Dependable domestic

[JeRM82]

GM always found ways to cheat the comsumer
take for instance the 95 model 1500....they found that removing the internal air pump from the emissions and INCREASING the engine tempurature, they could save money AND pass emissions tests!
No truck went past 80K before the head gasket blew (which almost always resulted in a destroyed Con Rod

I don't know THAT much about the TBI trucks...so here it goes...hopefully I don't have some bad gauge.
I don't think I follow you with the "internal" smog pump. I have always known the TBI trucks up until OBD2 to have an external pump, or just AIR injection, or EGR valve. I can't remember specifically wich year off the top of my head...but right around that year was when everything went to OBD2..They had to run 2 Cat's, and a computer that you no one was used to dealing with. This was a HUGE problem, things were going to be shitty for the first few years with all car manufacturers....GM had 4 of them before they came out with the jugernaut Gen3 motor.
I can't remember what year they came out with the Computer controled EGR. It would make sense that a truck would run hotter if the Computer controled EGR was put on a vehicle. This is because when the Exhaust gasses are recirculated into the combustion chamber the truck doesn't burn as much fuel. This makes the truck run cooler. The older EGR valves opened and closed kind of at random. They were set like a carb to open and close at certain points...the system doesn't really know if it needs to work at that moment...it's just a basic function at that point and opens frequently....
The computer controlled EGR set-up doesn't open as frequently from what I understand because it only opens when its "needed"...so...naturally the motor would run hotter...because the motor is not lowering the tempratures in side the combustion chamber with the recirculated exhaust gases........
If that was the year where they went from the "dumb" EGR set-up to the computer controlled set up....or if it was a more advanced computer controlled set-up...that might explain that extra heat.....
It might even be something as simple as GM leaning on the AIR system more to control emissions instead of the EGR. Less EGR function=More heat. The AIR system now has two cats for OBD2 trucks...instead of having one cat, you now have two of them to do the same amount of work...if not more with the OBD2 system and the new emissions laws.....

[JeRM82]

I have yet to SEE a blown Automatic transmission thats wasnt SERIOUSLY abused

How do those Auto tranny's do? I've never had to deal with them. I keep telling people I know who want a honda that I will TEACH them to drive stick shift. I used to LOVE teaching people in my old truck...I didn't give a crap what they did....as long as they learned how to drive it....and then D.D.'d for a party as payment....HA HA...

[Camurai]

Yes...The TBI and CPI trucks got pretty bad towards their end...they didn't do as well as they should have (GM), and those were pretty shitty times for ALL full size truck makers...not just GM...companies like Ford and Dodge had just as many problems with their trucks....dealing with better fuel economy, pioneering new computer controlled parts, and all of the while trying to put out a good product with a decent return on profit...ALL companies build cars for profit...and GM is no different..some of the things that got those companies more money didn't really do so well for the consumer...in 1995 or 96 the vortec motors came out...new heads....almost TEN year old TBI technology...Personally I think that they should have just used a Tuned port style injection, but with bigger runners...they made a big choice...it was a wrong one....and until 1999 they had those smog equipment related problems....MANY companies have done stupid stuff like that....They had thier problems....those first ten or so years of hard core smog improvement and computer controlled cars were pretty shady for the big 3......after all they were the only ones making a full sized truck with a V8 back then...well....in america at least....

The Big 3 were still thinking with a "bigger is better" mentality at that time. They were being forced to incorporate technologies they had no idea how to use or build. Things have changed a bit since then. That's why we see smaller engines making double the power of their larger, older counterparts and using barely more than half the fuel.