This is the greatest and best truck in the world. These are the only 30+ year old trucks you see on the road daily, multiple times. They aren't infallible, but they are easy enough to fix for damn near anyone.
These trucks still look good today. It's a timeless design. For a work truck, this one has survived well. That seat looks almost new. This truck will still be running long after new trucks have blown up their engines or bricked their computers provided rust doesn't get to it. Rust is the only thing that can destroy these old trucks. I'm partial to the facelift GMT400s but I could go for a clean pre-facelift, particularly with the single headlight grille so I can put better headlights in. I agree that the GMT800 was the peak of GM trucks. The GMT400 is very nice and still modern enough to be used every day but it and everything before were building up to the 800. The 800 is reasonably well-built, reliable, comfortable, and looks good. The GMT900 was a huge step backwards with its cylinder deactivation destroying engines, dull styling, and cheap hard interiors.
Thank you so much Zach for this video! I'm so happy you enjoyed my absolutely basic truck! I actually just put it to good work today, so the timing of this upload is pretty appropriate. Can't wait to see my other cars on your channel!
An unstoppable beast of steel... Last of the good ones. Love the steel bumpers where you could actually use it on worksites. Today's F150, a taillight replacement cost $ 900.00 with need for programming. Are you kidding me? Glad to see this history still rolling around
I appreciate the reviewers thoughts on this, but GMT400 Tahoe's and Suburban's were quite popular and desirable. I had a 94 Sierra SLE with just under 350k miles and almost that same exact original seat (same color and material, just 60/40 split to get into the back) with zero tears or sag in it. I had that 94 GMT400, I have a 2000 GMT800, I also have a 2008 GMT900 and also now have a 2024 Sierra HD.
My work uses this exact same spec vehicle but in 3500 form for hauling things around the property. The body is rusted to hell but it's still kicking around, really wish it was taken better care of!
That’s a good old workhorse Chevrolet truck. Looks to be well maintained and kept in good repair over the years. That tail gate is from a dually . Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it. American Iron all the way!
I agree. The GMT800 was peak GM truck. They're reasonably well-built, reliable, comfortable, and useful. GMT400s are nice but they were building up to the GMT800. The GM900 was a step backwards with a boring design, cheap hard interior, and unreliable engines due to the cylinder deactivation.
The pre-2003 GMT800s were perfect. After 2003, only the GMCs were appealing. That Avalanche front clip absolutely ruined the Chevy and they haven't been attractive since.
@@doug6191 I like the 99 to 02 Silverados. I also really like the Cat Eye from 2003 to 06 and 07 classic. The 06 and 07 trucks look great with the tailler hood from the old HD trucks back in 2001 and 2002. It's a shame GM didn't run that hood longer.
@cub1009 It's the fenders that offend me. They went from having 3-4 inches between the trailing edge of the grill and the leading edge of the wheel arch...to having what seemed like 7 feet of front overhang. The cateyes looked like they have overbite. And the taillights were needlessly ugly, too. Who needed round lights on their truck? Ugly, ugly, ugly design, no matter what trim you get from W/T up to SS. The '03-'06 Silverado is fuggin ugly.
One thing that bugs me about these trucks is when people use "C/K" wrong. It's either a "C" (2WD), or a "K" (4WD). So since this truck is a 4x4, it's a K2500.
in 1996 this truck improved by leaps and bounds and still had the 350...fuel injection made a big difference had 3 of these and put at least 200 k on each of them..btw theres nothing uncool about owning a pickup truck
For me, 88-95 was the sweet spot. In 96 they started adding a lot more electronics. I own a 95 and other than switching the climate control to an electronic piece of crap, everything else is still basic and only regular tools required
This truck has the interior of the GMT400 Silverado trim instead of the cheaper seats and door panels of the Cheyenne trim and the dash of the all Chevrolet pickups made from the 1988 through 1994 model years. For the model year 1995 all Chevy pickups got a new interior including the dashboard and door panels. So particular has features no typical of the 1997 work truck. My theory is that the interior was removed from a truck with Silverado trim made before 1995. I had a 1994 Chevrolet C1500 pickup with Cheyenne trim. This trim level was around $2,000.00 less expensive than a truck with the Silverado trim package. However my Cheyenne had the Silverado grill, alloy wheels with Tiger Paw white letter tires, power windows and locks, tilt wheel and cruise control so it was way above a Cheyenne base model. However the engine was the base 4.3 litre V6 which was an excellent engine, every bit a stout as the 5.7 liter V8
I have a 95 8 lug k2500. Title says Cheyenne as do the doors, but it has ac and cruise control. Was that an option with the Cheyenne trim back in the day?
That truck's too small. Needs to be about a foot taller and six inches wider, and the sidewalls on the bed should be about a foot higher. The tailgate is too simple, and the interior needs more screens.
Base models are annoying and I hate them with passion. They scream cheapness, technophobia and conservatism... But the platform itself is awesome, I like the gmt400 platform, so many great vehicles were built on it (personally I prefer the ones that are from 93-95 and later)... Don't really care for the 800s. Just not my cup of tea...
Base models have their place. Mostly fleet sales, but some people don't have the money to have 20k worth of options on the same basic platform. Some people actually want manual windows and such. Less moving parts. Less technology isn't a bad thing, it's engineered to fail at some point. The pre 95 gmt400 trucks didn't have much for technology to begin with.
@@gerrysimonsen4417 You're just proving what I'm saying... It's technophobia, cheapness and conservatism, execatly as I said... Thing is that cheapskates don't even think about the pricing of comfort feauters/safety features etc, because it's in their blood and soul, they just want it as cheap as they can get it even if the difference is 500-1k usd on a 15k plus purchase... I absolutely hate this approach to ownership and vehicle purchase... And usually those who do this, don't really have money issues... That's the most annoying part... Those are also the kind of people who drive around in vehicles in poor conditions, just because they don't want to invest anything in them and they put in danger themselves and those that surround them by doing so...
I have a 2012 Sierra I purposely purchased because it has crank windows, rubber floor and the 4wd is a lever. After you have to pay $400 x 3 for window motor replacements in a 2003 Silverado and a carpet that is never clean you appreciate the simple things in a “work truck” I only require A/C, cruise control and automatic transmission. Am I cheap- yes, and lazy but I sure AF don’t need adaptive cruise control, auto dimming anything, navigation, Apple car play or any of the crap that costs 10’s of thousands over base they slap in today.
How does driving around in a rusted out 2005 Astro AWD put anyone in danger? 🤷♂️ the brakes and tires are excellent, it surely can’t speed around and cut people off. And I enjoy parking it knowing that if it gets door dinged I likely won’t notice!
