Found a truck today its a 04 no frills k2500 with a duramax and a 6spd manual trans. It has 24000 miles and is really clean i put it up on a lift and it doesnt look abused at all. So i want to know what yous think. They want 24999 for it but he said he would get it down to 22999 without my trade in. I have plow on my truck now and would transfer it over to the new truck but im uneasy with plowing with a stick for fear of burning out the clutch. and also if there is any problem area i should look at or be concerned about?
Depending on how "no frills" it is, that dmax/manual combo is pretty common... a lot of the HD work trucks (usually plain white outta the box) come with that setup... if it is one of those trucks, I'd suspect that price might be a little high, but might be more average in your area. you can pick up the c2500 dmax's new for about 28000 if ordered as a work truck. I can't recall how much the 4x4 went for, I think about 1500 more.... Still isn't all that bad considering it's prolly good and broke in, still low mileage, and will save quite a bit off buying a new one...
I wouldnt worry about the clutch when plowing...clutches are alot cheaper to replace than auto trannys
Yeah, they are cheaper, but if the gearing is not low enough to roll without staying on the clutch a lot, you'll smoke them a lot more frequently. And the odds of smoking the Alli with a plow would be much lower than any other trans on the market I think. Also, with no TC slip, you may have more trouble with tire slippage/spin. Another thing on the GM manuals, the trans is good, but the flywheel is "dual mass" and known to be a weak point. But after market upgrades are available.
i would guess it wouold work fine as a plow truck it sounds like a good truck if you plowed in the low gear they have or first you might not burn up that many clutches
My opinion is that you should determine if it is an LLY or LB7 truck. 2004 was the switchover year. LB7 is a great engine, but they did have issues with the injectors and that's what scared me off of buying a used one. If the injectors failed on a LB7, they would flood the crankcase with fuel. That could cause bearing damage - damage that could show up later. If it never suffered from this, then you could be good for another 400,000 miles. But...
