1500 crew w/5.3L and 4.10 axle ratio...anybody?

That's exactly what I thought. I have a pre-vortec 350 w/3.42's and OD is useless under 75 mph. I think my motor has around 225hp so I figured the

5.3L with 310hp and 4.10's should pull my camper along pretty good. The torque curve is kinda high in the chevy's, so the 4.10's ought to get it up there where it's happy. I actually found a dealer that has one and plan to test drive it tomorrow. It's either this truck or a Duramax (don't want a 6.0L). Not sure if I want to go the extra bucks.

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I tell you a friend of mine bought a new Dmax truck lately and we did a lot of extended test driving of gas and diesel GM trucks, some for several days (I know a guy at the dealer) and the best we got out of a Dmax crew cab single rear wheel was a litle over 18mpg. The same truck with a 6.0 and 4.10 got almost 16 MPG on same test loop on hiway. The

6.0 was more fun to drive too and would pull well to 5500 RPM and had good low end torque too. My buddy had diesel on the brain and bought one anyway even though since gas is 30 to 40 cents less than diesel here it was actually cheaper to drive the gas truck especailly when you factor in that it cost about 8K less too. I am not sure what you plan to tow but I doe have one reservation about doing any serious towing with a 5.3 power truck. It is not the engine or tranny but the rear axle GM puts behind them. It is a light to moderate duty unit at best of limited wieght capacity too (a GM 8.5 10 bolt) It has a small ring gear for the load and a marginal posi tract because of case size limitations in the 10 bolt. If you have visions of regularly towing 6 to 8k or more on less than flat ground I would spring for a 3/4 ton with a 6.0. If you are towing less the 1/2 ton should do okay for you long term. ANd a further note If you can find a 1 ton crew cab SRW they have a additional 1000 dollar rebate in the sticker itself so they are cheaper than a like 3/4 ton model. My friend tried to buy a 1 ton gas truck but could not find one locally equiped the way he wanted so he settled for a 3/4 ton Dmax but a week after we got it we had to add a leaf to each side in the rear in my driveway (I have lots of air tools and jacks) because the stock 3/4 ton CC is not sprung as strong as you would think in rear and with a 1000 lbs tongue load you could feel the mush at times which is a kick in the but for a expensive Dmax truck too. The extra leaf madem a big difference and the 3500 comes with that extra leaf too. For what it is worth.

That is the first time I heard that the 6.0 was getting mileage like that. I heard numbers like 13-14 solo, and a major hit with a load behind it. Interesting information though. I actually drove a D/D today.....pretty nice. I'm leaning more that way because I've always wanted one and I figure the resale would be better. I don't currently tow that much weight (5000#) but you never know what the future holds. Better to have and not need....... Thanks for the replies.

The Duramax would be a great choice. A little spendy though.That`s what I wanted,but had to settle for the

6.0. What don`t you like the 6.0? Just curious.

Other than Snoman, all I heard was negative things about the fuel mileage and noisy piston slap. I know $7K can buy a lot of fuel, so that's not really a good excuse. I guess I'm just intrigued by the diesel and all that low end torque.....gotta love the sound too. I talked myself out of the half ton with the 5.3L, might as well get a HD instead of second guessing myself.

I have this setup on a 2000 Z71. Its rated to tow 9200 lbs max. It pulls pretty good and I get about 15mpg empty.

I am not sure what the resale value of a Dmax will be in the future when diesel fuel will likley cost 50 cents to a dollar more than gas will. The day of deisel being cheaper than gas I feel are gone for good and if you are buying it for that reason you might think again. We drove over 500 miles in loners and I even had a C3500 dump bed in a

05 Dmax too for a few weeks. It weighed 8700lbs empty and I got less than 12 mpg with it during the time I had it in city driving. My 2000 K3500 gas truck which weight about a ton less does 12 to 13mpg doing the same thing. My friend had hoped for better than he got too.

I all fairness the piston slap problem were in earlier engines up to about 2003 or so and the worst were some of the 5.3?s. THe ALuminum

5.3 is not know for piston slap problems. and the 6.0?s were never real bad about it. THe two trucks we run out had the convenice package that could monitor MPG in real time and average and the fill up were within less the 1 MPG from what computer said. I was acutually surprized how good the CC 6.0 was on fuel. It stayed in the upeer 13?s to lower 14?s in urban driving and almost 16 (15.8) on a hiway trip. My friend even dogged it badly one day to see what it would do and the average still stayed above 12 on computer even when some flat out runs. Foot to the floor is was faster than Dmax especail at higher speeds and on kickdowns. If you are going 40 to 50 in a dmax and floor it it thinks about it for a bit and tries a gear or too while the engine builds up steam. THe 6.0 took off right away. We also drove a 3500 with a 8.1 and 4.10 gears. That thing was a trip!! with no effort at all really heat the rear tires. With the Dmax you had to build up steam then it would upshift as soon as you took off because of limited power band and lose the launch. Even the 6.0 could put on a show and really carry it once they were lit. I do not drive like that but my buddy kinda likes a truck with get up and go so he wanted to see what they would do. He tows a 8 to 9K lb enclosed trailer with 5200LB axles daily and though it pulls it better than his old 1 ton chevy did with a 350 in it, it was not as much as he had hoped for when accelerating with a load up a hill. Not that it was bad, it just not what he had hoped for either. He really wanted a Cummins but they could not come close to the deal GM had though that has changed now from what I have read. I do not like Dodge bodies but I must say that the Cummins powered trucks we drove had better/quicker throttle responce than the Dmax did especailly at lower RPM?s. He wished he could have got the Cummins engine in a chevy CC because GM has the best crew cab out there at this time. You can buy a lot of gas for 7K difference and gas cost less than diesel now too and will likely stay that way too. They are forcast diesel to rise to 2.75 to 3.00 a gallon this winter (because heating oil stock piles are still low and will not be replenished before winter) with gas running 2.00 to 2.25/gallon. If it is a bad winter, diesel could go a lot higher.