JamesHigdon

Thanks you and thanks for reminding me; I put a lifetime warranty balancer and crankshaft pulley on mine (separate pieces and both rubber isolated) that I check with just about every fill-up. The final benefit to the old 6.5L is that they run a 4L80E which is only a 4-speed with lockup converter but is nearly the most bullet-proof transmission ever created by man or otherwise. The five speed trucks run a modifed NV4500 5-speed that has a PTO output if needed.

If you're a GM guy it all depends on price range. If you want something cheap but don't mind spending some money on it slowly after purchase the GMT 400 (88-99) Pickups are a great choice. They ran a 6.5L that is a Detroit Diesel design and while they get a bad rep as long as you attend to some design issue they are stone cold reliable and get astounding gas mileage. Like I'd mentioned I run a 6.5L Turbo Diesel in my '94 Suburban that was an original "no emissions" truck and get roughly 16-18mpg average around town and 14ish towing, the highway mileage is over 20 unladen. Mine has 240k miles on it, when I bought it as an old-neglected farm truck it obviously hadn't led an easy life so I spent a little bit time cleaning it up and then did a few upgrades. These trucks have known cooling system issues so I cleaned the radiator fins, put a higher volume water pump in, put a AC Delco thermostat in, sourced a high-output thermostatic fan clutch and am running a later model Duramax fan. I am also running a relocation kit to keep my injector driver cooler along with two-stroke oil on fillups to keep the injection pump alive with modern diesel. I have a real light chip on the truck and while it's not "fast" it'll more than put me back in the seat, will tow anything I ask it to and STILL gets good mileage. If you've got more money the Duramax is a great if not slightly less popular (among the big 3) modern choice. The early Duramax's up until mid '04 had cylinder head and injector issues so I'd go '05 or newer unless the heads and injectors have been upgraded to later or aftermarket parts. The '05 and up Duramax trucks are as indestructible as anything on the market, in-fact I've got a family members on our lot right now on consignment with 38xK miles on it that runs like a top and we've had them with as high as 450K miles. The Duramax trucks from '05 on can be made to tow as well, make as much power as and get better gas mileage than the late model Ford/Cummins trucks and the remainder of the vehicle is still GM stuff so it's easy to service. If you're considering a 6.5L or Duramax truck thedieselplace.com is a great source for buyers guides and information related to the long-term viability of these trucks. Keep in mind GM has been building the 6.5L engine since '88 and it is still in production today as a military and industrial motor (H1 Hummers run 6.5Ls) so it's no junker and the Duramax has been in steady production since '99 so it's pretty well scienced out as well.

How big are you looking to go? In anything over a 3/4 ton pickup your choices are going to be limited almost exclusively to diesel. How heavy is your trailer? About a year ago I switched out of a gas daily driver (a '99 GMC Yukon with the 5.7L and a towing package) to a roughly equivalent diesel ('94 6.5L C2500 Suburban) with LESS horsepower (same 3:73 gears btw) because the extra 100 ft/lbs of torque the diesel offers, plus the increase in gas mileage (gained about 5mpg) plus the heavier-duty nature of the diesel makes life a lot easier. I always kinda though guys who drove diesels all the time where silly due to the higher cost of parts and oil but the diesel is much heavier so it breaks less and the oil is more expensive ($25 Valvoline oil and filter on the gas truck versus $60 Rotella T, Lucas Additive and oil/fuel filters) on the diesel but it's 5K miles instead of 3K. If you are going to be using the truck a lot more daily than for towing and are looking at a Duramax/6.0L Ford/24V Cummins truck then the reduction in fuel mileage of unloaded diesel vs. unloaded gas truck may not be worth it but while towing the diesel will typically get higher mileage than an equivalent gas truck. I've been so happy with the switch that I am now looking at eventually converting my shop truck (a '68 C10) from a 283 gaser to a 6.2L diesel not for the extra power (the 6.2L is a dog) but for the extra gas mileage!

The link to the Facebook page isn't working and I can't find it at all.

I have had EXTRODINARILY good luck working with my district’s city councilman (Chris Medina) about a range of issues including some related a local racer getting more than his fair share of grief from code compliance. I would be more than happy to contact him again but I would suggest contacting that district’s councilman and framing your case around what it does to keep local kids out of trouble, aid them in excelling in an international sport and the historic value of the track. I also wouldn’t rule out contacting TV news media as well as some of the tracks (or racer’s) larger sponsors for help. You could also contact local TXSZ sponsors or figures with some pull and let them work what power they have. HEB (racers at TMS in recent years), Zachary Construction, Sirizzotti Construction, Aramendia Plumbing and VP Racing are all local companies that either sponsor or support local racing, see what sway they can put in motion? This (like many government issues) will likely be won in the court of public opinion. As a secondary point, why in this economy would the city be spending money to demolish something in a park with room all around it?