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music

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music last won the day on November 17 2013

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  • Name
    Robert
  • Location
    TN
  • Gender
    Male
  • Drives
    08 Sierra 4wd Crew

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  1. I use the Reese dual cam, and think it's great. I'll bet you're going to be very pleasantly surprised with a properly set up Equalizer, vs what you have now.
  2. Something you left out is that the wdh will transfer weight off the truck and onto the trailer axles. That said, I'm not worried by your setup . GM allows a decent buffer between gvwr and axle/tire ratings, where Ford pushes them pretty close. I'd also go over gvwr a bit before purposely unloading the tongue. This is just an opinion, but I've been towing in a similar situation for a good while, and have never worried about overloading the truck. I didn't like the stock tires much for towing, especially at these weights, but I finally wore them out and recently got some LT tires. I will say that getting the hitch right is more important as you start bumping up to gvwr, but I'm sure you know this. As for US laws, there are none for what you're asking. The DOT regulates commerce only, while states regulate personal vehicle use. State rules vary, but I've yet to see one that references manufacture gvwr. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
  3. My opinion, for what little it's worth, is to let it slow down and go up a little slower... rather than fighting it. I've done it both ways under many situations, and don't mind "slow and easy". It's lower stress, and has almost no impact on my time. The only time it bugs me is if I'm following my FIL w/ his Dmax. That thing will zip up a mountain towing double the weight, and I doubt he's hitting 3k rpm. I don't mean that it bothers me that he's faster, but just that I need to "keep together". My rule is pretty simple: find the "sweet spot" for my gearing/power and use it. Fighting it will be a journey in frustration!
  4. I'm glad you posted that, since it jives with my hand calcs. I pull a camper weighing in at just shy of 7000 lbs, and have wondered many times how it would perform w/ the 6-spd vs my current truck. I don't think that there's a "right" answer here. The 4-spd/3.73 hits just shy of the 5.3 sweet spot on the torque/power curve at 60 to 65 mph, and will pull pretty strong @ 3900 to 4300 rpm (60 to 65 mph). A 4.10 ratio puts it right dead into torque peak at those speeds. A 6-spd/3.42 is going to be closer to 3300 to 3700 rpm at the same speeds. The trade-off, is that on those smaller and rolling hills, the 6-spd doesn't need to shift to such a high rpm to hold speed, where the 4-spd may. That's the only real complaint that I had on mine, but rather than change trucks, I retuned the tow shift pattern to my tastes. Much happier. It would be nice to have that closer 1->2 shift too, but I don't hit that point very often on a steep hill, so I don't really care. I'm actually surprised that you can't pick a gear you want, and force it to hold there. I don't like the sound of that... or did I misread?
  5. I would need to hear it to give an opinion. I had "piston slap" sometimes on my '99, but I've never heard that on any Gen IV 5.3. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, as I've only driven a few, but I haven't heard anyone with that on this board either. The most likely culprit is lifter tick, until the oil gets flowing. What weight and type of oil are you running? Not that it helps, but go listen to any direct injected motor (the new GM motors or the Ford EB 3.5), and listen to the tick on those. I can hear them from 30 feet in the home depot parking lot. For comparison, go and listen to a larger DOHC motor like the Toyota Tundra. Some of those sound like a diesel on startup, for the same reason... hydraulic lifters before the oil gets flowing good. My guess...
  6. Where can you get 2.25% return with zero risk on short term funds?
  7. What's interesting, is that a 2014 2500HD Crew 4x4 SLE w/ 6.0 is priced very similar to a '14 1500 SLE 4wd w/ 5.3 right now. I wish those 6.0HD's didn't get such bad economy. Was the kbb price on a 2014, or on the 2015. The 1500's price jumped a good bit with the new platform.
  8. When new prices keep rising like they have, it pulls used values with them. My FIL bought a Dmax in 2006, and probably has only 30k miles on it. I don't think it has lost $7k of value in ~7 years. My truck isn't quite that good, but it's closer to 5% per year at this point (6 yrs and 55k miles). Of course, this sort of calculation depends completely on getting a fair price to begin with. My opinion is that the GM trucks on the lots today are a bit overpriced... based solely on prices I see on similar Tundras and F150s... but I may well be wrong.
  9. I agree, and didn't mean to paint too broad a brush (or get so far off topic). I love old cars, and by "quality", I'm referring to build tolerances... not the materials themselves.
  10. Pre-73 quality if funny. My first car was a 72 Maverick, and my dad's truck at the time was a 71 Chevy truck (good ol' 350). The Maverick could swerve two feet left or right without moving the steering (~10 yrs old and 60k miles at the time), and the truck caught fire and completely gutted itself (total loss). Pristine quality... What *was* true is that they were dirt cheap by today's standards, but I'd take a 20 year old Honda over *anything* made pre 73 for "quality".
  11. Understood... just trying to throw a little water on the internet hyperbole regarding "I heard that..." and "people will sue". The problem is, that the type of lawyer that leaves a slimy streak in the their trail will take suit for just about anything. "You were towing a jet ski with a F350? Did you have that trailer inspected by the State? Did you inspect the hitch before leaving? That's such a big truck, could you even see the trailer behind you? If you couldn't, then you were negligent.". They can come up with anything, but one thing they can't do is get qualified engineers to line up behind them saying that having a 3.08 gear vs a 3.42 somehow caused the trailer to swerve and take out a pedestrian. If I lived in fear of those guys, then I could never drive... and would think twice about riding a bicycle on the road ("you caused two people to die when they suddenly saw you in the bike lane, and swerved to miss you"). Never mind that they were texting/driving in the bike lane. The real point I'm making is that there is no way that a 3.42 geared truck is "safer" with 7k lbs behind it than one geared at 3.08, all else equal. One may last longer, and may go faster up a 6% grade, but it isn't more dangerous to others (i.e., they present equal opportunity for liable). A good example of something that never gets "rated" is trailer weight balance. A poorly balanced trailer can throw a HD truck off the road well below it's "tow rating", but a tongue-heavy trailer will track true behind just about anything. There is no "law" or manufacturer rating for load balance, as critical as it is. It is up to *us* to get it right. I guess it's clear that this is a sore point with me, as I look at the engineering aspects before "he said she said"... but I'm really just trying to stick to "reason". Don't take this to mean that I do as I please. I haul our camper with my entire family on board, and take it as serious as that implies it should. Sorry for the long post... I try not to do that.
  12. I'm confused as to why you're so concerned (?). If it tows it fine, handles it fine, and doesn't overheat... then it doesn't matter what someone on here or at GM says (except for an engineer involved with rating the truck). There is no law anywhere in the US that considers manufacturer GVWR or "tow rating" when looking for driver liability in non-commercial incidents. Heck, none of them rate their trucks the same, so it's really just to help you match a vehicle for an intended use. The US-DOT regulates these things for *commercial* vehicles, and States regulate for personal vehicles. Since there is no applicable laws that consider "manufacturer ratings", it would be up to an individual to attempt to prove "gross negligence" in an accident. Towing a 7k to 8k lb trailer behind a truck that weighs 6k lbs is not anywhere close to negligent, so long as you follow traffic laws, use a proper hitch system for the load, etc. Not putting proper air in the tires is *far* more dangerous than going slower. It's equally important to realize that towing a popup behind a 3500HD does *not* remove one from being sued for "gross negligence". If that little popup breaks loose, crosses the line, and hits someone... you're just as liable as if you had swerved and hit them. Common sense is critical here, and you'll know it when you're towing or hauling too much. All of that said, the manual may be in error, or GM's site may be. The limiting factor for either rating may be related to heat, but it most likely has to do with performance when towing up long grades. I'd suggest just going slower.
  13. The info that the OP is providing is consistent with all that I've read re: the new GM Global A platform, which the new trucks use. GM probably won't request a CVN for non-hard-part failures, but a failed transmission or motor will certainly go that way. I'm curious as to how these new trucks are driving on the stock tuning. I tuned mine myself (EFI), and can't imagine going back to OEM. The 6-spd being tuned for mileage seems to be frustrating for some, and I'm guessing that I'd probably be one of them.
  14. If you are towing a camper, do yourself (and your truck) a favor and get a good weight distributing hitch. I use a Reese Dual Cam, but the Equalizer is also well regarded. Properly adjusted, you are redistributing the tongue weight to the front axle and back to the trailer axle. Putting heavier springs, or air bags, leaves all of the weight on the rear axle. In fact, if you read the truck receiver, you'll see that it's limited to ~500 lbs dead weight, but up to ~1100+ lbs with a WD hitch.
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