But the salesman TOLD me it could!
Went to the Chevy dealership .. as a way to find out if the salesman knew anything,asked re tow rating on this low-end 5.3 v8 half ton.. the answer, per this guy? 'About ten to eleven tons'
Forum Discussion
blt2ski wrote:
I recall an engineer in the lunch room at the Duramax factory, telling me to get rid of my 6.5td, a D/A combo would pull anything I had, better, up steeper hills/grades etc......yeah right!
Bought one a few years later.......Stalled the dmax on a STEEP grade the 6.5td went up with a 12K trailer in tow! yeah right says the engineer who helped design this motor! Turns out the dmax had less gradibility than my 5 sp 6.5! On a freeway grade, yes the 300+hp left the 185hp rig on the side of the road! More to towing prowess than just HP and Torque!
Marty
Marty, I love your posts, but you’re a bit stuck on dead center on gradeability. Actually a lot stuck. I believe pretty much everything you post 100% because you’re correct in your analyses.
However, to suggest that other than your home brew gradeability test, that a 6.5TD pulls anything like a LB7 is about 100% false and it makes your other analyses appear less valid.
I’ve had a couple 6.5s (briefly, because you could buy those frustrating P of S trucks cheap and always find a willing consumer who didn’t know anything about diesels to pay top dollar. ) that I fixed and flipped. Even drove one for a while. Great mileage and decent power compared to the predominant 90s gassers.
BUT a bone stock Dmax could, would and still will wax any of the 6.5s 6 ways to Sunday. Not even a contest, except for fuel mileage. And the bigger plus was you could actually reach your destination without putting a new PMD in it to get it to run!
