I've owned 9 trucks now. Every time I tell myself, "This is it, the truck I'll have for the rest of my life" and it ends up being a money pit and then a few years later I take a big loss when I sell it. So I said "I'm done, I'm not buying forever trucks anymore".

Naturally I bought THE truck that will make a perfect "Forever" truck. 2002 6.0 LQ4/4L80E of course. 188k on the Odo. Crew cab long bed, I'm a dad; I need a swiss army truck for hauling the family, dogs, kayaks, trailer, bicycles, etc to the lake, and across country.

Everything breaks and gas motors are 10 times cheaper, simpler, and quicker to repair. And these LS platforms have more aftermarket support than any engine I know of.
Here's when I picked it up:


And about 30 minutes after I got it home. Need to get rid of all the rest of the fake chrome, fender flares, window vent covers, etc.

Those are fake tattoos, not bruises BTW.
Needs some work to get it up to snuff. Tires, alignment, may need steering components. I think the TQ convertor is tired. When you put the truck in gear and let off the brake, it barely engages and rolls, if at all. When in tow/haul, and you let off the accelerator, the TCC lets go almost instantly and the engine drops to near-idle while you're still rolling at 60 or whatever. I don't mind spending a little money to get it back into shape.

I expect a 20 year old truck to need some love. This setup, body, engine, trans, is worth maintaining. I'd rather have $20 grand in a GMT800 than 20 grand in a late-model pickup. I only have half that in it now so I've got plenty of elbow room.
Edit; I wrote this then I guess I deleted it - Sometime here soon I plan to get a junkyard LQ4 and start building it as I have time/money. I'll end up with a "new" slightly upgraded motor that will hopefully give this truck the ability to stay in service for a good many years. Can drop it in some point down the line when the current oil-dripping motor gets tired, or when I just decide it's time.

 

I like it! I'm a big fan of the GMT 800 8 lug trucks.

 

Sounds like my plan. 01 Sierra 2500HD, not planning to get rid of it but am planning to dump tons of money into it for the ultimate all around truck. The hard parts are cheap for these and plentiful, lots of aftermarket love, LS platform, electrical system is fairly basic and still provides good creature comforts. The drive by cable I really prefer over DBW. There isn't really any traction control or stabilitrack garbage to rob you of power and control. NBS is going to be a classic for sure.

Sure a 2020+ vehicle will ride smoother, have more power, have all the fancy electrical/gadgets/sensors you could want (and DON'T want), but when some of that stuff breaks it's just going to be absurd to fix. Oh your power tailgate motor has given up? That will be 2 hrs shop rate + $200 to replace. Did you really need that power tailgate to begin with?

Looks like a nice truck. I'm sure it will get it done for you!

 

New wheels and shoes are always nice. These are actually the wheels I had on my GMT900 duramax.

 

Talked to the local 4l80 guru. He said my torque convertor sounds perfectly normal and I am just used to the 4l60e. I guess the 4l80 idles in gear at about half the speed the 4l60 does that's why it seems like it was just barely grabbing to me. And he said the number 1 complaint he gets from customers about their 4l80's is the way the TCC disengages on decel while towing at speed, meaning no engine braking. He said you can't tune it to not unlock on decel. But I know you can buy aftermarket TCC lockup controllers. Not sure if I should get one or if I'd end up forgetting to unlock it and damage something. Unfortunately I'm not very educated on transmissions.

 

You need a new transmission guy haha
It's 2 settings in the tune to fix the lockup when throttle is closed. And the idle speed is the same, the 4l80 torque converter is just more loose.

 

Damn. I hate not knowing what I don't know. Thanks for the info.
I have only ever heard great things about the 4l80's, I need to get more educated on them.
I also need to get HPTuners; even if I don't get a tune for some time, simply being able to log sensor data for diagnostic purposes is huge. I know nothing about HPTuners, my buddy told me to be sure to get an MVI2 and not an MVI3.
I know there are forums and youtube for HPT but it's such a big world to get into it seems like there's no good place to start, you just have to jump in over your head.

 

Just things you learn over 20 years of messing with these trucks.
Back in the day I just put a switch on the dash to override TCC engagement. That was my work around till I figured out how to make it work correctly.

Just post your tune or can email it to me.

I've got a 2004 2500hd i bought for stupid cheap few years ago. It's got 300,000+ miles on it and I work it almost daily.
Even went as far as hauling a 40,000# trailer 150 miles haha.
The newer trucks are junk. I make good money working on them so i keep my old junkers and keep them going.

Building a 370ci for my 2500hd, already have the S475 turbo and a built 4l80 and fresh NP263 transfer case and another 14 bolt rear I need to freshen up.
I'd rather put a new motor and transmission in my truck every few 5 years than have to pay the Diesel "tax".

 

I'm getting ready to order HP tuners V3. I hate dropping $500 when I don't know the software but it seems like the way to go. @RDF1 I have always assumed that the TCC locking in would be beneficial for towing especially in the hills. Is there anything I'm not seeing other than the TCC being locked provides engine braking and transmits power without slipping is less likely to damage the convertor? Does the slippage soften the power transmission and somehow protect or help the transmission?

 

You can download the software and look around for free.

I lock my TCC in 2nd 3rd and 4th in tow haul. Pulls better and less heat in transmission.

For engine braking you need the TCC locked and the over run clutchs engaged. So in 4th gear both are locked. In 3rd gear over run clutchs aren't locked unless you manually put it in 3rd gear.

I'm not sure why GM programmed them like that cause most failures i see are torque converter clutch wearing. Repeated unlocked going down hill then locking with a bunch of slip with PWM controlling it can take a beating on that single clutch.