From a '98 K1500 to a '19 LD...wow

stevejones · June 27, 2019

Longtime lurker finally in a position to upgrade my equipment: I bought a 2019 DC 4x4 with the All-Star package. Wow - this truck is impressive when compared to my old K1500. Everything is just exponentially better. Goes faster, stops faster, handles better, and just feels more solid.

I love my K1500 and will miss driving it in some respects (now my wife's ride); but at $31.7K out the door all-in for the LD, I couldn't pass it up. Fingers crossed I don't get the chevy shakes or AFM blues....

truckguy82 · June 27, 2019

Pretty much same for me, I went from a ‘97 tahoe to a ‘14 6.2 after my tahoe decided it was time to start an electrical fire while I was in home depot.

I am confident my sierra could beat my tahoe in a drag race, while towing a Tahoe

ajensen383 · June 27, 2019

Funny, I wish I had your old 98 instead of my 18... Still one of my favorite trucks to date... Besides gas mileage and braking difference, I would prefer the 98 all day any day.

In fact I will gladly trade my 18 in for a nice 98 stick shift truck right now... if I could find one..lol

truckguy82 · June 27, 2019

3 hours ago, ajensen383 said:

Funny, I wish I had your old 98 instead of my 18... Still one of my favorite trucks to date... Besides gas mileage and braking difference, I would prefer the 98 all day any day.

In fact I will gladly trade my 18 in for a nice 98 stick shift truck right now... if I could find one..lol

Yeah ok, that’s silly

there is literally nothing better about that generation truck

Guarantee if you refreshed your memory you’d be like wow this thing sucks.

The chassis was not stiff at all, just wallowed. This caused the already crappily screwed together interior plastics to fall apart even faster. They had very little oem rust prevention. They weren’t even that reliable. At 120-150k miles you were doing everything with it’s only saving grace the low cost of parts. They had a pitiful 4l60 trans.

You want a ‘98? I’ll go find one in incredible condition and you can trade me your truck for it. I’ll even arrange transportation.

ajensen383 · June 28, 2019

4 hours ago, truckguy82 said:

Yeah ok, that’s silly

there is literally nothing better about that generation truck

Guarantee if you refreshed your memory you’d be like wow this thing sucks.

The chassis was not stiff at all, just wallowed. This caused the already crappily screwed together interior plastics to fall apart even faster. They had very little oem rust prevention. They weren’t even that reliable. At 120-150k miles you were doing everything with it’s only saving grace the low cost of parts. They had a pitiful 4l60 trans.

You want a ‘98? I’ll go find one in incredible condition and you can trade me your truck for it. I’ll even arrange transportation.

Sorry ,my opinion doesn't agree with you...I hate to tell you but Its an argument you will never win since at the end of the day its what I AM happy with

If you like the k2,or T1 or whatever that's fine and I respect that decision, I in no way condemned the new truck in my original post, I just said I would rather have the 98 over an 18, am I not entitled to my opinion?????? I just simply stated I prefer the 98

For one, I prefer the looks of the 98, the interiors were way more comfortable, less electronic crap, and smaller in size.

I can pretty much fix anything that can possibly go wrong with one without having to take it in to the dealer ...

Yea the 4l60 was a weak tranny, ( like the 8 speed I have is so wonderful?? ) but I would be looking for a 5 speed anyway...Besides, 4l60s are cheap to rebuild regardless..

I get what you are saying....on paper everything is better, but I fail to see how my $60,000 sticker truck is that much better than a clean 98 or even a GMT-800 for what I need it to do...

If you like your K2 and think its the greatest truck you have ever owned, thats fine I wont argue with you, maybe it is...But dont condemn me for prefering something older and simpler..I just dont need all the electronics these trucks are loaded down with, I could care less about being connected,.

Nanotech Environmental · June 28, 2019

9 hours ago, ajensen383 said:

Sorry ,my opinion doesn't agree with you...I hate to tell you but Its an argument you will never win since at the end of the day its what I AM happy with

If you like the k2,or T1 or whatever that's fine and I respect that decision, I in no way condemned the new truck in my original post, I just said I would rather have the 98 over an 18, am I not entitled to my opinion?????? I just simply stated I prefer the 98

For one, I prefer the looks of the 98, the interiors were way more comfortable, less electronic crap, and smaller in size.

I can pretty much fix anything that can possibly go wrong with one without having to take it in to the dealer ...

Yea the 4l60 was a weak tranny, ( like the 8 speed I have is so wonderful?? ) but I would be looking for a 5 speed anyway...Besides, 4l60s are cheap to rebuild regardless..

I get what you are saying....on paper everything is better, but I fail to see how my $60,000 sticker truck is that much better than a clean 98 or even a GMT-800 for what I need it to do...

If you like your K2 and think its the greatest truck you have ever owned, thats fine I wont argue with you, maybe it is...But dont condemn me for prefering something older and simpler..I just dont need all the electronics these trucks are loaded down with, I could care less about being connected,.

Although this issue is a bit subjective and based on personal preference, you would have to pay me a lot of money to give up my '17 and go back to a GMT 800 or 400.

Everything sucks about them in comparison to the modern K2's and T2's
Ride, mechanicals, driveability, power, etc.etc
Drove several GMT 400's and owned an 800 for 11 years. Not interested in going back to that.
My 17 Sierra is by far the best vehicle I've ever owned. Love it.

ajensen383 · June 28, 2019

29 minutes ago, Nanotech Environmental said:

Although this issue is a bit subjective and based on personal preference, you would have to pay me a lot of money to give up my '17 and go back to a GMT 800 or 400.

Everything sucks about them in comparison to the modern K2's and T2's
Ride, mechanicals, driveability, power, etc.etc
Drove several GMT 400's and owned an 800 for 11 years. Not interested in going back to that.
My 17 Sierra is by far the best vehicle I've ever owned. Love it.

Im glad you like your truck... Like you said, its all subjective to the owner.

I didnt try to start a debate on what vintage truck is better or worse.... I just made a comment on how i prefer the 98, looks wise and size wise and comfort wise mostly.. my 2018 is the absolute WORST truck i have ever owned as far as comfort, seats are way too hard, my wife complains about it as well. thats one thing GM got worse with on these trucks...my 2002 was by far the most comfortable truck I have ever been in .

Its like saying... a 2019 Camaro SS is a better car than a 1969 Camaro SS is.....On paper, sure it is.I wont argue that,.handles better, stops better etc...but driving a 69 just has intangibles driving it that a new camaro will never have.....I have a 2014 ZL1 and a 1968 Camaro...The Zl1 is a great car, but I prefer driving the 68 to work everyday in the summer, its just a cooler car to drive.

CombsL83 · June 28, 2019

5 minutes ago, ajensen383 said:

Im glad you like your truck... Like you said, its all subjective to the owner.

I didnt try to start a debate on what vintage truck is better or worse.... I just made a comment on how i prefer the 98, looks wise and size wise and comfort wise mostly.. my 2018 is the absolute WORST truck i have ever owned as far as comfort, seats are way too hard, my wife complains about it as well. thats one thing GM got worse with on these trucks...my 2002 was by far the most comfortable truck I have ever been in .

I find the seats in my 2016 to be the most comfortable I’ve had in any of my vehicles.

youcantkeepup! · June 28, 2019

I really like the K2 seats, the T1 seats blow, they feel like they are from a 2002 civic as far as plushness

rkj__ · June 28, 2019

On 6/26/2019 at 9:41 PM, stevejones said:

Longtime lurker finally in a position to upgrade my equipment: I bought a 2019 DC 4x4 with the All-Star package. Wow - this truck is impressive when compared to my old K1500. Everything is just exponentially better. Goes faster, stops faster, handles better, and just feels more solid.

I love my K1500 and will miss driving it in some respects (now my wife's ride); but at $31.7K out the door all-in for the LD, I couldn't pass it up. Fingers crossed I don't get the chevy shakes or AFM blues....

Enjoy the new truck SteveJones!

While I can understand some people's preference for the older models, the new trucks are better in most quantifiable ways.

aseibel · June 28, 2019

I also left a 1998 K1500 long box for my current ride. I loved the old one. But there is only 1 thing I can say was definitely better in the 98, and that was turning radius. Haha, blame that on me having kids and needing a CC.

dieselfan1 · June 28, 2019

I owned a 98 reg cab longbed 1/2 ton 4x4. Bought it new $21,000. It was a decent truck but not even in the same league as a K2. You can have your 98, I traded my 98 on a 99.

Traded that for an 01, then a 03 and so on.

L86 All Terrain · June 28, 2019

I miss my 98. They were solid trucks, and easy to repair. I have one in the back yard I would like to frame-off one day. Want to put it on an Avalanche chassis I also have in the back yard for a better ride.

Congrats, enjoy your new truck, all you can do is pray you get 21 years out of this one, but with all the computer crap in them now, it is not likely.

typ0 · June 28, 2019

14 hours ago, ajensen383 said:

I just dont need all the electronics these trucks are loaded down with, I could care less about being connected,.

You hit the nail on the head there. If I could get an 18 LTZ with a real Z71 package and without all the connected garbage, that might be a decent truck. If they took the AFM off, fixed the gas pedal, and the transmission (the things people complain about on this forum almost daily).

Funny I didn't have to do any of that to my 01. Never had an extended warranty either that I thought I better buy because if one of the electronic gizmo's goes out it will be a fortune. I think I read somewhere it was $2500 for the electric power steering unit. WTF?

16LT4 · June 29, 2019

If the 98 had a CC I’d happily take one over my ‘16, which I do love more than any truck I’ve had in the last 5 years (there were 3 others including a ‘17 z71). If it died at 300k miles, that was an early death for those trucks. My ‘88 TBI K5 has 400k on original drivetrain when the rear blew, ripped the hub out of the whee and damn near rolled at 80.

I will say i get the same “oh wow” feeling whenever I swap back and forth between my ‘16 and my ‘84 GMC. After seeing enough boxed frames fold in half on the lift (they rot from the inside out where you can’t rinse them) I’d happily take a c channel any day. The main reason modern trucks of all brands have the shakes is due to frames being too stiff. If I want to enjoy driving, I’ll take out the 442 or the BMW; if I need to get work done or tow, I’ll use the trucks.

Edited June 29, 2019 by dukedkt442