highway 10 miles city rest country. Really like 81-87 GMC and Chevy full size. looking for reasonable fuel mileage and long life, and not a 4wd. Already hav a 99 NBS tow beast so that's not really an issue. Found several possibilities and would like input.

84 1/2 ton 250 6cyl THM350 100k probably 3.08 or 3.23 10 bolt so could put 2.73 in it. Beleive this would get 17mpg or so as sitting, would look at swapping in 2004R and getting close to 20mpg. $3k + trans
84 1/2 ton 6.2 diesel auto 100k would this get 18mpg? $5k Anyone know what trans and rear end and ratio it is likely to have?
87 3/4 ton 5.0 probably a 700R4 60k I would bet 15-16 mpg probably 3.43 14-bolt so not much more highway gear available $5k

All have decent to great bodies and interiors. I'm assuming that the tires etc are in eqivalent shape and that I have to add a posi to whatever I get. I'm very familiar with the 6cyl, SBC are common and I know nothing about diesels.

All opinions welcome! :crazy: :confused: :o

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

I think the six-banger is called for in this situation. Considering the extra cost of diesel fuel, there isn't much to gain there.

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

I think the diesel should get better than 18mpg, my 2wd diesel burb got at least 22mpg. My 4x4 diesel burb gets 19mpg. My guess is the truck has a 700R4. Not sure about the rear gears, of the 3 diesel rigs I have in my yard the 2 Suburbans have 4.10's and the 83 4x4 shortbed has 3.73.

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

my vote for the six

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

id vote for the six myself a company i worked for had two FOrd vans the exact same E250 trucks one being diesel and one being the v8 gas and they got the same exact mileage

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

Since MPG seems to be an issue, I would buy the diesel or wait until you can find an '87. They are fuel injected, and have overdrive transmissions available.

Slonaker

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

The 87 is FI but 5.0. I need to find out if the 84 6.2 has O/D. They did not offer L6 with FI in the US, went 4.3 instead, would happily buy one except everyone seems to have replaced them with carb 5.7.:whine:

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

Neither of the 2 diesels I have driven had O/D...the 2wd had a TH-400 and I converted my 4x4 to an SM-465. The shorty actually belongs to a good friend of mine, and shortly after I got it running (had to replace the engine) the tranny (700R4) went out on it.

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

In my experience the six will drink just as much as a 350. I had a 74 with 350 turbo and 3.73 rear gears. The six got 10-13 depending on how hard you pushed it and the 350(stock rebuild) got 13-14 and it was more consistent on mileage. As for the 87, I have one now with tbi 350, 4x4, 465 tranny, and 3.08 gears and it is at 14-15.

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

The 250 sixes with intergral heads also have tendency to crack heads. That is what happened to my 79 with a six. I never got really good gas mileage with it, but the motor was shot. I would go with the 87 5.0. I have a 78 k-10 with a 5.0 running 3.73 gears and could get 13 mpg, and that was with a wore out carb.

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

A 305 with 2.73's and a Turbo 350, or a 305 with 3.08's and a 700R4 are good combos for getting really great gas mileage. Possibly into the 20MPG range. The 700R4 will be the best bet since it's got a lower first gear to make take off easier, and it's got the lockup clutch which will help out a lot too. I would go for the 305.

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

I vote for the 5.0 motored truck.

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

Personally I would go with the diesel, being your concerned about MPG, and long lasting.....you won't beat a diesel in these catagories

I would guess the diesel would have a TH400, and a 14 bolt rear end....with the massive amount of torque the diesel will put out...these would hold it quite well.

Also the diesel will be better if you ever decide to pull anything....you will have no problems

Duro

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

Neat, the opinions split just like my brain!

I'm a little leery of the 6.2, they very sensitive to being properly maintained.
Maybe I'll see if I can buy the FI 305 truck and when I wear out the motor swap in my spare 250. And I already have a non-integral head for it (BTDT).

Many thanks for the input, a lot of good material for my poor brain to chew over.

Re: Help- which truck indecision!
 

Yep, but it's a 3/4 so probably 14 bolt w/3.43 gears. Looking at 15-16mpg probably. But the truck is NICE.