chevy pickups - Page 2 - Montana Owners Club

MIMF · 01-29-2005, 10:46 PM

sreigle,

You are absolutely correct. Me, I was ready to buy from whoever in our area was going to give me the best deal. I did have a couple of Ford F-250's with crew cabs and diesels picked out. However, when I got serious and started getting down to the nitty-gritty, a local Chevy dealer gave us a nice deal even though I ended up with an extented cab He also gave me more for my paid off trade in. We had also bought from these guy before over the years.

So yes, I absolutely agree. There are none that are any better than the other. It all boils down to what fits for you. Besides, it doesn't matter what you pull your Montanas with. It only matters that you have one.

sreigle · 01-30-2005, 01:18 PM

The deal sure makes a big difference. All three are so good these days I just tell people to pick the one that fits their other needs best since they all do a great job of towing. Sorry I jumped in here, guys. I didn't pay any attention to the topic or I would have just kept quiet. Sorry.

RC and Samantha · 02-06-2005, 03:19 PM

I'm a bit late here. A day late a dollar short...story of my life. After glancing through the three pages here I thought I would add that we too would go with the diesel and obviously did. I was also under the impression the diesel was a stronger motor which enable the heavier towing rating. Is that true?

At any rate we love ours.

Patty

DarMar · 02-07-2005, 10:24 AM

I will add my 2 cents worth:

#1 go with the allison for sure!

#2 go with the duramax if posible!

Montana_2779 · 02-08-2005, 04:56 AM

I'm on the 8.1 bandwagon. Ours (8.1/Allison) gets about 11 mpg, empty. Not good milage, but it sure pulls and stops like a dream! We were willing to sacrifice milage for a gasser that has some of the best tow ratings in the industry!! As noted by the others above, there's a HUGE sacrifice in towing ability with the 6.0. When reading the specs, pay close attention to the rear gear ratios. We went with the 4.10 (thus the crummy milage) as it had a significant influnece on tow rating (as much or more than the engine, in some cases). Ours is a stripped down, fleet model. Its only job is to tow as much as possible, and, by gum, it succeeds in spades.

kdeiss · 02-08-2005, 07:56 AM

I agree with Pete Alford I love my 8.1.It is not a daily driver and we are not full timing.I read some time back the break even point Gas/Diesel is like 90,000 miles if the price of both are the same.That is something you have to take a look at.Just my 2 cents

jpkelpe · 02-14-2005, 04:15 PM

Well we finally made our decision. Thanks a lot for all of the input everybody gave us. This is a great forum and it sure helped a lot, and especially the answers to our e-mails. Tomorrow we are picking up a 2005 Chevy 2500 extended cab with Duramax/allison. One of the reasons we went to Duramax is we like to go to the mountains and since we are fairly close to Colorado and even the Black Hills we decided we would like the Duramax for that, also a lot of our trips without pulling are about 800+ miles round trip and that was also taken into consideration. Hope we like our decision. Now that we have a TV hope to see some of you on the road. By the way I saw a Monty going west on I80 today by the Platte River, just west of Omaha.
Paul and Jan

padredw · 02-14-2005, 04:25 PM

I think you have made a very wise decision and that you will be very happy with it. We take our RV to Colorado a couple of times a year. Towed over Wolf Creek Pass last Summer. No trouble--up or down. Congratulations and hope you are as happy with your Duramax as we are.

Montana Sky · 02-14-2005, 07:55 PM

Paul and Jan,
Congrats on the new truck. I think you made a great choice. I usually make at least two trips a year to Chicago and end up in Rapid City, SD. at least three or four times a year. Hope to see you on the road soon. Enjoy that new truck, and remember, your mpg will increase after you get some miles on that baby.

Bill Hill · 02-15-2005, 03:35 AM

Paul & Jan,
You'll love your Duramax/Allison. Since you're out in the West where there are lots of grades (up & down) you may want to consider getting an exhaust brake for the diesel. We tow up to Prescott AZ a lot (we'll be retiring there) and the exhaust brake makes all the difference coming down the long grades. The great thing about the Allison is that it is already set-up to handle the exhaust brake, no modifications needed.

Montana Sky · 02-15-2005, 07:57 PM

Bill,
I am interested in getting the Pyro,Boost, and Water Temp guages for my truck. I am curious, where did you have them installed? I was looking at the pillar of my truck and it is one single piece. I have the LT with Bose speakers and I am seeing a way to mount to the pillar without cutting that plastic molding all apart? If you or anyone has a pic of where they mounted the guages I would love to see them. Thanks for the info.

Charlie · 02-16-2005, 02:28 AM

Look at this site....I have same gauges installed on post, but can also be mounted on dash in front of steering wheel.

http://www.dieselperformance.com/gmc...0Gauges&tt=gmc

sreigle · 02-16-2005, 05:23 AM

Montana Sky, just about any truck accessories store that installs gauges can install a pillar pod for you. I don't have the Chevy but do have the pillar pod gauges. They had the pods for all three mfrs' trucks.

Montana Sky · 02-16-2005, 09:06 PM

Steve,
Thanks for the info. The shop I had stopped at yesterday did not have any that would fit on my pillar as it has the tweeter speaker for the bose stereo built into it. The kid at the counter I dont think had any idea what I was even talking about anyways. I will have to keep looking. Charlie, thanks for the link.

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