truck upgrade

RP53 · August 17, 2019

looking to upgrade from a 1/2 ton to a 3/4 ton to tow my new 5th wheel, after we finish the new house, i have been looking at used, new ones are so expensive, my question is i see a lot of 6.0 they say the HP is 301 with 33FLB torque, my colorado had more, what's up there ? also i have been told that on the diesel trucks they didn't use DEF before 2015 ? is this true and what are the pros & cons, of DEF i am ignorant here so any help will be much appreciated.

CamGTP · August 17, 2019

What year 6.0's are you talking about?

You can find all this information on the GM LS wiki page if you really wanted true answers.

The LQ4 6.0's in the heavy duty trucks from the mid 2000's made 300-325hp and 360-370 ft lbs of torque. Power depended on what year it came from as they increased the power the newer the engines got. 1999-2000 making the least amount of power.

The later 6.0's from like 2007-2019 made 360hp and 380ft lbs.

Your colorado may have made good torque depending on what engine but it can't match the 6.0's torque curve nor could it do it all day every day towing heavy loads and not give a crap about it. The 6.0 is a work horse and is exactly why they kept it the same for basically 20 years.

DEF fluid started in like 2011-2012 time frame.

16LT4 · August 17, 2019

^ trucks need low RPM torque, not HP; that's why Ford went back to pushrods for their new 7.3 gasser. HP only tells part of the story. You could max out the tow rating of the Colorado with a trailer, a 2500 with a 6.0 will pull both all day long.

The 6.0 is a reliable engine; there are reasons GM still uses (up until the new T1 truck) it in the 2500 and 3500 trucks and not the more powerful 6.2. The 6.0 takes 87 and has a simpler, more reliable valvetrain, which is what commercial guys require.

RP53 · August 18, 2019

On 8/16/2019 at 10:56 PM, CamGTP said:

What year 6.0's are you talking about?

You can find all this information on the GM LS wiki page if you really wanted true answers.

The LQ4 6.0's in the heavy duty trucks from the mid 2000's made 300-325hp and 360-370 ft lbs of torque. Power depended on what year it came from as they increased the power the newer the engines got. 1999-2000 making the least amount of power.

The later 6.0's from like 2007-2019 made 360hp and 380ft lbs.

Your colorado may have made good torque depending on what engine but it can't match the 6.0's torque curve nor could it do it all day every day towing heavy loads and not give a crap about it. The 6.0 is a work horse and is exactly why they kept it the same for basically 20 years.

DEF fluid started in like 2011-2012 time frame.

everyone i look at on Carmax shows 301 hp. not saying the Colorado i had would out pull a 2500 just found it ironic it shows more HP

Edited August 18, 2019 by RP53

CamGTP · August 19, 2019

Carmax must not have any updated information and it just pulls from some random data base they have for numbers.

It's either 300-325 or it's 360hp depending on year. Can basically guarantee you that whatever buy is going to have more than 301hp. ( don't but a 99-00 model lol)