Need opinions on the GMC Sierra 3500 Crew Cab

[treerootCO]

Thinking about a new tow rig - pros, cons, opinions...you know the drill

2005/2006 GMC Sierra 3500 Crew Cab 4x4

Duramax™ 6600 Turbo Diesel V8

Transmission, Allison 1000 5-speed automatic, electronically controlled with overdrive and electronic engine braking, includes tow/haul mode selector (Requires Vortec 8100 V8 or Duramax 6600 Turbo Diesel V8)

I thinking about also picking up a 1960s Mini Cooper for a commuter vehicle. I would just drive the 40 but I need one with smaller tires.

Trade in for my 2000 Z71 Tahoe 85000 miles is around 14,000

[Eric Winkworth]

how much is that worth? I dunno too much about any of the domestic diesel trucks. I have herd good and bad about all of them. Really, I think how you take care of it is going to be alot to do with how long it lasts. Remeber about the only thing it is good for is towing, hualing and yes towing, so if you need a tow truck then its a good truck to buy. Personally I like the older style dodge Cummings turbo diesels that would be the truck I would buy!

[BUCKEYE4X4]

I have a 2005 GMC 3/4 D/A with 8k miles and NO ISSUES.
Very awesome drivetrain.

The 05 seem to have most of the issues worked out but you can read the boards
till your eyes bleed if you want. The latest complaints have been injectors and overheating which I have had no issues on.

That is a big dollar truck not to drive everyday. Hey but it is your money isn't it?

Kman

[expeditionswest]

Keep the Z71, as it is likely paid for. Spend a grand or so on performance mods (to make her a little more excitting, and a stronger tow rig) and get her detailed.

There is no cheaper vehicle to drive than the one in your driveway... A $700 payment buys a LOT of gas...

Just my opinion having made that decision recently. I was considering trading in my 98 Trooper, but just decided to keep it. I have had zero issues with the vehicle in 90k miles and its paid for. Motor on and put those payments in the bank until you really need to buy something. Then pay cash...

[treerootCO]

Truck can be as much as 50,000. But a trade in, employee pricing (maybe combined with my fleet discount) and not a 2006....makes me think.

My Tahoe can not tow my 40 behind it on my trailer. I bought the Tahoe thinking it would be a great tow vehicle. Top speed in the mountains is 25 and I have to downshift into 1st or it won't move.

Everybody and their mom tells me I have the worst tranny ever built and sure enough, they jinxed me. I got stuck the other day in a driveway. Had to redline the engine to get it to move forward. (fluid and filter changed, not over or under filled). It likes to do a kind of neutral drop between gears now.

I put the heavy chevy on my 1,600 lb trailer and about ended up in a ball...

[expeditionswest]

Oh, I understand now... Sorry about the reliability problems. I thought GM had come further than that in recent years... I guess not :(

I have driven in a nice 2004 3/4 ton SRW GMC with the diesel. It had a bunch of power mods, and it was incredible. I was impressed.

[tabraha]

So how much is a bulletproof tranny for the Z71? Surely no more than a few grand and you could have something pretty stout and still paid for. Throw a few grand into the engine and you can have some power too. As another option, why not just get an older used F250 or 350? They don't seem to be too bad a tow vehicle either and have been relatively unchanged for several years now. Hell, you can go down to Texas and pick 'em up dirt cheap used and most are just used as commuter vehicles!

[BUCKEYE4X4]

I still think the better deals are December through January. I bought mine in January and got 8k off and 0 percent. and the tax write off on top of that.

I completely understand that you want power, I have been down that road.

If I was buying a rig personally (not through business0 and not driving it everyday, I would probably buy an older big block gas, dump a couple grand in it to make it reliable, and bank my money.

Good luck, I will warn you though, once you drive an oil burner you won't look back

[expeditionswest]

Good point Tad... The vehicle in the driveway is still the cheapest solution

[Capt. Jim]

I have an '03 2500 chevy with the 6.6 Duramax and I have no complaints. Tow my boat and my car trailer/40 with it and it hardly knows they are back there. Real depandable and the Allison Tranny is real strong. Added a programmable chip and it will burn rubber with 305 BFG AT's. Not the best on fuel economy, but very strong and very quiet. At highway speeds, you cannot tell that it a diesel by the engine noise.

Almost got the 3500 but I don't tow that much. Good luck on whatever you decide. Duramax has my vote.

[usmcruiser]

Get a Chevy 2500HD. That is what I want for towing my 40 around. Great towing capacity, lots of cabin room. And hey its a Chevy.

Once you get the diesel you can purchase a biodiesel kit from biodieselsolutions and save a ton of money. Hell it could be your DD.

[freightdog]

Drove the neighbors - she has the 3500 and it is really nice - she has about 45000 on hers and love the Alison / diesel combo! If I were buying - that is the combo package I would buy - then have your own business and write quite a bit of it off.

If you are in the mood to buy big - now is the time!

[TJDIV]

Ohhhh......that's a SWEET rig.

I like my 02 Duramax [GMC] and our 99 3500 dually, but it's a gasser with a 7.3L Vortec.....chug chug.

You CAN'T go wrong with that truck treeroot..........one of the best out there.....

[Jetboy]

Might go for an 06, I just read that the allison is getting a 6th gear. double overdrive. If I had the $ that's the truck I'd have. My father has a hd2500 8.1, allison, crew/shortbox. It's great to drive. Pulls like crazy, but only gets 10 or less mpg. The diesel upgrade is looking pretty cheap now. Didn't seem like such a big difference in 01. He is thinking about selling and buying a duramax

I did break a front axle shaft about a year ago in it, but it was replaced under warr. and onstar was nice, We were alone with no cell and a long way from service in the mountains of montana. We were able to drive it home though before the tow truck got there.

[Critter]

Originally Posted by treerootCO

Trade in for my 2000 Z71 Tahoe 85000 miles is around 14,000

KBB on a loaded out Z71 Tahoe is 10K, private party value is only 12K. 14K for a 2000 Tahoe with 85K miles is a little high when with the dealer discount a new loaded out one is only ~30K.

My gf has a 2500hd gmc and its a good truck, the only thing I don't like about it is that it has spark plugs. It is a toss up... but overall I like the older 7.3L powerstroke (up to '03) over the new duramax or the new powerstroke. It produced the same numbers with less boost which means less problems and longer engine life.

[Clutchee]

Go with the 2500 series, dad got one with 4x4/reg. cab/no frils, just a tow rig for his bob cat & rocks. He loves it, think he drives its more than his Lexus.
Oh yea, he says the trans is amazing for towing!

[NMuzj100]

Here in Albuquerque I see tons of nice used tow rigs for sale along the road and languishing in the used lots (lots of peoples daily drivers that probably never saw tow duty). I see no point in buying new when used prices are dropping to crazy levels.

Also why the GM loyalty when you are having tranny problems with your current GM? (Everything I hear about the Duramax/Allison Combo is good though)

For Pros and Cons I would try the...

www.62-65-dieselpage.com

[TJDIV]

FWIW, my 2500 Duramax pulls just as good as our 3500........unless you're towing 3 or 4 Cruisers at once the 2500 will be a much better fit.

Trust me, those extra wheels become a true pain in the ass.....

[haystax]

I woould also advise against the dually - not sure if GMC specs single rear wheel one-tons but a 3/4 ton should be more than enough to handle towing a few vehicles. Dually(s) don't like snow and slick roads in my experience, seems like they slide all over the road compared to trucks with single rear wheels. I put an extra rear leaf in my '02 F-250 and raised the overload spring to make contact earlier in compression and basicaly made it into a 1 ton. 4x4 shops usually have piles of stock spring packs laying around that they just give away.

We just bought an '06 Powerstroke - came in much cheaper than the comparable GMC and Dodge trucks we looked at. The new generation diesel fullsize trucks of all brands are pretty sweet, I wouldn't go back to a gasser ever again, the power is pretty amazing and chips make them flat out fly.

[wesintl]

My buddy bought a 2500 Crew cab a few months back. He's a contractor and uses it to tow a JD Tractor. It's a sweet ride. Another contractor friend bought a 2500 cummins and likes it. They both drove the competitors too, funny they both stuck with what they previously had just a new model. I will say from a 94 cummins to a 2005 the ride is a whole lot smoother. My personal opinion riding in different trucks is I hate riding in a 3500 unless it's loaded down (really loaded with close to a ton not with camping gear) otherwise it's a stiffer ride and I'm not a fan of duallys unless your goose necking it. Maybe you can get a trailer to carry 3 rigs cause mine aint that fast and you need somone to keep you up on those long drives

[Critter]

Everyone here is saying just get a 3/4 ton well just for anyone that isn't aware you can get SRW 1 tons also...

Dual rear wheels only really excel when you are towing a HEAVY goose neck, like a 40' horse trailer for example. That much weight on SRW and you are going to blow a tire or maybe both out at somepoint. If you are towing on a hitch don't waste your time or money on duals, the added trouble of dual rears isn't worth it.

[Jetboy]

If you have enough weight on a 1 ton to blow out rear tires I think the frame would buckle (might not, but you'd have other serious problems)... 7K+lbs is a lot of weight, and with a fith wheel you'd need like 8K on the hitch to get 7k on the rears. I do think the stability is nice though, although if you are towing that much weight I'd buy a 2 or 2.5 ton.

We have a landscaping trailer that weighs about 15k and our 2ton tows it soo much better, with less HP. no comparison. the extra weight is key. the truck loaded is about 18k lbs. I don't think singles would cut it on that truck.

[Gus]

Definently go with the diesel, gassers are simply weak in comparison, less efficient, less power, etc. As many others have already said, you'll be fine with single rear wheels. I'd go with the 3500, they typically have overload springs stock (some 3/4tons don't) and sometimes a higher GVWR. There are tons of used diesels for sale on the eastern slope, there are a couple lots just off I-25 just north of Denver with good selections. If you tow multpile vehicles a lot be sure too pay attention to GVWR's (gross vehicle weight ratings), the higher the better. The biggest short coming of my Dodge 2500 Cummins is the lowish 9000lb GVWR, the truck weighs 7000lbs+, that only allows 2000lbs tounge weight(gooseneck). Other than the GVWR, I'm very impressed with the diesel trucks, I recently towed a 11500lb load/18000lb+ Gross (gooseneck) across country cruising at the speed limit with no problems at all. Check out www.dieselplace.com for a forum dedicated to the diesel GM's.

[treerootCO]

I beat the piss out of my 00 Tahoe (older body style) 5.7 V8. So I can't complain. The only thing I have done is replace the upper ball joint, fan belt, rotors/pads, and the fuel filter. I have no idea why the ball joint failed unless J-turns/bootlegger turns are hard on 'em.

The barkes on the older Tahoes are terribly undersized. If I was lucky I could get a few thousand miles out of a set of pads. I warped 4 sets of rotors and the last set I put on were slotted Brembos. On a positive note, I get a relaxing full body massage everytime I hit the brakes. Only real issue is if I try to shut it down at speed I have to re-adjust the mirrors. My trailer has brakes....

I had an S-10 Blazer that I put a V8 in and one day while towing a K-5 back from Buena Vista, I pulled off the road to let some cars pass and almost ended up in a ball. The whole setup jack knifed and push me right to the edge of a pretty steep dropoff. I thought a Tahoe would be big enough but it seems to get pushed around at times.

My truck has developed a vibration now that does not go away and the tires have been rotated and balanced. The people that have had tranny problems said this is the warning sign it is about to go.

I agree that the duellys are probably too much. I'll look into the 2500 as long as I can get the diesel.

[nuclearlemon]

hhhhmmm....i wonder if i can get my company discount for friends???? my company owns a gmc store, so i get discounts at all gmc dealerships.

[wesintl]

Why???? we all get employee pricing?