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

How do the new GMC/Chevy pick-ups compare to the older ones and newer Fords and Dodges? I had a 1990 3/4 ton Chevy that I had for 13 years and now a 2000 GMC that I bought used in 03. As from a previous topic I posted I do need a 6 passenger pick-up or wouldn't be looking.

I have no use for a 3/4 ton pickup. No boat or trailer to pull.

That said I would only consider a Ford F250 and not even close

Gas or diesel?

Either, but probably gas.

It has been `12 years since I last drove a Ford, I think it was a 99. It has been ~15 years since I drove a Dodge and that was a 95. I didn't like either compared to the GMs. But a lot of things can change in that time. So, why would you pick a Ford F250 over the GM or Dodge for that matter?

Drive both and you will see the difference. 2 Friends have 2 year old 2500's and I had a F250 as a Loaner and there is no comparison on interior room for one. The Chevy owners have some quirks with their electrical systems. I think the F250 has a better gas motor , will get better gas mileage and is built with a tougher frame plus it has the advantage of an aluminum body for areas where rust is an issue.

I think the Chevy lags behind in terms of drivetrain when comparing gas engines and the 6L80 transmission gearing is weird. I hate our 2500 HD gasser we have at work for the reason listed above and the turning radius is horrendous. If I were shopping 3/4 ton gassers I'd be looking at an F250 or Ram 2500 with the 6.4 Hemi, although I've heard the 66RE transmission gearing behind that engine is not ideal either.

From what I have seen/rode in,the only thing the Chevys/GMCs have is a better /softer ride.

What year is the 2500? I don't work my GMC very hard, just a few ton of hay a year and horses occasionally and it has held up well to that.

Drive them is something I need to do. Interior room is something I really need so the Dodge Mega Cab comes to mind, but they are really expensive. The Ford is supposed to have really good room too. By the way, I will be looking at a 4 door if I haven't been clear about that.

I never have had a short box, but my wife is tired of driving the extra cab with 8 ft box we have now. So it looks like a short box is in our future. I hope I don't regret it.

They are cattle ranchers and beat the crap out of them. They are 2012's bought at the same time. They are extended cabs , they were impressed with the f150 I had with regards to interior room. The f250 is more of the same , is huge inside.

I've got a 2016 2500HD HC CC SB D\A 4x4. My only complaint is the programming for electric over hydraulic steering. It's always pulling the wheel back toward absolute center. While raveling straight on a typical crowned highway at 75mph, keeping the truck on the road requires resisting the steering system pulling the wheel back to center. This quickly becomes laborious. As speed increases, so does the force of system's pull toward absolute center. This is unique this system's design.

Any perfectly aligned steering axle clocked to absolute center only delivers a straight line trajectory when traveling on an unpitched surface. Traveling on pitched road surfaces requires steering axle input increasing as pitch increases. On this vehicle, designers choose to ignore these conditions for speeds over 65mph.

A friend has the 2016 Ford F150 and while I haven't been in it it does look cavernous.

Dodge's Megacab is huge. However, it only comes with the short bed and I need a long bed so I have a quadcab.

How is the quadcab for room?

It's quite comfortable for an average sized man, certainly bigger than the back seats of most cars today. Mine is an '08 and I haven't looked at the newer ones so they might have changed them.

Just bought a Ram 2500 4x4 with the 6.4 gas motor. Crew cab with plenty of room in the back. Mine is a power wagon so 4.10 gears and a trip to the gas station pretty often.

I've had three F150 super crews and they have lots of rear passenger room. From what I've read, the F250 now uses the same cab as the F150.

I had a 2010 F250 and my 2013 F150 had quite a bit more room in the back seat area. My new Ram is quite a bit more comfortable than my 2010 f250 but about the same as the 2013 f150. The ride isn't as soft but the room and the seat comfort are. They all get nicer each year if you're willing to shell out the money.

Go drive all of them.
Good luck with your search.

Bob

Remember the old song "Give me 40 acres and I'll turn this thing around"? That's a 3/4 ton quad cab, long bed. I get my exercise hiking from the far end of parking lots to the stores.

Try all of them out - in the same day if possible. They all have pros and cons. It really just boils down to what you like.

Ignore all the internet chatter and get a few minutes of seat time in each brand.

Thank you gentlemen

Ford man myself, but have been told that only thing that rides softer than a
chevy is a fat woman.

Yeah. I have had Ford owner comment on how soft my 1990 Chevy 3/4 ton drove. One guy had a 1/2 ton Ford and liked how mine drove. Now my 2000 isn't as soft and feels more truck like than our 2005 1/2 ton Suburban

You can throw a couple of fat gals in the back of your Ford and will ride pretty good.

Just a Hunter,

Last year in January I bought a 2016 GMC Sierra 2500HD Duramax Crew Cab, and I could not be happier with a truck. I sold a 2009 Ram 1500 because I wanted something with more guts to tow my travel trailer up and down our Colorado mountains, and this truck certainly does not disappoint!

Comfort, interior quiet and room is exceptional- my wife would much rather ride in it than in her Grand Cherokee. Plus, it has a WiFi hotspot, which lets her use her computer and Ipad while we are on the road, with no loss of signal. If she's happy, I'm happy!

Hunted with my youngest son this winter for a week, getting his elk tag filled. There was snow cover most of the time where we were hunting, and we used 4wd only about half the time- the electric locking rear differential really helps with traction. Fuel mileage is very good for a vehicle this size, average of highway and in town is running at 19 mpg at the moment. Not a minute of trouble so far!

I have a 2016 Ram 2500 Power Wagon with the 6.4L Hemi and my partner at work has a 2015 Chev 2500HD 6.0L and mine has a significantly better ride and better gas mileage. Gas mileage isn't by much but is anything helps. I've always been a Chevy guy but I wouldn't trade my Ram for his Chevy

I've a '12 PW and if I ever buy another new or newer truck it'll be a Ram. And I was a die-hard chevy guy before.

It sounds like most new pick-ups are good from any brand. I have been a GM person for decades and have had good results from them. I do need to drive them. A Power Wagon is interesting in the Ram, but the $60,0000 + price tag shocks me a bit.

I got mine for $57,000 Canadian so what is that about $25,000 US? So not that bad...

Maybe I need to shop in Canada

Thanks Bighorn

People I know who have the Duramax like them. How is the turning radius in it?

Bighorn what engine and gear ratio in your GMC please.

He said duramax and all duramax trucks are 3.73 rears.

Don't doubt that.My stock Dodge Cummins is a 3:55. I never had problem with pulling power

I went through this in 2012. I have been a life long Chevy fan and had many of their 1/2 and 3/4 ton models. I was in a 2003 2500 HD extended cab Chevy with 4:10's. It drove and pulled OK but terrible mileage. I drove Ford, Chevy and Ram at the time not wanting a diesel but a gasser. In fact I drove each one on multiple occasions and kept coming to the same conclusion and I felt like a traitor. I chose the crew cab 2500HD Laramie 4x4 with 3:73 gears. It pulls far better than my 6.0 2003 Chevy ever did with lower gears and I get 18 mph on the highway empty with the Ram. It was just a better truck to me all the way around for the price. I still have it and love it to this day. The only thing I did not like on it was that the front running gear was still spinning in 2 wheel drive. I put Spyntec free spinning hubs on it and problem solved. Darn nice rig. YMMV

they all break down thats why they have service and parts departments...buy the one that you like and from a dealer that will stand behind it with good service

I get a new GMC every 5 years. I just got in a 2017 about 3 weeks ago and it's the best one I've ever owned. Before this one, I had a 2012 and up until now, that was the best one I had owned.

If your looking to buy a used one, stay away from the 2007 1/2, new style. In the beginning of 2007, they completely changed the suspension, transmission, and the body style. They screwed it up bad. I had one of the first ones off of the line and the POS transmission never worked right and it rode like a piece of crap. That truck was the worst truck I've ever owned. It was so bad, that in 2012, I almost bought a Ford. I went out on a limb and got a 2012 GMC that year and it turned out they had corrected their screw up from 2007.

StoneCutter,

Did you go gas, or Duramax?

The wife and I drove new 2016 Ram,Ford & Chevy 3/4 ton crew cabs last year(2016).We ended up purchasing the Ram 2500 crew cab with the 6.4 hemi gas mileage kinda of sucks but we knew that going in.Other than that we love it.

My uncle had a 2007 Chevy 1/2 ton. Man I did not like the pick-up.

Coobie

What is you mileage like? I am getting 13 t best with my 2000 GMC with the 6.0.

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.