GMC/Silverado 2500 Gas

[cliffy49]

I am wondering if anyone has towed with either of the 2020/21 subject trucks and what are your thoughts.

Tell me your thoughts on the ride, power and amenities. Let me know what and where you have pulled so that I can get a good idea of what the vehicle can do. I am not concerned with the diesel evan though it is a very good tow vehicle just not for me. I pull a 4900 lb. gvr toy hauler and have no intention of getting a bigger rig. Evan if i did,I would not go over 9000 lbs.

Any and all comments are appreciated.

[poorboy]

Cliffy49,
my younger brother just bought a leftover 2020 gmc 2500 with all the bells and whistles. it even has trailer tire pressure monitoring. it has the 6.6 gas and his tt is around 5k pounds. he and his wife took it from northern delaware to inglis, fl. for their anniversary. he said he got around 11 mpg. which is pretty good since the truck isn't broken in. if i were to buy a truck now, i would go for gas. good luck with whatever you decide, oh, by the way, he was a ford guy, which is not a bad thing. if you ask me, i don't think you can go wrong with any of the big 3, jmho.

[ls1mike]

Sjm9911 wrote:

ls1mike wrote:

Sjm9911 wrote:
It will be a ton of an improvement over the 150. Lots of power. My TT is light so maybe 5400 loaded and i load up the bed of the truck. It has power to pass and stop. Like a lot of it. I have no problem now passing big rigs on big inclines. Before with the 2012 gmc i had issues going up large inclines. I had to pull onto the slow down lanes for the trucks. Now , i can honestly say i pull faster, 70 ish. Where before was 60 ish. With 0 problems. Plus is more cab room, more bed room ( a lot). I like the back up camera for hitching up, and when your close you swap to hitch veiw to get it lined up perfectly. Also, it automatically puts the ellectric e break on so you dont roll out from the hitch. Other great options, auto scolls the lights for a pre check. No more needing a second person or a weight to hold the break down in the truck. I like it for towing a lot. Especially with a smaller trailor. It had a good upper limit on tow weights also. Longest trip this year was nj to lake george, so 4 hours. Also did a few trips to pa, through the water gap, big inclines. Mirrors are better to see out of hitched up. Only con is not great gas millage, and its big. So its my DD. Its fast.

Was the 2012 a 6.0? I have a 17 and tow all over out West(Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana) and that has not been my experience.
I like the 6.6 but for me it wasn't enough difference to go back into payments. I am waiting to see if you can get it with 4.10s and a few more speeds.

No it was a 1500 5.6 , max tow. I think it had to do a bit with the emissions stuff. Your a lot newer also, so 5 years will make a diffence. It had the auto cylinder thing. So by the time you stepped on the gas and the slight time delay in the relays it was too late( just assumtions on that reading after the fact). I did use it to tow to disney and back. It towed fine, just got squirrely at 60 or 65 mph. That atually depending on the road type. And it got pushed around too much by the 18 wheelers blowing past me. Addtionally the small gas tank made the disney trip way longer then it needed to be. And accelerating to get on and off the hyway because of lower power wasnt fun eaither. Could it tow. Yes. Was it fun. Hell no.

So probably a 5.3. That explains your experience. You made a huge jump. Not only did you get the 6.6 but you went to 3/4 ton or better.

[Sjm9911]

Oh, to add, the 2500 and higher do not list mpg i belive because they dont have to conform to the emissions stuff. This means they will eat up some more gas but you get power in return. I much rather spend a few more bucks on gas and be able to accelerate safely then to floor the accelerater and hope i get around/ merge in time . Worth the money for me.

[Sjm9911]

ls1mike wrote:

Sjm9911 wrote:
It will be a ton of an improvement over the 150. Lots of power. My TT is light so maybe 5400 loaded and i load up the bed of the truck. It has power to pass and stop. Like a lot of it. I have no problem now passing big rigs on big inclines. Before with the 2012 gmc i had issues going up large inclines. I had to pull onto the slow down lanes for the trucks. Now , i can honestly say i pull faster, 70 ish. Where before was 60 ish. With 0 problems. Plus is more cab room, more bed room ( a lot). I like the back up camera for hitching up, and when your close you swap to hitch veiw to get it lined up perfectly. Also, it automatically puts the ellectric e break on so you dont roll out from the hitch. Other great options, auto scolls the lights for a pre check. No more needing a second person or a weight to hold the break down in the truck. I like it for towing a lot. Especially with a smaller trailor. It had a good upper limit on tow weights also. Longest trip this year was nj to lake george, so 4 hours. Also did a few trips to pa, through the water gap, big inclines. Mirrors are better to see out of hitched up. Only con is not great gas millage, and its big. So its my DD. Its fast.

Was the 2012 a 6.0? I have a 17 and tow all over out West(Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana) and that has not been my experience.
I like the 6.6 but for me it wasn't enough difference to go back into payments. I am waiting to see if you can get it with 4.10s and a few more speeds.

No it was a 1500 5.6 , max tow. I think it had to do a bit with the emissions stuff. Your a lot newer also, so 5 years will make a diffence. It had the auto cylinder thing. So by the time you stepped on the gas and the slight time delay in the relays it was too late( just assumtions on that reading after the fact). I did use it to tow to disney and back. It towed fine, just got squirrely at 60 or 65 mph. That atually depending on the road type. And it got pushed around too much by the 18 wheelers blowing past me. Addtionally the small gas tank made the disney trip way longer then it needed to be. And accelerating to get on and off the hyway because of lower power wasnt fun eaither. Could it tow. Yes. Was it fun. Hell no.

[ls1mike]

Sjm9911 wrote:
It will be a ton of an improvement over the 150. Lots of power. My TT is light so maybe 5400 loaded and i load up the bed of the truck. It has power to pass and stop. Like a lot of it. I have no problem now passing big rigs on big inclines. Before with the 2012 gmc i had issues going up large inclines. I had to pull onto the slow down lanes for the trucks. Now , i can honestly say i pull faster, 70 ish. Where before was 60 ish. With 0 problems. Plus is more cab room, more bed room ( a lot). I like the back up camera for hitching up, and when your close you swap to hitch veiw to get it lined up perfectly. Also, it automatically puts the ellectric e break on so you dont roll out from the hitch. Other great options, auto scolls the lights for a pre check. No more needing a second person or a weight to hold the break down in the truck. I like it for towing a lot. Especially with a smaller trailor. It had a good upper limit on tow weights also. Longest trip this year was nj to lake george, so 4 hours. Also did a few trips to pa, through the water gap, big inclines. Mirrors are better to see out of hitched up. Only con is not great gas millage, and its big. So its my DD. Its fast.

Was the 2012 a 6.0? I have a 17 and tow all over out West(Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana) and that has not been my experience.
I like the 6.6 but for me it wasn't enough difference to go back into payments. I am waiting to see if you can get it with 4.10s and a few more speeds.

[ksss]

RobWNY wrote:

ksss wrote:
I have a lightly loaded '20 LTZ. Doesnt have the multi camera system (but I wish it did).

Be careful what you wish for. I have a very loaded 2020 LT. It does have the multi camera "system". I put that in quotes because you have to buy the extra cameras for placement on your RV which I opted not to do. The backup camera on GM trucks that come with the system, is different than the standard backup camera. They come with a wide angle camera. It's pretty much useless as a backup camera under normal backing conditions. Everything is distorted and the truck sensors beep all the time because it thinks I'm going to hit something that I'm not even close to. The view when backing up while the wheels are turned makes the distorted view in the photo 10X worse. I've had two dealerships tell me it's normal and nothing can be done to correct the problem.

Interesting. My issue is my DRW was a bed delete truck so I didn't even have a back up camera. I was told (and I think the dealer believed truly) that it was just a matter of inserting a camera to an already in place wiring harness and I would have a backup camera. Everyone has come to learn that is not the case. They have had the truck for a couple weeks now trying to figure this out and others it appears. I also want the ability to switch to a camera that would should show the 5th wheel on the flatbed. I have a bulk red fuel storage tank and storage compartments and I cant see the fifth wheel hitch without a camera. My thought was with the camera package this would be much easier. Its a nice truck and the more I drive it, the more I like it. However the camera issue seems to be more of an issue than it needs to be. If I would have ordered the truck, I would have kept the bed and ordered the complete camera package. I bought what was a available, I expected some issues with this, but not this much.

Perhaps you can swap your rear back up camera for a typical backup camera?

[Sjm9911]

It will be a ton of an improvement over the 150. Lots of power. My TT is light so maybe 5400 loaded and i load up the bed of the truck. It has power to pass and stop. Like a lot of it. I have no problem now passing big rigs on big inclines. Before with the 2012 gmc i had issues going up large inclines. I had to pull onto the slow down lanes for the trucks. Now , i can honestly say i pull faster, 70 ish. Where before was 60 ish. With 0 problems. Plus is more cab room, more bed room ( a lot). I like the back up camera for hitching up, and when your close you swap to hitch veiw to get it lined up perfectly. Also, it automatically puts the ellectric e break on so you dont roll out from the hitch. Other great options, auto scolls the lights for a pre check. No more needing a second person or a weight to hold the break down in the truck. I like it for towing a lot. Especially with a smaller trailor. It had a good upper limit on tow weights also. Longest trip this year was nj to lake george, so 4 hours. Also did a few trips to pa, through the water gap, big inclines. Mirrors are better to see out of hitched up. Only con is not great gas millage, and its big. So its my DD. Its fast.

[Dadoffourgirls]

I towed 9500lb Travel trailers in Michigan - No issues.

I towed 15000lb goose neck with 14 hay round bales - No Issue. Nearly 1000 miles of towing.

I towed 17500lb grain (beans) wagon - No issue.

Over 16k miles, 13 mpg average. Never took a long road trip - probably because it was a reg cab dually.

[TomG2]

I have had three Silverado 2500HD's 2007, 2009, 2013. All were capable of towing 8,000 pound or more trailers. All had the 6.0 GAS engine. I emphasize GAS, because they love it. Lots of it.

[RobWNY]

ksss wrote:
I have a lightly loaded '20 LTZ. Doesnt have the multi camera system (but I wish it did).

Be careful what you wish for. I have a very loaded 2020 LT. It does have the multi camera "system". I put that in quotes because you have to buy the extra cameras for placement on your RV which I opted not to do. The backup camera on GM trucks that come with the system, is different than the standard backup camera. They come with a wide angle camera. It's pretty much useless as a backup camera under normal backing conditions. Everything is distorted and the truck sensors beep all the time because it thinks I'm going to hit something that I'm not even close to. The view when backing up while the wheels are turned makes the distorted view in the photo 10X worse. I've had two dealerships tell me it's normal and nothing can be done to correct the problem.

[ksss]

At even 9K you would have plenty of power with the 6.6 gas. As far as options, it all depends on how you order it. I have a lightly loaded '20 LTZ. Doesnt have the multi camera system (but I wish it did). If you check the right boxes they can come very well loaded, the options are there you just have to pay for them. Depending on what you are and are not willing to pay for, you may have to order it to get exactly what you want. There are not a lot of trucks sitting on lots, so getting exactly what you want, already built is difficult right now.

[Sandia_Man]

Can't speak on those years as my Chevy Silverado 2500HD has been faithfully hauling our 9K# toyhauler for many years already. I imagine the newer versions would perform better as horsepower and transmissions have been improved, our Silverado with 80K miles is dedicated to just towing our rig around the mountain west region where we live and do most of our RVing. No major issues and it has ever been to the dealership, good buddy of mine is a mechanic and has just done maintenance fluid and filter changes.