so anyone have anything to say about these once the hot shottin business kiks off id like to thik about getting one for haulin. i can haul more and carry a lot more with one of these. do you know if they come with the lbz and the manual/auto 6 speed allison? i really like them. any input would be great! waytogo
Check out http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=34 That's the medium duty fourm on Diesel Place. For other specs check out http://www.chevrolet.com/mediumduty/kodiak/ The Kodiak 4500 and 5500's have an optional 6.6 duramax but only 300 to 330hp. Now that the new engines are out 330. If you go to a 6500 you can get a 7.8litre inline six made by isuzu or a C7 Cat engine. Lots of different HP options as you enter the 6500 and up.
drive nice down the road, gutless when you get to 60mph with a 6.6 duramax when loaded fairly heavy, and doesnt get good MPG when pushing its guts out on the highway trying to do 63mph..... they suck to work on, and the front end is kinda light. a f550 is a far better work truck, cept it drives more like a pickup(vs a van) and doesnt have a tilt hood.
Interesting, any experience with the larger 7.8 litre? Imagine it can't be much better but ya never know. There isn't many around here, might be 1 or 2. Then again not too many 550's and up, more than 5 though..
ive heard the same bout the 6.6 in the 4500-5500. just not much there. the 450 or 550 are alot better.
i towed a tire truck c5500 last week when it died. truck for semi/tractor tire changing loaded with a few tires and a small crane on the back. the driver commeneted that his truck was now going the fastest it had ever gone before. and that was with it going backwards down I80 on the back of a wrecker doing 68mph.......
I would imagine the F550 yields similar traits though, I doubt a 7.3 or 6.0 is going to pull much harder on the top end, especially with 4.88 gears, than a Dmax Kodiak. Aerodynamically the F550 is better, but the weight would still be there.
The inline Dmax and especially the C7 Cat should yield much better top end power and hill pulling power than the 6.6. For one, the torque is much higher with the C7 (over 800ft lbs) and would think the 7.8L Izuzu has the same power range as it's even larger than the C7 (7.2L). Those extra cubic inches and torque numbers really show their face trying to accelerate from say 55mph to 65 loaded, and slowing down less when coming to hills. The 6.6 vs. the C7 or 7.8Izuzu could likely be compared to an HD pickup with either a small block gas engine or a decent diesel.
kodiak is a great truck I have the 4500 with the duramax i love the truck and any one that thinks the F550 or even the F650 is better than this truck you need to ask real people that have those trucks. I get better mpg than the F650 i have towed the same 38 boat that a F650 has i got better mpg and i had no problems the F650 was screaming it had the powerjoke in it. Also GM are just better than anything else out there. P.S THE GUY WITH THE F650 HAS A BOAT HAULING COMPANY HE HAS SOLD THE F650 AFTER DRIVING MINE AND JUST BOUGHT A KODIAK 4500 WITH THE DURAMAX HE LOVES IT NOT ONE PROBLEM WITH BOTH OF ARE TRUCKS HIS FORD WAS IN THE SHOP AT LEAST 1 A MONTH MY KODIAK IS FOR SALE
