New truck

[brittsnbirds]

Well after wrestling my trailer for about 3000 miles this summer with my 03 Chevy 1500 I decided next year I need to upgrade. My concerns are Chevy getting the buy out from Uncle Sam and if I stick with Chevy I need to go to either the 6.0 or diesel. My cousin just bought a new one and said his 5.3 has a 6 speed tranny. Wonder if it is the Allison?

Any thoughts?

[Bama Rambler]

I'd vote for the diesel But then I'm biased.

I've towed with both and there's a night and day difference in towing capabilities.

[dezolen]

More than happy with our 2009 Ford F250 V10. Pulling 12,000# 5th wheel
Mileage compareable to new desiels and driveability wonderful.

[E.S.P.]

IMHO...If you are pondering between the 6.0L gas vs the Duramax diesel, and vehicle longetivity and future camper upgrades are important factors, go for the Duramax! You'll pay more upfront for the diesel and a bit more for maintenance, but it will out last any gas truck on the road, as well as, tow anything you throw behind it with ease. No worries about ever wanting to go bigger on a camper upgrade, especially if you decide to switch to a 5th wheel. If you surf some of the diesel forums out there, you'll find countless diesel owners out there having well over 300,000 miles, and some heavy travelers over the 500,000 mile mark with no major mechanical repairs.

I went to the diesel side in 2007 (see signature below) and have been completely satisfied. As long as I have a need to tow, I don't think I could ever go back to a gas.

[N0INF]

We pull our 5th wheel with a F150 SuperCrew and love it. Gas is always available and as a rule cheaper. No rattle noise to listen to. Also own diesel, buy far better fuel economy by just a few miles per gallon (when towing.) And when it comes to service maintance diesel is much higher than gas. Takes alot of money to buy the diesel option compared to the gas when buying a new truck also. Not sure if you can ever get your money's worth. We pull lots of cattle around with stock trailers and again we use both gas and diesel, but for my money gas on vacation is my choice. I know lots of people bost about getting 200 to 300 thousand miles on there diesel and I hope we do to, but I'm not going to head out on a trip of 4 or 5 thousand miles with a tow vehicle with that many miles on it. Trouble on vacation sucks and if you do, your odds with that many miles has just went up. I believe If I were to buy new today for any type towing it would be Gas. Happy Camping.

[E.S.P.]

Good points by the previous poster, but I've just a few comments:

The newer diesels (2007 and newer) are much quieter than previous models thanks to the recent advancements in diesel technology. I've had several people ask me about our truck and didn't realize it was a diesel until I mentioned it or they questioned the name badge.

Yes, gas pumps are much more abundant compared to diesel, but I prefer to plan my route around truck stops for the convenience of pulling in and out with a longer trailer; truck stops always have diesel and are easily found across most interstates and local highways.

Given today's economic sandstorm, its difficult to make a judgement on which fuel type is cheaper. Until the '07 emissions regs were established, diesel was historically cheaper. Thanks to the recesssion now, diesel is once again cheaper in most areas. Tomorrow, who knows?

As for the high mileage, I would rather be on vacation with a 200,000 mi diesel than with a 200,000 mile gas truck. You must factor in on how soon you would normally purchase a replacement vehicle. If you typically replace your tow vehicle often so that you always have new, then don't waste your money on a diesel. If you like to drive them until the floor pan is missing, the diesel will get you farther.

Whatever decision you make, enjoy!

[rockwood06]

Very good points made above by E.S.P. If you are the type of person that likes a new truck every 5 to 7 years then don't wast your money on a diesel, recovery is long term to get your money out of it, unless you are a high mileage driver.
I have found with vehicles kept over 10 years the electrical system starts to fail. As long as the mechanical end is maintained they do very well. I am one that keeps them for at least 10 years. In September I bought a new 2008 heavy duty Chevy 1/2 ton and I have 4,100 miles on it. It has the 6.0 gas engine, 4 speed heavy duty trans and a 4:10 rear Max tow @ 10,500 lbs I run on 4 cylinders at 65 mph while towing as I need power it will jump into 8 cylinders and gives me a full 367 horsepower. The last time I drove it was this past Sunday on the way home from camping, I was not towing and I averaged 18.5 mpg. Sometimes people will over buy, what i mean is that they buy more, a lot more then what they need to tow with and never get the full advantage of the equipment they payed for. Then there is the flip side of the coin, people using small vans to tow big TT. One other thing, one can get over 300,000 miles out of a gas engine, I have, it's like anything else you have to take care of it.

[N0INF]

All good comments, I think it all boils down to preferance once again. That is why they make so many colors to choose from now also. Diesel alway up's the anti. You pay for the option depending on what you want, in my case we needed the 2 alternator's because of all the electrical usage in our setup. Night lights and elect pumps so by the time we got all that (Ambulance Package) is what they called it for the extra electric the cost of Diesel and electric added 6200.00 to the cost. Over the period of the life of the Truck whatever that may be in miles That can't be figured as a saving anyway or absorbed in the price of the life of the Truck. Just a pure expense. Now anyone going to the service shop knows oil changes are VERY high compared to gas. And we do all our own service here also. God forbid a transmission problem, might need a Economic stimulus check or two plus a Loan at the bank especially the Allison transmission. And when all us cattle boys race to the coffee shop in the morning there is every flavor of Diesel in the lot. And they all do RATTLE some more than others. In our application I can't think of any reason to get diesel over gas unless it would be because of all the diesel we use in the farm application and it is available here. And because it's there for the buying. All my neighbors have one and so do I. I really don't feel like I have saved or have an advantage by owning a diesel truck, I have them both, one just costs a heck of alot more than the other one. And when it is time to maintain each of them the diesel ALWAYS needs a bigger check for anything. But really I do love them both. Rattle and all.
Happy camping.

[Wisconsin Camper]

Has anyone noticed a difference with a 3.73 rear axle versus the 3.42?

Our Yukon seems to do ok with the 3.42, but thought one with the 3.73 would be better.

If the 3.73 isn't going to make a difference, than the 3/4 ton Yukon might be the right choice.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[bikeman]

Do you mean Yukon XL? That what you can get in a 3/4 chassis and it comes with 3.73 gears or the optional 4.10s. The Yukon (short wheelbase) is not available in 3/4 chassis.

As far as gears, I tow with 3.73 and does fine but next TV will have 4.10s. With gas engines, the higher rpms that a bigger gear gives makes it nice towing on the hwy.

3.42 gears won't be great towing, pending on the size of your TT, you may find you have to tow in "Drive" as opposed "OD" to keep the rpms up. Though the newer transmissions with 5 and 6 speeds must be nice for having some intermediate gears to go to on hills.

[skidoonut]

i vote for the diesel too. i have one and love it. and as for the 6speed 1/2 ton, no it is not an allison. as a gm tech that has full training in transmissions, it is a good transmission and we have not seen any issues with it. but is no allision. if you are going to do any amount of hauling, it is very hard to beat the duramax/ allision combination.

[rockwood06]

The 3.42 rear is design for fuel efficiency not so much for towing and for the live of me I have never seen a tow package on a truck equipped with a 3.42 rear as standard equipment. The 3.73 rear is the smallest rated tow rear but as stated above the 4.10 is better. Now that the US Government owns 60% of General Motors (GM) I believe it is now called (Government Motors)

[slpybeartx]

Originally Posted by Wisconsin Camper

Has anyone noticed a difference with a 3.73 rear axle versus the 3.42?

Our Yukon seems to do ok with the 3.42, but thought one with the 3.73 would be better.

If the 3.73 isn't going to make a difference, than the 3/4 ton Yukon might be the right choice.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

I used to tow with a 2004 Silverado with the 5.3L and the 3.42 rear end. Crap. Very weak. But the gas mileage was awesome!

Now with teh Z71 half ton, 5.3L and 3.73 rear end... pulls great and still doesn't break the bank to drive around. (or off the lot).

[slpybeartx]

Originally Posted by rockwood06

The 3.42 rear is design for fuel efficiency not so much for towing and for the live of me I have never seen a tow package on a truck equipped with a 3.42 rear as standard equipment. The 3.73 rear is the smallest rated tow rear but as stated above the 4.10 is better. Now that the US Government owns 60% of General Motors (GM) I believe it is now called (Government Motors)

my 2004 Silverado came from teh factory with the 3.42 and the heavy duty towing package. total pull wt was 6,700#. And it was anemic!

See previous post...

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by spybeartx

my 2004 Silverado came from the factory with the 3.42 and the heavy duty towing package. total pull wt was 6,700#. And it was anemic!

See previous post...

This is the first time I have heard of that, the info I got is that if a tow package was ordered on a truck then the 3.73 rear was part of the package and a 4.10 was optional. Thanks for the info.