GM trucks have slipped

deserteagle71 · Oct 25, 2019

zing said:
100% agree that the height is getting to be a problem. It is all about the look and that is taking away from the functionality. When I moved from my 2004 Chev to my 2011 F250 I had to close the adjustment on the gooseneck so my horse trailer would sit level, because they had already started the height wars. I can't compress the neck of the gooseneck any more though, so the next truck is going to be a problem because they are a good 2-3 inches higher now than my 2011 truck is. I am 6 foot and it is already a pain to reach into the bed. I have to climb in to get anything that is in the middle of the bed because I can't reach over the rails and reach to the middle.

I get that a tall truck looks "tougher" so that is what sells, but it isn't doing me any favours.

What gets me are those young guys around here who buy a GM heavy duty so they can have the big Duramax/Allison - then spend $5000 to lift it 8 inches so they can sit eye to eye with a new Ford! Got a nephew who had to have that look...got rid of his F150 and bought a F350 diesel....and lifted it 6 inches so he could fit 38" tires. No need for the F350 diesel at all - doesn't haul or tow - but it's the image!

ovrszd · Oct 25, 2019

Jstpssng said:
Solid front ends are good for extreme off roading, but miserable for anything else. I spend several hours on most days travelling gravel roads, often which haven't been maintained in 20 years; I wouldn't want to go back to pounding with a straight axle. An oft heard phrase from me is "people do this for fun?"

My solid axle leaf spring truck rides and drives with the best. 260K miles, one ball joint, sway bar links.

atsah · Oct 25, 2019

I had an 02 3/4 7.3 that didn't ride bad with leafs.. I bought an 05 1 ton 6.0 diesel with coils that wasn't bad either but my 2012 3/4 rode like a buckboard..

Then I would ride in my brothers 3500 SRW diesel and it was night and day in the ride...

Jstpssng · Oct 25, 2019

ovrszd said:
My solid axle leaf spring truck rides and drives with the best. 260K miles, one ball joint, sway bar links.

To each their own. My old "toy truck" 1987 GMC heavy half rode so hard that my dog eventally refused to get into it. This was a dog who travelled over 700K miles with me over her lifetime, so she wasn't afraid of riding.

MossRoad · Oct 25, 2019

atsah said:
Yup... Rides nice right?

Just like sitting in a '93 Suburban.... :laughing:

4570Man · Oct 25, 2019

5030 said:
Neither would I. an IFS pickup truck is a poser truck.:laughing:

My IFS truck does some serious work. Way more than a ton truck really should. I haul 4 tons on it pretty often. And it rides way better and turns way better than my Dads straight axel Ford. IFS is capable of anything a ton truck is fit to do. Didn’t all of ton and less trucks go to IFS years ago anyway? Any truck with a soup can bed is a poser truck.