Looking at new GM trucks (3/4ton+), any opinions?

[OmniGLH]

by the way if you dont mind north carolina, i can put you in touch with  the owner of the gmc place i deal with , he might cut you a great deal.

Thanks for the offer Porky - but an old streetriding buddy of mine (who is also my neighbor) is the general manager for a large dealership up here.  He'll hook me up with a pretty good deal.  Thanks for the offer though!

[cb186]

 i would advise the crew cab. once you own one you'll never go back. whether you need a dually or not, probably not. but they sure tow nice. never had my trailer give me a scare yet, even in heavy cross winds. you get use to the size after a little while, but they also cost more.
 as for the mileage, i definetly agree that they are very rpm sensitive. at 75mph i'm running about 2350rpm. even running unloaded, cruising down the interstate, my mileage is lower that driving back and for to work in traffic. if i set the cruise at 60-65mph, i'm sure my mileage would go over 20, but i'm happy as shit with 17-19 in a 4 door dually.
 my truck has 3.73 rear end w/6 speed. the allisons are only available with 4.10 in the dually, but 3.73 are available in the 3/4 tons i believe.
 i think you will like it no matter which you go with.
by the way, the fact that diesel is $.15 cheaper that regular right now also puts a smile on my face.

[OmniGLH]

i would advise the crew cab. once you own one you'll never go back. whether you need a dually or not, probably not. but they sure tow nice. never had my trailer give me a scare yet, even in heavy cross winds. you get use to the size after a little while, but they also cost more.
 as for the mileage, i definetly agree that they are very rpm sensitive. at 75mph i'm running about 2350rpm. even running unloaded, cruising down the interstate, my mileage is lower that driving back and for to work in traffic. if i set the cruise at 60-65mph, i'm sure my mileage would go over 20, but i'm happy as shit with 17-19 in a 4 door dually.
 my truck has 3.73 rear end w/6 speed. the allisons are only available with 4.10 in the dually, but 3.73 are available in the 3/4 tons i believe.
 i think you will like it no matter which you go with.
by the way, the fact that diesel is $.15 cheaper that regular right now also puts a smile on my face.

I was all about going with the crew-cab 4 door.... until I tried loading up some stuff in it.  I have a couple large Rubbermaid containers that I use to hold my gear, spare parts, etc.  Trying to load them up into the back seat in the 4-door Ford I had, was kind of a pain, because the doors didn't open enough.  I never have that problem with my extended-cab 1500 - no B pillar to get in the way, since the rear doors open backwards.  It's a lot easier to get stuff in the back seat that way.

[OmniGLH]

I have another quick question for current DuraMax owners... how many quarts are we talking for an oil change?

I know the older 7.3L Ford PSDs are something ridiculous (17 quarts) - curious to know if the Dmax is the same.  A 17-quart synthetic oil change every 3-5k miles will start to offset the fuel economy savings REAL fast.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

I would highly encourage you to go and read the multiple posts I made on this topic:

http://www.racemotorcycles.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=ccs1;action=display;num=1075129892;start=1

It is very important that you consider all the factors involved in being legal to tow heavier weights (unless you don't care!). I describe the majority of things to be aware of in that topic about toy hauler trailers, but it applies in your case too. I have a 26' V-nose car hauler trailer that I pull with my '02 F-250 Crew Cab Diesel pick-up, I am upgrading to a 'B' license plate before the 1st race so I will be legal.

[RC51Racer]

It's too bad that you are off on Dodge, I have a 02 2500 with the cummins and a 6 speed manual.  Been the best truck I've ever owned, it gets between 20 and 22 mpg empty or loaded.  Including pulling a 20 ft trailer loaded.

[251am]

 Call a Chev dealership and tell them you have Allison warranty issues. Ask them how long it takes to get parts, or how long it takes to tear into it.
  The Duramaxes are still made by Isuzu. You heard a false rumor.
  A '99-'03 F250-350 would be your best bet for the money in Diesels.

[OmniGLH]

I would highly encourage you to go and read the multiple posts I made on this topic:

http://www.racemotorcycles.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=ccs1;action=display;num=1075129892;start=1

It is very important that you consider all the factors involved in being legal to tow heavier weights (unless you don't care!). I describe the majority of things to be aware of in that topic about toy hauler trailers, but it applies in your case too. I have a 26' V-nose car hauler trailer that I pull with my '02 F-250 Crew Cab Diesel pick-up, I am upgrading to a 'B' license plate before the 1st race so I will be legal.

Yes, I remember reading your thread back when it was still live.  On my 1/2 ton I've got the 8,000lb plate. I may or may not upgrade the plate while I still own it.  When I get the 3/4 ton I will definitely get the bigger one.  I've also heard that when towing over 10,000lbs you need a medical card (?)  

[Eric Kelcher]

The med card is only part of equation, you need med, drug tests, log books, DOT numbers, and motor carrier authority, $1mil insurance, register insurance with state; general PITA if you go over or are licensed over 10,000# total truck and trailer(s) weight if you are commercial. Well fine line gray area here if you are engaged in an activity that you are or anyone else particapting in the event makes money from it then you are commercial. So if you enter purse races, contingency races or sell a product (tires, sprockets, t-shirts etc) you are cemmercial in DOT's eyes. Now if you don't have a truck/trailer that advertises this then the DOT would have a hard time knowing it just seeing you go down the road; have an accident it could come out.

[Super Dave]

I know with the proper map, the new 6.0L Powerstrokes can see 25-26mpg when empty.

I doubt you'd get that.  

I've just never heard of it.  Only rumors.  If you can regularly get over 22, that would be great.  Anything above that is a bonus.

If you had 3.55's in the rear, you'd have decent mileage, but pulling a big trailer, it might do a lot of shifting.  3.73's seem to be a good compromise.  Bus has 4.10's, but it's got more wind to push with the bus than the trailer.  Best MPG I've got while towing was 15 on three tanks while running to Chicago and around and then down to St Louis.

Having driven a van, and now having the dually bus, the dually is much better for towing having the extra side-to-side stability.

I'm sure that the Duramax and the Cummins use a whole lot of oil.  Part of the diesel process.  If you want to use a synthetic and don't want to spend so much on oil, then get a special double bypass oil filter system.  You'll change the filter every 5k to 10k, get the oil analyzied and change it only when you need to....25k to 50k?

[Eric Kelcher]

New Dodge varies based on year model 11-13 quarts.
With a bypass filter system mileage can be extended to 100k or more with the regular filter changes and additives replaced (some bypass filters have additives in them so no need for a seperate additive package).

[cb186]

it gets between 20 and 22 mpg empty or loaded.  Including pulling a 20 ft trailer loaded.

how is this possible, are you saying that it takes no more throttle input to tow a 20' trailer as it does to roll empty? what kind of speeds do you guys tow at? i get 10-11mpg with my dually, but maybe i run faster and drive more aggresivly compared to those getting 15mpg.?