Looking at a lifted '96 - want some opinions!

**bigburb** · 09-30-2009, 03:26 PM

Hey guys, I found this lifted '96 GMC on craigslist this morning. I emailed the guy about his price, and he said $4,500. I asked him if he is flexible at all after he got back to me with the price, but he hasn't said anything (that was only like 10 minutes ago so I gotta give it some time lol).

Anyway, I just wanted some feedback on this truck. Deal or no deal?

Here's the truck:
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/1373743736.html

**dsfloyd** · 09-30-2009, 05:14 PM

Looks pretty good. definately drive it and look it over as it has a bit of mileage, but things are generally posted on a high side for prices, so i'd offer a little less if you like it and see what happens.

**bigburb** · 09-30-2009, 05:37 PM

Hmm... Yeah I would definitely look it over real well. I'm not too worried about the amount of miles on it, thought. If it's been well taken care of, it should still have a good 100k to go! My burb has 163k on it ad still runs like new! But for sure there's definitely a lot to look for when buying a used car/truck.

But I just want some opinions on it, because it's roughly a 2.5 hour/130 mile drive to where it's located, and it's not really worth the drive unless I'm REALLY interested.

**dsfloyd** · 09-30-2009, 06:24 PM

well then looks like a nice truck to me

**2COR517** · 09-30-2009, 06:58 PM

Well the lift has been on for a while, so if there were any issues with the installation, they would have manifested by now. Doesn't say what gears. With a five speed I would definitely want the right gears for those tall tires. I'm not sure how he spent 12K on those mods, unless he hired an expensive shop to do the work. 350s last a long time, but the bigger cam & injectors does mean he's getting more HP out of the same motor. There has to be an impact to rings & bearings.

Personally, if I wanted a lifted truck, I would want to install the lift myself. But that's just me.

**bigburb** · 09-30-2009, 07:03 PM

So you're saying the bigger cam and injectors are going to kill the motor faster?

**2COR517** · 09-30-2009, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by bigburb

So you're saying the bigger cam and injectors are going to kill the motor faster?

They could. If that 350 was putting out 275 HP in original form, and now it's putting out 350 HP, there has to be a reliability/service life tradeoff somewhere. Could you push a dumptruck with a turbocharged 4cyl putting out 400 HP? Sure, for maybe a week. Obviously that's a drastic comparison from a 25% power increase but you get the idea. He doesn't say what order he did things, but the engine mods might have been to offset the bigger tires. Tall tire/gear combo on a five speed to me sounds like trouble. Which might explain the new clutch, if he really had to feather it.

But that's just me.

I don't want to discourage you from checking it out, but it's something to think about. What do you want to do with the truck? Just bang around town? It's probably fine. If you're headed offroad, I would want an automatic anyway.

**bigburb** · 09-30-2009, 07:59 PM

I want to be able to do both. I drive 8.5 miles each way to school twice a day on monday/wednesday/friday and once a day on tuesday/thursday. Plus there will be some additional driving when I finally find a new job. So, in other words, it's a DD.

I also want to be able to go wheelin', whether it be trails, mud or snow whenever I want to without having to worry about anything.

Do you guys think I should look elsewhere?

**2COR517** · 09-30-2009, 08:37 PM

For a school/work daily driver, that thing would be terrible on fuel. You'd be better off finding a stock truck, maybe add a leveling kit, and some 33s. That should be fine for light off road use.

**bigburb** · 09-30-2009, 08:56 PM

Well, the way I see it, not really any truck I'm looking at could really do any worse than my 'Burban that I'm driving now lol.

And, although not very often, I can get into some relatively technical off-roading. I'm not talking like hardcore rock-crawling, fender-bashing, axle snapping stuff, but the type that would probably be beyond the limits of a stock truck, and just maybe beyond the limits of a truck with a leveling kit w/33's. The type of stuff my suburban could handle without too much of a sweat. This is not very often, though. I would like the find something like the truck I linked to above with about a 4", or a similar truck with a longbed and 6" lift would be cool too!!

But either way, I'm starting to think I should look at some other trucks. Hmmm... Descisions, descisions...