New here.

[69Rebel]

Hi all,
I have an old 3500HD, and this looks like a good place to further my knowledge of it. Thanks in advance for putting up with me.

 

[Will L.]

Welcome
Fill out the signature line with all the truck details and modifications. It helps a ton when going through questions

 

[Stoney]

Welcome to TTS.. Glad your here.. post some pics of your rig if ya can..

 

[69Rebel]

Sig line is filled out.

 

[Will L.]

Cool. Easy to follow now. Auto or 4 speed manual trans would be only thing missing besides if dump bed is stand alone hydraulic or pto driven.

Then as time goes on and you modify components, add them.

 

[Grisley1958]

Welcome! What part of the world do you live?

 

[btfarm]

Welcome to The Truck Stop!

 

[69Rebel]

Cool. Easy to follow now. Auto or 4 speed manual trans would be only thing missing besides if dump bed is stand alone hydraulic or pto driven.

Then as time goes on and you modify components, add them.

It's a stupid crappy automatic. I hate automatic transmissions, but the price was right, and I got five years of good service before the transmission failed.
The hydraulics are engine driven, the pump is mounted on the front of the engine where the A/C compressor would be. The clutch for it is magnetic like an A/C clutch, manually operated. It was originally an Oregon DOT truck with a snow plow. The bed has a two way gate, it can pivot open at the top or the bottom, which is really a nice feature.
I really wish GM would have had a decent diesel before the original HD series was discontinued. I've borrowed a friend's Duramax, and while I liked the power, I really found myself missing the chassis rigidity, weight, and brakes of my truck. The original 3500HD has motorhome/P30 workhorse brakes and cooling system.

I am located in SW Washington state.

 

[Will L.]

There are things to do to the 6.5 for more power- but doing a duramax swap gets done all the time.

You won’t see any mpg increases to pay for the swap but the power is sure there. Prefer a stick- thats the perfect time to do it all.

I definitely get what you mean about the gmt400 HD versus the newer bodies.

 

[69Rebel]

It's like $10K+ to do a Duramax swap in my neck of the woods. Even wrecked trucks bring big $$. My best bet would be to find a good '97 up Vortec 454 or even a 8.1. Even those are kinda scarce these days.

 

[Will L.]

If you can swap to 454 / 8.1- sell the running 6.5 will off set some. But you might figure out what the mpg is gonna be. Usually it is people ripping out a 454 because they are sick of burning all that fuel.

 

[Grisley1958]

My K2500 with the 454 got about 12 mpg.
My K2500 with the 6.5 got about 18mpg.
Power wise I think they are about the same even though on paper the 454 is supposed to have more.

 

[69Rebel]

If you can swap to 454 / 8.1- sell the running 6.5 will off set some. But you might figure out what the mpg is gonna be. Usually it is people ripping out a 454 because they are sick of burning all that fuel.

It has the TBI 454.

 

[Will L.]

literacy is our friend! And after you added it to the signature- what a dope I can be.
I was just talking to someone else about his 6.5 diesel dump. truck and had you two guys mixed up.

While the 6.5 can beat up a 454 in towing and heavy work, I don’t think it would be worth it to swap. The gain isn’t that big. The 6.5 PROPERLY MODIFIED makes a good engine, but left stock they are horrible.

The tbi 454 was a required rung on a ladder. Best fix for mpg and power is out the tbi from my experience. Modern versions of it do much better. Blow through options and adding a a turbo help a lot. Nothing big- just a bump so you don’t have to get inside the engine.