Update: first tow with 2009 GMC 6.0
Hey guys, Updated the 2002 1500HD to a 2009 Sierra 2500HD 4x4 SLT a week ago. Got the new and improved GM 6.0 with 6 speed. Towed my normal camper down to St Pete for the week and wanted to report ...
Forum Discussion
Well here's my experience. 08 2500 Chevy crew cab, 6.0 gas, two wheel drive with six speed trans and G-80 4:10 rear. Our trailer usually weighs somewhere around 8K plus or minus a few hundred pounds.
Last week we got back from a slightly over 10K trip which lasted 6 weeks. Started here in SE PA then to Ashville NC, Lexington KY, Greenville NC, back to SE PA (for a day), then to Salem OR, Glacier NP, Medora ND, and then back home. My truck started this trip with slightly over 61k on it.
Best MPG (of course not towing) was 13 mpg, worst towing mpg was 5 mpg. That was with a 40 mph headwind. Most of the time we were in the 7.5 to 8.5 mpg towing. We tow in fifth gear except climbing steep hills or those times when we had these terrible headwinds which we had to drop down to fourth. The sweet spot for this truck is 2700 rpm, which in fifth gear puts me at 68 mph. I always use Mobil one and the truck did not burn one drop of oil during this trip. We had zero mechanical problems except for a bad valve stem on the right rear tire that thank goodness the tire sensor monitors pick up one morning and was fix in ten minute's by the great people of Les Schwab in Butte, MT. All in all I'm pleased with this truck and it was a much better RV experience then driving a DP motor home ( which is what we use to have). Two negative issue's though. The first and the biggest PIA is the size of that fuel tank. 26 gal in a truck like this is ridiculous. We carried two five gallon cans with us and had to use then twice to get us to a station in MT and ND. It really should have at least 32 gallon tank. I hope that's being addressed with the new 2015 HD's. The other negative is those head winds, that's when you wished you had a diesel. We had about 600 miles of those winds in the course of this trip and I have to tell you it was as frustrating as hell! Hills don't seem to be a problem, yea the truck slows up, sometimes to 45 MPH on very steep long hills but at least you get to come down the other side! This truck also has the HD GM trailer package that has an external trans cooler. I was concerned that the cooler wasn't going to be good enough after reading some of the posts on this forum, however it performed great rarely going over 200 degrees in the worst of conditions when climbing long steep hills in high temps. Considering the break downs we had with that DP this was a night and day better experience in such a long trip. The truck is very comfortable and the anxiety level is so much lower driving knowing just about anyone can fix it ( including me) should it break down unlike looking for a Cummins dealer who if your lucky will work on a DP MH. I hope to be in the market for a new a 2500 or 3500 in two years. Duramax or the new 6.2 gas. I'll have sometime to think about that. Outside of the headwinds I'm please with the 6.0 and the new 6.2 might just be good enough for what I plan to be doing then, however, should we decide to go with a larger trailer then it's a no brainer, Duramax for sure!
Last week we got back from a slightly over 10K trip which lasted 6 weeks. Started here in SE PA then to Ashville NC, Lexington KY, Greenville NC, back to SE PA (for a day), then to Salem OR, Glacier NP, Medora ND, and then back home. My truck started this trip with slightly over 61k on it.
Best MPG (of course not towing) was 13 mpg, worst towing mpg was 5 mpg. That was with a 40 mph headwind. Most of the time we were in the 7.5 to 8.5 mpg towing. We tow in fifth gear except climbing steep hills or those times when we had these terrible headwinds which we had to drop down to fourth. The sweet spot for this truck is 2700 rpm, which in fifth gear puts me at 68 mph. I always use Mobil one and the truck did not burn one drop of oil during this trip. We had zero mechanical problems except for a bad valve stem on the right rear tire that thank goodness the tire sensor monitors pick up one morning and was fix in ten minute's by the great people of Les Schwab in Butte, MT. All in all I'm pleased with this truck and it was a much better RV experience then driving a DP motor home ( which is what we use to have). Two negative issue's though. The first and the biggest PIA is the size of that fuel tank. 26 gal in a truck like this is ridiculous. We carried two five gallon cans with us and had to use then twice to get us to a station in MT and ND. It really should have at least 32 gallon tank. I hope that's being addressed with the new 2015 HD's. The other negative is those head winds, that's when you wished you had a diesel. We had about 600 miles of those winds in the course of this trip and I have to tell you it was as frustrating as hell! Hills don't seem to be a problem, yea the truck slows up, sometimes to 45 MPH on very steep long hills but at least you get to come down the other side! This truck also has the HD GM trailer package that has an external trans cooler. I was concerned that the cooler wasn't going to be good enough after reading some of the posts on this forum, however it performed great rarely going over 200 degrees in the worst of conditions when climbing long steep hills in high temps. Considering the break downs we had with that DP this was a night and day better experience in such a long trip. The truck is very comfortable and the anxiety level is so much lower driving knowing just about anyone can fix it ( including me) should it break down unlike looking for a Cummins dealer who if your lucky will work on a DP MH. I hope to be in the market for a new a 2500 or 3500 in two years. Duramax or the new 6.2 gas. I'll have sometime to think about that. Outside of the headwinds I'm please with the 6.0 and the new 6.2 might just be good enough for what I plan to be doing then, however, should we decide to go with a larger trailer then it's a no brainer, Duramax for sure!
