I was originally thinking 96-98 silverado 1500. My friend thinks I should get an s-10 because they are much more durable.

I think this is a good idea!! Smaller truck, better for a first time 4x4er (especially for trails), better mileage becasue its lighter, easier to park when in the city. The whole truck is small, but he said he fit 3 dirtbikes in a bed, so that should be enough for a bunch of mountain bikes.

I would get an extended cab with a v8. I don't know much about these and want to look into them as I think I would be better off with this.

-for mods:
I think 33's with a american racing mojave teflons would be nice. I like rancho lifts, how are they on an s-10 and which size would i need for 33's.

first off your buddy is full of crap.. i wouldnt consider a s-10 to be more durable than a fullsize.. infact i consider them a bit less..

As far as a trail truck, depends on the trails, they are IFS and more expensive to lift, and it takes alot of lift to fit 33"s.  They also never came from the factory with v8s.. though that is a common mod.  

Yes the 96-98 Silverados are IFS too, however it takes less lift to fit 33"s, they have a bit more room, and can haul more.. and they arent that hard to park. If you think you can off road a truck then you shouldnt have a problem parking a pickup.

To fit 33" tires on an s-10, you need at least the 5.5" susp lift and some fender trimming. The lift isn't cheap at over $1000 (plus install).

A v8 wasn't stock as pre-runner said, and the swap is common, and easy as far as engine swaps go, but if you are in CALI, it will be alot more work to retro-fit all the v8's emissions equipment. Plus the steering shaft has to be moved, the firewall clearanced, custom rad and exhaust, custom oil pan....plus a stock rear axle that wont like the v8 for very long.   

The s-trucks use much smaller IFS components and rear axles, not heavy duty at all, but are adequate for the light weight of the truck.

An s-truck with a 3" body lift and 31" tires with the factory 4.3L v6 can be a very capable truck for mild off-road and daily driver duty.

I have an s-15 jimmy for a bush buggy with 31's on it, and it has been incredibly tough (sees offroad use only) but it is also 700lbs lighter than it came from the factory.

I certainly wouldnt try to play in the dunes and sky one of these little rigs.

I was just thinking it would be better for trails, being small. His friend must have put a v8 in it. The v6 would be okay. Maybe 31's on it would be enough with a 3" lift. I won't be doing anything serious.

Or maybe I should go back to the fullsize idea. On a 1500, with 33's, if i got a new exhaust system and some other gas improving mods, what do you think I could get the mileage up to with out costing an arm and a leg.

A k1500 with 33x12.50 (the width is enormously important in regards to mpg), a 5.7L, and an auto trans....in good tune, probably 14 city, 17 hwy. The you could spend $1500 on bolt on stuff and get 14.5 city 17.5 hwy.

If you are even slightly worried about mpg, dont even think about a lift or bigger tires.

Read my post about mpg on your other thread (camper/topper...)

Prerunner1982, you wouldn't happen to be a member from the 67-72 Chevy Trucks message board who lives in Oklahoma, are you?

14 in the city and 17 on the highway? That's better mileage than I thought...

Do you have any experience with the mileage of stock or closer to stock K1500's with 350 V8's and auto trannies?

My 1992 k1500, 5.0L with auto trans and 3.42 gears consistently gets 18mpg (70%highway driving). It has 210,000km on it, I run a K&N air filter, throttlebody spacer, Ravin 3" muffler, MSD6A ignition, MSD coil, 8.5mm plug wires, and a B&M shift kit in the trans. It is currently on 235/85/16 BFG A/T's (31.5 tall). I keep my foot out of it on pavement, and keep it under 65mph, and I run 89 octane all the time.

Before I did anything to it, it had 140,000km on the odometer, was bone stock, and was on 225/75/16 (29" tall) tires with almost no tread. It got 19mpg then.

My dad has a 95 ext cab k1500 with the 5.7L and auto trans and 3.73 gears, with over 250,000km. His truck is bone stock on 245/75/16 BFG A/T's (30" tall) and he gets 16mpg, and he has a REALLY light foot.

My buddy had an '88 k1500 with a 350  TBI crate motor, TH400 trans, 4.10 gears and 35" bias ply swampers. He got about 8mpg overall, but on road trips he could get it up to 12mpg.

yes i am.. and who are you? lol  

My brother has a 96 chevy 1500. It averages about 16 mpg and I have never ridden with him under 70 miles a hour. He never drives on the highway. He tires up ever mud road in the country and i have even seen him chasing coyotes through corn fields across roads at more the 60 miles a hour. He has nothing bigger then stock tires and has always made it through what I could in my ford with a bigger motor and 33 inch mud tires and even some I could not.    

He's lucky to get 16mpg at 60mph in a corn field. LOL!

I was "uncle_handsome."

I was permanently banned from the board I think back in September 2005. For about the first 2 weeks I just couldn't post. After that, my computer was entirely blocked from the website so I couldn't even read other people's posts. That really sucked.

I believe it had something to do with a thread in the General Discussion titled "Redneck and Proud." (and I also believe it was regarding something Christmas) Perhaps they took my response out of context or perhaps I made an error in word choice. Oh well.

I remember you gave me advise on lifting 2wd C1500's. I miss everyone (or at least almost everyone, lol) at the board. If you like to can tell them that I'm doing all right and that if anyone wants to talk to me they can find me here. (as "aircraftmechanic")

Any funny stories or events happen on the board lately?

How've you been?

how you doin man?.. did you know that dave's (LOHRTBT) truck got stolen? Then 2months later.. it ended up in Truckin mag with some tool from Texas claiming it was his.. Dave got another 73-87 he is working on now..

i visit most of the message boards on the primedia sites.. they are ok.. nothing like the other though.. if you want another 73-87 board you can try www.Chevytalk.org  that is where most of us on the 67-72 came from. Its not as active as the other board, it use to be.. but atleast its another decent board to go to.  

I didnt know you got banned, noticed you hadnt been on in awhile, tried the site lately? They have been updating it..

I don't remember the screen name but I remember a while ago someone posted a thread with something like "... If you see someone driving this truck, shoot them..." So he didn't get his truck back? Did he get money instead?

I haven't seen Chevytalk.org yet. Lots of board members there, cool!

Perhaps I'll try the 67-72 site again. It's been about a month since I tried looking at it. It used to give me a blank white screen with a message at the top "452 Policy Error." (I think that was the number) Do you know what that means?

*Ok, I just tried visiting the board and I saw a "vBulletin" that said I am banned, the reason "None" and the ban will be lifted on September 28, 2006.*

Do you like your 235/85R-16 tires? Any regrets? I think I remember you had 32x11.5-15 tires for it too. Any noticeable mpg difference switching to the 235's?

I remember so said you couldn't leave a drink in a cupholder. I noticed even in my parents caravan with a semi-soft suspension it can still spill a drink going over little bumps.

Drinks aside, how would you describe ride comfort of those tires in a K1500? How big is your truck? (ie. reg cab or extended, long or short box)

 I've been in Superduty Ford 4x4's with 235/85R-16s and the ride wasn't all that bad... But then again, being an extended cab long box, it probably weighs 2000 lbs more than a reg. cab K1500.

BTW how heavy do you think one of your wheels with the 235/85R tire  mounted on it is? How much heavier than the 225/75R-16's mounted on it?