GM pickup truck plant announcement yesterday

[aczlan]

I'm not totally sure taxes will do the trick with the current prices and popularity of pickups.
I still think the cost or availability of fuel will have a bigger impact compared to taxes.

On a side note for what it's worth, 4.10 axles in GM pickups are history for 2020.

I don't know that I would agree with that. given that the new half ton pickups that the guys at work are driving are getting 18 to 22 miles per gallon in what I would consider to be mixed rural driving. That is better than a midsize SUV (something capable of towing a trailer that could carry the same load as that truck) from 5-10 years ago.

Aaron Z

 

[DMax82]

It痴 an HD truck a now sadly discontinued line and it痴 a stock rear end. Mine has the Dana 80 that痴 actually a 5.13 not a 5.10. View attachment 609105

Is it a Chevrolet 3500HD? I'm following one on an auction site now, what a beast! Just a flatbed, not a dump, but I'm pretty interested in it. My one concern is lack of four wheel drive. I would be using it to get materials to some fairly out of the way places, ie dirt roads through forests, often without any gravel and hilly. Has lack of 4wd been an issue for you?

 

[4570Man]

Is it a Chevrolet 3500HD? I'm following one on an auction site now, what a beast! Just a flatbed, not a dump, but I'm pretty interested in it. My one concern is lack of four wheel drive. I would be using it to get materials to some fairly out of the way places, ie dirt roads through forests, often without any gravel and hilly. Has lack of 4wd been an issue for you?

My HD is an ongoing project that I’ve only driven once and never worked. My other dump truck is a regular 3500 and also 2wd. It offroads pretty terrible. But you can just about write off taking a loaded truck through soft areas. I don’t think the HD has a locking diff and the 19.5s are a hard tire with a highway tread. It probably off roads even worse than my other 2wd 3500. But you can’t beat the capabilities of the HD without spending a lot more money or getting a medium duty truck.

 

[dalola]

Well i have exactly that vehicle, along with a big and a small trailer. The offroad capability i take with a grain of salt, because an unloaded pickup has no weight over the driven axles. My Canadian cousins 2wd Ram 2500 was stuck as soon as it sniffed grass. And the 8k hauling, its not legal but ive hauled 13k gross combined, on the backroads. All that with 50mpg when commuting with just the car.

If i had to do it legal, i would borrow a van or truck at work, for the two times a year i haul more than 5k, it makes no sense taking the fuel and maintenance penalty of a pickup truck the other 363 days of the year.

I would by no means pick a 4x4 like my neighbour has (Korean SsangYong Musso, comparable to a Ford Bronco) i borrowed it once to haul a heavy load in plain sight of police. It has a higher legal tow rating, but due to crappy suspension, high profile tires (80% section width to height ratio) a high center of gravity and a short wheelbase, it started to sway before i reached the 80kmh (50mph) speed limit for trucks and trailers. My Volvo handles the trailer better because of superior suspension and longer wheelbase. The SsangYong has a horrible fuel consumption too, it would drain me empty at diesel prices of 1.30 per liter (gas at 1.75) and 35.000km a year.

A pickup truck is a very big, inefficient compromise on everything, made acceptable because fuel is dirt cheap in America. So the other guys statement "Americans like their gas guzzling pickup trucks" is true.

Nope. I said one vehicle. You're swapping trailers, borrowing stuff from work, towing dangerous & illegal. Kinda doesn't fit the "one-for-all" requirement. I'm sure that Volvo is a real jewel on long trips tho.

Guess I'll just keep my F150.

 

[DMax82]

My HD is an ongoing project that I’ve only driven once and never worked. My other dump truck is a regular 3500 and also 2wd. It offroads pretty terrible. But you can just about write off taking a loaded truck through soft areas. I don’t think the HD has a locking diff and the 19.5s are a hard tire with a highway tread. It probably off roads even worse than my other 2wd 3500. But you can’t beat the capabilities of the HD without spending a lot more money or getting a medium duty truck.

Thanks for your reply! This truck is a 2002 with the 8.1 and only 85k miles. There is something really appealing about so much capability in a truck that isn't massive.

 

[4570Man]

An 8.1 would be sweet. Does it have an Allison? That would be even better.

 

[DMax82]

Unfortunately no on the Allison. It looks like they didn't put that in any of the HDs, despite pairing them with the 8.1 in the regular 3500s.

 

[4570Man]

Unfortunately no on the Allison. It looks like they didn't put that in any of the HDs, despite pairing them with the 8.1 in the regular 3500s.

Not until later though. The 4l80e transmission sucked IMO. The nv4500 was a solid transmission though.

 

[4570Man]

The C-3500HD really isn't a pickup truck. It was only offered as a commercial chassis cab, two wheel drive, 3 different wheelbases, 3 axle ratios and 19.5" ten stud wheels. It should have been classified as a C-4500, but ever since GM dropped the C-40, they've tended to avoid that series designation until recently.

It shares a pickup cab and motor and transmission. I refer to mine as “the one ton that wants to be a kodiak” but they are a pickup not a medium duty truck. Chevy dropped the line and replaced it with the joke of 4500 but Dodge and ford still make them.

 

[Renze]

Musk is a brilliant engineer. Other wise he is not much of a businessman.

Musk excels in making money off other peoples money as he grew his fortune and fame with PayPal, but Tesla is funded by taxpayers money (subsidies) and losses are financed by selling more stock to speculative investors. He has a steep learning curve to go, if he wants to make it with a production company in a free market.