I need to upgrade my full time lease work truck/hunting truck. I stumbled across a truck that I know was an older man one owner and taken good care of. Only street driving as opposed to off-road, work or otherwise. 157000 miles. 6.0. It’s not officially for sale yet and I dont know how much they will ask for it.
Im not real knowledgeable about vehicles so Im wondering if that particular truck should be a good one. It will stay on the lease and get used hard on the lease roads with very little blacktop driving. It will carry a whole lot of weight all the time. I will put a flatbed on it with a big heavy rack and 3 tool boxes loaded down. Long term dependability is my main criteria but also curious what it may be worth. Im struggling trying to go on line and see about what it’s worth. Any feedback appreciated.

Exactly how many mondo towers do you plan on still setting? Didn't you have a Tacoma that did yeoman's duty?

Probably one of the last good trucks made. I had a 2004 with the 6.0 and it was great. Transmission let go at 64,000 miles and again at 91,000 miles but that was more my fault than the truck. Those came with the G80 locking rear differential and a limited slip in the front, so they did great in the sloppy stuff while being well mannered on the street.

Your tailgate handle will fail, that’s just a normal occurrence on those year GM trucks. Your fuel gauge will likely flip the needle upside down, you’ll figure out where half & empty is pretty quickly. A small wire and diode will allow high beams, low beams, and fog lights to all be on at the same time. A simple toggle switch wired into the break lights and you can go 100% stealth mode.

I wore out the 01 tundra on the lease roads a long time ago. Im way overloaded suspension wise for any half ton. I went to a 99 Chevy one ton and loaded it down with stuff. I took Huds advice and went cheap on the old 99 with lots of miles and its been great when it wasn’t in the shop making my mechanic a rich man. Im too old to deal with trucks not working. This one is really old also but I feel like the mileage is low enough that it should last as a lease only truck a long time. That’s what Im hoping to confirm on here.
And, Creek, I keep hoping to slow down on the towers but they keep going up..

LS motors are super strong and durable

The 6.0 is know. For a few things. Being somewhat thirsty, burning some oil and running a long time as long as you keep oil in it. Should have a 4L80 trans well respected time tested. I would trust it.

I had a 99 with 6.0 that was a haul truck, always had a gooseneck attached. Metal building supplies, hay or cattle almost every day of the week. 200k when I traded it in and Think only issue was tranny programming

I need to figure out what a 02 1500 hd is worth

Figure in a transmission cost and you will likely do alright.

6.0's don't burn oil like 5.3's ... and they didn't burn oil that much in 2002. That came later. If it's a 2500 it should have a 4L80E transmission which is NOT failure prone. It's an overdrive electric shift version of the old stand by THM400. There will be small quirks as mentioned. Any of the gauge needle stepper motors can go, HVAC door actuator failures are common, and the most annoying engine issue will likely be exhaust manifold bolts broken off in the head.

If any of you have ever seen a hunting truck FR drives you know this description is not the whole truth. Thinking back, whenever I would see him in the pasture his truck reminded me of the Clampett's if Jed had been a modern day deer hunter. There is always enough equipment, tools, wire, etc to build a deer blind and raise it 20' up in the air for him to sit in literally all day long in 2 minutes notice or just the right stuff to hustle to the other side of the property and fix any kind of problem that could possibly arise or maybe even drill a disposal well if he found he needed it.

Is it true one of the truck boxes is filled with duct tape?

Thanks guys. Pretty much everyone has good things to say. No ford guys beating it up, yet.
Bigpig Bobo and others I guess have personal experience with similar so that’s good. I always trust Reds opinions so that’s good. Ntxtrap had good to say as well(I think.) Gasguzzler evidently works on a million of em so his vote counts a lot. I wont be far from gasguz so maybe he can work on it….. Where Txlefty?
Huntbig8 didn’t exaggerate much. I was a Boy Scout so I like to be prepared. I’ll post some pics to give an idea on the weight I will carry.

New question…..the old 99 Chevy one ton I plan to take the flatbed off along with the rack and tool boxes etc and put the entire rig on the 02 gmc. Do y’all know if that’s doable? From what little I know the bed lengths are both the same=(standard, medium, short, 6’7”???). If it’s not a clean fit then I have a mechanic and fabricator that “can make anything fit”, I think.

I didn't know GM ever put a limited slip in the front diff? They don't even offer that on a new HD truck.



the 6.0 3/4 ton platform was a solid truck from 99-04'.

Hope one less rear spring doesn’t count for a lot.

I have been working for GM dealers since 4-27-93 and hands on with the vehicles since 2000 and have never heard of a limited slip GM front diff.

My dad had one of those and I begged him to sell it to me in 03 because he was always buying new trucks. He said "no I'm keeping this one a while" 6 months later he traded it for a F250.

With so much extra weight, that 3/4 ton is gonna need air lift or heavier leaf springs.

This is the kind of feedback I’m looking for. Would your suggested fix do it? Last thing I want to do is get something that’s not gonna be right for the use for a long time.
I’m also still waiting for someone to comment if the bed can come off the one ton and fit the 3/4.

Good fabricator can make the flatbed fit, as long as they were both SRW. You may want to measure cab to rear wheel also.

Dang it, rancher measured the one ton bed and I measured the 3/4. They are different. We may not of measured exactly right but the one ton is about 8’ which makes sense to me and the 3/4 ton is about 6’7” which also makes sense. From the back of cab to the center of back wheel is 56” vs 43”. The bed also seems wider but not sure we measured apples to apples.
The more I learn about this year truck and this specific truck the more I like. The price is right also. Utilizing the bed, et all, off the old truck is critical though.
…
***So, who says a good fabricator can make the bed fit without any issues?????***

Probably cheaper to find a different flat bad for the new truck.

I've had a 2000 and 2004. Currently in a 2006. Outside of constant frontend parts needing to be replaced, I enjoyed the 2004 and 2006. The 2000 was solid too.

Thanks, 68, I thought of that, but I really need all the bed space/tool box space that I have now.
I can look for a 3/4 with longer bed or another one ton with longer bed or I can try and make this one work. Money wont stop me if it will do what i want.
I also think what I’m paying for this truck compared to what else I could find that’s comparable would allow me to spend some on making it work.
Also, my mechanic agreed with you on adding what he called an air bag to help handle the weight. That’s likely doable and worth it but Im open for suggestions.