An open letter to General Motors

[vmax]

I like turtles

 

[Younggun]

Hey younggun.. is it true that you really are a certified jackass..? Asking for a friend............

Yes. It took years of study and training under a Master Jackass to achieve and I don’t take it lightly.

 

[Younggun]

FIFY

I disagree.

The durable, reliable, easy to maintain, and cheap to fix. It worked well in everything from fast cars to heavy duty truck, to light duty trucks while still being able to maintain some kind of use economy. It’s even extremely popular for onboard boat engines and airboats for its power to weight ratio.


While it may no best another engine in a specific category, it did well at just about everything.

 

[Younggun]

This is a lie. I do not like turtles. Someone is attempting to ruin my good name through this AI trickery.

 

[oldag]

You spelled 5.7 wrong.

The 350 was the best engine GM ever built.

350 was also pretty solid.

 

[oldag]

I always appreciated the cheap parts and easy maintenance of the pre fuel injection era.

A hopped up V8 with a carburetor sounds and feel better too. Sometimes there’s more to life than peak HP.

Under the hood with a vacuum gauge, tuning the carb until you get it just right.

Liked the old Carter AFB 625 cfm's.

 

[Txhighlander]

View attachment 441058​

Unfortunately the only manual transmission I can afford is in the scat pack or below challenger. Can't afford a hellcat and don't need a 2500 much less a 3500. You can't get a manual in a 1500 anymore or the charger which would be way cool. So either wait till it's payed down enough to sell or plan on upgrades. Hemi does sound awesome though!!

 

[billtool]

I disagree.

The durable, reliable, easy to maintain, and cheap to fix. It worked well in everything from fast cars to heavy duty truck, to light duty trucks while still being able to maintain some kind of use economy. It’s even extremely popular for onboard boat engines and airboats for its power to weight ratio.


While it may no best another engine in a specific category, it did well at just about everything.

I’m just remembering a Tornado I had when I was a kid. I really do agree with you though. The 350 was the standard against which all big block V8’s are measured.

 

[Younggun]

I’m just remembering a Tornado I had when I was a kid. I really do agree with you though. The 350 was the standard against which all big block V8’s are measured.

Yep, big block V8s are awesome. I love the era of big steel beasts powered by heavy big block engines using stupid amounts of torque and idling like they’ve lost a couple cylinders.

But my more reasonable side wins over if I had to pick just 1.

 

[benenglish]

I guess not all big blocks required a quart of oil every 500 miles.

 

[Grumps21]

As a professional mechanic of over 26 years now I can tell you they all have their shortcomings. The golden era of vehicles worldwide was the early to mid 2000s. Back when most brands were made where the companies were based. Many a 5.3l Chevy could turn over 300k. They have definitely overdone modern vehicles with too much tech. The end result, car batteries never last much more than 3 years, a minor glitch can throw a car in limp mode and something like an air shudder on the front of your vehicle can cause a cryptic code with an engine light that will make your car fail state inspection.

Even Toyota is not what it used to be but they sell based on reputation. Most of the 2010 and up Rav4s and everything that runs the 2.5 l have terrible timing chain rattle from a vvt sprocket that varies cam timing. I've seen a 2017 Tacoma with defective front axle bearings in the 4wd diff. I've seen their soy based wiring chewed up like an old dog toy by rats and mice. Nissan hasn't made a reliable cvt transmission since they first debuted and now even Subarus are problematic.

Everyone has replaced aluminum with plastic and reliability for marketability. All that being said, the number one cause of major failures is still the loose nut behind the wheel. If it's noisy, overheating or doesn't feel right, don't try to limp it home. Too often someone has a pegged temp gauge or oil light on and says "I was almost home". Hyundai and Kia have come a long way but the 2.0 and 2.4s are still plagued by random catastrophic failure.

Just have to pick your poison but I'd be pissed too if my 60k truck took a dump anywhere under 150k miles.

Spot on. As far as GM goes, the GMT400 kicked it off with the TBI (actually, ‘87 square body think) and GMT800 added refinement like rack & pinion while still keeping things fairly uncomplicated. Those were the first and last generations where the lines of fuel economy, cost, reliability, and simplistic all crossed. We are now at the point of diminishing returns on efficiency versus cost and reliability Im afraid

I‘m veering off point here, but I can’t believe that all of the extra costs and complex systems in today‘s trucks really don’t net very much efficiency over trucks from 20 years ago. It would seem the smallest profile trucks from the ‘90s would get the best mileage But instead they keep building the tallest, blockiest trucks that need electronic gadgets to improve efficiency. I would think a non-DOD or AFM 5.3l in a GMT400 with a simple 6 speed auto would do the same or better than what is coming out of Detroit.

 

[kbaxter60]

Way back in 1982 I purchased my very first brand new vehicle. A Chevy Silverado Pick-up.
That thing was a heap from the get go.
I had trouble with every system on that truck. Wiring, suspension, oil leaks, fuel pump failure, starter, windshield cracked sitting the driveway 10days after I bought it.(which warranty refused to replace),
trim falling off, rust, you name it it failed on that truck.
I swore then to never ever buy another GM product and I haven't.
Since then I've owned 13 vehicles. All but one of them Toyota. I'll never go back.

Dang, that sucks.
I was talking to my dad a couple of days ago and he told me that he had called the Chevy dealer to get some service work done on his older Chevy truck (don't know the actual year, guessing maybe late 90's?). They told him that they only do service work on 2010 and newer. Wow. I guess they have defined the service life of a Chevy truck, then?
He is pretty particular about keeping up with the service schedules on his vehicles, so I don't know what he'll do now. It's a manual, so not everyone can drive it. So, tough to sell. Then again, it's an old school "farm truck" and has zero bells and whistles. Geared low and floor shifter. Maybe I will buy it from him....

 

[Younggun]

Spot on. As far as GM goes, the GMT400 kicked it off with the TBI (actually, ‘87 square body think) and GMT800 added refinement like rack & pinion while still keeping things fairly uncomplicated. Those were the first and last generations where the lines of fuel economy, cost, reliability, and simplistic all crossed. We are now at the point of diminishing returns on efficiency versus cost and reliability Im afraid

I‘m veering off point here, but I can’t believe that all of the extra costs and complex systems in today‘s trucks really don’t net very much efficiency over trucks from 20 years ago. It would seem the smallest profile trucks from the ‘90s would get the best mileage But instead they keep building the tallest, blockiest trucks that need electronic gadgets to improve efficiency. I would think a non-DOD or AFM 5.3l in a GMT400 with a simple 6 speed auto would do the same or better than what is coming out of Detroit.

The reason you don’t see those small trucks any more is because the government imposed fuel mileage requirements based on the area of the wheel base.

If Ford built a Ranger the size of a real one it would be impossible to meet the mileage requirements for a vehicle if it’s size. So they just made it bigger. Yes, it gets worse mileage than the smaller truck people actually wanted. And yes it costs more than the smaller truck people actually wanted. But at least it can meet the fuel mileage requirements and avoid running afoul of government mandates.

TL;DR. The government made a plan to decrease carbon emissions and increase fuel economy which forced manufacturers to build bigger trucks with worse fuel economy and higher emissions.

 

[vmax]

I guess not all big blocks required a quart of oil every 500 miles.

I had a 3/4 ton suburban with the 8.1 liter
It used about a quart of oil every 1500 or so.

Damn fine engine and it had the 480L E behind it.
Bad ass combination

 

[Younggun]

I will say direct injection is a massive improvement over carburetors when it comes to the combination of Horsepower, economy, and day to day reliability.

I really don’t like TBI. It’s a halfway point that only marginally increases efficiency while making it overly expensive and impractical to modify an engine for more power. You’re basically stuck with what you got.

 

[Younggun]

I had a 3/4 ton suburban with the 8.1 liter
It used about a quart of oil every 1500 or so.

Damn fine engine and it had the 480L E behind it.
Bad ass combination

My dad used to have a 1ton with the 8.1. Pulled great. Burned gas great. Burned 1qt every oil change. You could time the oil changes by checking the dipstick.

 

[vmax]

My dad used to have a 1ton with the 8.1. Pulled great. Burned gas great. Burned 1qt every oil change. You could time the oil changes by checking the dipstick.

It got 15 on highway...10-11 in town.

I miss that damn suburban it was a 4X4 3/4 ton LT.

Built like a tank.

 

[Grumps21]

The reason you don’t see those small trucks any more is because the government imposed fuel mileage requirements based on the area of the wheel base.

If Ford built a Ranger the size of a real one it would be impossible to meet the mileage requirements for a vehicle if it’s size. So they just made it bigger. Yes, it gets worse mileage than the smaller truck people actually wanted. And yes it costs more than the smaller truck people actually wanted. But at least it can meet the fuel mileage requirements and avoid running afoul of government mandates.

TL;DR. The government made a plan to decrease carbon emissions and increase fuel economy which forced manufacturers to build bigger trucks with worse fuel economy and higher emissions.

I was talking more like the 1500 series from the 1990s era. Compare that to the half ton trucks now, and they are smaller and not as blocky. Our 1996 1500 GMC farm truck I can reach over the bed rails and almost touch the center of the bed. Can‘t do that with the new trucks.

The rules regarding the old ranger sized trucks are jacked up, just like everything the govt touches

 

[billtool]

I guess not all big blocks required a quart of oil every 500 miles.

Like a buddy of mine used to say when he parked his leaking Knucklehead- “At least oil is frucking cheap.”

 

[Paul Saver]

I guess not all big blocks required a quart of oil every 500 miles.

Just the ones that are broken in good. Petroleum was cheap back in the day.