Chevy 4.8 with 3.42 Towing

[Patches]

Up until 2 yrs ago I drove nothing but 1/2 ton GM's with 5.3 eng. and 4.10 gears; '99 Chevy Stepside, '02 Yukon and '03 Avalanche and was more than satisfied with their performance and towing ability. Then I traded for the best selling 1/2 ton truck in the last whatever number of years and what a mistake.Bought an '05 150 Stupidcrew with the 5.4 3valve and 3.73 gears/4wheel drive Lariate. What a "cute" truck, but never got better than 17 mpg empty and hook on to my snowmobile trailer(3500#) or equipment trailer(7500-8500#)and couldn't get better than 9mpg and **** near had to push it to get started.Couldn't stand it any longer so traded for a Double cab Tundra.All I can say is, WoW! That 5.7, 4valve with 4.30 gears/4 wheel drive will eat that Ford in every category. It gets 19+mpg empty and 12.5mpg towing the equip.trailer/tractor; I haven't had an oportunity to tow the sno-mo trailer yet. Toyota set the body down on the chassis so you don't need a ladder to get in; (ground clearance is determined by driveline anyway). I would humbly suggest that anyone looking for a gas truck for occasional towing look into the Tundra. If towing is your business, get a diesel

 

[john_bud]

Patches,

You are the first that I have heard with 19+ mpg. How many miles are on the truck and how many gallons have you used to date? Or if you are not a data whacko (like me), how often do you hand calculate the milage?

jb

 

[Patches]

john-bud The 19+ was on a trip from my home in So.ME to my oldest girl and family in Plymouth Ma. which is mostly interstate type highways except for some mileage around Boston. The total mileage was 302Mi. and I used 15.65 Gal of fuel. The truck then had a little over 2000 on the clock and I was not going to bother checking the mileage as we got stuck in stop and go traffic on both Rt. 93 and again on Rt.3. The trip down took 1/2 hour longer than the trip home. I've not had an opportunity to travel the interstate since but routinely check my mileage at almost every fill( due to the lousy mileage I experienced with Ford) and routinely clock a solid 17.5 to 18.5 MPG on the State roads in my area. This is mostly at speeds from 45 to 60/65 MPH with a little in-town driving thrown in. As far as the total amount of fuel used to date, I have no idea as I don't track those numbers in total. I can only say, I'm EXtremely impressed with the mileage produced by this truck both empty and towing, considering the 4.30 gear ratio

 

[asylum575]

Wow, That's great mileage on the 5.3. I remember my 03 Avalanche with the 5.3 did pretty good. Still looking for a 5.3 to my likeing. I've also looked at a couple of Duramax Diesels. Nice thing about the diesels is the fuel economy and the increased tow capacity. THe hard part is the $8400 for the Diesel and Allison transmission.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Asylum - patches' excellent mileage is on a Toyota 5.7L, not a GM 5.3L.

On the bright side, I now have a GM 5.3L in my 07 Suburban, and I'm getting around 18mpg in commuting to work, and up to 19mpg in really good highway (55-60mph) driving conditions. And at just 1000 miles I don't think it's broken-in yet. Now, of course, my wife's Ram 2500 with the ISB gets similar mileage, but diesel has been consistently 30 cents more/gallon than gas for several months here, and it was a $7k option at the time.

 

[Tractors4u]

One of the BETTER things about diesels is that you soon learn that there is little/no point in stomping on the go pedal, so you might just as well take your time and let it pull like a truck.

I'm guessing that it has been a while since you have driven a diesel pick up?

I have a 2007 Chevy Duramax 4WD crew cab and if I do stomp the go pedal, it will get off the line real quick real quick. It is bone stock and has not been chipped.

 

[gemini5362]

I'm guessing that it has been a while since you have driven a diesel pick up?

I have a 2007 Chevy Duramax 4WD crew cab and if I do stomp the go pedal, it will get off the line real quick real quick. It is bone stock and has not been chipped.

I agree with you he has not driven a diesel in a while. I have a 2006 duramax 4 WD crew cab also. When I stomp it that truck moves way faster than one would imagine for a 6000 pound truck. I almost got a speeding ticket because I was driving my sick wife home and was trying to hurry. I saw blue lights and looked down at my speedometer. I was doing 95 and the truck really was having absolutely no trouble cruising at that speed going up the side of a pretty steep hill.

 

[asylum575]

Been looking for a new truck. It will be either a 5.3 gasser with the 3.73 gears or the Duramax diesel. The gasser would fit my current needs, but the diesel would cover any future changes. I'll wait a little while longer to see if the incentives get better. Thanks for all the input guys.
BTW, there are alot of 2007 classics 2500 with the 8.1 Vortec out there. Locally there are about 10 available. Can't find ant specs on that engine, I imagine it's worse on gas than my 6.0
Ed

 

[workinallthetime]

TO THE ORIGINAL POSTER,
wait a few months and you will be able to get a sweet deal on the 07 new body trucks, gm has allready started offering 0% so more deals are coming. I have a 07 1500 v-max with a 6.0 and displacement on demand, the truck will make 12-18 mpg nopw that it has 15k on it plus it has a GCWR of 16500 lbs, that gives it a true 10,500 lb towing capicity. This was my 3rd 6.0 engine and i have never had a bit of trouble out of them and this one gets the best fuel econ.

As for the gm diesel units "spooling up" quicker that is do to a variable vane turbo that gm has spent lots of time working on, they are not your dads old diesel anymore

 

[asylum575]

Thanks for the info, I'll sit tight, My current 2006 6.0 tows great, but i'm getting 10-12 MPG empty. The chevy site doesn't give EPA MPG for the 6.0 or the duramax.