2010/2011 GMC 1500 Opinions

[timswi]

I wish your dog the best. My neighbor breeds Danes. Has 2 females, Shy and Mercedes, and the male Benz. He is a big boy. Last time he was weighed he was 183#. Love them dogs.

Chris

Thanks Chris, I've grown to like them too. When the wife said she wanted a Dane, I asked her if she was nuts. After having him around for 5 years, I really fell for him. Oh well, this is the way it goes with pets...They are family members after all.

 

[timswi]

I have an 03 Z 71 with 5.3 and 3.73's and love it. It's getting long in the tooth too. Every new one I have seen has 3.08's or 3.42's, I won't have that. My friend just bought one, it rides great: way better than mine, but wouldn't pull a greasy weed out of your ---hole.

That's kinda what I was afraid of. haven't driven the new ones with 3:42's but I have never liked them in the past.

The wife's previous Tahoe had 4.10's and a 5.3...That thing ran GREAT. It wasn't hard on gas either...17 or so as a grocery getter.

 

[Diamondpilot]

That's kinda what I was afraid of. haven't driven the new ones with 3:42's but I have never liked them in the past.

The wife's previous Tahoe had 4.10's and a 5.3...That thing ran GREAT. It wasn't hard on gas either...17 or so as a grocery getter.

Like I said before the same neighbor with the Dane's father has about a 05 or 06 4x4 GM 1500 with 3.42's and the 5.3. Its a pig. Has a whopping tow rating of just less than 7K.

Chris

 

[asylum575]

I have an 03 Z 71 with 5.3 and 3.73's and love it. It's getting long in the tooth too. Every new one I have seen has 3.08's or 3.42's, I won't have that. My friend just bought one, it rides great: way better than mine, but wouldn't pull a greasy weed out of your ---hole.

The new 5.3s are paired with a 6 speed. The choice for rear ends are 3.42 and 3.08. You can order a 3.73, but I Have never seen one in inventory. GM didn't offer the 3.08 with the 4 spd.
I like the truck so far. Nicer ride than the old 3/4, but the 6.0 really had punch. I've been soft on this new truck, trying to get better gas mileage.

I'll see how she pulls the Kubota in the 20 ft enclosed trailer

 

[daveinnh]

I bought a 1500 GMS Sierra 2009 5.3, 6 SP crew cab, last August '09 w/ the towing package, but w/o brake controller. I had a Tekonsha P3 installed - highly rated.

Pulling a 7,000 lb trailer from Niagara Falls, NY to Hillsboro, NH worked fine. The 6 sp. worked pretty good pulling even thru the Berkshires.

That being said, I never had a Ford or Dodge 1/2 ton.

Dave

 

[RollingsFarms]

i tend to agree with the others. the 3:08's and 3:42's are useless to me. my current '04 Silverado has the 5.3 and 3:73's and i won't consider anything less. in fact i've been kicking around buying a 3/4 ton or 1ton SRW truck for my next vehichle as they seem to be marketing 1/2 ton's towards super market duty and the weekend trip to Lowe's. other points worth mentioning on the new GM trucks that i've read about are:

-do NOT get cloth seats as they are magnets for lint.

-the cylinder cut-out mode(where the truck goes from 8cyl to 4cyl at highway speeds) is not a big hit with ones who own these trucks. I've heard complaints of tapping lifters as well as increased oil consumption. do a search on some GM truck forums and you'll find alot more info on this.

-you might have to order your truck to get the gears you prefer as all i've seen are lots are 3:08 and 3:42. infact the 3:42's are becoming more rare to find. if you have to order the truck you usually don't get as good of a price as one you buy off the lot around this time of year as they are trying to move what they have left.

-at least drive a 6.2(if you can find one on the lot). the gas mileage isn't much worse then a 5.3, you get the MAX tow package, 3:73 gears, and all the power you could ever want in a 1/2 ton truck. no cylinder cut-out mode crap on these either.

-be ready to be dissapointed in the thickness of the sheet metal of these new trucks. it's nothing close to what your current truck is.

-make sure your truck comes with the auto climate control over the manual climate control as you get a few more options with this package(well worth the extra couple hundred bucks imo).


my truck is about to turn 100K miles and i think i'm going to hold on to it for a couple more years. i just sunk about $700 into it and there really isn't anything out there, as far as trucks go, that i HAVE to have at the moment. i've looked at the new GM trucks, and while they're ok, that's just it....they're ok, not a must have in my opinion. i don't see any reason to trade my truck on one. i do like the new HD's but i like the F-250's alot more and i'm waiting to see what Dodge has up its sleeve in the next year or so.

 

[timswi]

i tend to agree with the others. the 3:08's and 3:42's are useless to me. my current '04 Silverado has the 5.3 and 3:73's and i won't consider anything less. in fact i've been kicking around buying a 3/4 ton or 1ton SRW truck for my next vehichle as they seem to be marketing 1/2 ton's towards super market duty and the weekend trip to Lowe's. other points worth mentioning on the new GM trucks that i've read about are:

-do NOT get cloth seats as they are magnets for lint.

-the cylinder cut-out mode(where the truck goes from 8cyl to 4cyl at highway speeds) is not a big hit with ones who own these trucks. I've heard complaints of tapping lifters as well as increased oil consumption. do a search on some GM truck forums and you'll find alot more info on this.

-you might have to order your truck to get the gears you prefer as all i've seen are lots are 3:08 and 3:42. infact the 3:42's are becoming more rare to find. if you have to order the truck you usually don't get as good of a price as one you buy off the lot around this time of year as they are trying to move what they have left.

-at least drive a 6.2(if you can find one on the lot). the gas mileage isn't much worse then a 5.3, you get the MAX tow package, 3:73 gears, and all the power you could ever want in a 1/2 ton truck. no cylinder cut-out mode crap on these either.

-be ready to be dissapointed in the thickness of the sheet metal of these new trucks. it's nothing close to what your current truck is.

-make sure your truck comes with the auto climate control over the manual climate control as you get a few more options with this package(well worth the extra couple hundred bucks imo).


my truck is about to turn 100K miles and i think i'm going to hold on to it for a couple more years. i just sunk about $700 into it and there really isn't anything out there, as far as trucks go, that i HAVE to have at the moment. i've looked at the new GM trucks, and while they're ok, that's just it....they're ok, not a must have in my opinion. i don't see any reason to trade my truck on one. i do like the new HD's but i like the F-250's alot more and i'm waiting to see what Dodge has up its sleeve in the next year or so.

I agree with everything you've said here. My only concern with going to HD and a 6.2 is I have a 70+ mile round trip to work and the 5.3 is pretty good on gas. What are the 6.2 numbers in reality? I also have to put my truck in city parking garages from time to time...Height can be an issue there.

Also agree that the trucks aren't a must have. I've only seen a few that caught my attention. The rest are bland, not bad, just bland.

I only want 3:73's for the terrain we have. Nothing flat, all hills. Towing would be a nightmare with higher gears. I like the DMAX but the height, expense and this whole Eurea thing have me concerned.

 

[RollingsFarms]

it sounds like the 6.2 is the truck for you since you mentioned towing in hills and such. the 6.2 isn't availible in the HD line(they still have the same 6.0). the 6.2 can be had in the 1/2 ton crew cab you desire. it's called "max tow package". you get 3:73 with it and the 6.2 puts out around 400hp and 400+ lbs of torque. BEAST of an engine. real world mpg that i've heard from those who own them say 14/15 around town and around 17/19 on road. my truck has always averaged 16mpg whether it be around town or highway. it's hit the 17 mpg a few times but vary rare. the 5.3 is a wonderful motor for reliability but i wouldn't list it as one of the best towing engines GM ever made. decent yeah, nothing to shout about though. they've changed the gearing in these trucks so much the past couple of years and that's turned me off of most 1/2 tons. Ford still offers 3.73 gears in certain packages and i'm not a fan of Dodge's "coil springs". i don't care how it rides. if i buy a new truck it has to be at least as capable as my old one for towing, not a step backwards. i don't care what their numbers say it will tow. i know what 8,500 lbs feels like towing with my truck and i'm here to tell you, there isn't a 5.3 engine out there with 3.08's or 3.42's that wants to mess with that much weight strapped to it. i honestly think te gearing they're using now is for mpg purposes only.

 

[timswi]

Thanks for the info..I'll look into that. Hopefully they have that set up in an Xcab. I want the 6.5' bed. That 6.2 must be what they put in the Denali. It's advertised at 403hp.

You're right about the 5.3. It's an OK tow motor, but in some ways the older 5.7 did a little better. At least it seemed that way.

 

[Lt CHEG]

I guess I'm the oddball but I've had no complaints towing about 200 pounds over my 2009 Silverado's tow rating with 3.42 gears and a 5.3 Liter. There was one very steep grade in the Adirondack mountains where I wasn't able to maintain the 65mph speed limit without racing the engine RPM's. I kept a speed of between 65 and 70mph towing my New Holland Boomer 3040 cab tractor and front end loader and 5 foot Bush Hog Squealer brush hog on a trailer that weighs about 3,000 pounds. I also have Ballastar fluid in my rear tires, adding about 700 pounds or so to the rear of the tractor. I towed from Albany to Plattsburgh and back with absolutely no problems and wouldn't hesitate to do so again. I feel like the only limiting factor in my truck's towing ability is the chassis and suspension. I feel like it will sag too much long before it will run out of power. I also would consider a 2500 HD truck if I could get it with the 5.3 and 3.42's instead of only the 6.0 liter or DMax, both with 3.73's. Since I can't get that combo I'll eventually just add overload springs and airbags to my truck and replace the factory hitch with a beefier after market one.