88-95? 96-98 chevy questions

[thebluemax]

Considerind dumping the 84 & upgrading.

Does the 96-98 had some advantage?

Personally I like the 93 era interior,lack of airbags, bench seat.

Im looking for an extended cab for my growing family,prefer the chevy line.

 

[63chevyll]

Well if your after the extra space and want to stay chevy and extra cab is a good choice, but the other years that offer 4 door are much more convenient.

How big is your family.

Because I tried the 2 car seats in the back of a K5 and it didn't work

 

[63chevyll]

Lots of cool.options for a solid axle.conversion too, unlike 10 years ago

 

[thebluemax]

Current family is wife and daughter plus one on the way. I need a truck but need more than a single cab and want a bench in front. 4 door crew may be too much.

Id prefer 4wd but a 2wd works.

 

[63chevyll]

I hear ya. I had a K5 when I was single and later on with 2 kids, was good but the car seats suck in the back. That's why a 4 door is ohhh soooo nice.

I guess it depends on your price range and what you want to do with it.

A.buddy of mine has 3 girls and his daily driver is a 93 chevy extra cab 2wd. It works.

A square body crew cab short bed are Damn sexy if you like the older body style

 

[str8axle55]

The 96 and up were Vortecs, and you could get the 3rd door.

 

[Bowtie85]

96-8 where its at, Vortecs much stronger than the tbi motors I feel. The 3rd door is another great option as well over the 88-94s. I also prefer the interior on the 95-98s, seems to be more plush.

I think the OBS chevys from this era were the last good true half ton chevy has made.

 

[Wyomingboy]

Definitely skip the TBI models. I have a 90 with(used to have) TBI and I have a 96 extended cab, long box that I bought with 132,000 miles. I had to do some repairs on the 96, but it gets 18 mpg on the highway(in Colorado mile hi) and runs much better than my 90. I've talked to many other owners who have taken care of these trucks and get 200,000+ miles on them. Good affordable trucks !

 

[63chevyll]

Yeah my 97 burban had 230 on the clock when it lost a rod bearing, no oil cuz oil leak.

My dad bought a 67 chevy when he had one kid (me). Then the others came.....
As kids there where 3 of us kids in a 67 chevy 2wd c-10, all strapped in kind of.

I'll never forget that. And we did it for as long as I can remember.

 

[alexsdad]

I've had them all- early '60's through 2007. Forget the TBI's, I've had 6 or more of them, and they don't compare power or mileage wise to the Vortec.

I like old school stuff, but the 2007 (4x4, 4-door, shortbed) is the best daily driver Chevy truck I've had so far. My second favorite is my '96 c1500 extended cab, which was a DD for a few years with 3 kids.

Find an inexpensive '97-'98 C1500 extended cab, 3-door, with the Vortec 5.7, and you'll be happy.

 

[plyr2k]

If youre looking for a non air bag truck, youre year is probably a 96. Had 2 cup holders in the dash on the passenger side instead of an air bag. Plus had the vortec.

 

[chevydan3]

I have a 97, the vortec is awesome stock, but the aftermarket for it is non-existant. If I had to do it over again, I would consider a 95, you get the newer interior and the tbi motor. You can literally find millions of speed parts for tbi, but only a few for the vortec.

 

[alexsdad]

I have a 97, the vortec is awesome stock, but the aftermarket for it is non-existant. If I had to do it over again, I would consider a 95, you get the newer interior and the tbi motor. You can literally find millions of speed parts for tbi, but only a few for the vortec.

Thats what I like about my Vortec's, no need for aftermarket stuff. Mine have all the power, and mileage, I can ask for in an inexpensive package.

With my TBI's, I could have bought all the speed parts known to man, and still not have the power of the stock Vortec, but I would have 5 times the cost into it.

 

[Wyomingboy]

You can do a lot with the stock vortec injection system, cam, porting the stock heads(as they're hard to beat). Raise the compression slightly, even stroke it to a 383. Just keep the goal to 400 hp or less.
CPE in Littleton tunes these vortec hot rods.

 

[thebluemax]

If I could get tbi era interior with vortec drivetrain. I have yet to see an extended cab of the vortec with a front bench seat. Ive looked a lot on cra frontigslist but only see bucket and console front.

 

[alexsdad]

If I could get tbi era interior with vortec drivetrain. I have yet to see an extended cab of the vortec with a front bench seat. Ive looked a lot on cra frontigslist but only see bucket and console front.

Put a full bench seat it in, easy.

 

[Bowtie85]

If I could get tbi era interior with vortec drivetrain. I have yet to see an extended cab of the vortec with a front bench seat. Ive looked a lot on cra frontigslist but only see bucket and console front.

My 97 Has a 60/40 split bench with fold up console.............

 

[63chevyll]

Put a full bench seat it in, easy.

easier said than done,

Ive been looking for a decent front Bench for a 90 and up chevy'GMC and only found junk.

I want to take the Buckets out of wifes burban and go with bench

 

[alexsdad]

I believe we took a bench out of a wrecked Suburban, and put it in my neighbors '97 pickup. But the bench may have came out of a pickup after all.

He paid about $25 for it, had it recovered, and for under $170 had a nice clean bench seat. It looked nice, as he chose a great color and it helped make the truck interior look new.

 

[63chevyll]

yeah the deals are out there and I havent ruled out covering one, I have only seen a few burbs with bench seats....and 96 and later for that matter.

Good luck and keep us posted what you find