I just found a decent shape 95 Suburban 6.5TD K2500. Has a plow with it. 175K miles. I am pondering this burb or a K2500 454, 172K miles, 4.10's. I don't know the gearing on the 6.5TD. Any things to look for? Advise on buying? Frown due to plow? What sort of mileage do you expect? I don't tow often, typically this is the kid hauler (I have a K1500 Vortec Burb now, 13-14 city, 16-17.5 highway mpg now) I have heard some people getting low to mid 20's with the 6.5TD, is that realistic or dreaming? Thanks!!
Although I like the power and driveability of our Vortec 454 in our '98 C3500, not to mention how far the 454 has come, but I wouldn't touch one compared to a similar vehicle with a 6.5TD. Power should be similar, with the 6.5TD probably being a little better for pulling grades, while using half the fuel. I'd have a good look at all the bushings and everything under the burb with the plow, they are hard on front ends, and with all the extra components that make up the Chevy IFS I would look at it all good to make sure the plow hasn't worn anything out. Mileage is about average with the 6.5TD compared to the Ford and Cummins of the same vintage. 15-20mpg, maybe a little better, maybe a little worse.
I drove a friends 96 Vortec 454 Burb w/3.73's and I thought for a 454, it would be far more powerful than it was. It did ok, but was only marginally better than my 1996 350 Vortec Burb with 3.73's. It only has 74K miles, is there some common power problems to them? Or am I expecting too much? Basically if I would punch it, I would be lucky if I could even bark the tires at all. Seems computer restricted.
Most vehicles, especially ones like a Burb, can't spin the tires from take off. My dad has a '98 burb with a 350 and we have the '98C30 ranch truck with a 454/5spd. THe 454 doesn't pull all that much better with a smaller trailer but something larger and the 454 shines. The 454 in a truck is not that snappy of a motor, not in my experience. We have two 454 trucks, a '76 C30 and a '98 C30. While the '98 pulls a lot better than the older truck, neither of them are all that speedy really. They are meant to pull, and our '98 builds a ton of mid range power, not top end. Get a 6.5TD truck, diesel is better.waytogo
I agree. And it's not because I have a 6.5. My buddy has a 99 K3500 with a 454 and he had a little to much to drink one day so I drove his truck home that was towing a car trailer with our 2 quads on it. And getting onto the freeway I punched it to about 1/2 throttle and wasn't really feeling much so I rolled onto the throttle all the way to the floor and wasn't to impressed. I had at that time a lifted suburban with a TBI 350 and have towed the same trailer and quads and didn't feel it was any better. And one time he borrowed another friends 97 tahoe with a 350 and he said he thinks it pulls his trailer just as good as his 454 dually. I'd go with the 6.5.
With that many miles I would go diesel. I have a K2500HD truck with the 6.5 and I get about the same milage that you get with your burb. My truck has 4.10s so that is about the worst milage you will see out of a 6.5, yet the best towing performance. If you find a 3.73 truck you will probably see 1-2mpg increase across the board. Steer clear of 3.42 trucks. Although they will put out the best milage (20+freeway) they are gutless. With the 454 truck you can expect 10mpg city if you drive like granny and 13highway again if you drive like granny. Towing will easily be in the single digits. Here is a good thread about 6.5s that james did. it helped me with alot of questions that i had before I bought my rig. https://towrig.com/forums/showthread.php?t=411 I tow alot of different things with my truck. On flat land I can move 10k lbs at 70mph+ in OD without much of a problem. Good luck and keep us updated!! Oh and mpgs in the mid 20s are only on 1/2 ton 2door tahoes with 2wd, 3.42s, and some mods
dont do it the 6.5 was horrible motor my uncle and cousins work for gm and they said ever single one to leave the factory came back multiple times. they are probley the worst diesel engine gm could have picked for a truck because they have little power and overall you should just throw the engine away if you buy that truck and put in a 350 or any small block
Ok...Someone is pushing beer technology:doah: It is obvious you dont own one, have never worked on one, and dont really know much about this engine. SO....dont bother posting if you dont know what your talking aboutwaytogo The 6.5 does have its quirks like any engine...but they are easy to fix!! I love mine. It is no Duramax but it was about 1/4 of the cost. Check out thedieselplace.com for lots of 6.5 tech
BS. boss has a big race boat, he has pulled it with a 454, and a 6.5L trailer is 15k, he said the vortec 454 smoked the 6.5L for power on any grade. push down the pedal and you just went, where the 6.5 was always searching for gears and downshifting multiple gears on all the hills
Well my dad has a 97 powerstroke all stock with 4.10 gears and my 6.5 has 4.10 and his truck doesn't pull the trailer any better than my 6.5. And actually he said to me my truck has better acceleration than his. And I have chased dodges up hills pulling my trailer with them pulling smaller trailers and passed them. I'm not talking about new ones but like the late 90's fords and dodges. My sister in-law has a 2004 dodges with cummins not even out of warrenty and it has been back to the dealer for the third time with the same problem of stalling for no reason and the speedo wiggin out and they replaced the VSS twice and it fixed the problem for about a week and then happened again. So they have had it for 3 weeks now trying to figure out why. I have a buddy that worked for dodge and late 90's weren't good for the auto trans behind the cummins. So I guess I could say THEY WERE JUNK AND EVERYONE WITH AN AUTO TRANS. CAME BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP!!! But I am not. They all have different problems with them. Don't even get me started on Fords auto tranny's as well. I know quite a few people who have had 2 and 3 trans. before 100K. You can put out all the power you want but you're only as strong as your weakest link.
Woah easy there fella...I will be the first to admit that a cummins or even a powerjoke will easily outpull my truck. However we are not comparing the 6.5 to these engines...we are comparing it to a 454.
I know. But I was refering to chevytrucknut post talking about the cummins and powerstroke. The cummins is a bada$$ motor. But they all can have issues.
Stock for stock NONE of them were powerhouses. Will a 7.3 or 6bt outpull my truck, sure it will, but it wont smoke my "pile 6.5". Its painfully obvious you have absolutely zero experience with this motor, so just go away.
