Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives New GMC/Chevy 3/4 ton Pick-Ups?

City/Highway I average 13.8-14.0 MPG,s.If I keep it at 65 MPH on the highway I can get 17MPG.The 6.4 hemi has 410 stock horse power so its about what I expected.I have the 3.73 gears in my 4X4 crew cab.

This is where diesels really shine- I took a trip to Lincoln, NE recently to visit my family. Distance from my house to theirs is exactly 600 miles. Driving was mostly on I-25, I-70 and I-80, with speeds of 70-75 MPH on the Interstates.
I made it on one tank of fuel, and the trip meter said there was still 120 mi. of range left when I got there. Avg. MPG was 21.

Towing my 7,000 lb. travel trailer thru the CO mountains averages around 12.5 MPG.

How does the higher cost of diesel fuel and maintenance compare to the lower cost of gas/maintenance for you?

Gas, I get to smell diesel smoke every day at work. Plus I park it in the garage and don't care to smell it in my house. However, the new diesels don't stink as much. The biggest problem with new diesels is the crazy exhaust systems and the fact that you also have to put DEF in them. I've got a few big trucks that take DEF and haven't had much trouble except a 2012 KW with a Cumins ISX we had a lot of trouble with it wanting to regen all of the time, but I think that was more of an engine/computer problem.

I've got the 6L in a 2500HD Crew Cab. All of the trucks in the past only got 12 MPG, but I looked at the readout the other day and this new one is averaging almost 14 MPG. It only has 1000 miles on it, so I'm not sure how accurate that is.

In the short term, diesel won't save you anything. However, when you hook a heavy load on the back and head over a mountain range, that engine will be your best friend.
In the long term, when the diesel is still cranking right along with 300K+ miles on it, you'll love it even more.

Fuel costs have somewhat equalized, and diesels get ~20% better mileage depending on conditions, more so when pulling a load.

I don't know what the higher maintenance costs are. Sure my diesel held 3 gallons of oil, but I'd run synthetic and change filter and top off at 7500 miles and full change at 15,000 miles. Changed out fuel filters ~12,000 miles/annually.

For the past year or two around where I live, the cost of diesel has been very comparable to unleaded regular gas- sometimes a few cents less, sometimes more.

As far as maintenance goes- first year for my truck has been free maintenance from the dealer. So far, I add DEF fluid around every 6000 miles or so.

I also looked at the diesel engine option as I have owned a 2004 Dodge 2500 with the 5.9 cummins diesel engine in the past.Back in 2004 the diesel option was $5000 grand list price today its more like $8,900 bucks.I could not justify the price difference verses the 6.4 Hemi.All the diesel regen and DEF scared me to.

If you are not going to use your truck for towing or hauling heavy loads, then you probably do not need a diesel. That's what they were designed for. They are, however, a lot of fun to drive- gobs of low-end torque and all.

I got ~8 mpg coming across ND and MT pulling a horse trailer one time so assume it is still similar. This was with my 2000 3/4 ton with the 4:10 gears and 6.0 engine. I haul hay ~ once a year and then the horses. Other than that I rarely haul heavy. The reason I am more interested in a gas engine. However, I sure liked the power a friend had when hauling with his diesel.

we have a 2013 HD 2500 long bed mega cab with hemi 5.7 and it is great for what we re doing so far.

anyway that is the only PU i can fit in and not due to my belly lol ....

My 2500HD gasser gets 10mpg empty so u did pretty good with a trailer. 2700rpm at 70mph she is thirsty.

Do the GM 2500 still have a 6.0 motor? I have driven a couple of GM 1500 that had a 6.2 liter gas motor that had serious balls.