Yes.
Let’s face it the for 300 I6 was as good a truck engine as one will ever find .........wish they’d bring it back
Yes that 300 six worked very well but MPG really sucked 15 unloaded and 10 working it hard is what I remember getting.
Dad had a 1 ton Van with the 300 six in it with a standard transmission and 4.56 gears that one got 10 MPG no matter what.
65 bags of sack crete at 80lb per bag in it and I measured the bumper height off the ground before we unloaded it and after.
Only 2.5" of difference.
Ford was not messing around when they built that Van.
Uncle put together a Ford truck that was a long bed 4 door from the 70's and installed a 1967 383 chrysler engine and 727 transmission.
That 1967 was the year for the last high compression 383.
It got 18 MPG even pulling a trailer as it really did not care what you had behind it.
I called BS on him and borrowed it for a couple days and went to fetch a Dodge Van that had a rearend I could put in my busted 1972 Ford 3/4 ton.
Sure enough that 4 door Chrysler powered Ford truck got 18 MPG with the carter AFB carb purring right along.
Dad had a 1 ton Van with the 300 six in it with a standard transmission and 4.56 gears that one got 10 MPG no matter what.
65 bags of sack crete at 80lb per bag in it and I measured the bumper height off the ground before we unloaded it and after.
Only 2.5" of difference.
Ford was not messing around when they built that Van.
Uncle put together a Ford truck that was a long bed 4 door from the 70's and installed a 1967 383 chrysler engine and 727 transmission.
That 1967 was the year for the last high compression 383.
It got 18 MPG even pulling a trailer as it really did not care what you had behind it.
I called BS on him and borrowed it for a couple days and went to fetch a Dodge Van that had a rearend I could put in my busted 1972 Ford 3/4 ton.
Sure enough that 4 door Chrysler powered Ford truck got 18 MPG with the carter AFB carb purring right along.
I got about 18, unloaded or lightly loaded on the highway. But it was a 96 fuel injected model.......I sold that truck and the owner called me 6 months later wanting to know about the transmission......I asked how many miles he had put on it ......lol he’d but another 60,000 miles on it in 6 months and wanted to talk about the transmission shaft bearing (or in my case bushing)......I just laughed it had 280,000 miles at that point and he wanted info on the bushing I had replaced. Had that truck been 4X4 I’d have kept it forever
New trucks are generally overpriced junk. I can get a brand new chromed metal bumper for a '72 for $86. New bumper for my moms Avalanche made from tupperware is $660. This is probably the ugliest truck Chevy has made IMO and i'm not even close to old.
Worse yet, the stupid trend for huge heavy wheels on "sports" or "muscle" cars that already sit <3" off the ground but still have a wheel well gap like a fullsize 4x4. Put an 18" wheel on a '69 Camaro, lower it 2" and you still have more ground clearance than a new one on heavy 20's while looking 100x better.
Worse yet, the stupid trend for huge heavy wheels on "sports" or "muscle" cars that already sit <3" off the ground but still have a wheel well gap like a fullsize 4x4. Put an 18" wheel on a '69 Camaro, lower it 2" and you still have more ground clearance than a new one on heavy 20's while looking 100x better.
I rode in a friend of mines GMC Sierra Denali over the weekend and it was very nice. An improvement over the 2018s in my opinion. Much more room in the rear seat.
Last edited:
