Faults:

Valve guides.

Wheel bearing driver's side.

U-joints.

Rear differential rebuild.

General Comments:

Had the truck maybe twelve years now, fell in love with the look of the reg cab step side short box, so I've been doing a rolling restoration the last eight years or so. Converted from auto to five speed manual and dropped in a 383 stroker, dressed up with a March pulley kit, QFT carburetor, MSD ignition, all the goodies. It doesn't handle that great on the pavement, but it really moves in a straight line and it's great off road, mostly because of the short wheel base, but it also has good height, even with stock suspension. Most all of the work I've done has been optional; the original truck held up really well, the only major fail was the rear differential, but that was after I up'd the horse power.

I would recommend buying one as the truck is very tough, is a lot of fun to drive, and turns a lot of heads for a pick up truck. Another big plus for me was that it's very easy to work on and the parts (OEM and performance aftermarket) were cheap and readily available. The only real complaint I have with it is the suspension and handling on paved corners.

Faults:

The original 5.7 V8 needed valve guides, but still ran reliably.

The only thing I have absolutely needed to change was the front end tie rod ends, ball joints etc.

General Comments:

It's the regular cab step side short box, and looks very mean for such a small truck. The cab is very spacious, but not very LXT, no A/C, no power windows etc. It is however a good off road vehicle; the short wheelbase and high stance make it near unstoppable.

Faults:

I haven't had it for to long, but just before this winter its started to stutter when you first push the gas down, it sometimes stalls, I don't mean just driving like almost stomping sometimes while driving I was wondering if anyone knew what it was I've changed all things like spark plugs, air filter, all that and it stills does it, but that's the only thing that's gone wrong can anyone help me there has it happens to yours???

Please help me its making me mad and I don't want to spend a fortune just for some stupid mechanic to look at it...

General Comments:

Over all I like the truck its the best vehicle I've had to tell the truth.

Faults:

The gas gage, or the in-tank fuel sensor is bad. it appears there was a short resulting in a minor fire contained to the positive wire for the under-hood light. The back-up lights do not work likely due to a lazy clutch job in which the sensor's wiring were removed. The idle sounds high, but I have not checked it.

General Comments:

I have the "sport side" model. It is rear wheel drive.

The overall design of the truck is aesthetically pleasing (minus the fender flares flat portions and ride height from the rear leaf springs.)

Comfort on the interior is decent. I am 6'1" tall and the stick shift is just within the comfortable range while shifting to 5th gear. I give it a low rating because I have a bench seat not not the bucket seats with the center console, which I find to be much more comfortable. I also think the truck could use telescopic steering to go with the tilt. It feels a bit close for my long arms. Anyone who is completely comfortable driving that way likely has to lean foreward a lot to drop it into 5th gear.

Power and response are very good for a stock engine (with a K&N air filter with a gutted intake tube.) This truck handles great for leaf springs, the struts are still good, I overload it, tow logs with it, while it is loaded to capacity... over 400 lbs in the bed and towing about 2,000 or more pounds of timber over gravel in first gear with no throttle applied. I also have run this baby into some huge r.p.m.'s (I have no clue how much, no stock tachometer) and buried the speedometer plenty. I can't beat it up, and I am good at beating up cars.