Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Exp w/ 07/08 GM 3/4 ton with 6.0 gasser and 6 spd auto tranny?

Dube,

This isn't pointed at you, but you did give me an excuse to post it...

I think it is humorous that whenever one of us buys a higher performance "thing"--be it a diesel truck, a fast sports car, a high velocity and/or big bore rifle; how there are always others of us who accuse the buyers of said higher performance "thing" of buying primarily to enhance their manhood.

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I bought my 2002 DMax, the manhood and coolness of ALL diesel pickups were greatly enhanced by their new association with ME............

If it works, go with it.

I was mostly relatin' that to the people of my acquaintence who figured they needed a diesel pickumup, without actually having any need for such a critter.

A bud who is decidedly addicted to machoism and always has been, told me once that all of his trucks "from now on", would be diesels. This, after his son bought a new F250 CC Power Stroke 4x4 and he had just bought a Ford F450 diesel dump truck for the bidness. He changed gears somewheres along the line, because since then he bought a new Ford hi-cube van and a new F150 4x4, naturally both gassers.

Friend of mine ran the local Detroit Diesel shop (Penn DD/Allison) for years. Some years back the GM rep stopped by and took him to task for no longer having any medium duty GM diesels in the service fleet. He'd replaced all of their one ton service trucks with gas engine trucks, after having too many problems with whatever med. duty diesel GM had back then (early 90s). Said he only makes money for the company when his mechanics are working on customer's trucks, not his own trucks.

He took the GM guy out back of the shop and showed him the only diesel-powered truck still in the service fleet: A Ford stake body truck with a Power Stroke. ;o)

One of my cousins has a fairly large mowing/landscaping/snow plowing business in northern PA. For years he had nothing but Ford diesel pickups and one stake body dump. Last fall he showed up at the family reunion in a new V10 Ford F350(?), pulling his camper. Asked him what happened to the diesel, said they're all gone now. Got tired of fightin' with them in the winter time.

ExPat,
I went through the same wondering process when I was trading trucks last year. The 2007 GMC 2500HD extra cab 8' bed pickup in my driveway is a 6.0 liter with a 6 speed and 3.73 gears. It gets just a hair over 15 mpg when driven on the highway and it's in the mid to high 11's when driven "around town", The truck tows a 30' tri axle trailer every weekend (Friday and Saturday) during racing season here in WV and SE Ohio. Trailer weighs right at 12,000# and the truck gets between 9.5 (a low) and 10.9 (a high)
I tow to the same tracks via the same routes. Truck has 16K on it and is a heck of a truck. I test drove new diesels and even towed the same trailer with a brand new Duramax w/Allison when my truck was being serviced. The diesel was nice but I wasn't impressed near enough to have any remorse about what I was driving everyday.
Granted anyone's diesel has more torque and will pull at 1800 rpm as well as or better than a 6.0 will at 3500 rpm and there is nothing wrong with a diesel. I also have a 95 Ford E350 box van with a 7.3 and a 05 Dodge Dually with a Cummins that was bought new and has almost 100K on it. The box van is used for deliveries and the Dodge tows a 40' gooseneck when loaded will gross 26K (truck and trailer). Dodge gets 17.5 to 17.9 empty, isn't driven around town, and gets between 10 and 11 mpg towing said trailer loaded.
A diesel is way better for a high mileage truck used for heavy towing but I couldn't justify the additional expense for my driver and weekend tow truck. There are several good analysis in this thread. I figured there was no way I would ever get a return on my investment if my GMC were a Duramax. On the other hand the Dodge is continuing to pay it's own way. Hope this helps you.

I don't know about the "cool, manly" thing, but a lot of what Dube is saying strikes a chord with me. My truck will pull my 7,500 lb trailer for 1-2 hours twice about every 6 weeks. About once a year it will pull it on an extended trip. About every third year, we will move and that will be a long drive. Ninety percent of the remainder of that time, the truck will carry only me. I'm not a high mileage driver so it will take a while for me (I figure about 70,000 miles) to recoop the extra 5-6 Gs of purchase price when fuel (in OK) is .30 more a gallon than gas and the price of oil changes is double. Resale value is not a big deal for me as I will pay cash for the truck and drive it for 10 or more years. That is why I'm intrigued with the powertrain combo in this thread title (in the 08 model with the new 6 speed auto tranny). Apparently the mileage is not that much worse than the diesel and while it has a good bit less grunt, I do not tow real heavy or real far. When I do, I still have the 3/4 ton chassis and brakes under me. Just a bit of food for thought to chew on.

Expat

Thanks Mate!

ExPat,
You will enjoy the 6.0 w/6spd. You won't have to ever plug the gas motor in or worry about fuel jelling and when you have the oil changed you only need 6 quarts. Even though the new diesels are fairly quite you can't hear the gas motor run (until your at 3500 rpm towing up a 10% grade). One other issue I have is that Ford, Dodge, and GM are all charging way too much for the diesel option IMO. If the diesel options were priced lower pickups with diesels would be way more attractive.

Dave

Wusses!!!!!!!!!

Yes the diesel trucks have a hard time when you are working in -50C (-58F), and that is dam cold to work in, that I will tell you from experience...any of the trucks that were diesel never shut off and ran 24/7...the gas ones you could shut off plug in and fire up no problem.

3 months ago I was in the market for a new pickup to replace my '86 F150. I buy them to keep a long time.

I don't need a 3/4 ton as I only pull a 5k pound travel trailer a dozen times a year.

After kicking tires, research, and test drives I narrowed it down to 2 vehicles. The Chev 3/4 with 6.0 gasser and 6 spd tranny or the Toyota Tundra with the 5.7 and 6 spd tranny. I'm sure I'd of been happy with either one, but I ended up with the Toyota. It was more that the Chev salesman pissed me off than anything else. The Chev is a very solid choice.

Well, I have no regrets with my 5" lifted, 315/75R16 shod, 4.10 geared 500 RWHP 2002 DMax/Alli. I do not need its hauling capacity everyday, but those times when I do pick up a 1500-2000 lb load it reminds me how vastly superior a 3/4 ton is as a work truck over a 1/2 ton truck.

Also, my truck can carry 6 people reasonably comfortably, has enough ground clearance to open up much rougher roads while hunting, has very tight and stable steering, rides very comfortably empty and loaded, and gets 15-16 mpg driving my 1/2 city, 1/2 highway drive to work. Oh yeah, it can chirp the tires under accceleration when shifting into overdrive at around 55 mph.........and that was just 1/2 throttle acceleration..............

You just can't get there with a 1/2 ton or a gasser. Put a 5" lift, 315s, and 4.10 gears on a gasser and you get what, 8-9 mpg in the city? Modify that gasser so it makes 500 HP at the rear` wheels (call it 550 off the crank) and the mileage drops even more.

Now if I had to get a 1/2 ton it would probably be the Tundra. the Tundra is an excellent 1/2 ton truck--but it is just not as capable or efficient as what I have now.

Any experience with the 07/08 GM 3/4 ton with 6.0 gasser and 6 spd auto tranny?

Thanks,

Expat

No, but I have heard what others have posted here--the only downside to the 6.0 seems to be fuel mileage, but some guys get better mpg than others. I have heard of 14-15 on the highway and 10-11 in town empty, on the high side.

Thanks for posting. From what I'm hearing, the newest version of the 6.0 with the new 6 speed tranny does a bit better, but doesn't equal the diesels.

Expat

If a DMax is too expensive--and the newer ones have become spendy, a Chev 2500HD with the 6.0 would be a far superior work truck than the new 1/2-ton Tundra. Now I like the new Tundra veru much and consider it tops for a 1/2 ton truck. But the heavier frame and suspension of the HD will give much greater stable hauling and towing ability, advertising claims notwithstanding.

Ya mean you ain't been awestruck with them containers dropped over a cliff, quick whoas on precipices, or them swingin' pendulums yet? Me either, although I have talked with a few people who were.



Best ads I've seen this year, are the ones for the extended power train warranty on GM stuff. Kinda short on hyperbole and long on common sense, at least from my perspective.

What is interesting is the pictures they had of the set-up for that photo shoot with the Tundra. The pick-ups used to haul to stuff to and from the shoot site were Chev, Dodge, and Ford 3/4 and 1 ton diesels...................

Likely didn't want to stress the "real stars" of the shoots by making them do anything useful aforehand?

LOL!!

In all seriousness, If Toyota makes a 3/4 TD that is as far ahead of the 1/2 gassers as the Tundra is, that would be something hard to resist.

Of course, Toyota would need to step up and produce a full crew caw with both the 6.5 and 8 foot beds, not the mini-bed that now have on the crew cab Tundra.

other than the 40-50k price tag toyota would have on it i am in

even mid 30's is ridiculous to me (JMO)... that is a lot of coin if it ain't making you $100/HR ...

FWIW my 5.3 silverado just hit 10 MPG... no idea why. 70k. no trailers... runs OK... done filters, oil etc..... dunno

woofer

a buddy of mine bought into the toyota stuff too. he had dodges and wanted to try the new tundra. it has been back to the shop twice now for the trannie and a tapping inthe rear end only has 15k on it.IMO if you haul more than 4k on a regular day go with the chevy i did.