Silverado 1500... Enough?

bobndot wrote:
Im in the same situation , looking into a new truck . Most of our miles will be non towing. My 2500 6.0 gasser with 4.10 gears 4 spd gets 8 mpg towing 6000# and approx. 13 mpg around town solo.

A 1500 as described will do the job. Pay attention when you load up the truck with your stuff. Keep an eye on the tire ratings, you might need to upgrade the tires weight rating. BTW, the wheels have ratings too.

My personal experience is the smaller fuel tanks in gas engine trucks. I prefer longer range between fuel stops because refueling with a TT can sometimes be a pain getting into tight stations.
The diesel set up allows using an in-bed fuel tank without a pump. As per a call to Transfer Flow , new Fed. D.O.T regulations do not allow gravity flow anymore for gasoline aux tanks.
I'm going to look into the baby diesels in the 1500 series. I have no idea if this is a good idea or not. I know of a Pilates instructor that drives one but I don't know if they are compatible with yoga or not.

I hear you on the smaller fuel tanks! With my 2000 I think I filled up twice on a 200 mile tow in the mountains. Once was before I left and the other was at about half way up, mostly because I was nervous. Anyone who has a 2000ish model Silverado knows the inaccuracy of the gas gauge. It got better when I replaced the fuel pump a few years ago, but I still don't trust it.

For what it is worth, I was thinking the same as you about a week ago. As much as I love my Chevy I decided the baby diesel in the new Ram Ecodiesel would be worth a shot. I went and drove one and I wasn't impressed. I'm not saying it isn't a good truck, I'm just saying for the money it didn't do it for me. I know we are talking about a 3 liter here, but the 240 HP was evident. It felt a bit sluggish and the 8 speed shifted every half a second. 420 lb/ft of torque is no slouch and neither is the mpg those things are rated at, but for me, it wasn't worth the money. For the same money you could step up to a nice 3/4 ton. Also to get to the 9200 lb towing capacity that would match the Chevy you had to opt for the 3.92 rear axle and that was harder to find than you'd think... For me it was anyway.

I'll check out the Pilates. The truck buying process was fun at first... Now I'm leaning toward driving my 2000 until a rod lands on the pavement, then go truck shopping. Ha!