Wintersun

It boggles my mind that anyone would pay the money and take the time to make a truck less able to function on and off the road just because they think it looks cool and will be a chick magnet - if only it was that easy. There seems to be a correlation with the higher the truck height the lower the IQ of its owner. But then again, IQ may be greatly overrated when a complete idiot is in power in the White House.

My current truck has the GM drop-in bedliner and a spray in one would have been a better way to go. The bedliner cost me nothing as the dealer really wanted to move the truck. I would have an aftermarket guy do the spray-in lining and get a better job for the same price as the factory charges. A friend bought a commercial kit and made the cost back with the first two trucks he treated for the local dealer. Figure on about $30 worth of product with a $350 bedliner coating job.

When I am on backcountry roads or running trails my mpg drops and the availability of gas stations is limited. With my 2011 diesel truck I was initially spending more time locating gas stations that sold diesel than planning overnight stops on my travels. It has gotten better but I am still glad that it has a 36 gallon fuel tank. MPG with a 2019 Silverado 1500 with the 6.2L would be no better in these situations than my diesel 2500HD truck. In the mountains or on twisty roads or on dirt roads the 18-20 mpg highway drops to 14-15 mpg and so my range is 34 x 14 or 476 miles. With the 1500 pickup my range would be 24 x 14 or 336 miles and a difference of 140 miles is significant, and the reason why I will most likely be replacing the 2500HD with a 2020 Toyota Tundra or a Ram 1500. I am not about to go back to carrying fuel cans on the roof rack.

Everyone except Ford, Toyota, and Ram, that all provide large gas tanks as an option for their 1500 class pickups. Ford for $445 provides a 36 gallon fuel tank. Ram also charges $445 for its 33-gallon fuel tank option. Toyota Tundra comes from the factory with a 38-gallon fuel tank. Only with Chevy/GM 1500 trucks is one stuck with a 26 gallon fuel tank. It is why I decided not to buy a new 2019 Chevy truck and will be holding onto my 2011 2500HD Duramax for the time being. The Duramax with its factory 36 gallon tank provides me with over 600 miles of range and not about to get stuck with a 26-gallon fuel tank on a pickup that provides two-thirds that range between fuel stops.

Long bed with the large fuel tank is available only with the regular cab and hardly an option. With a double cab or crew cab the only beds are standard or short bed and all come with the 26 gallon fuel tank that provides usable 24 gallons or about 380 miles of range. In the back country I make it a practice of using a third of my fuel going in and having a third to come back and another third as my safety reserve. With the Silverado or Sierra 1500 trucks that means 250 miles of safe range unless I carry jerry cans (been there done that and not about to do again). I can get a large fuel tank with a truck from Toyota, Ram, or Ford. So is GM right and are all these other truck manufacturers clueless?

I found that Titan sells a 36 gallon tank for the Canyon and Colorado trucks but not for the Silverado trucks. Has anyone found an aftermarket gas tank for the Silverado 1500 to increase the puny factory fuel tank?

I bought the diesel 2500HD in 2011 to get the greater range with its 36 gallon fuel tank and 25% greater MPG with the diesel engine for a range per tankful of fuel of over 550 miles. Now I am looking for a gas powered half-ton and only the Ram and Ford trucks have a large fuel tank so my next truck is not going to be a Chevy (or a Toyota with the Tundra's 14 MPG average). A 26 gallon fuel tank gives me a real world range of 300 miles where I travel. Once you get west of the Rockies one finds fewer gas stations and many towns that don't even have a single gas station. Last thing I want to do is run out of gas on some back road and have to leave the truck and its contents and walk 30 miles to a major highway and then find a gas station that is open and will sell me a gas can. GM has a lot of faith in the blind loyalty of its truck owners to provide a 1/2 ton with only one engine, the 6-speed transmission, and a small fuel tank. Well they lost me completely as a truck customer.

If you want a 30+ gallon fuel tank it is an extra available for $500 with the F-150 and the RAM Rebel or standard with the Toyota Tundra Limited trucks. Out in the west where I travel a 22 gallon usable tank range means carry jerry cans which is something I have done in the past with my Willys but not something I care to repeat.

I have long thought that the higher the truck the lower the IQ of the driver and now GM is appealing to the lowest common denominator, again. Odd that RAM is adding dynamic spoilers to its trucks to improve fuel economy while the folks at GM are going in the opposite direction. Time will tell who is more right. At least with the factory doing the lift one can hope that they will also add appropriate fenders and mud guards to protect the windshields of the cars behind these trucks as they speed down the road tossing rocks up into the air.

I have been getting the best deals on tires from America's Tire store and they include free lifetime wheel balancing (important with heavy truck tires) and free tire rotation. About 25% of the time the guy remembers to redo the pressure sensors so I have to check when I first get into the truck that are is correct. If not I get the fellow to correct the settings and he uses the electronic device to do this. I have done this myself when I realized the problem only after getting home and although letting the air out is simple enough it drops the tire pressure by more than 5 PSI per tire and so I need to get out the electric compressor and add air to each tire. My truck's tires take 80 PSI and most gas stations' compressors are not up to the task so I have my own Viair 400P compressor. Easiest to have the tire store do the rotation and rebalancing every 5,000 miles.

I hate subsidizing all the right wing and religious nut jobs on XM radio. If I could pay for only the stations I actually care to listen to it would be worthwhile.

With my truck there is a setting for fast idle at startup which is probably for people living in very cold climates. It is something that takes me a minute to change should I wish to do so. The only time I have had a TPS sensor fail it actually was showing evidence of problems with reduced throttle response only I did not realize what was happening. I was lucky that it did not happen on the freeway.