Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives New to me 2005 Silverado

I picked up a deal I think, on a 2005 Chevy 2500 Silverado with 140K miles. Price was under $15K. Extended cab, 4X4 with a locker rear. It's a Duramax Diesel with Allison automatic transmission. One owner, who used it mostly for long haul trips with a 5th wheel RV. The truck is immaculate, and has been well maintained.
What kind of around town and one the road milage can I expect? Can't ask the previous owner as he died recently. It has fairly new street tires, which I will replace with something more suitable for country use. Are these trucks reasonably capable in mud and sand with decent tires?

Mine is a little newer, but I get 15-16 around town.Around here with narrow twisting roads and up/down about the same. I can never get up to hwy speeds. 22-23 out on the hwy.

Unless you have 4wd or weight in the bed, it will spin out even on wet grass. Mud,you will sink the front end pretty quick if it is deep

Not quite the same truck but.....bought this new in '02

'02 2500HD Crew w/6.0L gasser w/139K miles

MPG for me is 16 max with a tail wind

Good heavy duty truck....my highway cruiser mainly...have towed some

Have only done routine maintenance....trans oil x3....all brake pads/rotors..water pump/belts/coolant

Tires ? Currently have 285-75x16 Falkin WP3's on..quiet & handle great

Sand & mud 4x4 ? That Duramax is heavy !


https://www.falkentire.com/wildpeak/at3w

Not terrible but not a screaming deal. I looked at that vintage once and they go through injectors alot . Or maybe it's something else.

Sam, it's not going to go where your 4Runner will. Too heavy, unless you use some very wide tires for flotation, and be prepared to air them down in soft sand. If you do get stuck, that's a lot of truck to get unstuck. Been there, done that.........

Alan, I have figured that out. Decided to just keep the old 4Runner for a woods truck and use the Chevy mostly for long road trips.

Running joke regarding ANY diesel pickup between a couple buddies is:

"Don't whiz in front of any of the tires on gravel or you'll be stuck."

The front end can pull the back end out of trouble fairly easily due to all the weight of the engine. The rear end often will NOT pull the front out of trouble for the same reason.

I have an 06 with programmer and a few upgrades. I get 18 around town in the mountains and 21-22 on highway. And plenty of power to spare. Its been an extremely good truck.

My 04.5 is exactly the same truck except for the grill and hood. Same LLY engine. Very good truck and at 140K miles it's just broken in. Clean and with relatively low miles aren't real easy to find. You'll like it.

They are heavy, but so are the gassers. My 2011 CCSB Duramax scaled right at 8,000 lbs as it sat ready for use. My 2021 gas is the same configuration with the same stuff in it and it scales out at…8,000 lbs.

Yup 04.5 an 05 are the years to have ! Mine gets 15.8 hwy...with the hills I got and a 200 gallon water tank in the bed...

on a recent road trip out to Alabama and Mississippi, the Duramax diesel gave me 23.5 mpg. Found Diesel South of Jackson MS for $3.59 and filled the 60 gallon tank in the bed of the truck. The truck should be good for about 1600 miles on a complete fill up. Performance was superb. I had an occasion to use the 4x4 selection on a red clay muddy, steep Mississippi hill. Zero issues.
I like the truck a lot.