Gonna upgrade, what to look for

Mr.T

DPF's are gay
So my wife and I have decided its time for the LB7 to go to a new home, so we're looking to upgrade to an LLY, LBZ, or possibly an LMM. Not knowing a whole lot about those years, what should I look for as far as mechanical issues, common problems.....etc? I know about the pump rub issue in the transfer case, was that repaired on the new trucks? Are the LLY's having head gasket and injector issues like the LB7's do? And I hear about pistons cracking on the lbz's? What causes that and is there any telltale sign of having cracked a piston or two? Anything else I should he looking for?
 
06-early 07 lbz seems to be as good as they get. The cracked pistons don't seem to happen as often now since the available tuning has improved so much over the last few years. I can't think of any other common problems with those. Except sticker shock. Being the last model without a dpf is a benefit as well.
 
You honestly can't go wrong with any year. The lb7's are the only model that have issues (injectors) all the other ones are solid. Get Into the newest truck you can
 
Personally, I don't buy the LBZ kool-aid. '08+ LMM's I wouldn't be near as hesitant about buying. Like was said, get the newest truck you can.
 
Theres a bunch we're gonna go look at this weekend, a few 05's, an 06, a couple 07's, and an 08 that I definitely want to see
 
Found one. :D got a 2004 LLY with 100,000 miles for 21k, traded in our LB7 and got to keep the wheels and tires. I'll post pics tomorrow
 
I love it so far, I've been looking at upgrades tonight.......this truck will be very bad for my wallet. EGR delete, PCV reroute, exhaust, intake, wheels, tires, etc etc etc. Haha
 
LMM all the way, its been the most reliable/cheapest to own truck ive had. I wasnt even looking at dmax's until i saw the slt interior of my truck. Love it.
 
like 70% of people I've told that I bought an LLY have said the same thing, "if you think LB7 injectors were expensive, wait till your LLY needs injectors or head gaskets." I've heard of a few LLY's needing an injector or two and just as many that have had bad head gaskets, it really seems kinda hit or miss
 
My other LLY has 200k on stock headgaskets

That being said I love both my LLY's, they just get a bad rep
 
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LLY's got a bad rap for a few trucks overheating. That overheating was most likely operator error while towing. Said overheating was most likely a large cause of the same group griping about head gaskets. I've never seen an issue on LLY head gaskets that weren't related to aftermarket chargers on trucks without studs.

LLY's can puke injectors, but it's usually at 200K miles and you can replace one at a time and very easily, compared to an LB7. LBZ's have more injector issues than LLY's.
 
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Its not going to be a 500hp hotrod either, I'm gonna take care of the usual things like the egr, intake/exhaust upgrade, and have some mild tuning done and then its gonna get left alone, I had my LB7 for almost three years with just a tune and exhaust and it was always reliable for me, every time I hit the key it started up and never gave me any trouble. I have a feeling this pickup will be the same.
 
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