sheath

Sounds like you haven't tried running 87 Octane while pulling heavy with the Ford 7.3L. It pulls out power and sounds terrible, on long grades.

Man, That is one good looking truck! Thanks for the input on the mudflaps. I need to do something quick before the rocks start damaging the body.

Nice! I'll bet that sounds good. I like the bluetooth function, and that you can still keep the lights. On a side note, do you have similar mudflaps on the front wheel wells? I saw a set that look similar and wonder how they'd work. I've been driving on a lot of gravel/dirt roads lately.

Congratulations on the cover! That is really cool.

Great news! Happy Trails!

Two thing I've been noticing lately as I run a lot more gravel roads and two track is this truck could really benefit from a steering stabilizer, and long mud flaps. After a couple of hours of having the steering wheel yanking back and forth through my hands due to pot holes, braking/acceleration chop, rain ruts, etc., it can get tiring. Between that and hearing rocks "dinging" off the rockers and bed, it gets old. Thinking of ordering this steering stabilizer kit, to help minimize the steering wheel movement: SuspensionMax Steering Stabilizer PM'd a couple of guys on this forum who've had this kit on for a year. or so. Will be interested in their "long term" view of the kit. I've used the RS5000 stabilizer before on more off-road oriented builds, and it has done a workman's job. To help with the rocks, I'm looking at a set of extended mudflaps. Something like this (about 9" of extension below OEM optional mud flaps): Mud Flap Extensions Along with a set of nerf steps that run the length of the cab, it "should" help keep the rocks from damaging the body. Only time will tell.

We'll, if I'd have bought diesel it would have been a Ram. I've had good luck with the Cummins. Parts are relatively cheap, and easy to source. Troubleshooting is easy.

Possibly, would need to monitor O2 sensors to tell. Reality is less than 1% of the time pulling in heavy mountains it was a frustration. To me, that really is amazing for a gas engine. I wasn't expecting to be this satisfied. Yes, it is work on hard climbs. I don't use cruise control, and slow down with the 4 ways flashing. But compared to the previous generation it is much better. The '24 model may bring even further improvements. To be clear, it is in no way comparable to a diesel for confidence or relaxation when pulling big weight. In the same situation with a diesel, I'd be sitting on cruise pulling at 65 mph, thinking about what we're having for dinner and laughing with Toby Keith when he sings about smoking weed with Willie.

Few more good tows. About 688 miles in and out of the Rocky Mountains. First from Bryce up to the Kamas, UT area, then down to Farmington, NM. Towing heavy miles is about 2,066 out of the current 7,416 miles total on the truck. That is about 28% of the mileage towing. This should be the last of the towing until around Thanksgiving... Fingers crossed. Still really enjoying the truck, and happy with the purchase. Hit two long grades where I could not get the truck to stay between 3,500 and 4,200 rpm. They were two long frustrating climbs. Chevrolet needs to really think about manual gear hold selection. The truck could have pulled comfortably with a steady speed at about 3,800 rpm in L3 with the converter locked, but kept downshifting to L2 at over 5,K rpms. Was running under a fairly light throttle in L2, but kept automatically downshifting to L2 at about 3,800 rpm. Trans temp didn't start climbing until it downshifted. It would accelerate and upshift to L3. Converter would lock up, but to maintain that I had to depress the throttle to about 80%, and it would downshift again. No need for that to happen. Started to stress me out, because it didn't matter what speed I tried to maintain, it just wouldn't stay in L3 with lockup. Thankfully out of all the towing I've done so far, this is the only time it's happened. Lasted for a total of about 20 miles (less than 1% of total towing through some big mountains). In comparison to the total miles towed it's pretty insignificant, but it sticks in my head which is how stigmas get started. Went in for first oil change. Started to get the warning on the DIC so took it in about 3% early according to DIC. Wanted to do an oil sample, but totally spaced it. I'll order a kit, and keep in the truck until next time. Putting way more miles than I expected. Retired life is tough... lol Date Mileage Fuel / Maintenance Maintenance Type Cost Mileage Notes Cost per mile 05/15/22 4632 Fuel Partial fill 15.682 gls $75.00 N/A Pull from Panguich, UT to Bryce Canyon City, and travel around area 05/17/22 4785 Fuel Final Fill 24.261 gls $113.03 14.05 Travel around Bryce, Grand Staircase-Escalante & Zion 05/22/22 5154 Fuel Partial Fill 15.309gls $75.00 N/A Travel around Bryce, Grand Staircase-Escalante & Zion 05/22/22 5154 Fuel Final Fill 8.132 $41.47 15.74 Travel around Bryce, Grand Staircase-Escalante & Zion 05/22/22 5154 Engine Oil Top off engine oil w/5-30 $4.85 N/A Oil at bottom of dipstick as checked at station. No warnings on dash 05/23/22 5284 Fuel $75.88 7.71 Towing from Bryce, UT to Filmore, UT on way to Kamas, UT 05/24/22 5490 Fuel $110.97 8.67 Final towing to Kamas, UT from Filmmore, UT and a bit of travel around 05/30/22 5901 Fuel $115.21 15.91 back roads around Kamas area and trip to Roosevelt, Neola & Tridell, UT 2680 Monthly Cost $1,210.66 11.18 Average Fuel Mileage for May $2.21 06/01/22 6073 Fuel $58.17 14.49 Fill up from trip to Heber, etc. 06/01/22 6261 Fuel $97.88 9.04 Tow from Kamas to Green River, UT heading to New Mexico 06/02/22 6517 Fuel Partial Fill 18.754 Gal $90.00 N/A Tow from Green River to Farmington, NM. Pump shut off at $90 06/03/22 6553 Fuel Final fill 14.659 gal $70.35 8.74 Final from Towing, and running around Farmington, NM 06/07/22 7027 Fuel 29.054 gals $133.62 16.31 Drive around Farmington, and trip to Walsenburg, CO 06/08/22 7368 Service First Oil Change $0.00 N/A First oil change at High Country Chevrolet, Aztec, NM. 06/09/22 7416 Fuel Partial fill 18.004 gals $90.00 N/A Return from Walsenburg and travel around Farmington/Aztec, NM

Crazy that google would be a pay subscription in a truck, unless they mean a pay for cell integration & My Chevrolet App. All the google stuff on a phone is free. I'm currently paying a monthly fee for OnStar/AT&T cell service for the truck to use as a hotspot & the My Chevrolet App while on the road.

Thanks for the correction. For some reason I was under the impression it calculated based on the most current 50 miles. Which has been a bug in my ear, as it seemed stupid. Now I know where the stupidity really lies...

I'm still all over the place fuel mileage wise, but seems to be averaging in the 14-s to 15s unloaded. The DIC showed over 18mpg last night, but it calculates off the last 50 miles, not the entire tank. Had just under 500 miles of driving yesterday from about 5,000' asl to over 10,000' asl, twice (round trip over a mountain pass in Northwest NM to Southwest CO). I'm betting when the truck is filled up and hand calculated it will still be in that 14-15mpg range again. lol

Will be interested to see how you like it. Having had both the diesel and now the gas truck will give you a really good perspective. The AT4 is definitely a beautiful truck, that is well appointed. Keeping our paws crossed that the whole process goes smooth, and you get it soon.

I'd like to see an efficiency study on the 10 speed. I would prefer not to give up efficiency, or create more heat that has to be mitigated. That wrote, I can see adding two gears for sure. One between L1 & L2 to smooth the up and downshifts at low speeds, and one between L2 & L3 for pulling heavy on grades. For freeway towing the big help would be L2 & L3. I'd like to see the downshift from L3 to L2 only drop about 600-800rpm. This would help maintain speeds in the mid 50mph range on 6% grades, when towing in that 14k lbs range, without rev'ing in that 5Krpm range. I don't want to give up the 4.030 first, because in low range off road it really helps climbing over boulders, ruts etc. to maintain forward momentum and limit trail damage. Looking at the maximum validated GCVW in the chart below (from GM Authority), the 6L90E is not validated for pulling the maximum GCVW some of our trucks are rated for. I'm over this with my combination, even though I'm over 2K lbs under the max GCVW of the truck, per the data tag. So there is a good reason to make a transmission enhancement. Gear Ratios First: 4.030 Second: 2.360 Third: 1.530 Fourth: 1.150 Fifth: 0.850 Sixth: 0.670 Reverse: 3.060 Maximum shift speed: 6200 rpm Maximum Validated Weight (GVW): 15000 lb (6803 kg) Maximum Validated Weight (GCVW): 21000 lb (9525 kg)

Thanks for posting this chart. Now I see why GM chose the transmission programming they did. Pulling heavy feels just like this chart. Compared to the Ford 7.3L it's easy to see why the Ford tows heavy much better than the Chevy. That wrote, the 7.3L requires 93 octane to tow, and gets less fuel mileage. Next time I'm doing 45mph up a steep climb to keep the engine from rev'ing it's guts out, I'll have to remember that, and smile a little bigger.

Next time you are out try putting the sunroof in vent mode, and then play around incrementally opening the rear window to get a nice breeze over your head and shoulders. Depending on your speed, this can be better than opening the side windows. the rear slider also seems to affect the amount of ventilation coming from the dash vents, when not using recirc mode. I like messing around with the sunroof and rear window because it's quieter than having the side windows down. I have tinnitus, and wind noise can be a bit much with all the other frequencies howling in my head... lol

Interesting view point. I hadn't thought of it from this perspective. I think this is why it is important not to become "Brand" oriented. All these trucks are great. Just find the one that ticks the most boxes, and roll on down the road. Keep your eyes on Dillon Dodge out of Idaho when things get back to normal. They had some amazing pricing on HD trucks before the chip shortage. You might find a truck that ticks all the boxes at a price GM can't match. I don't know of a Ford dealership like this, but some sleuthing may find one.

I ran into the same thing looking at the Ford. For comparable to the Chevy, it was $6K more (had to move up to a Laramie to get leather and sun roof). I'm real happy with the Chevy for it's intended purpose. It's a fine truck. Had I wanted a diesel and settled on this gas truck though, it would have been sold within a month. The overall driving experience isn't in the same arena as any of the diesel truck options.

Any reason you aren't looking at the diesel Dodge/Ford along with the GM products? At 15K miles per year it sounds like you do more than an hour drive at least once a week. With that I would stay diesel. It is just a better driving experience in my opinion. Get on one of the fleet diesel card savings programs, which can be substantial depending on what stations you have along your normal routes. I love the L8T, but if I was doing at least an hour drive once a week, it would not have been a consideration. Would have gone with a new Dodge. But only to get more payload than the '07 had. Otherwise, that was a real gem of a truck.

May be worth waiting until '24 when they do the refresh, to make a change. Should be some nice upgrades to an already great truck.

Good catch! I can't see it on my truck either, but normally it is routed above the transmission towards the bell housing, to keep it as high as possible. Great idea to take it in and have them re-mount it.

My truck doesn't do that either. Empty or loaded/towing. Might be worth checking with the dealer.

It is no favor to us. It is a favor to their legal department. DOT does not regulate king pin weight ratio. It is GVW, GCW and GAWR. when you start hauling different trailers with different product you'll see how limiting this spec on the label is.

Ford & Dodge do not list a max tongue/king pin weight on their capacity label. So if your payload is 3,500lbs, there is nothing with Ford or Dodge on the door capacity label that says you have to tow less based on the "king pin capacity." The towing guide states tongue/king pin should be 10/15% and not to exceed GAWR or GVW/GCW. But does not mandate a specific weight limit on the king pin. Critical with livestock/horse and some equipment trailers because of how far back the axles are. I was talking with the local feather lite dealer about a 24' stock trailer. He said when he's fully loaded he sees tongue weights in excess of the 2,460 rating of my truck. 4,000 lbs of trailer, and somewhere up to 11,000 lbs of beef on the hoof. This would be under GVW, GAWR, GCW, but about 1,000 lbs over the king pin weight as stated on the label of my current truck. There isn't enough room behind the axle of a stock trailer to get down to 15%. So if I want to haul my own cattle, I'd have to change trucks due to the way GM creates the capacity label.

Hitch weight capability. It is well under the payload, which penalizes the truck compared to it's competition. ETA: live stock & horse trailers have the axles way back to improve the ride quality. Some equipment trailers are the same setup too. Gooseneck weight is heavy compared to travel trailers.