Opti said:
I really liked the 1500HDs and 2500s since you get the 80e and the 6.0 or 8.1. In personal experience Ive seen many oil pressure problems (as in lack of) on 6.0s specifically and only a few times on 5.3s. Other people have told me they have the same experience, cant explain it so maybe its a usage thing.
In the trucks, the 8.1 also got the Allison 5 speed (and later the 6 speed for 2006). Only gasser to get that transmission as far as I know.
The oil pressure issue is usually the gasket that seals the pump pickup. It eventually fails and starts sucking air. Sometimes it shows up as taking a long time to build pressure, or lost pressure once the engine warms up. The ones I've personally seen just suddently gave up completely and lost pressure under all conditions. Easy fix if it is caught in time.
In reply to Opti :
The front end parts will last 250-300k if you grease them regularly (every 3k miles), clean the Zerk fittings before greasing so you aren't pumping dirt inside, and don't hang a plow on the front. I worked for someone who used that philosophy on his truck, and at 264k it finally needed one of the upper ball joints replaced.
'Course, if you do hang a plow off the front, the truck will dissolve rapidly from salt and metal scrapings getting thrown everywhere, so it's kind of moot.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
These are great because they get purchased new as transportation for trophy wife/soccer mom set, then get sold in a couple years when they aren't new enough to be status symbols any more. This leads to a pretty steady supply of good used ones on the market. (I'm talking about the suburbans, not the soccer moms)
I've seen the same phenomenon occur with the soccer moms.
I may be in the market for both.
