Anyone thinking of a GM 1500 with the 3.0 Duramax?

Grit dog wrote:
Now add them new fangled deezuls to the list! D@mn kids today....a half a ton is 1000lbs. Wut the he!! Are they doing trying to tow 8000lbs? It ain’t a 4 ton truck, it’s a half ton!
Lol

Yeah, and a 3/4 ton is 1500 lbs, and folks is pulling 15-20K lbs with them twucks! More than that with them 1ton/2000 lbs capacity twucks!
What the bloody hail!

I've towed with a 76 20R toyota truck. S10, 81 gmc C2500 with maybe 125hp with its 292 I6. BB motors had 190hp and barely 300 lb ft of torque! That new diesel probably has close to or more power than a BB gas back in the day! if its a 200/400 like the one in the MB Sprinter van I drove. Moves a load out into the 15K range just fine!

Yep, the sky is falling trying to tow with these new half tons! Heck, the GM 4.3 V6 has more HP, and close to the same amount of torque as my 2000 350V8 has, 2 more gears, a lower overall low for better take off, closer splits in the trans, and a taller tall for 25% better mpg......It does have have the payload......Wonder if I can get this combo in a 2500?

Marty

Now add them new fangled deezuls to the list! D@mn kids today....a half a ton is 1000lbs. Wut the he!! Are they doing trying to tow 8000lbs? It ain’t a 4 ton truk, it’s a half ton!
Lol

Vern, realizing your use and experience is not the norm, as you’re well aware, it’s easy for the general population to not accept something “new”. (Even though it’s not new at all. The basic 3liter light duty Diesel engine in automotive applications is what 15 years old now?
What we are dealing with is the grumpy old man contingent though. Think of this forum as the old diner where the codgers who can’t sleep past 5am go gather at 6am to each drink a lot of coffee and complain about....everything from politics to fishing report to the weather!

ib516 wrote:

VernDiesel wrote:

ib516 wrote:
For the money they want, IMO, a 3/4 ton gasser is a much better option.

Depends on how you are using the truck. For those that need and want an HD platform they should buy that. For those that need want a gasser probably 90+ percent they should buy a gas 1/2 ton. For the 5% or so that can really benefit from the small diesel why should we not be allowed to buy one? BTW you can get a December built 2018 Laramie Ecodiesel out the door for less than $40k.

I was thinking in the context of an RV tow vehicle. As a family car for hauling the day's shopping - they are great for that or, with a lightweight RV like mine a small diesel would be great.

If you are actually thinking in context to an RV tow vehicle you might know that practically speaking the 1/2 ton platform properly specked is an excellent & capable choice up to about 8k. Afterwhich a HD platform is clearly a better tool for the job. And their are plenty of people who camp happily in less than an 8,000 pound RV.

The 3.0 liter turbo diesel Ram, Ford, or GM can be quiet, capable, comfortable to tow with & very reliable to that same weight range. No high rpm screaming to get you over a pass like a naturally aspirated gas v8. No single digit towing economy like many gassers. GM specked 282 HP & 450 TQ. Plenty of torque to take that kind of load from a light up to speed & enough HP to move it down the interstate in respectable fashion. And when you can average 14 mpg towing that big box RV at 65 like mine does you can afford to take your family camping to a better destination than the local park.

As to being used as a daily shopper a gas 1/2 ton is much better suited. Thanks to Government overreach & some senseless regulation (and some useful) the emission systems makes diesels a bad choice for daily short commutes & daily trips to the grocery unless you like routine visits to your dealership service department to get things cleaned out & cleared out. Well unless you get it tuned to turn off EGR & better manage DEF etc.

When the small light duty diesel is available in mid range trim levels out the door for less than 40k such as the 2018 Ecodiesels on the lots now how you can say a new 3/4 ton gas truck is a much better option or buy for towing a light weight RV such as yours? This just does not add up to me.

10% better mileage? Try again. Skew the numbers however you want, but the mileage gain on the baby diesel is a lot more than 10%.

Yet, y'all are on a RV forum and you all act like anything that isn't the absolute cheapest, most bang for the buck, best ROI, etc is complete junk, when if that's what you really were after, you'd be plugging in your Nissan Leaf at the free charger at the city library where you could read books about seeing the country RVing for FREE!
sheesh......

VernDiesel wrote:

ib516 wrote:
For the money they want, IMO, a 3/4 ton gasser is a much better option.

Depends on how you are using the truck. For those that need and want an HD platform they should buy that. For those that need want a gasser probably 90+ percent they should buy a gas 1/2 ton. For the 5% or so that can really benefit from the small diesel why should we not be allowed to buy one? BTW you can get a December built 2018 Laramie Ecodiesel out the door for less than $40k.

I am very much in favor of you being allowed to buy whatever you want. I just can't make the math work to my advantage. Even if the diesel was no extra cost up front why would I want to give up 20% on power, pay 30% more fuel and mess with DEF all for 10% better miles per gallon. But you buy what you want. I won't give you a hard time about it.

camper1013 wrote:
When I heard about the 1/2 Chevy ton diesel I was really curious about the numbers. I always felt like I needed a little more power than the 5.3 on the freeway. I felt like I was working the motor too hard on some hills.

The problem for me is I was pushing the limits on weight with the truck. If I could have the diesel performance and stay withing the wights I would consider it. All I use my truck for is pulling anyhow. If your withing weights and want the diesel performance of the 1/2 ton I think its a great option. I do think if they put in in a Suburban they would make a killing. I still don't understand why they don't offer 3/4 Suburbans to the public anymore.

I think the killer is price and numbers for all 1/2 ton diesels. No manufacture is going to make a killer performance 1/2 ton. It would kill the HD line up sales. And the price to jump up to a 3/4 or 1 ton is not much more at that rate, and the numbers work out better for everything.

That being said, we bought a new 1 ton diesel and 5th wheel last week, so the 1/2 is no longer and option.

That's the thing with the little 150/1500 series diesels, you won't get the big towing performance advantage with them compared with available gas engines. Chances are the 5.3 will wax the 3.0 diesel on a hill climb. The appeal with the little diesels are that they can be a daily driver that can approach 30 mpg highway not towing, and still have the capability to tow a 7-8K travel trailer. The big sell with the diesel in the HD pickups is the vastly better towing performance compared to the gas engines and the fuel economy advantage is secondary.

VernDiesel wrote:

ib516 wrote:
For the money they want, IMO, a 3/4 ton gasser is a much better option.

Depends on how you are using the truck. For those that need and want an HD platform they should buy that. For those that need want a gasser probably 90+ percent they should buy a gas 1/2 ton. For the 5% or so that can really benefit from the small diesel why should we not be allowed to buy one? BTW you can get a December built 2018 Laramie Ecodiesel out the door for less than $40k.

I was thinking in the context of an RV tow vehicle. As a family car for hauling the day's shopping - they are great for that or, with a lightweight RV like mine a small diesel would be great.

Why use a 5oz tack hammer to pound a tack into something, when you can use the 5 lbs sledge. Break your fingers, and the material you are pounding the tack into!

One should choose the appropriate tool for the job task at hand! A truck of the 1500 size, may work for some, not others!

Marty

You guys act like the diesel options are super expensive. What is it, 10% upcharge? To get like 10mpg better mileage? It’s not exactly a stretch unless uou just like to complain about things!