Advice needed ASAP

New to the site but need some help on buying a tow vehicle.

I finally got rid of my wifes car and can now buy a tow rig, I would like some advice on the various engines for Chevy and any info on performance upgrades anyone would like to offer. I am open to a Dodge (if Cummins) but not Ford. What I am ideally looking for is: Used Chevy Crew 4x4 8.1L that will primarily be used for towing a boat (fully rigged around 8,500lb and 27 ft.) maybe towing the K5 and general transportation use.

I'm just wanting some input on this, the Chevy Duramax seems to be priced over what I want to spend, but I know next to nothing about their newer gas engines (6.0 and 8.1), the Dodge seems to be priced low enought to get a Cummins so I'm open to that as well. I know that the 8.1 is plenty of power, but I'm a little concerned about the 6.0.


Any input is appreciated.

 

Without going into specs, if you can afford a Cummins, get it, you shouldn't have any complaints about power. There are alot of mods you can do to it if you still need more power. I actually prefer GM products, but I agree, they are alot more money than the compeditors. The 8.1 is a strong engine, but I think you will use alot of gas to get the job done. The 6.0 liter seems to be a good all around engine, but might start to suffer with a load like you have. I guess what you need to decide is what you can put up with. If you are not going to be hauling very often, gas may be the way to go and a smaller engine. If you are going to haul everything everywhere all the time, I would get a diesel.

 

I would take the Dodge Cummins if the GM can't be afforded with the dmax. The 8.1L engine would work great and have lots of power for that kind of load but the Dmax is just that much better and will use half the fuel.

 

I know a few people that tow with the 6.0. One of the guys has even towed with an 8.1 before and says that the loss on fuel milage isnt worth the 8.1 because it doesnt tow that much better. The 6.0 is built to be a High-RPM Engine as it is assembled with much closer tolerances inside so you can tow up a hill at 4500rpms in the 6.0 and get 50% better fuel economy than the 8.1 at 3000RPMs on the same hill at the same speed. (does any of this make sense??? ) IMHO If going the gas route get a 6.0 but try to get a diesel if you can. You will thank yourself later. Also I have heard about an oil consumption problem on the 8.1.

-Brent

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I actually just ducked out of the office to go drive a couple different trucks at dealerships.

As far as some of the issues you raised, I will only occasionally be towing the boat (maybe twice a month for the 6 months of boating season) and other than that, nothing my Tahoe wasn't towing before (unless I decide to trailer the K5). After thinking about that I started to look at some more 6.0 Chevy/GMC since that brings the price way down. The Dodges seem to be pretty plentiful, but no true Crew Cab until the 2004 (just the "Quad"), I do like them though, plenty of mods to be had and a much better tow rating (although the auto seems to kill you on that).


So, it seems that I will probably continue looking this week and see what I can get.

Another thing that kills me is the prices, I've never owned a diesel and I know they last much longer but a 2 year old truck with 130K miles just floors me (especially for $25K )

 

I was at a Chevy dealer 2 days ago getting mine worked on. They have a sale going on for the next month. The loaded 2500HD LT crewcab I looked at was $11k off MRSP.

 

Yeah, I went in on the way home from work yesterday. I was looking at a used GMC 2500 Crew Dmax 4x4, $29,900 with 40K miles, the guy took me over and showed me a brand new one for $32,000. I'm thinking real seriously about new. The "employee discount" deal goes through 7/5.

 

All I know I love my new D-max/allison just took it on my first towing road trip. I would get the most you can afford and I would also buy Diesel Cummins Duramax PSD doesn't matter just get a diesel you will love it for towing waytogo

 

I would not hesitate to get a GM 6.0 or a Dodge Cummins.
Price will dictate what you get it sounds like.

Dodge is a good truck with a great motor.

My wife has a 03 with the 6.0 and it is a good strong motor for its' size. I have towed my buggy a few times with it and couldn't tell any difference to my 95 Ford with the 460.
Buggy and trailer go about 6500#.

The 8.1 is a good motor as well but I wonder about the gas milage tradeoff for the power gained.

I of course love my new Duramax but if I was doing it over agian I would have to think about paying the extra for the diesel.
(I would probably end up with the duramax but I would think about it harder.)

 

Well I went and looked at both GM and Dodge new trucks to see if there was any real price difference. In addition, I can get an employee discount on a Dodge (my uncle is a plant manager) so I figured it was worth a look. After talking to a few different dealers (there are some scumbags out there) what it boils down to is around $32K for either the Dmax Crew 2500 w/allison or Cummins Quad 2500. As a matter of fact, the Dodge actually appears to be a little more even using the employee discount, due to that Chevy special going on.



Thanks for all of the input guys, hopefully I will have a picture of a shiny new truck to post up by Monday.

 

I would get the 8.1 or the cummins dont think about the 6.0 my dad has had both and said the the 6.0 is a joke its got rod knock everytime you start it up has a lot less power then the 8.1 and only got 1.5 mpg better and the 8.1 got better mpg towing b/c it could hold OD were the 6.0 need to be in 3rd

 

I'd first ask yourself if fuel mileage matters. If it does, go diesel. I'm getting close to 20mpg towing or not.