mocXI

I'm looking at possibly buying a 1997 chevy silverado z71, it has 129,000 miles on it. it looks to be in decent shape. anyone know anything about these trucks, and how reliable are they, what kind of maintanence is common?

ol"blue

I personally wouldn't own one. JMO Had a buddy when I was building cabins that had one and he drove the SNOT out of it! It had over 200K miles on it and the biggest thing he ever had to fix was the water-pump. It was great in that red clay/mud, even pulling several so called "off-roaders" we worked with up the hill after work on several occasions. I think that had a lot to do with driver skill though. It was a very dependable truck. Still, I didn't like it.

mocXI

thanks for the reply, personally i like it. always had a thing for pickups. and my main concern was reliability.

mocXI

anyone else have any comments regarding the reliability of these trucks? thats my main concern. my second concern, is it would be mostly a mud truck, and im worried about the long wheelbase, how much will the longer wheelbase affect me, compared to my cherokees wheelbase?

60Gritt

itll be a fun truck they are fun to drive and have plenty of life very durable for an IFS truck but i would recomend solid axle swap if your gonna do alot of serious muddin but yea you will have a tone of fun in it as long as you take care of it after your trips in the mud grease grease grease and checking your diff and xcase fluids (extend all your brether lines to a higher point to prevent water and mud from getting in the trans x case and diffs)

robertj

Those motors are famous for piston slap and more than a few have had to be replaced before 100k miles due to it. Make sure you get to listen to it being started while it's cold. A seller's trick would be to get it nice and warm before you come over to look at it, because they don't slap when warm.

The only other thing I notice about them, is it seems like everyone that owns a z71 acts like they are driving a race car and race from light to light. I'll never understand that...

FleXXedOUT88

i have a 93 as just a get around truck and its great its got over 200k on it and its running great! i look at it this way.... how many do u see on the road? there is a reason you see on everyewhere u go if they were junk no1 would own them.... there is a huge aftermarke backing them. you can out a brand new motor in one for about 800 bucks.... every junk yard has parts for one..... and they are cheap! what more could u want?

ltlgreenXJ

i drive a 95 for work. the only thing i've ever really had a problem with is the power steering (the pressure hoses blow out). sometimes the brakes stick a little bit when they're cold. but i plow with mine and carry a bunch of stuff all the time. so it gets its share of abuse at my hands.

bigbadxj

I have a buddy with a '03 1500 HD quad cab and it is lifted 12" with 22" rims and 36" M-16's. I love that thing and if I had $19,000(He is selling it) I could own it but I'm poor. When he sells it he wants to get a V-8 WJ! HA