Well, to be entirely honest, the fan in my dashboard quit working the
other day. Magically fixed itself, so I don't know if that counts. And
last year I had to replace the high-beam indicator lightbulb. Well, it
_is_ a 1986, so I guess such things have to be expected.

There are some really sharp diesel guys in here, so I'd say go ahead and ask
what you need to ask.

Doc

Hi!

Nope. My old GMC Diesel pickup has been through hell in some regards and
still it comes back for more. There is the occasional "weird problem" but
nothing earth shattering. The tranny has broken exactly once and to be fair,
it was being abused at the time of failure. Even then the truck went under
its own power to the tranny shop.

219,400 miles strong and thinking I could have twice that...

BTW, it's a 1984 Sierra.

http://greyghost.dyndns.org/184gmc/
http://greyghost.dyndns.org/william/gmctruck.jpg

William The Guesser

because most probably do not realize not to tow in overdrive.....Chevys have
a button that will electronically disengage the overdrive

No, you finally realized the error of your ways and bought a real truck.

I talked to a guy in charge maintenance for a huge contractor. He had
meticulate records of all service for all equipment. The vehicles he said he
can prove that GM are cheaper to maintain. He said that some guys want Ford
and Chrysler, but he won't do it anymore because they cost too much to
operate.

Glad to have ya in a Chevy ! I can share some facts you might enjoy. I
haul new campers, tags and 5th wheels to dealerships around the US. I
have 33,000 miles on my truck and it's a 2004 crew-cab dually 4x4 LT LWB
Duramax LLY, Allison. I have regularly changed oil, internal and
external filters and fluids. I have not had anything act funny or go
wrong. I have between half and 3/4 of my brakes left with 33K. knock on
wood.Just to give you an idea for Fuel mileage, I took a run from
Elkhart,IN to Summerdale,AL twice and one to Milton,FL. on the 3 trips I
came back  to Elkhart empty. I averaged 12.9 mpg on the near 5500 mile
run. The trailers we were hauling were 32 ft tags. now at 12.9 that is
losing approx 2 mpg to a guy who does not have dual rears wheels and you
lose approx 1-2 mpg on mine being a 4X4.Now driving these kinds of miles
I run with guys who have new Dodges and Fords as well. the 04 Ford 6
liter deisel is nothing but an Injector Hell with the guys using them as
I do. The guys with the Dodges love the motors but are sick of their
Tranny's falling apart. The only complaint I have heard from a Chevy guy
so far is that his 2002 Duramax lost and injector at 280,000 miles.
that's the only problem he has had. Not a bad track record.  A couple of
these Dodge and Ford people have dumped them and Bought Chevy's. I hope
that helped and believe me I'm not screwin with ya... Make sure to
rotate your tires every 3000-5000  if your always pulling the trailer.
Your tranny filters and fluids should be changed every 12-15K your oil
every 3-5K your fuel filter should be changed every 9-11K

Enjoy your New Chevy !
Have a Great One !
Bob :)

 Re: " I previously had a 98 Dodge Ram and lurked in the
alt.dodge.trucks (or something similar) newsgroup. Sometimes I even
asked questions. The group was VERY full of incessant problems and
typically my questions were about the not infrequent problems I had with
the Dodge... and of course a large contingent of rude and obnoxious
folks who didn't help with problems but made a lot of noise.
A few weeks ago we replaced the Dodge with a 2005 Chevy 2500HD, diesel,
crewcab shortbed with the Allison auto. And, of course I came over here
for info and to read about the many problems people were experiencing
with the Chevy Diesels...
EXCEPT THERE AREN'T ENOUGH TO EVEN THINK ABOUT......
Aren't you guys destroying brakes in 15-20K miles? Eating transmissions
on a daily basis and going thru 3 or 4 per 100K miles? How about
engines? Fuel economy? I mean, c'mon, the Dodge was getting about 10
when NOT towing...
BTW: So far the truck has 7600 miles on it, about 5500 towing our 5th
wheel...
Mileage without towing isn't the 20 that some have bragged of, but WITH
the trailer we get 14 at 55, about 11 at 65 and about 10 at 75...
So, if there aren't scads of interesting problems over here is it even
worth asking maintenance questions or should I go over to one of the
diesel forums?  "
  ******************************************
 Damn I'm glad I drive a GM !! Just gas and oil mainly.Oh,except for
that little matter with the motor that had to be replaced after 34 years
of service(original timing chain with the nylon teeth finally went).And
I'm glad it's an old one too so I can walk across the hood(I weigh 225)
to get to the bed when it's full up above the side-boards.(try that with
any brand new truck).Also drunks in new cars have really taken a beating
against this Custom Camper.They've gone completely under the bed.slammed
into the rear(destroying theirs,nothing to mine)etc.
 But the main thing is that in every aspect of this truck I see quality
and durability.
       Brian
 

                           ********************
       There are three kinds of lies; lies,damned lies,and
statistics.---Disraeli

Been lurking here for a while too.  I'm impressed with the group and how
civil everyone is.

After 30 years in Chrysler Products, I bought a 2002 TrailBlazer EXT two
years and 90K miles ago.  I can't support the German sweep of management and
design that has taken place since 11/17/98 at the former Chrysler Corp., now
the "Chrysler Group".

My family left the GM fold because of a new 1970 Nova that left the factory
without a head gasket (250 - I6), and a new 1971 Nova my grandparents bought
that suffered a dash fire days after delivery.  Those two failures probably
cost GM about 20-30 new sales to my family members over the following 30
years.

We had extremely good luck with our Mopars.  I still have a '89 Dakota work
truck with 172K.  Original engine & transmission.

After my time with the TrailBlazer, I'm glad something made me look at GM
again.  The truck has been great.  I've only had to replace a fan blower
resistor bank outside of warranty.  The mileage and power combination of the
4.2 Vortec surprised me.  In other words, next time, it will be another
Chevy.  The looks drew me to the TrailBlazer, but the product sells itself.