Chevy Express Pricing and 6-Speed Trans

[tvaughn]

4.8L 2500 Express with a 4L80E.....Totally mismatched combination & an absolute dog. I've done several 5.3L & 6.0L swaps on these after the 4.8L broke a valve spring, Dropped the valve & disintegrated a piston. They have to spend so much time at or near redline that the valve springs take quite the beating.

If you think the 2500 is slow, Budget truck rental had the 4.8 and 4-spd in their 16 ft. box trucks from 2005 and on until the 6-spd was released...can't imagine being fully loaded and towing a car over a huge pass. Spent a lot of time driving those empty and they were dogs down low. Suprised GM even offered the 4.8 in that configuration, the 5.4 in the Ford felt like a powerhouse in comparison.

 

[01rangerxl]

These vans are probably the most reliable GM product for at least the last decade. For some reason they don't seem to have the transmission issues that the pickups do.

Now we did have to leave the 04 Savana box van at work running when we were dropping off parts the other night because we didn't want to break down in front of someone else's loading dock, but it has like 600k+ on it. Sounds like a dragster too.

 

[nickaluch]

Good used vans are hard to come by. I know when I sold a van to buy a new one there was a reason

 

[ls1mike]

4.8L 2500 Express with a 4L80E.....Totally mismatched combination & an absolute dog. I've done several 5.3L & 6.0L swaps on these after the 4.8L broke a valve spring, Dropped the valve & disintegrated a piston. They have to spend so much time at or near redline that the valve springs take quite the beating.

Even though my 02 6.0/4L80E got the job done. It wasn't winning many races.

 

[repairman54]

Had a 6.0 Express on my job in my previous life. Ran it to 300k with just normal maintenance, just one trans. as they never serviced fluid per the fleet Co. The 6.0 ran like a 'vette compared to the new 4.3 they put me in after retiring it. Drove those Co. vans like I stole'em also.
Old school GM vans are tough, that's why they hold value. I've got many years of beating on them experience. Lots of time in old E vans also, 300 6 drivetrains took a beating also.

 

[D60]

Yep, around here the AWD versions (where applicable) go for crazy money because it's still less crazy money than a Sprinter. Everyone fancies themselves an "overlander." Brah. Sick. Dood. That's also called car camping folks.

But I did recently help my buddy put a Webasto gas heater in his '13 AWD. That was at least a fun project, drilling a hole in the top of the fuel pump assy to drop a pickup tube. Then I see E-series vans used to come with an additional, unused tube for exactly such a purpose. Ford was down wit da overlanderz before it was even cool. Sick. Brah.

 

[dogememe]

Thank you all for the input, a coworker was selling his 97 Yukon for a good price so I ended up with that. Beats having a payment.