New guy with my first K10

[JohnKimble]

Hello all,

I previously posted a thread asking about what to look for when purchasing one of these trucks. I got a lot of good advice which I used in my search over the past few weeks.

The search was a little harder than I thought. Lot's of the trucks I checked out needed a lot of work and were neglected (mechanically). Lot's of play in the steering, factory wiring all spliced to hell, lots of half a$$ed fixes, etc.

I finally found one that was left stock. 145k miles on it, 350, 700r4, maintenance records...runs like a top. The body will need some work and paint before I get into the lift/gears/tires. (the factory 2.73's are a dog!)

Thanks again to those who provided all the great advice in my previous post. I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of questions in the upcoming weeks!

[JohnKimble]

A couple more...

[rich weyand]

Nice! That thing is loaded. Any options that it DOESN'T have?

2.73:1 with a 700R4 is a little hard to believe. Wow. With a 700R4, I would go to 4.11:1 so you could mount 31s and get into overdrive around 55. Those stock tires listed are 29" diameter. When does it shift into OD when on the highway?

[rich weyand]

I would get three bottles of this stuff, one in the engine oil, one in the trans fluid, and 1/3 bottle in the power steering fluid. It restores the elastomers to the seals, and closes up all the little oil leaks that develop as the rubber seals age-harden. I used it in mine after I got some recommendations for it, and it actually works. Most don't.

Amazon.com: ATP AT-205 Re-Seal Stops Leaks, 8...
Also, I switched to full-synthetic ATF and P/SF. Power steering effort went way down, and trans temperatures dropped.

[JohnKimble]

Thank you I will pick some up. Surprisingly the motor is still pretty strong for its age. I'm hoping new gears will help it get up and go a bit more.

I'm not sure when it shifts into OD...I'll have to take it out on the highway and check. I did get around 16 mpg on the 3 hour highway drive home (and I was not just cruising at 55).

I'm planning a 4" lift with rear springs and 35's...so I was debating 4.56 or 4.88's. These 2.73's need to go!

[rich weyand]

Depends on what you want to do. Are you going to 4" lift and 35s for the look, or are you going to use it in the boonies? If you are going to drive it mostly on the highway, you want to keep the mileage. If you are going in the boonies, you need the grunt.

Of course, if you put it in LO, you have 5.46:1 right now. :-)

Here's an RPM chart of ratios and tire sizes for your planning.

http://www.southwestpowersports.com/GEARCHANGE.HTML

You are not even on the chart, currently, but you can look up under 5.38:1 and divide by 2. Don't forget, that is for 1:1 through the transmission, which is in 3rd gear. For OD rpms, multiply by .7.

[JohnKimble]

Lift and 35's for weekend wheeling/camping/fun...