1500 6.2 L vs 2500 gasser

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Ford1904

8000 lbs all you can pull with that chevy get a diesel you will be preferably a ford 6.7 my 17000 lbs fifth wheel pulls fine behind it all the way to 110mph and everythig between and gets 18.5 mpg empty and 12-13 mpg loaded

Hmm. My 2500HD gasser is good for 13,000 lbs. 2903 lb payload. I smell a troll!

[ronheater70]

Originally Posted by Ford1904

yes realy 2012 ford will pull 17000 lbs fifth wheel camper up th 110mph

That right there is one of the most disturbing and idiotic things I have EVER read on this forum in the last few years.

[itat]

Originally Posted by lbrjet

I would get the 1500 and get a different truck later if you need it when you upgrade your trailer 3-5 years down the road.

X2

mopwr4me2003, is your current Traverse overloaded towing the Roo 183? If you have to buy a new tow vehicle now, I would buy a good used 1/2 ton for towing the Roo and then when you’re ready to upgrade the trailer, pick the trailer and then get a truck suitable to tow it. Just be sure the 1/2 ton has enough payload capacity for the Roo and your family.

Being 3-5 years away from upgrading the trailer you’ll change your mind several times. No way you or anyone else can make that decision now. Upgrading the truck now may limit your trailer choices when you’re ready to upgrade.

[Chief T]

To the OP:

Glad you're ahead of the curve doing your research. The decision will ultimately be yours and only yours. When the time comes for you to upgrade your TT, you will have less options if you go with the 1500.

I own a 2012 GMC 1500 w/6.2l and love it. Actually its my DWs daily driver. The 6.2 comes with a standard 3.23 rear end and the max trailering package will give you 3.42. I haven't had any issues living out in the mountain west, but then my TT comes in around 4.7k loaded. Got my eye on our next upgrade that will be 5.3 dry and 7.3 gross.

Also, the 6.2 calls for premium gas. I live at 5.5k elevation and can run 86 no problem. Lower elevation I need to put in the higher grade gas.

Hope this helps some and good luck in your search.

Safe and happy travels.

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by myredracer

Interesting question... Here's what I can tell you.

Up until the week before last, we had an'09 F250 with 6.8l V10 and 4.10 gears. Owned it for 7 years and we've towed all over heck and gone up and down the west coast mountains from CA to Jasper and once over to Utah & Nevada. The V10 never let me down and could always maintain 65 mph on any grade. No TT, FW or semi could pass me!

Unfortunately, the V10 bottom end exploded 5 hours from home with the TT behind. A mechanic deemed it was terminal and not worth repairing. A replacement V10 was almost impossible to find and the two we did were too expensive and that was before labor to install.

Luckily (very) we were heading to my BIL's house 5 minutes away from where we broke down. He owns an auto parts shop and hooked us up with a friend who had a nice '12 GM 2500 Sierra for sale. Has a 6.0 V8 and 4.10 gears. We needed a replacement truck to keep our camping season alive and to get the TT home. The price was too good to refuse so we snapped it up. Very few used 3/4 tons for sale in decent shape around here as many are now going to the US due to the $$ exchange and many are beat up work trucks.

The V10 is rated 362 HP & 457 ft-lbs while the V8 is rated 360 HP & 380 ft-lbs torque. The Sierra has the 6 speed.

Our TT is 7K lbs and 29'. On the way home, I had to tow up BC's infamous Coquihalla hwy - more than a 100 mile long mountain pass with grades between 6 & 8.5%. The V10 worked great on the Coq. hwy. Plenty of power/torque and no issues maintaining 65 mph (speed limit is 75 mph for cars & trucks).

However... The V8 struggled to maintain 65 on 6- 6.5% grades. As the grades got steeper i got slower and slower and at one point I was only able to make about 55 mph WOT. Quite disappointing! I even had quite a few loaded semis blow me away uphill.

Assuming both engines were putting out the advertised power & torque, the 82 less ft-lbs of the V8 makes a VERY noticeable difference. The tranny didn't seem to downshift as the truck slowed as the grades got steeper. The truck is new to me and I need to check the throttle position sensor. I'm not quite used to how the tow/haul and +/1 button on the column shift works yet and need to play with it. With the F250, I could just turn T/H on and get engine braking on downhill sections but the Sierra doesn't work the same way.

So it seems to me that torque matters. I already don't miss the F250 but sure miss it's torque! Don't know what kind of torque other 3/4 tons have these days? Sure don't want to pay 10s of thousands more $$ to get a diesel just for the torque. If we ever buy another truck to tow the same TT, I'm going to be looking very close at HP & torque numbers.

I have thought about installing a chip but google seems to say the gain isn't all that much and then you have to run high octane.

On payload, the F250 sticker said it was supposed to be 2800 lbs but after going to a scale, it was more like 2K lbs. It had a canopy which would have accounted for a bit but not sure where the rest went. It was a super cab 4x4 with 8' box. The 2500 Sierra is crew cab, 6.5' box, 4x4 and no canopy (yet). Has a sticker payload of 3K lbs but haven't gone across a scale yet.

I would much rather have a 2WD. They're 5-6" lower to the ground, less maintenance and with less weight of the drivetrain, have more payload cap. VERY hard to find a 3/4 ton with 2WD. I've never once needed the 4x4 anywhere.

6 to 6.5 % grades are pretty steep . the approaches to Eisenhower are that much . with the 6.0 you will be gearing down and running about 45 to 55 . nature of the beast 4500 rpm all day long .

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by Ford1904

8000 lbs all you can pull with that chevy get a diesel you will be preferably a ford 6.7 my 17000 lbs fifth wheel pulls fine behind it all the way to 110mph and everythig between and gets 18.5 mpg empty and 12-13 mpg loaded

I would love to have a ford diesel 6.7 that got 12 to 13 mpg while towing 17000.lbs but have not found one that pulls those kinds of mpg's . my sons with a full sized truck mounted camper and small ski boat only get around 9 to 10 while towing . My good friend with a 6.7 that grows hay and hauls it around can't get past 9 with a full load of hay no where near 17000 lbs .Keep that truck

[Ford1904]

Tell him th delete the dpfe that what i did and running a h&s tuner i swear by it

[ronheater70]

Originally Posted by MR.M

I would love to have a ford diesel 6.7 that got 12 to 13 mpg while towing 17000.lbs but have not found one that pulls those kinds of mpg's . my sons with a full sized truck mounted camper and small ski boat only get around 9 to 10 while towing . My good friend with a 6.7 that grows hay and hauls it around can't get past 9 with a full load of hay no where near 17000 lbs .Keep that truck

Yea my son has a 2017.. His 2013 was a POS, but the 2017 has been very reliable.. His main complaint is the MPG's suck.

[myredracer]

Originally Posted by MR.M

6 to 6.5 % grades are pretty steep . the approaches to Eisenhower are that much . with the 6.0 you will be gearing down and running about 45 to 55 . nature of the beast 4500 rpm all day long .

Well, you could have lied and said the engine just need a new set of plugs or something. Lots of hills out west over 6%. There's a short section of 10% near our house about a couple of blocks long. Wonder if I'll break the 30 mph posted speed limit, lol.

Good to know tho. Guess I'm just going to have to slow down and take in more of the scenery.

[Ford1904]

Originally Posted by ronheater70

Yea my son has a 2017.. His 2013 was a POS, but the 2017 has been very reliable.. His main complaint is the MPG's suck.

After straight piping the exhaust and putting the h&s tuner on my 2012 f-350 i picked up 3mpg and i have had it from new the only thing that i have had to break on it was the turbo intercooler hose blowed apart but i upgrade it to a h&s turbo hose it just keeps pulling like a freight train and sounding like a jet plane

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Ford1904

Tell him th delete the dpfe that what i did and running a h&s tuner i swear by it

Huh???

[mopwr4me2003]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Huh???

Yep lost as well. Anyways back to the actual post at hand [emoji16]. Happy Friday eve everyone!

[Chief T]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Huh???

dont you jst luv incoherent ramblings in da morning with no tempt at grammer or punctation its great gotta luv it boy howdy

[Dave Lyon]

Originally Posted by Chief T

dont you jst luv incoherent ramblings in da morning with no tempt at grammer or punctation its great gotta luv it boy howdy

[mopwr4me2003]

Originally Posted by chief t

dont you jst luv incoherent ramblings in da morning with no tempt at grammer or punctation its great gotta luv it boy howdy

🤣🤣🤣

[Hersbird]

Well if we are talking mods, just get a iron 6.0 and you can make a 500+hp and 500 ft-lb motor with cam, springs, injectors, headers, and tune (about $1500 in parts) that will make more torque at every point compared to stock.

I just did my initial tow with my 2001 6.0 Suburban. It is a 2500 4x4 stock sized tires, with 3.72 gearing. It is still stock and tired with 235K on it. It's Ok but not great, my 5.7 Hemi felt a bit stronger but did have 4.11 gears and less weight in the truck. This winter I'll probably pull the Burb 6.0, do a rebuild, bump compression, add better cam, headers, injectors, and tune, and see how she does. I also already have an electric fan setup in the garage to put on. So inexpensive to rebuild and upgrade the LS motors and the iron 6.0 can take just about anything you ever wanted to throw at it. Such a huge improvement over the classic small block chevy which was already the gold standard.

[CaptnJohn]

With a few mods a 150 can pull about 7000#. The 2500 is good to a bit over 10,000.
My 350 diesel does not get the mpg mentioned above. I get 17 +|- not pulling a 14,500 5er and 9.5 to 11,pulling. It is a 2016. Mpg got better as miles came up to around 20k.

[tonyb1725]

I personally owned a 2013 1500 6.2 with max tow pkg. as well as a 2015 1500 max tow with a 5.3 both extended or double cab with 3.73 rear axle and larger rear end and brakes (cargo capacity on the sticker was 2450 lbs) I pulled a 5th wheel FR 2080 ws loaded weighing around 8500 lb, Both trucks pulled it well. my only complaint was lack of fuel range as 26 gal tank and 7 to 9 mpg does not provide much range,
newer units may have an 8 or 10 speed transmission.
Both trucks averaged the same fuel economy unloaded but the extra power the hot rod 6.2 had was a plus.
That said upon retiring I moved to a 2500 (cargo capacity 2483) Duramax 6.6 with a 36 gallon fuel tank and 11 to 14 mpg extending my range considerably, as well as extra torque of the diesel. As everyone says the 2500 is more surefooted but the 1500 s did the job well.The 6.2 ran well on regular unleaded as well as the called for premium gas
Several friends tow with gas 2500 s with the 4.10 gears and 6.0 engines towing mileages are similar to the 1500s but unladen mileages are 14 for the 2500s and 20 plus for either 1500
Gcvwr is of course much higher with the 2500
In my opinion you could use either truck based upon how often you pull your trailer
Good luck whichever you decide

[Ford1904]

To the one with the 2016 f350 have you deleted the exhaust filter and retuned the truck yet as i said in the other post i put up my trucks exhaust has been straight piped and programmed and in doing that i have picked up roughly 2 to 3 mpg and lowered my exhaust temps greatly and if you do this or if you have not already done so this bring your fuel mileage up to the same or better than mine also my truck is geared 3:73 i don't know what your truck is geared hope some of this will help you if not sorry for bothering you and anyone else reading this

[SCOTTY G]

Dont do it, I tried a 1500 with a 6.2 and all I did was white knuckle when I was driving. The front end felt very loose when towing . I was towing a QBS30 travel trailer in was 69000 gross weight. I switched back to a 2500. No problems now