char ls. I understand where you're coming from, the more I did research the more questions and doubts I had.

I knew I wanted a used truck with low miles. I didn't want a auction bought, passed around truck with 5 different owners in 5 different states.

I found a dealer who sold a lot of trucks in my area. I told the sales manager what I was looking for and asked that he notify me if anything came in. It worked like a charm. A customer of his wanted to step up to a 3rd Gen and traded in his one owner 1999 Sencond Gen (non-53 block) with 38,000 miles.
I also wanted some sort of warranty just in case if something were to go wrong soon after I got the truck, plus it gave me more time to enjoy learning about the truck without getting overwhelmed with fear of the next "pending" breakdown. (Reading too much of this site will do that to ya.)
End result, I paid fair market value and drove home with the truck, feeling good. I now have 138,000 miles, most of which has been "bombed" in some form or another.

I won't shoot you a curve and say is been all roses, but outside of drag racing carnage, the truck has been rock solid.

I think the most important thing to do, is to sit down with you truck and lay down the ground rules.

You will not embarrass me in front of my friends or pretty girls.

You will finish the long trip without breaking down.

You will start if I forget to plug you up on a cold winter night.

You will run the 1/4 mile in 13 second or less, being over weight is no excuse.

 

Dale, may I ask you a couple of questions, since I am looking
to get exactly the model you have, a Mega SLT...

Why did you debadge it?

Are happy with having got the Mega SLT... any complaints?
Also, if you could go back in time, what options that you got
you wouldn't get, and which ones you didn't get at the time,
and later regretted not getting, would you go for?
In fewer words, what options do you advise I get?

 

What you say makes sense... but for me, buying new, is also about
the bright, shiny, new toy!
I know, I know... it's not based on a logical, emotionally detached
appraisal of things... But you see, there's also the little child in me
excited to get the big toy... It's part of the fun... How many of you
here identify a bit with that?

That said, after hearing several of you advising me to go for a used
one, I am definitely going to seriously take that into consideration.

Thanks...

 

What are these shady things that you've ended up fixing?

Actually, I am very much tempted to do the same thing
with the 5.9 for exactly the same reason (last year of
production, it has been proven, it won't be made any
more...)

 

As you say, there is plenty of misinformation out there as to how to do
these modifications safely (if they can be done safely at all...)
I will definitely NOT do any such things to a new truck... but perhaps
a few years later, who knows, maybe install one thing or two...
Or maybe not...

So, how do you go about finding out more about the SAFE WAY
of adding stuff, for someone with no previous expertise, starting
from zero know-how? I mean, you buy a reputable book, of what?
(We have already established that a lot of the things people
do and advertise in the various forums by sharing the how-to
of what they did are foolish things that should not be done...
therefore, forums are not necessarily the best source of
information for that...)

 

Hahahaah!!! Like your truck would listen to you and to your rules...

Thanks for your advice (first part of your post...) though. That's a
strategy that will work if you hook up with an honest, service-
oriented dealer...
According to what I've read in the forum, they are pretty hard to
find... But some should be out there... willing to give you that type
of consideration...

 

The only thing my heart really desires that deviates from the truck's
specs (and which I am NOT gonna do, unless a thorough research
of the matter makes it clear that the price I have to pay in order to
play that way is a reasonably acceptable one) is raising the vehicle
and putting large tires on it.

So let me ask you guys a question that is as specific as possible and
that asks for factual (as opposed to perceptive) data based on precise
parameters as much as possible:

If you were to take a stock 2500 4x4 mega cab SLT CDT 5.9
6-sp manual 3.73 gears with stock alluminum 17" wheels and
put on it a 6" Superlift and Pro Comp All-Terrain 37s (12.5") tires
(the lift and the tires being the ONLY deviations from orig specs),
and were to drive this vehicle 10K miles per month equally divided
between highway, city and off roading... without pushing it either
too much or too little, let's say driving midway between the two
extremes... which is to say, normally, or averagely...
what are the items that will likely break down, and how soon during
the first 3-year period (we are putting a total of 360K on the truck),
based on your practical experience and/or specific and reliable
data? Of course, please include your opinion of how much longer
those parts would have lasted if no modifications whatsoever
were done to the truck.

Whoever can answer the above question reliably is going to
make me very, very happy... because it will establish
what the price to pay to play is.

 

BEFORE
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ge_2500002.JPG
AFTER
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...a_2008_017.jpg

This is why I took off the lettering. It's a very clean look.

As far as options go, all I got extra was, Anti spin diff, power mirrors, leather wrapped steering wheel, tow hooks, and the forged aluminum wheels.
If money were no object i'd have gone with leather seats, I didn't feel it was worth another 1500 $'s (besides they didn't have one w/ leather in stock).
Otherwise, I have been quite happy with the truck. 45k miles in the first year, pulling a 5-6k lb cargo trailer from coast to coast and Canada to South Texas.
The only other advice I would give you would be to take the factory tires off immediately and buy some bridgestone dueler A/T Revo's, or the pirelli scorpion ATR's (e range of course).

 

is this convo about a truck that may be 2-3 years old?...i consider that a brand new truck...a used truck to me is <2000

 

The shadiest thing on my truck has to be the OEM track bar design that uses a ball joint into the frame and is designed such that any movement of the front axle causes bending pressure at the balljoint! The only way to prevent failure in this design is to not allow any suspension travel up front. It's just a terrible, terrible design, no doubt forced upon the engineers by the bean counters, because no engineer worth hiring would ever consider such a design.

The other shady thing I tought was the "lubed for life" spec of the 5600 tranny fluid. Yeah, SURE it never needs to be changed! Then again, it only has to last 100K miles, so why would they care? After that, you eat the repair costs, and a new 5600 is el grande dinero.

The final shady thing is the restrictive oem fuel plumbing. The expensive VP44 is fed by fitting whose inlet size is comparable to a coffee stirrer.

At least my truck doesn' t have the "shady" Central Axle Disconnect with the failure-prone vacuum system. It also has much better brakes than the lame-o brakes on early 2001 and older trucks.


As to your other post about finding the way to "safely" modify something, well-- you can't. There are simply NO GUARANTEES. When you modify your truck, you are TAKING A RISK.


The trick is understanding exactly the nature of the risk, assessing the possible severity, and coming up with ways to mitigate that risk.

This is where the forums can be excellent teachers-- especially as far as what NOT to do. So don't discount them at all. No one on here was born with the knowledge they have-- they mostly got it from either this forum or TDR or such. You learn from watching others take risks and fail, or succeed.

Say for example you want to increase the power of your HPCR truck. You are looking at different products. You need to find out HOW they do what they do, and weigh the pros and cons. For example, does a power box increase rail pressure? Does it advance timing? Does it increase pulse width duration? Yes, they will each increase power. But raising rail pressure can cause accelerated injector wear, and even injector failure. Advancing timing mildly is usually safe, but taken too far can cause a headgasket failure or melt pistons. Increasing duration increases EGTs a great deal, but also adds a lot of tq.

Or maybe you are thinking about modifying the suspension. What effect will this have on U-joint angles, slip yoke travel, geometry, shock travel, steering geometry, stability, etc? While I have enough positive caster adjustment remaining or do I need longer trailing arms? Will my longer springs make the shocks top-out? Will I need a longer driveshaft?

Or wheels and tires: will it rub? Are my bearings lined up properly? Are they of sufficient weight rating? Do the lugs have holes or slots? Which lug nut do they need? Are they appropriate for the tire I want to use? Are the tires rated high enough in weight capacity? Is the tread appropriate for my use? Do I need to re-gear my truck with the larger tires? Is my OEM steering setup strong enough to handle the additional strain without premature wear or failure?



In other words, there is no "safe" way, just "safer" ways to modify a truck. If you want to be "safer", then just analyze things to the nth degree, and weigh the pros and cons of each element-- then come up with risk control measures for those cons, if possible.

Justin

 

Sorry, but no one can give you what you are asking for. Wouldn't it be nice if we knew the exact cost to the dollar of all the future uncertain risks we are considering?

I've never seen a truck lifted 6" rack up a ton of miles without just feeling like crap: loose steering, loose tranny, weak brakes, driveline gremlins that never go away.

No I'm sure well get all these replies on how someone is running 44" boggers on his truck for 500K miles and the steering is razor sharp-- but let's be realistic here.

The factory designs the steering gear and suspension and everything to perform with the factory parameters. You can deviate from that slightly and not have much harm. You step way outside that, and you're essentially on your own attempting to re-engineer something. I'd recommend on the most skilled shops do that, and it's not something the average guy should consider doing on his own.

Expect a 6" lift with 37s to give you premature wear on clutch/auto trans, brakes, U-joints, Ball joints, track bars, steering gear, drag links, differentials, and such.

Not to mention all the extra fuel you'll burn rolling the big rubber down the road.


Justin

 

Thanks... did you put in a 2" leveling kit (in the side view picture
the truck looks level...)

Also, are there instructions on debadging somewhere online,
or do you just take the truck to a professional and let him do
it for you?

Yes, the truck looks better after debadging...
Good looking truck, BTW!

 

Actually, I meant that to be about a truck brand new (just out of
the dealership...)

 

Thanks a lot for sharing!!!

As I said, that only thing I would want to do, is raising the truck and putting
larger wheels on it... I also said exactly how (6" lift, 37s, on stock alluminum wheels).

This is wonderful! You've asked all the questions I did not know to
ask, so that's half of the task achieved...

Now, I said exactly what I have in mind... Can't someone with the
proper expertise put all the above together and anwer all
these questions (approximately so, you know, I understand there is
no mathematical certainty here...)?

Exactly, agreed. Only problem is that at my stage of experience
with all this I am not capable of analyzing things to the nth degree
and weigh the pros and cons of each element... so I've asked
you guys who have already done that, given my proposed setup,
to share with me (and other newbies here) your findings... (what
damage to expect... what risk control measures for those cons to
take...)

That's all...

Thanks again...

Charles

 

"Approximately," Justin, approximately is the key word here,
as I pointed to in my previous post. Of course no one could expect
mathematical certainty... just take a guess based on practical
personal experience...

OK, wonderful... Now let's talk about minimizing the cons... So, a 6"
lift combined with 37s, according to your expertise, is totally out of
the question unless one is willing to get very expensive parts and
nevertheless absorb the expense of replacing/taking care of all
that predictable damage to parts and components... So far so
good (meaning this is out of the question for me, assuming what
you said is what should realistically be expected, since I am not
willing to go through all that just for the pleasure of having my truck
stand a few inches taller than stock...)

I was saying, now let's talk about minimizing the cons... What about
a 4" lift combined with 35s??? How does that minimize the cons, the
cost of equipment and the probability of damage?

Let's play it again, then, with a 3" lift and 35s...

Who knows, maybe 35s can be used in a relatively safe way with
just a 2" front leveling kit... I don't really know... so let's play that
scenario too...

You see, not too difficult to do, and you guys would be providing
a tremendous and valuable input for all the newcomers reading
this thread and interested in this same problem... You would be
clarifying something that really needs badly to be clarified, 'cause
raising the truck, I think, is one of the most recurrent types of
modifications that appeal to the inexperienced.

Now, if others are willing to participate and contribute their
experience, we'll have different viewpoints that will make the
information shared here even more valuable...

Wouldn't that be fantastic??

Charles