wanting to get a 3rd gen... which year?
06-28-2008, 07:55 PM
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wanting to get a 3rd gen... which year?
hey yall. I'm looking to get a 3rd gen quad cab. I'm gonna have a family to haul around now. I don't even want to hear anything about a mega-cab though. What year would you guys suggest? Are the biggest differences between the 03-04 and the 05-07 the turbo? what should I look for? Whats a good price on one with about 100K on the odo? And in case anyone is wondering, Im not getting rid of the 96.
thanks
thanks
06-28-2008, 11:17 PM
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Others on here know much more about this than I do but I'll give you what I know.
03 and 04 are the lower HP and torque motors but every post says they get much better mileage around 4 to 5 mpg better than newer trucks.
04.5 has the 325 horse and 610 torque motors and the intercooler is steel/alum tanks. They added a cat converter too. Posts say you can get more hp from electronic upgrades than the 3,4 years.
In 05 I think they went to plastic tanks on the intercooler and again from posts you can blow up the tanks if you add hp. Maybe they blow without either way the earlier tanks are better. The plastic tanks were chaned back to metal in later years I think.
I don't know what year they went from the nv5600 to the g56. The nv shifting sucks. My NV4500 shifts much much better than my NV5600. All of the g56 I've driven have shifted great. The g56 is geared wayyyyyyy to low so if you go this route you might not want the 4:10 rear unless you are really going to tow.
I don't know about the auto trans or when they changed from the 7 to the 8 series but the 8 gets much better reviews.
The third gens seem to have a injector issue leaking into the motor. I don't know what year this is either.
A common problem on 3rd gens is the blend door for your ac breaking. The seats are more comfortable on my 97 than my 3rd gen.
This info is pretty vague as far as years and problems but it should give you someplace to start.
Here is one of the more confusing parts of the whole 3rd gen. The lift pumps, some are mounted to the engine and some are in the tank. From what I understand the engine mounted lift pumps are junk but easily converted to an aftermarket pump and filter. They changed to an intank pump in 05 I think and it sounds like it is much more reliabile than the previous model. If you hot rod your motor and need more fuel the intank pump is more of a "deal" to change to an aftermarket pump strong enough to push the fuel you need.
Like I said at the top of my post, there are many on this site that have much more and better info on this than I do.
I hope this helps, good luck
03 and 04 are the lower HP and torque motors but every post says they get much better mileage around 4 to 5 mpg better than newer trucks.
04.5 has the 325 horse and 610 torque motors and the intercooler is steel/alum tanks. They added a cat converter too. Posts say you can get more hp from electronic upgrades than the 3,4 years.
In 05 I think they went to plastic tanks on the intercooler and again from posts you can blow up the tanks if you add hp. Maybe they blow without either way the earlier tanks are better. The plastic tanks were chaned back to metal in later years I think.
I don't know what year they went from the nv5600 to the g56. The nv shifting sucks. My NV4500 shifts much much better than my NV5600. All of the g56 I've driven have shifted great. The g56 is geared wayyyyyyy to low so if you go this route you might not want the 4:10 rear unless you are really going to tow.
I don't know about the auto trans or when they changed from the 7 to the 8 series but the 8 gets much better reviews.
The third gens seem to have a injector issue leaking into the motor. I don't know what year this is either.
A common problem on 3rd gens is the blend door for your ac breaking. The seats are more comfortable on my 97 than my 3rd gen.
This info is pretty vague as far as years and problems but it should give you someplace to start.
Here is one of the more confusing parts of the whole 3rd gen. The lift pumps, some are mounted to the engine and some are in the tank. From what I understand the engine mounted lift pumps are junk but easily converted to an aftermarket pump and filter. They changed to an intank pump in 05 I think and it sounds like it is much more reliabile than the previous model. If you hot rod your motor and need more fuel the intank pump is more of a "deal" to change to an aftermarket pump strong enough to push the fuel you need.
Like I said at the top of my post, there are many on this site that have much more and better info on this than I do.
I hope this helps, good luck
06-29-2008, 12:58 AM
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I was thinking 03 or 04 with the 48re. I'd like a 6 speed, but my future wife might actually have to drive this thing and she couldn't get past the 5speed in a neon. I'll save the shifting for myself and my 96 (when i get the 4500 in it). I'll definitely do atleast a box/chip when I get it, but I don't know if it'll get much farther than that because my fiancee has a bit of a lead foot and has never driven anything RWD and I can imagine the phone call now when it gets wet on the roads. I'm just wantin to start shopping around to see whats out there. What should I look out for on an 03 or 04?
06-29-2008, 03:16 AM
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Lift pump. See if it has been fitted with the intank version. Mine went out at 128,000 miles. I've also replaced a rear axle seal and left front axle. U joints are a weak link also(apparently, fine have been fine).
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06-29-2008, 03:33 PM
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Mine went out at 66k. My entire front end went out at 63k. If you can find an early '04, pick it up as they got better mileage. I have the 04.5 and get around 500 miles per tank. This is pretty good considering the size and weight of the truck.
06-29-2008, 09:16 PM
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Unless I'm mistaken, I believe that some of the early 03's with the SO engine had 47REs.
I have an early 04 with 305/555 engine. I haven't had a single problem with the drivetrain in 70,000 miles. When the 04.5s came out, I heard a lot of bad reports about the fuel mileage (hence why I hunted for the early model when I was buying), but from what I see now, they appear to have leveled out to very close to the same as the 03-04s.
03-04s - No emissions crap, SLIGHTLY better fuel mileage. Don't respond as well to power mods. This doesn't mean they don't respond well to them, just not as well as the 04.5-07 5.9L. I do not have the in tank lift pump and I haven't had a problem yet, knock on wood (by the way, is this covered under a TSB or anything where they will replace this under warranty even if it hasn't failed? I'm 800 miles shy of no warranty).
04.5-07 5.9L - These came with a cat convertor. These respond very well to power mods if you care about that sort of thing. As mentioned above, the early 05s came with a plastic intercooler which was prone to failure with any additional power added. 06 and newer have a better interior in my opinion.
Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. I tend to lean toward the 03-04, but I'm a bit biased.
I have an early 04 with 305/555 engine. I haven't had a single problem with the drivetrain in 70,000 miles. When the 04.5s came out, I heard a lot of bad reports about the fuel mileage (hence why I hunted for the early model when I was buying), but from what I see now, they appear to have leveled out to very close to the same as the 03-04s.
03-04s - No emissions crap, SLIGHTLY better fuel mileage. Don't respond as well to power mods. This doesn't mean they don't respond well to them, just not as well as the 04.5-07 5.9L. I do not have the in tank lift pump and I haven't had a problem yet, knock on wood (by the way, is this covered under a TSB or anything where they will replace this under warranty even if it hasn't failed? I'm 800 miles shy of no warranty).
04.5-07 5.9L - These came with a cat convertor. These respond very well to power mods if you care about that sort of thing. As mentioned above, the early 05s came with a plastic intercooler which was prone to failure with any additional power added. 06 and newer have a better interior in my opinion.
Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. I tend to lean toward the 03-04, but I'm a bit biased.
