Truck Decision UPDATE: Decison Made (pending)
Here is the deal. I have an 08 GMC 2500 diesel and LOVE it. However, I would like to upgrade to a camper with a slide which I believe will need a one ton to carry. So, I believe I can sell my curre...
Forum Discussion
I love my Duramax but I often tow and haul quite heavy. If I were buying a truck to just haul a TC I would be looking for a gas engine. The diesel engine is heavy and reduces the truck's overall payload capacity which will be at a premium with a TC. A TC is not much of a load, even a large one might be only 5,000 pounds. If you think of that as a trailer you could pull it with a V6 powered SUV. So, a diesel is huge overkill for that use.
I'll tell you what my experience has been with Ford 6.0 diesels. My boss bought one for a work truck because it was cheap. It starts hard, idles rough, handles bad, has no power, etc. At 140,000 the head gaskets are blown. The est. is $3,500 to fix it. If we want to fix all the other problem areas, that is "bulletproof" it the total estimate is about $8,0000.
So, the boss decided not to fix it and paid $10,000 for another 6.0 with a brand new engine. It's been in the shop very often in the year he's owned it. It's currently getting a new oil cooler and new turbo. To date he's spent about $7,000 in repairs on his $10,000 truck.
Meanwhile, while these work trucks are down the boss is paying me mileage to run my Duramax with 181,000 miles on it.
I'll tell you what my experience has been with Ford 6.0 diesels. My boss bought one for a work truck because it was cheap. It starts hard, idles rough, handles bad, has no power, etc. At 140,000 the head gaskets are blown. The est. is $3,500 to fix it. If we want to fix all the other problem areas, that is "bulletproof" it the total estimate is about $8,0000.
So, the boss decided not to fix it and paid $10,000 for another 6.0 with a brand new engine. It's been in the shop very often in the year he's owned it. It's currently getting a new oil cooler and new turbo. To date he's spent about $7,000 in repairs on his $10,000 truck.
Meanwhile, while these work trucks are down the boss is paying me mileage to run my Duramax with 181,000 miles on it.
