aseibel

I agree with the mid-level phones exceeding my technological needs. Having the world wide web in my pocket had changed my life in countless ways. Some useful, some just pointless (facebook, games) Two of the most valuable to me are Google Maps and the ability to see live radar when I'm trying to work outside. It wasn't that long ago that you got the forecast on the morning news, grabbed map book and then just hoped you could stay warm/dry through out the rest of the day. Now I can plan around the specific weather and drive anywhere I want without planning the route ahead of time. Need gas? I can find the closest station to my route and the price before I get there. It used to be a guessing game when in unfamiliar territory. Crazy how much has changed in the last 20 years.

ok then. But it's only 43% less safe, not 50%. Based one this one 12 year old study that all the kid websites seem to reference. Google can't find anything more recent. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18450877/

Then I'm sure glad I have an insulated attached garage. Even on those -10 degree mornings outside, usually the vehicle temp is around 30+ inside the garage.

If you're driving a corolla maybe. Tell your wife to look up what vehicles were tested to get that data. In a full size truck, any position in the back seat is fine. They are up higher than the bumper of the any vehicle would hit from the side. You have side curtain airbags, no? Both my kids have survived so far, never once put either one of them in the center position. Same in my wife's Terrain.

Your explanation makes plenty of sense. I still wonder one thing. Lets say I'm making a 100 mile trip, each way. Its 32 degrees in my garage when I start it. All the fluids and moving parts are cold, yes? A couple minutes in I'm getting warm air blown inside. By 5 country miles the engine reaches normal temp. I don't know at what point the bearing grease warms up. But at some point don't all the moving parts reach "normal" operating temp again? So out of my 100 mile trip, the beginning 10-20 miles or so may be highly inefficient. But the remaining 80 are relatively normal, wouldn't you say? In my work car, the majority of my trips were long distance, so none of this 5 minute drive while never warming up stuff. I checked my tire pressure every 2 weeks, so no large drop in pressure. It's shocking to me that taking a trip in January and burning a whole tank of fuel in 1 day, only 0.5 of the MPG drop is due to the fuel and the other 4.5 drop is because of the resistance of cold parts/lube.

Grumpy, what are some of the other reasons that summer gas mileage is better? The internet says the 1.7% extra energy is only 1 of them. I can't find the rest. I know you like data. Here's 370 tanks of gasoline charted over 7+ years in my old beater. Lifetime average economy of 28.47 mpg. If the 1.7% is all of the difference, it should only vary about 0.5 mpg from winter to summer. but I can see a seasonal trend that looks more like 5 mpg difference. Now don't think that can all be attributed to idling time: No remote start and I parked in an attached garage for all but 1 winter, so I rarely let it warm up for more than 30 seconds before driving. And majority of trips are probably 100 miles average, since most driving was for work. So winter warm up idlling time was only a tiny fraction of fuel usage. I'm curious what you think of this data.

I've driven from Eastern WI to Western Nebraska twice this year for work. I-80 is pretty boring on a weekday. I can somehow drive with my cruise on for 4 hours without touching the left pedal once. (okay I tap it to disengage cruise every so often) Yet I watch countless others come bearing down on a semi who is stuck in the left lane, and they don't coast, they don't slow down until 100' behind, then light up their brakes. It's all about driving style. My dad taught me to coast the last 1/2 mile when I know a stop is coming up. I still do it. I have averaged 1 brake job per vehicle and the last 3 I got rid of I put on over 100,000 miles each.

The OP is from the other side of the state from me. We are definitely on winter blend now. I kind of ignore the fuel economy numbers from October to April and focus on the summer months, haha.

I tell you one thing, after lifting that damn infant carrier seat into the back for the 100th time, you (or at least your wife) is going to wish you had a lower truck. Don't get something lifted with big tires until you see how fun it is to travel with an infant. Its difficult to justify an off-road vehicle as a family hauler. And it will only get worse if your wife is a safety freak who insists on putting the child seat in the center. Have fun with that. My wife is not short or petite, but she didn't have fun lifting the infant carrier into the outer seats in my stock height truck.

If you didn't recalibrate the speedo, your readings are going to be something like 3-4% too short. So take the old tire's rev/mile and divide by the new one. That will tell you what ratio you need to multiply your mileage by to get accurate readings. That's still not going to improve your mpg number by very much. Raising up the front end & adding wider tires kills your aerodynamics.

For sure. I edited my previous to say "driveline". my point is that all the half-ton trucks weigh the same (relatively), have the same suspension, brakes, etc. So controlling the trailer in a gust of wind, or emergency braking situation is the same. More gears and a bigger engine only help get it moving faster. They don't really improve safety. Only upgrading to a 2500 will improve on any of that.

Any of the half-tons will get 8,000 lbs moving. slower than you would like? maybe. The 6.2 and 5.3 are identical trucks except for the driveline. Even with the diesel, no real improvements to braking or control of your trailer compared to your 2013. The only upgrade would be more gears to match your speed and maybe feel a bit more responsive than your current truck. you say 10-12 trips per year, how many miles? that's one weekend every month, I would say that's a decent towing demand. Your trailer is approaching the top end of what the 1/2 ton can comfortably do. Sure it works okay, but you are obviously concerned. What if you want to pull a boat or golf cart behind the camper, or add any more equipment, or upgrade the camper in a couple years? only you can guess what the future holds for your camping needs. I would make the decision based on this: if you only pull it to the next county over, or 1 hour drive up north, then stick with the half-ton you like best. If you pull over mountains, and across country, you would enjoy driving the 2500 more.

The jump seat does not have tie downs for LATCH. Why do you need a child in the center of the second row? Just make the big ones climb in back and strap child seat into the captain's chair.

The lumber prices are stupid right now. At least Menards has some in stock. I tried to go buy a couple studs at Fleet Farm this weekend, not a single 2x4 left under 14' that shouldn't be turned into kindling. I'm glad we bought our house late in 2019. The same house this year would cost 50,000 more just in lumber. saw this, might help some of us out: https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a34361957/kandn-air-filter-maker-face-mask/?utm_campaign=socialflowR%26T&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-media&fbclid=IwAR0W58835YxYtuiTqMDqdwVUXk9g0UUiDXPkvIlpJZ_0_2TH5u6_vgZIX7w

following to see what this group comes up with. I'm not much of a chef. But being from America's Dairyland, I've learned this:

https://www.cashcarsbuyer.com/chevy-shake/

I used to follow this forum, there's 300 posts about adding a battery. If you expect a large power draw you should consider doing what the plow guys call "The Big 3". Which is upgrading the wiring for Engine ground, Battery ground, and power from alternator to battery. Maybe something in here will help you. I ran welding cables in parallel to add a second battery in my old truck, but no isolator so I'm not much help there. https://www.plowsite.com/threads/dual-battery-install-instructions-for-a-chevy.56715/ https://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/gm-1500-dual-battery-install/

driving on snow/ice covered roads = put it in 4 HI, and operate everything else like normal. Why mess with manually shifting gears if the roads are actually dangerous? Just increase your stopping distance and use light braking pressure. Maybe buy some real winter tires instead of the garbage that GM gives you from the factory. using your transmission to slow you down instead of the brakes does not change the fact that you are relying the same rubber-to-ice interface to control the vehicle.

Wonderful find! I think I know what's going on my Christmas list now. I just made a bunch of trips to Menards hauling lumber home, this would have come in handy.

That said, now that you are aware of its flaws, you can make an informed decision. It seems that the consensus is the list price is too high for that truck. But every vehicle has a price. This is not my style, but you were drawn to it for some reason. If you want to negotiate with them, see if you can get it for a price that matches the current condition. Or see if they'll try to repair the roof or replace the bumper for you. no harm in taking to them if you like this one. At least its low mileage.

I'd be terrified of a leak from either the sunroof or sharkfin with all that twisted steel up there. My truck is also a 2015 with low miles, and I wouldn't pay 34,000 for it today. Something is off here.

Well, you could be right about the Sumo's being softer. But I still think you'd know when you hit them. It comes down to knowing how you plan to use the truck. I haul lumber and landscaping materials around, and I'm happy with my helper springs. My trailer is only rated for 3,000 lb for lawnmower, etc. so tongue weight has never been a problem for me. The newer trucks sag a lot less under load than the old generations. The springs are stiffer, and therefore a lot of people complain about the ride when unloaded already. There are a bout 17 million threads on here complaining about the shocks, but people forget the springs carry the weight. Sumo springs are designed to help by removing the load from the leaf pack and basically your frame is riding right on the axle with a chunk of rubber in between. Its not an improvement in ride quality.

I can't speak for Sumo, but I had their competitor rear bumper springs from Timbren. I found that unless you are loaded to the point of riding on them, they are more annoying because unloaded you will occasionally hit them going over a bump and then its just obnoxious. The problem is that they shorten the free suspension travel, and then make contact. So if your trailer drops your axle enough to ride on the SUMO's then that would be a nice ride. But with only 1" of drop you would likely be banging off those bump stops every time you hit a dip in the road. Based on my experience, I would not recommend the NON-adjustable bump stop springs. Instead I would consider some manually adjustable air springs. But instead of either, I actually installed Hellweg helper springs on my ride. Similar to adding a leaf, but easier to install and they can be "adjusted" by tightening the u-bolts more for heavier load. And they are not noticeable when driving unloaded.

700# isn't that extreme for your truck. Could this be an easier solution? You said the coupler is "high mounted", can you reconfigure the coupler on the trailer to drop it down a couple inches? some are adjustable, or you could obtain some plates that bolt up to the existing tongue. Even having a custom shop re-weld it in a lower position might be easier, unless you really want the airbags and on-board compressor.

The weight of your trailer is only half of the equation. A camaro on a flatbed is relatively easy to pull through the wind on the freeway compared to a travel trailer or cargo trailer of the same weight. You have much less wind drag, I wouldn't expect your truck to need to work that hard. But please post your results so we have some actual data.