2015 Silverado 3500 & 19000lbs

I found this pretty interesting. I have been looking into new trucks and had talked myself into waiting until GM released the rumored 850 foot/pounds Dmax. However after a weekend of internet researching. I don't know if it is that big of deal except to satisfy my Type A mentality which is to have the most powerful Dmax available (without mods). I am seriously considering going 3500 SRW this time. I compared the specs from Ram and Ford, and than Utube videos of these pull off comparo's. It does not appear to me that the 850 ft/pnds buys anything in the real world. The tow ratings with 3.73 or similar ratios are much the same across the big three. What sold me, was noticing that on the Ford and Ram, that they will give the 30K tow rating to a 3500 but when it comes to the 45/5500 trucks it comes back down to the mid 20's. I know the power outputs are derated, I cant recall tow ratings being derated as well, but it is evident that the 30K tow rating is only for bragging rights, and the trucks cant live at that duty cycle for long or they would maintain that rating in the heavier trucks. Ultimately the Dmax has to have equal power to the other two to prevent getting slaughtered in the truck ads, but at the end of the day, when the 765 foot/pnd engine can do this well, I don't think it will improve towing performance in any significant way to increase the power. Combined with the fact that GM has been building this version of the Dmax since 2011, I think they have it pretty well figured out, that may not be the case with the 850 version.

I would like to also know the ambient air temp as well as coolant and tranny temp of the these trucks when they reach the top. That to me tells me more about the capacity of the pickup than does speed/time up the hill alone.

A couple things, and some personal experience.

The speed limit going up is 60 MPH, not 65.

Colorado does in fact allow pulling tandem with two bumper pull trailers.

Going from personal experience. my current set up will sometimes drop down to 40 MPH by the time I get to the top. I am about 17000 pounds.


And, dropping a few thousand pounds doesn't seem to matter much. These loads are around 15000 pounds, and the speed is the same.




And, towing with my old truck and Smarty JR had the best results - never below 50 MPH.



So, I guess the moral of the story is that in my experience, they are all very close. Does a minute or two to get to the top really matter in the grand scheme of things.

I love my RAMs because of great personal experience with them, but I have to ask the fanboys out there. Do your hands ever get tired of clapping for your truck?

These new hd's are really sharp trucks. I think GM is going to reap the reward on this one.

That brand war thing can't be helped, it's just the way it is....I am a Ram guy by the way...:B

Bigfoot affair wrote:

ib516 wrote:
"Oh yeah, by the way, the truck dropped down to 45 mph at one point...."

Your point? This is a five year old power train, the all new Ram with more pwr and less weight didn't do quite as well.... Just in case you don't remember-> Linky

At 4:30 he starts to mention the Ram is rated for 30K+ and that its already struggling with 17K! One other thing you really notice in this video is all the noise that thing makes, WOW!

:R my point is that (because I'm a gear head), I would have liked to hear more about how the truck did performance wise, I don't think they were really focused on that.

Why try turning this into a brand war? :S

MARK VANDERBENT wrote:
Seems to me the Canadian test of the three 1 tons last month put the duramax on top in many areas. This surprised the panel since the duramax had much lower power numbers. Yeah !! that's right !

Since when did the Chevy have lower power numbers? :h

bguy wrote:
All I saw was 2 trucks. They didn't show any of the specs for either truck. Be interesting to know what gear was in each truck and the ambient air temperature. Did ya notice he pulled behind that semi to get a little pull off of it?

If you are asking about rear end ratio it would be 3.73.

I have one, or rather it's corporate twin, and it does everything I need it to do, as did my previous 2012 GMC 3500 srw, with the exception of it being a little overloaded with the Winslow. It did well in the power department and that is one of the reasons I stuck with GMC. I just needed a little more weight carrying capacity which is why I made the change.

One thing that is noticeable is the exhaust brake has more oomph. It is the quietest vehicle, and that includes cars and suv's, that I have ever owned. It pulls the Winslow very well which is really all that matters to me. I've had a couple of Ford diesels and a motorhome with an 8.3 Cummins and they did very well also so you will never hear my say any brand is better than any other.

All I saw was 2 trucks. They didn't show any of the specs for either truck. Be interesting to know what gear was in each truck and the ambient air temperature. Did ya notice he pulled behind that semi to get a little pull off of it?

parkersdad wrote:
Say what you want but Cummins is the best Diesel engine period!!!! If you don't believe it look in the big trucks.

:R. That's like saying the Allison transmission is the best because it is in tanks. :R

Say what you want but Cummins is the best Diesel engine period!!!! If you don't believe it look in the big trucks.