Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I currently have a 97 4x4 4.6L F-150 with 206k miles on it and it runs perfect with no major problems ever. And I drive the dog squeeze outta my truck every single day, towing, hauling, offroading racing you name it I do it with it. My dad has a 2004 f150 with the 5.4L with 30k miles and no problems. We have had chebbies in the past but not recently.
I have to say my buddy has a 2001 gmc 2500 fully loaded and his seats are more comfortable than my ford seats have ever thought of being.
I am woundering if you chebby guys can give me some honesty about the reliability and capablilty of your trucks.
I have to note that the new chev they just came out with seems to be a few yards short of the 2004-current f150 generation. It towes the same weight as a 4 year old truck, and in the bed you can haul less than the ford. The ford is higher, quieter, better ride. And in my opinion built way better. But 22 mpg is impressive from the 5.3L. But manythings about the truck seem like they copied ford ideas from 4 years ago. Ez lift tailgate, hydroformed frame, coilover shocks. But then they didnot use quiet steel. The ford ex cab windows are power and roll down just like the front, i dont know if the chevy does or not.

I am a ford guy but I am not too biased. What are ya'lls opinions about your trucks?

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Best thing ive ever owned. Plenty of power, stock shocks not such a smooth ride after awhile, but new ones ride good. extended cap windows are not rolldown, they are pushout. Too much to talk about now, but later.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Ive honestly been disapointed with the chevy i recently purchased. at 34k miles there were trans clunks, sqeaky shocks/leaf springs, interior rattleing thatis impossable to find, the acceleration on my truck is hit or miss...one day it can take off like theres no tomorrow and then the next its slower than a mo-ped. Had the dash lights go out 3 times...ive had the door lock on the driver side replaced twice, rust build up in the engine compartment...and to top it off my brakes went out the other day.
I dont know, maybe I just got a dud...But after ive got most things fixed, got some aftermarket stuff, im pretty pleased.
I do look at ford trucks my buddies own and see how little they have done and see how good they run and it kinda makes me think about trading it in, but im going to stick with it.
I dont know...well see
-Ben

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

i have a 99 chevy 4wd ext caband love it, the rear main seal was replaced at 110k other than that its been good. i hate most all newer cars and trucks they all look like toys so my advice is to spend some time test driving and asking around.

btw had no problem when towing 6k lbs vechicles or making wood runs.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Love the truck. Have had minor squeek issue with suspension when taking off while turning from a start, some driveline clunks w/o issue just a little noise, and a water pump at 45K. Truck runs and rides great though, adn at 60 MPH with cruise I get 26.1 mpg. Not that I ever drive 60 though. I wish I had the 4.10 rearend though. Had my 93' for 283k before trading it and flat dogged the **** out of it with 35' BFG. finally lost tranny at 281k but otherwise ran great even with towing >9000 lbs on many occasions.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Well ive chossing to buy chevy/gmc over ford and dodge, because its in my blood, and i am extreamly familyer with the tbi engine's i can understand the english, when somthing is wrong, i can tell busted wheel berring/bad alt/timing/or even the cooling system,when somthing starts to fail, i can almost prob 99.9% identify it right away,,,so thats one reason, another is simply reliability,my chevys have got me thru some extreamly tuff times, and for this i honestly feel devoted, call me crazy but, thats just me,
I have always felt that ford has pretty good interior, material tends to look cleaner longer, my dad has a few 80's modellarriat's that he seldom drives and seem to need more work then my chevies, on a regular basis, to me i would say yea ford has had its day espescialy in the spotlight("bonnie and clyde in there 30'sford")
but it was chevy who picked up the pieces!.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

This is my first Chevy truck. I love it so far. I still have 2 Fords, 92 F150 with almost 200k and 03 Exped which is the reason I went to Chevy. The Ford dealership where I bought the Epedition just pissed me off so badI couldnt buy another Ford product. To me the vehicles are likely to have equal reliability and comfort but customer support is very important.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I just recently purchased my first Chevy and I am dissappointed to say the least (07 classic ext cab 4WD)

The truck was delivered with scratches in the paint that took 4 trips to the stealer to get fixed. The truck was delivered out of alignment and had to get that taken care of twice in the first 3000 miles. The steering wheel vibrates like it should have a quarter slot in the side of it...and GM could care less...they tell me "that's how they ride"...even though it didn't the first 5,000 miles.

I have had two Fords. The first was a 93 F-150 that I ran for 120K and then sold it to a guy in 2001 and last I heard it was still on the road 2 years ago. I had a 97 Ranger that was an OK truck. I put 128K on that truck but I did have to replace the 4WD hubs twice and the CV joints and tranny were on the way out when I sold it.

The truck previous to this Chevy was a Tundra and it was a pretty nice truck but I got a new job and decided to get selfish and buy a new truck.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

M1Tanker - You need to find a new dealership or contact chevy directly. I have never heard of having this much trouble with a new truck. The dealerships here kiss your ass to keep business and fix things quickly with no issues. Same in Asheville, NC where I had to go once for a warning light. They even stayed open late on a saturday to check it for me. You should try another dealership if is possible.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Hi all--

First a little information about my truck: I've got a 2002 Silverado EC-SB with the 5.3. I bought the truck about six months ago with 12k on it, and now it only has about 18.5k. I know a little bit about the guy I bought it from (about 70 years old, has always had chevys and takes good care of them, and drives about as carefully as is possible-- thus the 12k in 4 years). The 6k miles that I've put on it have been largely highway driving.

My complaints:

1. The tailgate latch/handle has broken twice in the time I've owned it, and it was aparently fixed once under warranty while the old man had it, and once under recall when it was new. It's the same problem every time-- some plastic retainer clip that keeps breaking. It's like a bad joke-- recently, I've been working a lot, and I rarely have time to haul much of anything, and neither did the old man I got the truck from, so I'm estimating that each of the $80.00 repairs allows me to open the tailgate about 20 times before it breaks again. I feel like breaking a window at the dealership on my way out... Thanks for the help a** holes!

I know it sounds like I must be exaggerating, but I'm not given to hyperbole-- I don't do anything weird with the gate, and I don't beat up my truck. IMHO the dealership should goodwill this repair. It is, after all, a part that they know is bad, as evidenced by the recall. Last time I was at the dealership, I asked the service advisors to explain to me why the tailgate latch was repeatedly breaking, and they said that it is my fault, because I pull the handle too hard. I pointed out that it was happening before I owned the truck-- they just shrugged and swiped my credit card for another $80.00 latch repair.

All I can say on that topic is that GM's "Professional Grade" engineering missed the mark on the tailgate latch design. I mean really, it's not even a locking latch like I've seen on some Fords-- you would think they could get that simple part to work correctly. Maybe they should have left well enough alone and kept the old-style metal latch that they used for decades before plastic came into vogue.

2. Interior squeaks and rattles... there are many. I've never been bothered by squeaks and rattles, so I wouldn't call this a complaint, but I know these noises bother many people. I suspect that the causes are as follows:

-- The extended cab is just not very rigid, due to the lack of a support column between the front and rear doors. I think the crew cab or regular cab models would be better in this respect.

-- The GM interior materials are not top-quality. As evidence of this: my truck has the LT trim package, and the leather on the front seats is so-so for a truck, and simply poor quality when compared to up-market sedans (particularly european sedans-- maybe europeans useleather that is softer and thicker, and thus wears better?). Furthermore, there is a LOT of hard, brittle feeling plastic... the door panels, the dash, the center console, the A-pilars, the seat bases, etc. This hard, brittle feeling plastic squeaks when two pieces of it rub together, and it creaks when it is flexed or you push on it.

-- Some loose pieces behind the dash vibrate at some speeds. I suspect that these are just wiring harnesses rubbing against the back of the hard, brittle interior plastic.

-- Door panels creak or vibrate from the door mounted speakers. I'm an NPR listener, and I'm not deaf, so the stereo is stock, and not listened to at high volume levels. Talk radio shouldn't make the doors rattle-- what if I actually listened to music..? You get the idea.

3. The instrument lights are difficult to adjust (they are essentially either on high, which is too bright if you'

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I also own an 02 siverado, and personally believe that your #1 and 3 problems are just on your truck. I agree with the squeeking, but the tailgate on mine is invincable to my standards, and also the inst. lighting is more than good. I do agree with some parts of the ford though. Me and my friend had a mudding contest in a chevy 5.3 and a ford 5.4. Ford smoked me in the waist high mud, but in the street I was much faster, and we seemed to climbVERY steep hillsat about the samerate and difficulty. Ilove my chevy and would not trade it in for anything else.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Hi everyone! This is my first post, but what better way to start then by explaining how much I love my Chevy. I own a 2001 Ext Cab 4x4 Silverado with the 5.3L.

With that said, I have owned 7 Chevrolet trucks in my time and all of them have been solid.As with anyvehicle, minor incidents will occur, but in respect to daily driving, Chevrolets lastlonger than Fords. Please don't get me wrong, I think Ford has produced some amazing trucks, but as far as longevity is concerned, Chevrolet wins most of the time. Remember, I am speaking in regards to daily driving and not off roading. When off roading, mechanicalmalfunctions can occur and it doesn'tmatter what make oftruck you have. Today, with a family and budget concerns, my offroading as decreased considerably, because to play, you got to pay!;)

On a final note, I havehad no problems with my current truck and am very pleased.As far as the new Chevy's are concerned, I can not say first hand because I do not like the body styles. However, one of my closest friends as just recently purchased a 2007 Ext CabZ-71 and he loves it. If you enjoy your Ford, stick with it! But if you ever decide to get a Chevy, you will enter a world of endless horizons.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Have you driven a Ford lately? Everytime I go to the big Auto Show in Milwaukee, I go through and slam the doors to feel how things are built. Fords feel cheap. I owned an 04' Mach 1 Stang and everything feels like its made from the cheapest materials possible. Had a 95 Z28 at the time also and it felt much more solid. I never read about this when the Auto magazines review them. I can't believe they just overlook this.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Just my opinion, I bought a 2007 ext cab silverado classic short box 4x4 with the 4.8l about two months ago. I love the hell out of this truck. Big complaint that I have found through my short time of driving this truck is the lack of braking power.

My last ride was a 99 ranger with a 3.0l V6 4x4. Man what an underpowered engine. Interior was very basic it was an xlt package. I loved the truck after I fixed it up a little and the little bastard fit 33's on it stock just had to wrench on the torsion bars a little. Biggest complaints I have about the truck is for some reason I chunked a rear end on the truck at 82,000 miles. U should know this was in early 2005. I drove the truck very little. Wasn't much off road either. I dumped on the chevy dealer with 88,000 miles on it. I am very glad I did. Ford interiors are very plain to me.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I also do not like the ford interior. As far as your brakes are concerned, that suprises me. I ahve no brake problems at all, even hauling my boat it stops without issue. I notice very little diffrence with the boat loaded or unloaded, and the same with all trailers I have towed. The only problem I have is with a heavy trailer going uphill, if under 80 it will go to go to second gear which is annoying. If I would have gone with 4.10 gears, this would be a nonissue.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Smoke it honestly just might be in my head too. Last truck was a stick and I always downshifted well except for first gear. I haven't had an automatic vehicle in like what six years. The downshifting might be what was making the difference to me. Let me just say that the truck stops fine. It just feels like I have to push down too far on the pedal to come to a stop from 45mph or so. Also this thing is a whole lot more truck than I am used to. A long ways off from a ranger ya know!

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

yeah, you are carrying twice the weight, and not being able to downshift will make a hige difference.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I dunno some new three piston calipers would be sweet though. Ehh that's a mod for another day though. I do believe that I will put them on when I lift the truck and run with 35's.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I would definately upgrade the brakes if going to 35s. I had 35s on my 93 with stock brakes, and I wore out rotors and drums like mad. No issue so far with 33s on my 05'

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

hey guys as you see i have an 07 Classic 1500 Z-71..well my problem is, everytime i get on it, i do wheelies, and it is pissing me off....what can i do?? lmao...on a real note the Ford, Chavy and Dodge are GREAT trucks, i was born and raised a GM guy, but my family has had countless dodge and fords in the the past, and the only one that gave us WAY tom any problems was my step fathers 2000 dodge 1500 4x4.......1st, the tranny overheated and blew a seal...ON THE WAY HOME FROM THE DEALER!! BRAND NEW!! 2nd, the rear wheel seals went out like 3 times, 3rd the head gasket went around 30k..4th the driveline went at around 35k or so, and that is why he traded in, so as for me..ford or chevy, but no more Dodge!

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

This is my honest opinion. I traded in my 5.0L explorer which was flawless for 5 years on a new 2004 5.3L 4x4 Sierra (same assembly linea Silverado). I bought a chevy truck because I believed in it lasting a good ten years but it has been a warranty queen and my warranty is almost up. Dash went out, new U-Joints, New power mirror, steering shaft lub kit, Oxygen Sensor died, Door Solenoid went out (and there is no way to unlock the passenger door with a key- STUPID), clanks in tranny, erratic shift points, and possible tranny hesitation when leaving really slow up a hill. However, itis a bad a** truck andgone through some really deep snow without hesitating. I don't think that I will buy another GM product. I had two LS1 Z28's both of which were also warranty queens (way fast and cool but problematic). My 5.0L Mustangs never sawa dealer even after severe modification. So, Ford has been much more reliable to me then GM but that was back when Quality was Job 1. It might now be Job 23!

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I own a 1997 chevy silverado 1500 that has 206k miles on it and besides still having stock shocks and a fuel pump going outa year ago I love it. I am however planning on completely revamping it starting this summer into a power house racer. Im pretty sure it was either some sort of company truck or maybe even a dealer's truck at some point before I bought it. My dad owns a 2000 silverado z71 with manual tranny and has had problems with only the recalled items and the dealership was less than happy with having to deal with it especially after they couldn't fix it right the first three times. Then again, chevy blood is easily passed and I definitely have it. Honestly, and this is the true truth, all trucks have problems it just depends on personal experience with them. I sell shoes as a temporary job and some shoes come back because they start to fall apart no matter what brand but all brands have those that are outstanding but could be the same exact shoe that someone just returned due to damages from the factory. So before you jump to conclusions about trucks just try all your options out and make an educated choice based on your knowledge and experience with each you tried not based on your bias. Pretty much the best brand is based on chance and timing on which one you get a faulty model with because they all have em.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

My thoughts on the Ford vs Chevrolet:

First off, while I was growing up my Father, Grandfather, Uncle, Aunt, and a Cousin all worked at Ford. I say this simply to dispell any question in your mind that I was born loving Chevrolet. My love of Chevrolet products has only begun to blossom after I have owned one of their vehicles.

Prior to owning my truck, my wife and I traded in her 02 Mountaineer that was V8 AWD with almost every option available. When we traded in our Mountaineer, we drove home a 2004 CC-SB Z71.It was pretty much "fully loaded". I traded that truck in on a 2007 Chrysler Town & Country this past January due to a growing family (we're due to have a little girl in August. Hopefully soon I'll have a 95-98 EC Z71.)

My truck had the 5.3 with a 4.10 ring & pinion. It didn't have the low end grunt I expected it to have (then again, it weighed around 5,000 lbs). Speed wasn't a concern when I purchased it, I just wanted truck that would be good to have when needing to pull a trailer or to simply haul the family around.

If it were up to my wife, we would've purchased a 04 Ram 3500 4X4-CC-dually-diesel (how cool is she! - when I asked what the **** we'd pull with that, she responded "whatever we want!" Yeah - no ****!)

Gripes about my truck: I had the little reflector piece that's on the inside of the back doors fall off, and wouldn't go back on. I wasn't thrilled when I found out, the hard way, how easily the plastic bumper on the front is ripped off! [:@]
Gas mileage. I don't have a heavy foot, yet could "only" manage 15mpg in the city. I don't know what I expected it to have, but I would have liked a little better (think around 18mpg's).

I loved the truck overall. When I went home to Ohio (which is 1,300 miles from Cheyenne, WY) I averaged 16mpg with nothing more in the truck than our needed suitcases/personal items, me, my wife, my little boy, and my lab. Also, take into account that Cheyenne is at about 6,000 feet above sea level where Northern Ohio is about 800 feet. When I was returning from Ohio (keep in mind that I have to climb back to 6K feet) I had a SBC in longblock form (figure at least 325 lbs), 2 rims & tires that are 12" wide, 2 rims & tires that are about 7" wide, a few other car partswith the rest of the bed being filled with toys from my son's 1st B-day party and I averaged 15mpg.

It was comfortable, very dependable (never had any mechanical problems), great-looking,and had a good amount of power. When given the chance, I will definetly buy another Chevy truck.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I have had a lot of luck with Chevy products. My current truck has 75,000 miles on it and runs better than new when it comes to power and fuel economy. It is more comfortable than anyother truck I've ever seen (LT), and there is plenty of room in it for me, the wife, and 3 larger-than-normal adults in the back seat. It looks much better than any 2002 truck I've seen around here.
The only complaint I have is the buzzing sound that comes from my passenger door when I lock it with the remote, orbutton. It stilllocks, just annoys the **** out of me. But I still can't bitch.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I like my truck as it is silverado :D

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

Well this is what I can say. My 93' Z-71was a great truck. I know alot of people that had problems with theirs, but little with mine. I beat the **** out of it, and it was great. I think these trucks need to be abused as that is what they are made for. Everyone that had issues babyed their trucks and never used them for what they were designed for. I many times tows 12k + in scrap metal with no issues, and I think this is why it lasted. arounf 80K after I quit towing heavy loads the tranny went (283K) and the repair shop screwed up the rebuild so I traded it in. The only other grip I has was the back seat (extended cab) was tight for adults.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

smoke20. You get 26.1, or 16.1 on the hwy? I had a 2002, 5.3 ec LT with synth oil,and the BESTI ever got was 18 running in the 65-75 range.

I'm looking at another ec or maybe a crew. Ever had an ec? How do they compare?

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

i think i finally found the advantage to my 4.8... 24 mpg cruising at 72 mph

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

I actually got 26.1 mpg consistently several times. BUT, that was optimal conditions, 60 mph on cruise, completely flat, stock tires, no traffic, 70 degrees ambient temp. Now with the larger tires Iaverage 16.7, but I have a very heavy foot so I never drive at 60, just did it a few times before as a test. I think now with the mods and tires I tested it at 22 in optimum conditions.

RE: Honesty From Chev Owners
 

yeah... im running 275's in high humidity and high 80s temps... not exactly perfect conditions, but oh well