what to look for in new 12 valve
 

my parents are wanting me to get a new truck because they dont like my old 1st gen, so im looking for a 1994-1998.5 12 valve, im wanting a 4X4. do they have 3.54 gears, or just 4.10/3.73's , i need some good power out of this and i want good fuel milage.

so my questions are these

any things to look for while purchasing?

how hard is it to change this fuel stop plate i hear so much about?

what king of milage can i expect?

i will be driving it on campus, and thru places such as Nashville, do i need to lean more towards the auto, because i like the idea of the 5 speed, but it has to be drivable down there,.

what size fuel tank do they come with?

and for the most important question, do these things come with good cupholders?

The cup holders plain suck.

[QUOTE=gomerpile;1886579]my parents are wanting me to get a new truck because they dont like my old 1st gen, so im looking for a 1994-1998.5 12 valve, im wanting a 4X4. do they have 3.54 gears, or just 4.10/3.73's , i need some good power out of this and i want good fuel milage.
they have either 4.10's or 3.54's
so my questions are these

any things to look for while purchasing?
look for oil around the differentials, look for any leaks,
how hard is it to change this fuel stop plate i hear so much about?
not very hard you take off 4 bolts out of the afc housing and you will see it.
what king of milage can i expect?
depends if you have 3.54's or 4.10's but with 3.54's and a good automatic you can see upwards of 22mpg maybe 23 on the highway, depending on what tires you have and how you drive it.

i will be driving it on campus, and thru places such as Nashville, do i need to lean more towards the auto, because i like the idea of the 5 speed, but it has to be drivable down there,.
i would suggest leaning towards a 5spd especially if you want good fuel mileage out of it, and you want good power.
what size fuel tank do they come with?
i think they hold 30 gallons, i know it cost about over 100 to fill it up.
and for the most important question, do these things come with good cupholders?

only if you get a 98, other wise they suck, but theres a fix for this thats only 40 dollars then you have good cup holders.

yes you can get them with 3.55

Things to look for when purchasing see if the killer dowel pin has been tabbed see if the break off screw is still on the injection pump (tell ya if its been bombed yet or now)

The fuel plate can be swaped in 1/2 hour its fairly easy teh hardest part it getting the break off screw out search and there is plenty of good info on how to do it

I would say upper teens for milage all depends on how much you can keep your foot out of it.

Id go with a 5spd just stay with a milder clutch and you shouldnt have a problem. I HATE automatics though expesially one that takes a good rebuild to hold any amount of power.

36 gallon fuel tank is what my reg cab long bed has

The cup holders are usless imho but thats only because I cant get to them with ym flip screen up [laugh]

good luck on your search for a new truck I am sure youll find one that works for you.
Evan

I'd look for the 5 spd if you want power and fuel economy. Mine was mid to high teens till I strait piped it then the mileage jumped to high teens to low 20s. look for the death wobble fixed if it's a 4x4 and also mine and my dad's and another one I know of have heater/ac problems that we have yet to work out and they do have dual batteries (first gen don't) and the power is cheap and easy to get with the fuel plate, wastegate, air intake, max the starwheel, and set the timing. these things didn't do anything but improve the mileage, either. As far as the dowel pin goes I've heard of it but never seen or heard of any problems with it.

you don't ever wanna see or have problems with the the killer dowel pic, it could cost thousands to fix or you could spend an afternoon and tab it or pay someone 150 or something and have them fix it, cause you don't want it to fall out and get stuck in between the timing gear, then you need a new head, and maybe some pistons, maybe more, timing case, not fun to fix the damage if it falls out.

Sorry to hijack the post but what is the killer wobble with 4X4s? Also, can anyone lead me to a place I can find out how to take care of the dowel pin?

Thanks
DK

If you look at a 4X4 check the front wheel hubs and U-joints. They are expensive and can be a real pain to change.

Oh yea, I gotta agree - the stock cup holders bite! [verymad] [yuk]

alright all great info, just what ive come to expect. so how good are the seats, are they comfortable, i just want something better than the bench i got now. also do they come with a getrag 5 sp or a NV4500?

so what is this $40 cup holder i read about, whats the difference? where can i get it.

also how hard is it to install the GSK on these, i know on the VE its really complicated.

Springs are pretty easy (even I could do it). Check out the instructions here:
http://www.piersdiesel.com/TechGSK12V.htm

I think the seats are comfortable they do have a tendancy to crack on the side but a good seatcover will stop that from happening. The cup holder they are talking about is avalible at genos garage it clips onto the fold down center console with 2 cup holders. Money well spent if you need a cupholder or two. The GSK is fairly easy to install just be sure to not drop any of the spacers into the pump otherwise you have to go fishing with a magnet to get them out (not fun)
Evan

Also they come with the nv 4500 with a 1.25 input shaft that can be upgraded to a 1 3/8 shaft which is the same as the 6spd trucks [coffee]
Evan

-you might look over the block where the head mounts at #1 piston area. i had a coolant leak at the head gasket there, as well as several other folks on the board. it didn't hurt the running of the truck, it just leaked like a sift and was annoying. i ended up replacing the head gasket with a .020 marine version and went with ARP studs as insurance.

-you want to be sure the KDP has been removed or tabbed. I got lucky and the timing case had already been replaced on my truck after a KDP failure.

-have any truck you look at put on a lift and check the ball joints and wheel bearings on the front. It's an expensive repair if you have it done at a shop, and it's time consuming and still expensive if you do it at home. IIRC the wheel bearings aren't cheap. The ball joints are about $80 per side. You have to change ball joints on these things about as frequent as the engine oil.