Gmc S-15

flyboyron · September 21, 2010

I was wondering what is the best truck you have ever owned.

I have owned 4 trucks so far in my life and my GMC S-15 was the best truck I have ever owned.

I bought the truck used in 1986 with 55,000 miles on it from a friend who took real good care of it. It was a 1983 std cab with a short bed. It had the 2.8 V6 (which couldn't move out of its own way) and the R700 transmission. It was called the High Sierra and had the 3/4 ton package on it. It was fully loaded. You could load that truck with 20 bags of cement and it would handle it fine, and also the brakes were beefy and would stop as if it were empty.

I owned the truck from 1986 to 2000 and put over 450,000 miles on that truck.

The only main problem I found was the engine block was steel and the intake was aluminum and the intake bolts should have been torqued at regular intervals. Coolant leaking into the engine from loose manifold gaskets would cause problems. The first engine went 350,000 miles. It started leaking oil from the rear main rope seal. It finally was leaking a quart of oil every 30 miles. I had a tarp in my garage and would drive it on there to catch all the oil dripping from the underside of the truck. Boy did it smoke from the oil on the exhaust pipe.

All in all it was a great truck with its electronic controled carburator and R 700 tranny(which was rebuilt almost every 100,000 miles).

I got injured at work and can't do work on vehicles now so I sold it and since then I have bought new trucks every few years and take them in to have serviced now.

So what is your story of your favorite truck?

pj5454302 · September 21, 2010

I had a 92 sonoma Regular cab long box, 4x4 4.3 and a 5 speed. I beat the piss out of that truck and it took it for 2 years untill the piston rings started going. Even with the piston rings going and it smoking up a storm, Id pour a quart of oil in a week and it just kept on going. Sold it to my neighbor for a cabin truck a year ago in october and I still see it from time to time. I loved that truck and thats why I stayed in the S-Series family.