Well, I sold my truggy when my son lost interest and my daughter didn't want to work on it. Kept my "1-ton Expedition K5", but my daughter needed it for work, so couldn't really do what I wanted to do with it. Then she started college, and unlike my son who was very energetic at becoming financially independent, she didn't get to a point to buy her own vehicle and kept driving my K5. Now we've moved across town and she drives much further to college, that 350 on 35's is killing her on fuel. And I want my toy back! So we've (I've) bought a C10 with 6.2 I was thinking of for a donor to the K5, but turns out it's a little too nice to cut up, and it makes a lot of sense for her as a daily driver.
So here I am trying to learn my way around an 85 C10 SWB Step with 6.2 and 465. No idea it's history, but apparently it was let sit for a while, sold to someone who tried to get it running, put a bunch of stuff including glows into it, and couldn't get it to stop pouring gray smoke. The main selling point is that it looks factory under the hood, almost perfectly unmolested. I bought it and had towed home. 2 new batteries, drained tank and added 5 gal of fresh diesel, and cranked it to see the aforementioned smoke screen. On the up side, I think we shall see no more mosquitoes for a while. A bit of research led to advancing the pump a bit, which helped a lot, then a bit more, which helped a bit more, and here we are. Based on all the timing it needed, I expect it needs a new timing set, and that's on "the list" near term down the road, but not right away.
Still needs a lot of work, but I think it will make her a good driver 20+ mpg within the next week or two, depending on luck and time I can dedicate to it. She's got her heart set on a full size truck, and with that in mind, it don't get much better than this for an economical daily driver.
It still needs a thousand "little things" (and some not so little) to get it the way I want it, but one thing I'm curious about is optimal differential gear ratio for a light SWB with NO interest in performance, hauling or towing (if I want that, I've got my chipped DMax 2500 HD) and ALL the focus on economy. Don't get me wrong, I want it to get out of it's own way and be able to merge with relative ease, but the focus is on economy and longevity.
It's got what look like basically fat car tires on it now, and that will likely give way to some taller (lower rolling resistance) LT tires. And I haven't yet checked (codes are gone) the current gears, but I think they are rather low for the torque curve on this motor. Looks like 2100-2600 or so is the sweet spot for economy, so I think I would like to be in the upper part of that range at ~75 on the freeway. I can do the math to work out tire and gear combos to get close to achieving that, but wanted to see what others here may have found to be a good working combo.
So here I am trying to learn my way around an 85 C10 SWB Step with 6.2 and 465. No idea it's history, but apparently it was let sit for a while, sold to someone who tried to get it running, put a bunch of stuff including glows into it, and couldn't get it to stop pouring gray smoke. The main selling point is that it looks factory under the hood, almost perfectly unmolested. I bought it and had towed home. 2 new batteries, drained tank and added 5 gal of fresh diesel, and cranked it to see the aforementioned smoke screen. On the up side, I think we shall see no more mosquitoes for a while. A bit of research led to advancing the pump a bit, which helped a lot, then a bit more, which helped a bit more, and here we are. Based on all the timing it needed, I expect it needs a new timing set, and that's on "the list" near term down the road, but not right away.
Still needs a lot of work, but I think it will make her a good driver 20+ mpg within the next week or two, depending on luck and time I can dedicate to it. She's got her heart set on a full size truck, and with that in mind, it don't get much better than this for an economical daily driver.
It still needs a thousand "little things" (and some not so little) to get it the way I want it, but one thing I'm curious about is optimal differential gear ratio for a light SWB with NO interest in performance, hauling or towing (if I want that, I've got my chipped DMax 2500 HD) and ALL the focus on economy. Don't get me wrong, I want it to get out of it's own way and be able to merge with relative ease, but the focus is on economy and longevity.
It's got what look like basically fat car tires on it now, and that will likely give way to some taller (lower rolling resistance) LT tires. And I haven't yet checked (codes are gone) the current gears, but I think they are rather low for the torque curve on this motor. Looks like 2100-2600 or so is the sweet spot for economy, so I think I would like to be in the upper part of that range at ~75 on the freeway. I can do the math to work out tire and gear combos to get close to achieving that, but wanted to see what others here may have found to be a good working combo.
They are not fast, but certainly get good fuel economy and are a joy to drive in their own fashion. My Tahoe ain't quick, but the diesel engine turns more heads than the solid axle swap, lockers, winch bumper etc
