It just became time for a new truck The 'o7 gave us great service for over 14 years, towing our 16k 5er and many times a 2nd trailer over 50k mi. towing. Youve seen us in the Q, in Baltimore, Brookings, San Diego, to Tampa and everywhere in between several times in the past 20 years.
Last winter or 2 ago DW says its time to upgrade. so we considered 'A ' MH s, back to TTS, new 5 ers.
5er won out, keep our Carriage, with our travel style of overnighting( which we always drycamp, boondock on public lands ) en route to longer term destination.
So we ordered mar 27/ 21 a new 2021 chevy 3500 srw L5P dsl crew cab 8' bed.w/ b& w companion hitch.
Took delivery jun 7 21. Cleaned up the 07 for private sale, sold it in 2 weeks for 1/2 of what we paid for it 14 1/2 years ago. less than $1500/ yr depreciation/yr cost of ownership.
Now the tow comparison, with our same 5er on a 1400 mi. rd. trip to Ks. last week in temps over 100 up to 106 and into 35 mph headwinds. The L5P and 10 spd tranny didnt even notice, minor gear shifts into 9or 8 on the hills in the headwinds, Tranny temp never got avove 175.
On past comparable trips the 07 struggled in those head winds and temps ran higher. fuel mileage comparable. 10 mpg + to minus. The new truck never struggled or got warm.
We do miss that faithful and dependable 07, are expecting the same depedability from the new 21 as well as it holding its value into the future.