New tow vehicle

[justrave]

We recently purchased a new 05 3500 Chevrolet dually 8.1 gas cc. I know a lot would say why not diesel. After during price comparison with similar truck with a diesel engine and taking in consideration of current rebates the price would have been $5,950.00. This is buying the vehicle at invoice. The invoice difference prior to rebates is about $3,950 but once you factor in the rebates the price becomes $5,950 different.

We traded our 03 Chevy 6.0 for the new vehicle. I am hoping to see only a slight difference in gas mileage. We averaged about 13.5mpg on the 6.0 but hoping to get about 12 solo on the 8.1. The DIC is currently showing about 11.8 solo on the 8.1. I have noticed a difference in the ride. The dually appears to be more sensitive to bumps. Is this due to the heavier springs? What can be done to provide a better ride?

Current dually owners with gas engine,please provide comments on gas mileage. What upgrades have you done to your duallys?

justrave
05 318BHS

[SAndreasen]

Hi,

I tow my rig with a 2002 HD Chevy with the 8.1 liter engine and I REALLY like it. I get about 13-15 mpg solo and 8-10 towing. That's better that I got with my smaller rig and a 5.7 liter. I have a friend that has a 6.0l engine in his HD and I get better milage that he does. Seems that we are not working the work horse enough! Enjoy your new TV!

[HomeOnTheRoad]

There is nothing wrong with going with a gas engine. You have to go with what works best for you. Congratulations on the new truck.

[Bill Hill]

Congrats on the new TV! If there weren't a need and market for gas engines, nobody would be selling them. You've gotta go with what makes sense for you, and it sure sounds like you did all the analysis. As far as the ride, hey, it's a 1-ton, but you'll get used to it.

[kdeiss]

quote:Originally posted by justrave

We recently purchased a new 05 3500 Chevrolet dually 8.1 gas cc. I know a lot would say why not diesel. After during price comparison with similar truck with a diesel engine and taking in consideration of current rebates the price would have been $5,950.00. This is buying the vehicle at invoice. The invoice difference prior to rebates is about $3,950 but once you factor in the rebates the price becomes $5,950 different.

We traded our 03 Chevy 6.0 for the new vehicle. I am hoping to see only a slight difference in gas mileage. We averaged about 13.5mpg on the 6.0 but hoping to get about 12 solo on the 8.1. The DIC is




currently showing about 11.8 solo on the 8.1. I have noticed a difference in the ride. The dually appears to be more sensitive to bumps. Is this due to the heavier springs? What can be done to provide a better ride?

Current dually owners with gas engine,please provide comments on gas mileage. What upgrades have you done to your duallys?

justrave
05 318BHS

Justrave, Add a few lb's in the bed load those springs will help the ride

[azstar]

justrave,

Congratulations. Sweet TV.

I'm thinking if after a while the ride bugs you, you could have a Spring Shop remove a leaf. This might affect the Warranty though and it would reduce the pay load to maybe a 3/4 Ton level. Reducing the payload wouldn't bother me, but I would be a little concerned about the warranty.

Happy Camping

[richfaa]

I have a 05 F-350 Dually V-10 and yes it is a bit bumpy but will feel better when you get some weight over the axles.My last Tv was my trusty Silverado 350 3:73 Diff that got @ 10/11MPG towing..My guess is that the F-350 will do the same.

[Montana_2779]

Congrats on the new truck! We have just under 6K on our 2500HD with the big gasser, and we're getting about 11mpg empty and 7mpg with the 5er hitched up. We went for the gasser for the same reason-- the diesel was going to add several thousand to the price tag. We ended up ordering a plain-jane fleet truck with just the big engine, tranny and rear end. Couldn't be happier with it! After getting the dreaded "sticker shock" at the dealers with the decked out units they had on the lot (the lowest was about $38K and went into the high $40K's pretty quickly), we were thrilled to get our monster to come in at $29K.

Our mpg may come in a little lower than yours if you got the 3.73 rear end. Our 4.10 is surely on a Greenpeace hit list........

[palebluedot]

I agree with the added weight to the bed of the truck helping the ride. A combo tool/fuel box would help if you need one of those. Be sure to check the pressure in the tires. You could possibly lower the pressure if you don't have a lot of weight to make the ride better. I run about 50# in the duallys when not loaded, this seems to help the ride. As for the diesel, you would get a lot of the cost back when you traded it in so it's a mixed bag.

[CountryGuy]

justrave,

Hauling we get about 7 MPG, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, wind, hills and speed we are driving all make difference in the day's average.

Solo, I believe Al told me 11, give or take, but he will correct me if I am wrong.

We would leave the springs and tires alone, and have. The ride will improve when Montana is sitting in the hitch! The springs are there for a reason, why would you reduce your load rating (Sorry Steve, no insult intended, just our opinion) ?? As far as reducing air in tires, we are just too lazy to mess with that.

Might think about different shocks, as we have. Made a HUGE difference in the ride without Montana. Changed out about 18,000 miles, the OEM were shot. Looking back, it is too bad we waited so long to change, we would have had a more comfy ride for 18,000 miles.

Other upgrades had nothing to do with performance, tool box, lock on the tail gate, cover, running boards, spray in lining.

One thing you might want to watch out for, if you have others do your oil changes, they seem to put in too much oil every time! Find out how much your truck requires and remind them every time, then check it before you pull away. Al has found it too full a couple of times, he was a bit snarly! Made em take out the extra too!

[Jeff Heiser]

Up until just recently I had a 454 Chevy 3500 Dually. When we first bought the truck we changed the shocks out to Monroe and noticed a big difference in the ride.

Nothing wrong with a gasser. I went diesel because I got a better deal than I could (at the time) than for a gasser. You need to like the truck, it needs to fit your needs and the deal has to be good. If it fits those three requirements it doesnt matter whether its a gasser or diesel.

Good luck with the new TV.

Jeff Heiser
Merritt Island Florida

[Montana_2779]

Good call on checking the oil level, Carol! I had been using the local quick-change places for several years when one of the knuckleheads overfilled a tranny in Cheryl's Ranger. I have an inkling that this was at least a partial cause of some seal problems and a pretty expensive repair. Many of the local quick-change places (I can only speak for my area) staff their shops with low-paid, grungy looking VERY young fellas. I consistently got the impression that they were more interested in discussing the previous night's drinking than paying attention to the work on our vehicles (silly me-- I like to go get my oil changed EARLY on Saturday mornings to avoid the lines). I now take the Chevy and our Hyundai to their respective dealers for oil changes. Not only do we pay an equvalent price, but (correct or not) I figure the techs should be MUCH more familiar with the vehicles as they see dozens of the same brand each day rather than dozens of different brands.....

[CountryGuy]

Pete,

You would think the dealer WOULD be very aware of the amount of oil required, Guess where the two oil changes were made where they dumped in tooooooo much oil?? you got it, DEALER!

So, he now goes in and states, this truck only takes X.X quarts of oil. WRITE IT DOWN ON THE ORDER SHEET! Unbelieveable, except for this one situation, we acutally are VERY happy with this dealer. Small town, great service, would we buy there again, YEPPPPPP!!

But, just like checking warranties on anything to do with Montana, you have to be very careful with work done on the truck. Check those numbers, check the oil fluid after a change, check the tire pressure, you are gonna be the one driving it, and we trust these trucks to pull our BIG RIGS down the road, safely! In the end game, it is our responsibility to check as much as we can, constant monitoring. That kid changing the oil with the hangover could care less about your safety!

Carol

[tweir]

Just a note on too much oil: I worked for a local school district as a mechanic in the "Bus Barn". We had an "automatic" oil fill nozzle where you set the number of quarts and the thing would shut-off when it reached the pre-set amount. I had just dumped the old oil and changed the two full-flow oil filters, set the nozzle for the 36 quarts required in the "pancake" Cummins Big Cam 200 and pulled the trigger to start dispensing the oil. You could hear the pneumatic pump on the bulk tank "doing its thing". I proceeded with the "cabin inspection" and kinda forgot about the oil fill...UNTIL a bus driver yelled and said oil was running out the shop door. Figured I'd pumped about 10 extra gallons over the required 8 gallons...the shut-off valve stuck open! What a mess to clean up. I swear Carol, I did not have a hangover & safety was our #1 job---especially when we certified the school busses as "safe"---kids are a precious cargo...! For the remainder of my employment, I had the nickname "Slick".

[CountryGuy]

Slick

I believe ya, that you were not hungover. We do all have momentary brain blips, guess this situation was one of yours. Sorry, I laughed at your story, specially that last line, SLICK! I can imagine cleaning that up, YOWSER, that is a LOT of oil to clean up! I think from the sounds of it, you were very good at your job and the kids were safe because of you. From a mom that used to put kids on a school bus, thank you for your care of our precious ones!

Carol

[sreigle]

Carol, my diesel takes an even 15 quarts of oil so this method doesn't work for it. But when we had the V10, it took 7 1/2 (or was it 6 1/2?) quarts. Anyhow, not even quarts. When I dropped it off for an oil change I always told them I want the leftover oil, since I'd paid for it. If they did not have leftover oil for me, I knew they'd poured it in the crankcase or shorted me a pint. Usually when I asked they told me it took only six quarts and it read full. When I asked if they allowed a half quart for the new filter I'd get a blank look. This was usually Walmart. And, as you know, I no longer allow Walmart to touch our truck after that fiasco last January.

[CountryGuy]

Steve,

See that is the situation here, I want to say it takes 6.5 quarts, but since I am not sure, I was hedging on that! That is a great way to handle it tho, tell em you want the left over. I LIKE it! But don't some of the oil change places use those "automatic" oil fill nozzle things that our friend SLICK was using?? Then you better rely on the ole dip stick test, eh?

And, yes, we do remember the January Walmart fiasco! Whew!

Carol

[azstar]

Carol,

No insult taken. Our Forum is a great place for all sorts of info. and ideas.

People have been tuning suspensions both up and down since the days of the Buckboard. Remember the original question from justrave, "What can be done". A 1 Ton Dually can indeed be tuned to to do a great job of towing a Monty and give a better ride when not towing. Yes it does reduce the payload but you still end up with all of the other great attributes of the 1 Ton and those Dually's sure look "COOL".

Happy Camping

[CountryGuy]

Steve

We kinda think it looks "Cool" too. HA HA. Al was following me home one night, I had the little Escort, he had "Big Butt" errrr, the GM. That thing SURE looks big in the rear view mirror!

OH, I don't think we could stand a reduction of payload. Al was spouting numbers one day, and we are about at the limit for payload all the way around on the truck, remembering that we are toting a 3295 which has higher pin weight (is that the right word?? ya know, the amount on that hitch??) The 3295 has one of the highest numbers if my memory serves. Now, all that said, since we have had a number of changes made in our 3295, we really need to go over the CAT scales again, and double check all the numbers. But before the changes we were pretty close to max.

Now, I know a lot of you guys are toting 3295 with 3/4 ton trucks, so, remember before you flame me down for the last count, that this is our choice, our call, what we feel comfortable with. And, ain't it great that we all get to choose our comfort levels and the truck that will provide same??

Sure love the ideas and thoughts and explanations that come out of MOC! If nothing else, sure can get the ole brain to turning over some of these ideas!

Carol

[sreigle]

Carol, I've not seen any of the places I've had oil changed using the bulk filler. They've all used oil cans or gallon jugs. I usually watch at least part of the process to get a feel for the quality of the job. Plus, I figure if they see me watching they're likely to at least try to look like they know what they are doing.

Yes, I tow our very heavily loaded 3295RK with a 3/4 ton. But you have to remember the new Fords have considerably higher ratings so you really cannot compare this year's 3/4 ton with last year's. ALL the ratings on our 3/4 ton are higher than the ratings on our 2003 1-ton, so the fact this one is a 3/4 ton is pretty irrelevant except when comparing to this year's 1 ton, if that makes any sense. Ours is rated to tow 15,400, GVWR 10,000, GCWR 23,000. Our 2003 ONE TON was rated to tow 14,200, GVWR 9,900, GCWR 20,000. See what I mean?