Truck in front of the camper
I've been out of the truck camper world for a few years but want to get back into it before I get too old to enjoy it. Looking to buy an older Chevy 3500 w/ an 8.1 gas motor. Want to make sure I can ...
Forum Discussion
WarrenS65 wrote:
I bought a new 05 Chevy 3500 with the 8.1l and Allison to carry a Lance 961 that was 4200# and towed a 7000#-8000# box trailer. What a great combo. The 6l had a few more HP, but the 8.1l had a lot more torque. By the time I sold it last year, it had about 150k miles and I went to an F450. It got about 8-8.5 MPG loaded.
Having had a lawn service for 39 years I found out that getting a truck big enough to handle anything I wanted to do with it plus what I didn't know I wanted to do with it was a lesson learned. I've decided that a 3500 of some sort with either a Chevy 6.0 or 8.1 is a good choice. The Allison is good as I've had them w/ the Duramax. A Dodge w/ a Cummins is a good choice but I've found that Dodges seem to rust too much. I've had a Ford 6.0 and don't like all the things that can go wrong w/ the engine. Diesel vs gas isn't such a big issue when carrying a heavy load. With the price difference between diesel and gas they end up about equal. Thanks for the input.
