I bought my grandfather’s truck

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farrartruck

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Location
*******, Ga
First Name
Ryan
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
R10
Engine Size
V8, 350
Glad to be here. I bought my late grandfathers truck (he died about a year ago). It’s a 1987 R10. It’s in fairly decent shape, he was a mechanic and fully restored 20-30 antique cars over the course of his life, this one was his last and his daily driver til he died. It does need a little work though. The gas pedal is insanely stiff. My uncle (who is also a mechanic and owns an 86 Chevy) swears that my grandfather put an extra spring in the throttle body. Any advice on how to figure out if it is an extra spring, and if not, how to start digging into the throttle body to locate the pedal stiffness?
 

PrairieDrifter

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The spring should be drivers side on the front part of the intake, connected to the throttle linkage. I've found the throttle stiffness in these trucks is from the cable style pedal, when they get old.
 

PeteJr

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Welcome Ryan.......
Glad you have your Grandfather's truck.
Show us a photo of it, please.
 

animal

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:welcome:
 

RoryH19

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Rory
Truck Year
1987
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R10 Silverado SWB
Engine Size
350 TBI
Glad to be here. I bought my late grandfathers truck (he died about a year ago). It’s a 1987 R10. It’s in fairly decent shape, he was a mechanic and fully restored 20-30 antique cars over the course of his life, this one was his last and his daily driver til he died. It does need a little work though. The gas pedal is insanely stiff. My uncle (who is also a mechanic and owns an 86 Chevy) swears that my grandfather put an extra spring in the throttle body. Any advice on how to figure out if it is an extra spring, and if not, how to start digging into the throttle body to locate the pedal stiffness?
Welcome from TX. I also have a 87 r10. It was in great condition when I bought it, very original. The throttle was stiffer than I remember my 86 k20 being. I just assumed it had to do with the tbi setup. I got use to it. It is definitely stiff if you compare to a modern drive by wire car.
 

1973c10

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Welcome aboard :boti:
 

WFO

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Babs

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RecklessWOT

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Welcome from TX. I also have a 87 r10. It was in great condition when I bought it, very original. The throttle was stiffer than I remember my 86 k20 being. I just assumed it had to do with the tbi setup. I got use to it. It is definitely stiff if you compare to a modern drive by wire car.
x2. Yeah it's stiff, but if it doesn't stick then there isn't really a problem.

Some of the cars in my driveway have super-stiff "put your foot through the firewall" clutch pedals and some are so light you just breathe on it and it bucks, just gotta re-adjust yourself when switching from one to the other. As long as it doesn't prevent you from driving the truck normally (without accidentally spinning the tires even when trying to take off gently from a stop for example), just get used to it being a firm pedal. If it really is sticking and causing problems, just lube the throttle cables. IME it's usually a sticky cable that causes a stiffer pedal feel. I really doubt the old man was adding extra springs to a TBI throttle body for the hell of it.
 

Corvette Ed

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Snoots

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Welcome from NE Georgia!

Pix pleeze!

Most vehicles I've seen have 2 Throttle Return springs. 1 inside the other. They shouldn't be causing the pedal to be a chore.
Cable from pedal to throttle could be an issue.
 

farrartruck

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*******, Ga
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Ryan
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1987
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R10
Engine Size
V8, 350
Thanks for all the help guys. For the ones who requested, here's a photo of it right after we got it out of a year long storage in a (very cleaned out) chicken coop converted into a garage. It has since been washed, I just don't have another picture. I think I'm going to start with those cables per recommendations, and if that don't work, start on the throttle body. Thanks again y'all.
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RecklessWOT

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Kevin
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1987
Truck Model
V10 Suburban Silverado
Engine Size
350 TBI
Thanks for all the help guys. For the ones who requested, here's a photo of it right after we got it out of a year long storage in a (very cleaned out) chicken coop converted into a garage. It has since been washed, I just don't have another picture. I think I'm going to start with those cables per recommendations, and if that don't work, start on the throttle body. Thanks again y'all.
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Nice lookin' truck! I bet after it's washed it looks beautiful
 

hoagster

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Welcome nice truck!
 

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