LLY: Is it worth it

maddmax95

New member
Feb 1, 2016
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Alright I've been just lurking on this website for about a year now just reading and learning. I have a 04.5 LLY with nothing but a banks 6gun tuner, CAI, Upgraded Mouth piece, and 5 inch turbo back with 350k miles. So my question for you guy its gonna be more or less opinion but my injector went bad today and got me thinking is it worth with the miles to keep putting money in the truck or trade in and cut my losses? keep in mind i still owe about 6k on the truck itself. thoughts and ideas. I flipped a coin to trade or keep and i know the coin flip is sacred but heads i keep tails i sell and i kid you not it landed heads about 15 times in a row. Just want a 2nd opinion besides the coin ha
 

TheBac

Why do I keep doing this?
Staff member
Apr 19, 2008
15,692
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Whats kind of shape is the truck in?
Do you still enjoy owning/driving it?
What would you do if you did sell it?
 

maddmax95

New member
Feb 1, 2016
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trucks in the "good shape"
i love driving it its my baby
and i would try to go to a 06-07 but whatever duramax i can find with decent miles
 

ALLY Fox

Old Man Truck
Dec 14, 2010
434
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Oregon 7S5
Do you tow a 5th wheel or TT? If you're travels take you far from home pulling a trailer, the peace of mind of having a newer truck would be a strong consideration. A well maintained LLY can go 400K-500K once the head gaskets are properly replaced but there's always things like water pumps, turbos, wheel bearings, transfer case, trans, rust etc that eventually cause failure and if you're stuck a long way from home, that can get expensive and you don't have any control on who does the work.
 

maddmax95

New member
Feb 1, 2016
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i stopped my towing with it a little while ago really dont pull anything besides a bumper pull here and there. I was planning on redoing the entire front end, upgrade my turbo and few other things when uncle sams money came in but with this injector gone im not sure. ill have roughly 4k to play with here next week to do what i need with it or get another
 

melms23

Member
Jul 30, 2011
253
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WI
With those miles I wouldn't trade it in. I would fix what needs fixing (injectors) and keep my eye out for the right newer truck.
 

Hot COCOAL

May the farce be with you
Jun 9, 2012
4,433
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What he said^^^

Kinda a tough call, pros and cons on both sides
But, IMO, if you "love the truck" there really isnt a reason to get rid of it...

Build it
New(er) trucks are overrated and expensive:D

You're already talkin about beefing up the front end, turbo etc...whatever truck you wind up in will need the front end addressed and eventually be getting things like a turbo etc...

Personally, I'd keep it
That being said...I'd sell you my LBZ ;)
 

NC-smokinlmm

<<<Future tuna killer
May 29, 2011
5,224
370
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At Da Beach
On the lly you only have to swap that 1 bad injector so thats not a big deal. I would keep it, swap a batmo wheel into the stock turbo, add a lift pump, plugg the fuel rail, reroute the pcv and drive it till the wheels fall off. With that mileage youll be hard pressed to get what you owe on it and then you wont have the money to replace it...
 

six5creed

Member
Jan 6, 2016
1,046
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N.C.
A man told me when I was a teenager "it's cheaper to fix what you got than buy someone else's problem". There is a lot of truth in that, you know what you have even with high mileage, you buy someone else's truck you don't know what you're getting. It really is up to you in the end though. You can spend some money on your truck if it's in nice enough condition and still have a great truck.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,761
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Phoenix Az
A man told me when I was a teenager "it's cheaper to fix what you got than buy someone else's problem". There is a lot of truth in that, you know what you have even with high mileage, you buy someone else's truck you don't know what you're getting. It really is up to you in the end though. You can spend some money on your truck if it's in nice enough condition and still have a great truck.

that often times depends. if you add up your bills on the truck over the year and it adds up to a newer or new truck payment, why are you keeping it around other than sentimental value? :D

I also dont really believe in the "high mileage means unreliable for long distance runs" but i am pretty rigorous about maintenance on my truck and make sure things are as they should be. I also carry spare parts known to leave you on the side of the road and tools to fix them as well as fix other issues should they arise. Even if i had a brand new truck, id still have some key parts, EFI Live and tools on me to keep the fam and me from sitting on the side of the road. in the 201K my truck chassis has on it, its left us on the side of the road twice. Once when my dad just bought it and we were headed to Pismo beach from AZ in 2002. we got just outside of LA fighting traffic when the return line fitting that uses the 3/8" quick connect came apart (pushed the hose right off the end of the fitting, really strange). Brand new truck and still had an issue that left us out waiting on a tow with a 40ft 5th wheel to figure out how to get to the dealer as well. last time was coming back from Denver, lost a wheel bearing and my spare was at home. Quick tow into a napa and i fixed it in the parking lot. Still made it home in 14 hours (normally a 12 hour trip). No trailer on me that time :D

i see both sides but a high mileage truck wouldnt bother me other than the lack of resale value. The Limo is just sentimental, i still cant give her up :D
 

six5creed

Member
Jan 6, 2016
1,046
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48
N.C.
that often times depends. if you add up your bills on the truck over the year and it adds up to a newer or new truck payment, why are you keeping it around other than sentimental value? :D

I also dont really believe in the "high mileage means unreliable for long distance runs" but i am pretty rigorous about maintenance on my truck and make sure things are as they should be. I also carry spare parts known to leave you on the side of the road and tools to fix them as well as fix other issues should they arise. Even if i had a brand new truck, id still have some key parts, EFI Live and tools on me to keep the fam and me from sitting on the side of the road. in the 201K my truck chassis has on it, its left us on the side of the road twice. Once when my dad just bought it and we were headed to Pismo beach from AZ in 2002. we got just outside of LA fighting traffic when the return line fitting that uses the 3/8" quick connect came apart (pushed the hose right off the end of the fitting, really strange). Brand new truck and still had an issue that left us out waiting on a tow with a 40ft 5th wheel to figure out how to get to the dealer as well. last time was coming back from Denver, lost a wheel bearing and my spare was at home. Quick tow into a napa and i fixed it in the parking lot. Still made it home in 14 hours (normally a 12 hour trip). No trailer on me that time :D

i see both sides but a high mileage truck wouldnt bother me other than the lack of resale value. The Limo is just sentimental, i still cant give her up :D

Chevy1925 I completely understand what you're saying and it is a flip of a coin either way. I had a 1988 Toyota truck with 300K miles and it was worn out, spent money on rebuilding rear axle $700 doing it myself and still had a worn out vehicle. Wish I would have never rebuilt the axle. Truck is dead and gone now and I am glad I didn't spend more on it. Some times it is better to buy something new to you than to spend on what you have but other times it's not. I know what the man was telling me when he told me this, I was young and wanted something newer than what I had but what I had was just fine at the time. My 03 DMAX has 149K on it and I am gonna have to spend to fix it no matter what happens. Got two young kids and can't afford a truck payment. It's gonna need a transmission sometime, went into limp mode 3 times last time I pulled the 30' camper to the mountains. If I weren't married with 2 kids I may be driving a new Denali HD, lol.
 
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southco

New member
Aug 29, 2014
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To help you decide have you looked up the value of a 12 year old truck with 350k miles? If you know it's value and you subtract the $6k that you said you still owe on it, that would give u an idea of what you would have as a down payment as a result of letting it go.

Usually when I'm debating on selling a vehicle it helps me...