Call me a traitor if you must. But I've still got and will keep my 1st Gen because I just love that truck and I've got too much time and effort in it to sell it. Someday soon I'll have it like new and even better. But it just don't have any interior space. Especially for 4.
I'd looked at all brands of diesels lately. Considered the pros and cons of all of them. But after all the dust cleared and a years worth of test drives and brow beating dealers for the best price...I bought a 2002 Chevrolet HD2500 Extended Cab Shortbed 4x4. Charcoal Gray with Charcoal/Black interior.
Its a very nice truck that was SUPER maintained and all stock original. Its as clean as it can be underneath and has never had injector problems, head gasket failures etc. The interior is like new and so is the paint. Its an LT so its loaded.
It was between that and an 02 Ram 2500 SLT Laramie Quad Cab 4x4 longbed. Both were identical condition, color and miles. The Chev has 120K and so did the Ram.
But after my bout with my 99 and the VP44 and lift pumps...the bad taste in my mouth that was left tilted my decision to the Chevy.
I like the Rams no doubt. That ISB 5.9 sound simply cannot be matched. Nor can the real power.
But I like the Chevy interior, interior space and layout...and the nice ride and handling. I also like the quiet power of the Duramax and the Allison is just a great tranny from what I've seen so far.
I wanted to try something different. A new challenge if you will. Just expanding my views in the diesel market. I also wanted the first gen Duramax LB7 code because it has no EGR, no Catalytic Converter, no variable geometry turbo, etc. Just raw V8 diesel power.
Oh well...I'll see how this goes. Its a pretty truck and I'm pleased with the power. The girls didn't like the noise of the ISB too. They are old enough now to really complain in that back seat about anything that disrupts the volume of the Spongebob DVD playing on trips.
We'll see. Just an experiment for now. Flameproof Proximity Suit is on!!!!
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