Hello everyone. Newbie here, doing some research on getting myself a Silverado in a few months.
So I will just go ahead and apologize for all the silly questions I am going to end up having.
Yes, I will try to use the search function the best I can

First, what I am looking for...
I have about a $12K budget, and want a very nicely equipped (decked out actually) 1500 or 2500, 5.3L V8, 4 door (suicide rear doors), with under 100K miles on it.
That seems to be reasonably possible with a 2000 to 2002 truck at least.
I have found a few nice decked out Z71s with about 90K miles on them for about that price.
The truck will be used for some towing, but nothing crazy. The most it will ever do is tow a Jeep TJ on a trailer.
I know that is a bit beyond what a 5.3L 1500 should be used for, but it will not have to do that very often at all.
Its main towing and hauling will be an ATV in the bed, or a couple ATVs on a small trailer.

One of the main things I need to decide of what body style I really want to start looking at.
I dont mind the newer style 2003 bodies really, I just much prefer the 2000 to 2002 body styles.
But, I want to make sure I know what all they changed on these trucks from those years.
Do they ride or handle different? Does one have better MPG than the other?
So that I will know if there are some good changes or features that will make me go with the newer 2003+ body style.

I would also love to compile a list of things to look out for, what goes bad on them first, or the most often.
Any rear ends I should look out for, locking diff, limited slip, etc.
Generally any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
~John

 

For towing or great accerleration, the 5.3 can put out some power with the right mods. You will at least need a 3.73 or better yet a 4.10 differential. The 4.10 will help in towing. Alot of the HD 2500's come with the 4.10 locking rear. The 5.3 will give you better MPG than the 6.0's but the 6.0's have more baseline power to start with. So its really what you put together. With 12k you should be able to find a descent truck for that but dont look down a high mileage on these trucks. They can handle that. The main thing you wanna look for is the drivetrain. There are several mods you can do to beef up the tranny's.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.
Looks like one of the main things I need to look into is the drivetrain, mainly gearing.
I know that the lower gearing like the 4:10s will help towing, but does that kill the mpg?
The truck wont be used for towing nearly as much as it will for just regular driving in town, and long trips on the highway.

I have a modified Jeep for offroading, so the truck shouldnt see much offroad at all, some muddy/snowy roads and fields maybe.

Modding the tranny to make it stronger? Didnt know that was possible at all, thats interesting.
I knew about putting nice coolers on them, thats about it.

~John

 

Adding 4.10's wont kill gas mileage cuz of higher RPM's, speed kills your gas mileage. The faster you go, the more wind drag you have. They will help more in city driving. On the highway the RPM's will go up but you will be closer to the power band which means less throttle to keep a cruise. Its like goin up a hill and you need more throttle in overdrive, with 4.10's its like putting it in 3rd and cruising but with less throttle. There are several things you can do to the tranny. The 1-2 servo can be upgraded for bout $60. These will help your shifts firmer. Factory settings for the tranny's are made to shift slowly for comfort. Its like braking earlier upon a red light, you wear them out faster. Also a Trans Go shift kit will also help the shifts. This kit runs about $70 and can be installed with the tranny in the truck as do the servo's. Then the coolers and your set my friend!