Which is more badass, 1990-93 Silverado 454SS or 1993-95 F-150 Lightning?

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Rick, sounds like you gotta get one of those "Rumble Bee" Rams...lifted, extended cab, Hemi powered, right up your alley!

[Jonas McFeely]

No way,the red is tight.

[Night Wolf]

Originally Posted by I~LUV~Caddys8792

Rick, sounds like you gotta get one of those "Rumble Bee" Rams...lifted, extended cab, Hemi powered, right up your alley!

Aimee REALLY likes the Rumble Bee's...... or any RAM in general.

Good thing too, cause I like the Cummins.... too bad Dodge can't make a nice auto tranny to put behind it tho.... but if (when) we end up getting a HD truck in the future..... RAM CTD is a very good choice.

[99esteees]

The gen of lightnings did not have the superchargers if I recall. A friend had one, and by all means it was a decent truck, but my 1989 Probe GT had no problems keeping up with it.

On the other hand, another guy had the 454 Chevy and although I never raced it, that was one mean truck. And yes, the interiors would have stopped me from buying the truck. Especially that god awful looking stereo.

[JC316]

Originally Posted by I~LUV~Caddys8792

What kinda mileage could I expect out of a 454SS? I heard they were rated like 9/10 with the THM400, and when they went to the four speed in '91 (700R4?) the highway mileage got a "boost" (lol) to 11, so it was 9/11. Was it really that bad? A full sized '75 Cadillac looks economical in comparison, weren't they rated like 10/14 or so? lol

My 88 with the 350 got 16-17 highway and my motorhome with the 454 gets 5mpg, so yeah, that seems about right.

[Blackout]

Originally Posted by 99esteees

The gen of lightnings did not have the superchargers if I recall. A friend had one, and by all means it was a decent truck, but my 1989 Probe GT had no problems keeping up with it.

Yum! Those 1st gen Probe GT's with the turbo'd 4 cylinder was a hell of a sleeper. I was looking to buy one and mod it up but they are impossible to find in even half way decent condition

[LS1Mike]

The SS is a TBI TBI... Two fuel injectors in a unit that looks like a carb...

[LS1Mike]

My 89 GM 1 ton gets about 11 mpg, It has the same drivetrain as the SS.
454>than any Ford Motor.

[Blackout]

Originally Posted by LS1Mike

My 89 GM 1 ton gets about 11 mpg, It has the same drivetrain as the SS.
454>than any Ford Motor.

lol I wouldn't go that far!

[Spyder]

427 Side Oiler > Any chevy!

383/413/426/426Hemi/440 > Any Ford OR Chebby!



(crap, here we go!!)

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

I asked the "hot rodders" at work today what they thought of the 454SS, they said it wasn't very fast (the guy I asked drag races as a hobby, anything that's slower than a 13 second 1/4 mile is slow to him), and has heads that are pretty much choked and he personally didn't think the idea of a TBI was practical in a 454...too much engine for too few injectors. One of my other coworkers likes 'em, but says you'd have to modify the top end to make "any" good power. I think a 15.5 second 1/4 mile is perfectly good for a truck that was made at the end of the "lethargic" era. But I guess when you compare a TBI 454 to a much smaller 350 LT1, it's kinda sad how the LT1 makes 5-30hp more, depending on the year of the 454 (what's the RPO code for those anyways?), but no 350 could ever touch the 454's torque. TBI 350 was 300 lb/ft.... LT1 was 330 lb/ft, 454 in the SS was 385 lb/ft in '90, then 91-93 was 405 lb/ft, and that is a lot of ****ing torque.


Side note, I got to drive a '99 K3500 Silverado Crew Cab Longbox with the Vortec 454 today at work, I only drove it around the lot, but even then I could tell that the 454 had *no* trouble pushing that 6000+ lb beast around with surprising oomph. If I got on it, it would accelerate surprisingly quickly, with hardly even moving the tachometer needle! God I love big block torque!

I gotta wonder, why would anyone choose a Turbodiesel over a big block? I've driven a 6.5L 3500 and a 454 3500 and the 454 has a LOT more usable power, and would be a lot quicker. What's the advantage to a diesel? The only thing I can think of is fuel economy and my personal thing, hearing the turbo spool up.

[Night Wolf]

Diesels are just better

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Originally Posted by Night Wolf

Diesels are just better

Need more explanation.


Diesels are cool and all, but I like drivin' the big blocks more.

[90Brougham350]

The sheer fact the SS has a big block is just plain awesome. It doesn't matter it has a broomstick for a camshaft, it's still got oodles of torque, and torque is what a bad-ass truck needs! Swap cams, and you've got another 80 ft. lbs. and lord only knows how many horses. Lightnings are pretty sweet though, as has been mentioned about 50 times already the interior is far superior to the SS. And Lightning is a great name, back when vehicles had real names. It's a tough choice, but ultimately, I think I could suck up the awful red interior and go with the Bowtie.

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

I saw a black '93-95 Lightning today, couldn't stop staring. Damn, I'd be proud to own that car. If I had a choice of either in good condition, with the same amount of miles, for the same price, I'd probably go with the 454SS, just because both are gonna get shitty mileage, so what's another 2-3 mpg? And I can remember liking those when they came out in the early '90s (yeah, lol I was like 4-5 years old) and they're so much rarer, not to mention the fact it's a big block.

But in all reality, it'd probably be easier to get the Lightning, only because there seem to be more around and they're probably cheaper (but not my much)

What is faster? I'd assume the 454SS but I've looked up the 0-60 and 1/4 mile times and both are real close...low 7 second range for the 0-60 and mid 15's for 1/4 mile.