How to make a daily driver?

[78C10BigTen]

Well every daily needs a good beatin here n there! Lol

 

[Tyler Rea]

Where is the fun in that?

It's a lot more fun than spending more time working on it than driving it lol

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

My dad has always told me to buy the quality parts so I've always done that. I've just put so much time and money into this thing that I feel like there could be some sort of upgrades that would make it better for a daily. I had half ton axles on it for 3 years and even after I started taking it easy on her I couldn't stop blowing out rear ends. I went through 3 12 bolt rear ends and 1 Dana 44 front end, which was totally my fault because of mismatched gears and forgot to take it out of 4wd after the snow had passed. I just put 3/4 ton axles on and those have held up great. I know a rear disc conversion would be good. It's got a 4 inch lift and I used to run 35s but decided 33s would be a smarter option. I don't really wanna go smaller than that. Is there anything else I could buy that would make this thing handle/ride/drive better?

I'm gonna say some stuff you don't want to hear, some stuff that you may or may not be able to help, and some stuff that might, but here goes. You want to make a K-truck a daily driver, which is not a big deal, but if you really want to maximize comfort and efficiency, you'd want to run it at the factory stance with the factory 31 inch tires. Anything more decreases economy and the ride quality lessens, which the ride is okay in stock form, but you can only dampen the solid front axle so much. Overdrive would help you out, and there are a few things you can do as far as the engine is concerned. As mentioned, you should do an ignition tune up, and you should also check your timing and advance it a little if you can. I daily drive a 305, and it can't handle too much without needing to run premium, but a 350 should be just fine with 10* initial. As far as fuel goes, I'd get rid of that Edelbrock and throw on a fresh Quadrajet. That's gonna be the most economical carb, and I would argue the best one, no questions asked. Some will agree, and some won't. If you don't have long tube headers on there, that'll liberate some power and economy for you. I know you won't want to do/agree with all of my prescription, particularly the stuff about the lift, but I do a lot of interstate driving and city driving so I want the best economy and comfort so that's my perspective in suggesting it.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Being on tons is an economy killer so you should just fork them over..... mines not a daily. Lol easier way to make it a daily driver is drive it daily....

 

[Tyler Rea]

I'm gonna say some stuff you don't want to hear, some stuff that you may or may not be able to help, and some stuff that might, but here goes. You want to make a K-truck a daily driver, which is not a big deal, but if you really want to maximize comfort and efficiency, you'd want to run it at the factory stance with the factory 31 inch tires. Anything more decreases economy and the ride quality lessens, which the ride is okay in stock form, but you can only dampen the solid front axle so much. Overdrive would help you out, and there are a few things you can do as far as the engine is concerned. As mentioned, you should do an ignition tune up, and you should also check your timing and advance it a little if you can. I daily drive a 305, and it can't handle too much without needing to run premium, but a 350 should be just fine with 10* initial. As far as fuel goes, I'd get rid of that Edelbrock and throw on a fresh Quadrajet. That's gonna be the most economical carb, and I would argue the best one, no questions asked. Some will agree, and some won't. If you don't have long tube headers on there, that'll liberate some power and economy for you. I know you won't want to do/agree with all of my prescription, particularly the stuff about the lift, but I do a lot of interstate driving and city driving so I want the best economy and comfort so that's my perspective in suggesting it.

I'm actually not too worried about economy. I live and work in a small town so I only occasionally drive long distances. I've heard mixed reviews about the quadrajets but I wouldn't be against trying one so I'll keep my eye out. Thanks

 

[bucket]

Eh, you can still run a 4 inch lift with 33's or 35's and if the parts are picked right, it can ride and handle every bit as good as factory. Just keeping everything (and I mean everything) maintained well will make it a nice DD that you can still take off the pavement and beat on it every now and then. Been there, done that, it worked very well too.

 

[Sublime]

all above is awesome advice. might I suggest along with a good tool selection a spare fuel pump and distributor module (if equipped) behind the seat.

 

[Tyler Rea]

Eh, you can still run a 4 inch lift with 33's or 35's and if the parts are picked right, it can ride and handle every bit as good as factory. Just keeping everything (and I mean everything) maintained well will make it a nice DD that you can still take off the pavement and beat on it every now and then. Been there, done that, it worked very well too.

That's what I thought. My buddy has the same truck but on 38s and it handles amazing, at least compared to my truck.

 

[shiftpro]

Agreed.

Leave it alone. Just take care of it and drive it. Believe it or not, back in 76, there was nothing special about it at all, they were on highways and biways traveling all over the country. People even drove them daily lol.

Fix what's broke, and quit breaking it.

Generally speaking, in '76 guys didn't expect as much or drive them (off road) as hard as these days.

 

[shiftpro]

Yeah I decided to get another rig for that

At the price these trucks and part go for, it's not unreasonable to own and drive more than one. A squarebody towing a squarebody hard core off road rig. Share parts when in need. The more the better...

 

[oldchevy4x4]

Something to look into would be finding a 96-98 2500 4x4 350 vortec truck. Pull the drive line, and wiring harness. That way you have OD in the tranny and fuel injection. Then start researching the upgrades you want to pursue.

My suggestions there would be :
different intake with standard type injectors
Cam
411 pcm swap


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rpcraft]

You can be on one ton axles and still have good gas mileage it all just comes down to gearing, tire size, and how well your motor is tuned for performance. FWIW, you'll be wanting your truck to run around 1600 to 1800 rpm at your normal cruising speed. It'll be harder on a TH350 than on an OD transmission, so you might consider swapping to a 700R4 at some point. It can be built well enough to last many years, in spite of the bad reputation people associate with it. They key to long life on a 700R4 is making sure the TV cable is set and having an Auxillary cooler on it. Chances are though having gearing for economy is not going to provide deep down gearing that you need to pull a house down but you have to ask yourself what you want out of the vehicle in the long run.

 

[bucket]

You can be on one ton axles and still have good gas mileage it all just comes down to gearing, tire size, and how well your motor is tuned for performance. FWIW, you'll be wanting your truck to run around 1600 to 1800 rpm at your normal cruising speed. It'll be harder on a TH350 than on an OD transmission, so you might consider swapping to a 700R4 at some point. It can be built well enough to last many years, in spite of the bad reputation people associate with it. They key to long life on a 700R4 is making sure the TV cable is set and having an Auxillary cooler on it. Chances are though having gearing for economy is not going to provide deep down gearing that you need to pull a house down but you have to ask yourself what you want out of the vehicle in the long run.

My experiences with 700R4's differ greatly. Yes, you can make a well built unit last, but beside the aux cooler and a properly adjusted TV cable, you also MUST have a temp gauge so you know when to back off the throttle. And you have to back off the throttle all the time while doing truck-stuff.

Also, when it comes to pushing a brick down the road at 65-75 mph, I find the 2200-2500 rpm range much more efficient for your average V8.

 

[rpcraft]

My experiences with 700R4's differ greatly. Yes, you can make a well built unit last, but beside the aux cooler and a properly adjusted TV cable, you also MUST have a temp gauge so you know when to back off the throttle. And you have to back off the throttle all the time while doing truck-stuff.

Also, when it comes to pushing a brick down the road at 65-75 mph, I find the 2200-2500 rpm range much more efficient for your average V8.

That may be true. I've been tooling mine up to work with a 14 bolt rear with a 5.3 LS swap. I'm somewhat close to getting it running but I have a wiring mess to sort out in the cab before I can hook a battery up to it (otherwise I might have a fire). At the same time I have a house that is being built so right now I'm holding off on the truck to fund some garage equipment when I move in. I'm on the fence of whether to keep the 4.10 rear gears or swap it to a 3.73 setup. All I am planning is about a 4 inch lift and 33 inch tires and the jury seems to be split for the 4.10/3.73 setup for optimum performance and economy. I figure I'll run the 4.10's and see how it does since the 14 bolt is super easy to gear swap and if I am happy with the 4.10's then it's just that much less I have to worry about spending later, and after that point I just need to swap the front drive gears to match up (and leave the front drive shaft disconnected until I do so there is no accidental screw ups).

 

[spanky55amg]

Although mine is not 4wd, my truck is a daily driver (when Im not fighting stupid carburetor rebuilds). Its totally possible even if the two previous owners treated it like ****. I would much rather drive this truck with all of its flaws, then to drive my 2011 CTS, and some days rather drive it than the 2014 Durango with all of its creature comforts.

But like said, its not like its newer fuel injection with newer style suspension. You cant beat on it and then drive it home. Hell, even in my 500 hp TA, it was a daily that I beat on once in awhile, but it stopped seeing the drag strip because it wasnt set up for racing. (I know one guy that did, but he had way more money than me. hahaha).