1evils1 Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 hey guys im a resident of ls1tech and currently have a turboed 02 camaro and a few ls1 conversion cars that im working on anyways ive been throwing around the idea of building a street truck lately now there is somethings i want out of the truck and what i want to know if i should buy a non ss truck or a ss truck to start with and what the befits are now what i want out of the truck has to be 4x4 or awd has to be extend cab or crew cab i want leather interior lol the truck might see some turns and well most important is the truck will be getting a forged motor with compound boost and looking to make at least 800rwhp i know whatever i buy will need the driveline to be upgraded so does it even matter if i get a non ss or ss? lmk guys i appreciate your knowledge and im looking forward to joining the ranks soon lol oh and just so you guys know im not bs'ing you heres a link to some pic of my car (black camaro) http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/multimedia-exchange/1419372-mini-phk-photoshoot.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachm89 Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 (edited) well since you are wanting leather interior, at least ext cab and 4x4 or awd id say go ahead and find a decent mileage 03-04 SSS and start from there. youll be much happier with the AWD compared to a 4x4 truck, as well as the suspension and handling of a stock SS till you dive into making it handle even better. welcome to the site and keep us posted on the progress! Edited June 5, 2011 by zachm89 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1evils1 Posted June 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 what is the benefit of the 03-04 vs 05-06 truck? also im assuming to ditch the stock 10bolt for a 14bolt or 9in and put a built 4l80e in but what about the t-case and front axel? what kinda power can they take and what are my options for upgrading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eeekroar Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 03-04 AWD The 05 came in AWD or RWD 06 RWD only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachm89 Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 all the 03-04 trucks were AWD, you can find some first half 05 trucks that were AWD also but theyre harder to find. the stock 10 bolt with a trutrac should be pretty stout without having to swap to a 14 bolt axle and be much cheaper in the long run. as far as the transfer case and front diff im not sure what youd need to upgrade. I think the transfer case should be okay the way it is as long as the truck hasnt been previously abused or have a ton of miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) LOL love the exhaust pipe ahead of the front tire! Interesting project idea (the compound turbocharging). Since you have 800hp in the plan, I am going to assume that you are after "maximum on-road performance" (versus off-road performance) - so the crew cab is out (too heavy IMO). If you are going to keep the truck long-term, I would definitely get the SS, but that's easy for me to say because I'm prejudiced that way; if you have a habit of selling your projects after you get bored, then I would get a cheaper truck. Personally I like the AWD, because you can really put the power down most of the time and not worry about traction issues (to a point lol) but the cons are 14-15 MPG versus 18-20 MPG, and the added costs of transfer case and front axle upkeep and you will have to address these in any of these used trucks before you put the boost to the drivetrain. Expect brakes on the AWD trucks to need upgrading, they were barely adequate in stock form. You are probably going to want to seriously consider a 4L80 swap, that will make for more reliability but you will pay for it in MPG and added project expense. You will probably want to consider installing efans. Your specific question about the front axle, they have proven strong enough but the issue is almost all of them were incorrectly made at the factory and suffer accellerated bearing wear, and require rebuilding; the transfer cases are strong (1800-ft lbs!) but the chains stretch and should be replaced at 60K-miles, none ever are replaced in real life, also you need to make sure the support bearings in the rear half of the transfer case are not half eaten away, other than those issues they do hold up ok. Welcome to the forum. Mr. P. PS - on the upside, right now is a definite buyer's market for SSS trucks, shop well and you can find a bunch that are well-priced. PSS - VERY important consideration, the 2003 trucks come with a factory return fuel system, all 2004+ trucks are returnless fuel system. Also, IMO from working on so many of these, the 2003 trucks IMO are built "better", I cannot put my finger on exactly why I have developed this impression but the 2004+ trucks seem to have cheaper wiring, and some other corners cut IMO. Another truck you might consider is the GMC AWD Denali, they have 3.37 gears instead of 4.11s and GMC front end, but other than that are the same truck as the SSS. Edited June 6, 2011 by Mr. P. (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1evils1 Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 awesome just what i needed to know, looks like ill be in the market for a 03 sss soon, there is one at a local stealership that i might go look at this weekend, im very astonished that the t-case can hold that much power!? looks like this project might be cheaper then i thought it was going to be lol also for those who selected non-ss in the poll can you pls post why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idahoBLKss Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 awesome just what i needed to know, looks like ill be in the market for a 03 sss soon, there is one at a local stealership that i might go look at this weekend, im very astonished that the t-case can hold that much power!? looks like this project might be cheaper then i thought it was going to be lol also for those who selected non-ss in the poll can you pls post why? If you want a ex.cab truck definatly go with an as or denali / vmax cause they come with the 6.0l and if I had to do it over I would of gotten a '03 arrival blue ss cause of the return fuel system (big plus). Welcome to the site! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSplaytoy Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 First off, welcome to the forum If you're looking to "build" a badass truck, then I would suggest you try finding a 1500 or 2500 that has no motor or a blown one and cloth interior. It's prob cheaper, then you can do the seats how you want and build up that motor. If it were me, I would shove a built tt dmax in a rcsb and give it a nice leather and suede interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissfans03ss Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 <br />First off, welcome to the forum <img src='http://www.SilveradoSS.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /><br /><br /> If you're looking to "build" a badass truck, then I would suggest you try finding a 1500 or 2500 that has no motor or a blown one and cloth interior. It's prob cheaper, then you can do the seats how you want and build up that motor. If it were me, I would shove a built tt dmax in a rcsb and give it a nice leather and suede interior.<br /> <br /><br /><br />Gotta love the Duramax/Allison combo. Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmahan Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 if you want 800+ hp why not go 2WD they come with a 14bolt and 3:73's just get some drag radials and other suspension mods and be done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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