best engines ever put in a gm truck

BigBadSierra · August 15, 2016

Still a 305 V8 was a lot better than straight sixes in cars of the same era. I remember one of our friends had a 1978 Ford Fairmont with a straight 6 (250 cu in ?) and the car would barely maintain 55 MPH up hills on I 79 in West Virginia with the gas pedal on the floor. My 1977 Camaro with the 305 V8 would easily do 80+ MPH on the same road.

Seen allot of issues with the 305 breaking factory cams, but once an aftermarket went in they would never a issue again.

Cam upgrades in them where always a good investment.

barry G · August 16, 2016

never seen a cracked cam in any small block..

born in the 70s , the worst of everything.

I have sent plenty of chunks flying.

there was a spell in the late 70s to mid 80s about EGR going crazy. that could be a source of heat to crack anything.

No engine was good in those days.

By the late 80s, even a bad block was getting saved by cam swaps into NON_EGR runtimes. I bet some of them are still out there.

the 4.8 all iron is proving wonderful...if to think of more modern.

the last brick that tough was in fact a 305. (the last gen 305 is still the toughest)

the 350 lovers...

freakish. Do you actually use your truck?

ZERO success rate in my locale.

A trend like the 350 used to be (the engine for addicts) is boaster of the 6.0 and beyond. Have fun kids, I'll pass by with my 500k mile 305 later on down the road.

No one mentions the tranny they are attached to either. There is many years of all bad for any engine.

th350, 400.. those used to be the only masochist choice.

Rebuilders and aftermarket are saving them once again.. the 4l60e etc.

KARNUT · August 16, 2016

Hard to tell but I think your are saying all engines pre 90s were bad? If so that's nuts, we had a farm back then used 390s, 350s, 454s, back then pulling hay trailers with one tons with those engines. All had headers high rises and hollies, tough as nails. The only thing we went through were transmissions. When synthetics came out the transmission were no longer problems.

never seen a cracked cam in any small block..

born in the 70s , the worst of everything.

I have sent plenty of chunks flying.

there was a spell in the late 70s to mid 80s about EGR going crazy. that could be a source of heat to crack anything.

No engine was good in those days.

By the late 80s, even a bad block was getting saved by cam swaps into NON_EGR runtimes. I bet some of them are still out there.

the 4.8 all iron is proving wonderful...if to think of more modern.

the last brick that tough was in fact a 305. (the last gen 305 is still the toughest)

the 350 lovers...

freakish. Do you actually use your truck?

ZERO success rate in my locale.

A trend like the 350 used to be (the engine for addicts) is boaster of the 6.0 and beyond. Have fun kids, I'll pass by with my 500k mile 305 later on down the road.

No one mentions the tranny they are attached to either. There is many years of all bad for any engine.

th350, 400.. those used to be the only masochist choice.

Rebuilders and aftermarket are saving them once again.. the 4l60e etc.

mookdoc6 · August 17, 2016

Hard to tell but I think your are saying all engines pre 90s were bad? If so that's nuts, we had a farm back then used 390s, 350s, 454s, back then pulling hay trailers with one tons with those engines. All had headers high rises and hollies, tough as nails. The only thing we went through were transmissions. When synthetics came out the transmission were no longer problems.

never seen a cracked cam in any small block..

born in the 70s , the worst of everything.

I have sent plenty of chunks flying.

there was a spell in the late 70s to mid 80s about EGR going crazy. that could be a source of heat to crack anything.

No engine was good in those days.

By the late 80s, even a bad block was getting saved by cam swaps into NON_EGR runtimes. I bet some of them are still out there.

the 4.8 all iron is proving wonderful...if to think of more modern.

the last brick that tough was in fact a 305. (the last gen 305 is still the toughest)

the 350 lovers...

freakish. Do you actually use your truck?

ZERO success rate in my locale.

A trend like the 350 used to be (the engine for addicts) is boaster of the 6.0 and beyond. Have fun kids, I'll pass by with my 500k mile 305 later on down the road.

No one mentions the tranny they are attached to either. There is many years of all bad for any engine.

th350, 400.. those used to be the only masochist choice.

Rebuilders and aftermarket are saving them once again.. the 4l60e etc.

I forgot I had a straight 6 in a NovaII and a last GEN 305 in a Caprice Early eighties. BOTH had hundreds of thousands of miles before death. The straight six had a working odometer that was over 300,000 before odometer broke. So yeah tough engines long before 90's

CadillacLuke24 · August 17, 2016

Ye olde tree fity (350) is a tried and true variant...countless examples of those tooling around.

The LS based engines are good too. Again, countless 5.3s running around up here. My dad had the trusty LQ9 6.0 in his Escalade, and that beast was a TANK. Would get 20mpg on the interstate, always would start to heat a tad if it sat idling for awhile, but never a problem. That behemoth still roams the roads of Gillette, just under a new owner.

And, though it may be a bit early, the L86. GOOD GRAVY THIS IS AN AMAZING ENGINE! PIcks up like a Camaro, fantastic throttle response and driveability, and INSANE Mileage for a honking V8. Other than the drive home (which was erratic due to break in, even then 18.8 mpg for 624 miles of interstate driving), I have yet to get LESS than 20.8 MPG on mixed highway and interstate driving. Plus the V4-V8 switchover is smooth and seamless. I actually think GM may have gotten it right on the AFM with these engines.

KMGZ400 · August 17, 2016

I personally would say any of the LS based engines

dcheeseman · August 17, 2016

*Old 250ci 4.1L Inline six, had timing gears (no chain) bullet proof engine. Had one in my first truck 1974 Chevy C10 Custom Deluxe.

*427ci L88 Corvette motor 430hp factory claimed (tested over 550hp)

*Any good ol' Cast Iron 350ci, pure bullet proof.

Daniel

FishinJ · August 17, 2016

The 5.3 in my old 2005 Tahoe. Put 200k on it and now my son drives it. It's still going strong and never had a problem with it. The 6.2 in my current truck is probably the most fun to drive as a stock motor but time will tell on the longevity.

SarahsGMC · August 18, 2016

Seen allot of issues with the 305 breaking factory cams, but once an aftermarket went in they would never a issue again.

Cam upgrades in them where always a good investment.

I'm convinced mine was upgraded it has a bit of a lope to it.. guy said motor was rebuilt a few years ago. But clearly nobody took care of it.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

Donstar · August 22, 2016

I believe the current version of the 4.3 V6 (Ecotec) deserves an honorable mention! I've owned many gm and ford 6 and 8 cylinder powered trucks over the past 45 years and am most impressed with the performance of my current V6. It is actually more powerful than most of the previous generations' V8's and it drives like a V8!