2023 L8T 10 Speed

gkhashem · December 15, 2022

On 11/15/2022 at 6:17 PM, Epsilon Plus said:

Fleets. Everyone forgets about the majority buyer of the gas HD platform. Fleet longevity has driven the gas HD decisions for many moons. The City of "x" is interested in longevity and commonality, not 400 gears to pull non-existent hills with.

We can thank fleet longevity for the lack of cylinder deactivation and stop start on the 6.6 as well as the IMO wise decision to keep the bulletproof 6L90 around.

All y'all TFL watchers that think your trucks will pull better in 7th at 2,400rpm than in 4th at 4,400rpm is why GM finally caved and gave you the more expensive and complicated 10. Enjoy your slightly better city MPG and same towing experience.

I can assure you that Freeport McMoRan , the Town of "x" and Granite Construction give 2 craps about the 10 speed and were fine with the 6L90 that was cheap and went 250k with the rest of their truck.

Words of wisdom, I love my 6 speed and I pulled my antique car and trailer a total of about 7500 lbs and I hardly knew I was towing anything. I drove across southern Vermont up and down some decent hills and it was a joy.

I for one rather have a battle tested transmission and not have the latest, greatest one. For what I paid I don't need the problems.

Ry Guy · December 16, 2022

13 hours ago, gkhashem said:

Words of wisdom, I love my 6 speed and I pulled my antique car and trailer a total of about 7500 lbs and I hardly knew I was towing anything. I drove across southern Vermont up and down some decent hills and it was a joy.

I for one rather have a battle tested transmission and not have the latest, greatest one. For what I paid I don't need the problems.

I would hope that a truck that is rated to pull 14k-16k lbs would do a good job pulling a load that could be adequately handled by a half ton.

CRApex · December 16, 2022

14 hours ago, gkhashem said:

Words of wisdom, I love my 6 speed and I pulled my antique car and trailer a total of about 7500 lbs and I hardly knew I was towing anything. I drove across southern Vermont up and down some decent hills and it was a joy.

I for one rather have a battle tested transmission and not have the latest, greatest one. For what I paid I don't need the problems.

The 10spd is battle tested. It has been paired with the Duramax the last 3 model years, has stood up to the torque/HP and has been excellent. The only reason I'm even considering the gas for my next truck is due to the "new" 10 spd. The 6spd was fine the 10spd will be much better.

the wanderer · December 20, 2022

On 12/15/2022 at 6:23 PM, gkhashem said:

Words of wisdom, I love my 6 speed and I pulled my antique car and trailer a total of about 7500 lbs and I hardly knew I was towing anything. I drove across southern Vermont up and down some decent hills and it was a joy.

I for one rather have a battle tested transmission and not have the latest, greatest one. For what I paid I don't need the problems.

It's complete nonsense. Nobody who has ever pulled a trailer with a gas 10 speed wants to drop down to a 6 speed.

GM didn't keep the 6 speed due to city guys wanting it, anymore than they keep the 8 speed around in the 1500's due to "demand".

Pryme · December 20, 2022

3 hours ago, the wanderer said:

It's complete nonsense. Nobody who has ever pulled a trailer with a gas 10 speed wants to drop down to a 6 speed.

GM didn't keep the 6 speed due to city guys wanting it, anymore than they keep the 8 speed around in the 1500's due to "demand".

You’re not getting what he’s saying. He is saying he is fine with the 6L90e and it’s performance is great and it has been used for many years with good success.

I agree actually. I have nothing but good things to say about my 6spd. It never hunts for gears either which for me is a must. I hate hunting transmissions. Not saying the 10spd does/will but I’ve read it’s much more likely with more gears. I know the Ford 10spd does.

I will never tow max weight anyway so for me, and many others, the 6pm is more than enough. Maybe not for everyone though. I will certainly be looking forward to how it does behind the 6.6 gas.

newdude · December 20, 2022

On 11/15/2022 at 6:17 PM, Epsilon Plus said:

Fleets. Everyone forgets about the majority buyer of the gas HD platform. Fleet longevity has driven the gas HD decisions for many moons. The City of "x" is interested in longevity and commonality, not 400 gears to pull non-existent hills with.

We can thank fleet longevity for the lack of cylinder deactivation and stop start on the 6.6 as well as the IMO wise decision to keep the bulletproof 6L90 around.

All y'all TFL watchers that think your trucks will pull better in 7th at 2,400rpm than in 4th at 4,400rpm is why GM finally caved and gave you the more expensive and complicated 10. Enjoy your slightly better city MPG and same towing experience.

I can assure you that Freeport McMoRan , the Town of "x" and Granite Construction give 2 craps about the 10 speed and were fine with the 6L90 that was cheap and went 250k with the rest of their truck.

I don't think its a "7th gear 2400rpm look how it tows". The 10 speed makes much better use of the available power than the 6 speed (and especially the 4 speeds before that). There isn't a massive RPM spread to get back down into the power for pulling a hill with a trailer, and then once it finds its sweet spot just lugs and loses momentum till it can hit the next available downshift.

The 5.3/A10 combo is a great point of what the extra gears can do. It makes the 5.3 an enjoyable powertrain. If more gears weren't beneficial, we'd have nothing higher than say an 8 speed tractor trailer on the market.

The 10 speed really isn't any more complicated than the 6 speed. Its still a clutch to clutch design (which GM learned from the Allisons and applied to every transmission since the 6L debuted). Its 10 speeds are confined to a rather minimal amount of total clutch sets as well.

Edited December 20, 2022 by newdude

gkhashem · December 21, 2022

On 12/16/2022 at 9:09 AM, CRApex said:

The 10spd is battle tested. It has been paired with the Duramax the last 3 model years, has stood up to the torque/HP and has been excellent. The only reason I'm even considering the gas for my next truck is due to the "new" 10 spd. The 6spd was fine the 10spd will be much better.

Tell me how battle tested it is later on. 3 years means little if you need to replace that 10 speed at 100,000 miles or 5 years.

I just replaced my transmission on my 1999 GMC that was rust free and pristine, but the transmission went at 110,000 miles. I had a 2016 GMC with 21,000 miles which I sold to get my 2500. The 2016 was starting to hunt for gears at times the last few months I had it.

I am not into spending big money on something I do not need.

Edited December 21, 2022 by gkhashem

gkhashem · December 21, 2022

On 12/16/2022 at 7:48 AM, Ry Guy said:

I would hope that a truck that is rated to pull 14k-16k lbs would do a good job pulling a load that could be adequately handled by a half ton.

I am not pulling for max load, I have some antique cars that weigh about 5000 lbs and with the trailer I am at 8500 lbs or so. My half ton was a 2016 GMC while on paper it was able to do it, I never liked the feel of it sometimes. For what I need the 6 speed was more than adequate.

Doodle · December 21, 2022

As I said in a previous post I’m happy with the 6 speed but I do think the 10 speed will really help towing wise. There is a flat spot between 3-4th in my opinion when you are towing heavy. I think a few more gears will help keep the powerband going. Once up to cruising speed the 6 speed is adequate. I took my 23 on a 900 mile roadtrip this weekend and hit some interstate at 80 mph with some good hills. It never downshifted once (unloaded) so that was good. I did notice running at 65 compared to 70 I was getting 1.5 to 2 mpg better. Kind of shocked me. I ran 25 mile runs on flat ground and at 65 it was 17 and at 70 it was 15.2. At 80 it was 14. Imagine at 60 might be over 18 but didn’t ever go that slow. Pretty impressed so far with the 6.6 gas.

Pryme · December 21, 2022

9 hours ago, Doodle said:

As I said in a previous post I’m happy with the 6 speed but I do think the 10 speed will really help towing wise. There is a flat spot between 3-4th in my opinion when you are towing heavy. I think a few more gears will help keep the powerband going. Once up to cruising speed the 6 speed is adequate. I took my 23 on a 900 mile roadtrip this weekend and hit some interstate at 80 mph with some good hills. It never downshifted once (unloaded) so that was good. I did notice running at 65 compared to 70 I was getting 1.5 to 2 mpg better. Kind of shocked me. I ran 25 mile runs on flat ground and at 65 it was 17 and at 70 it was 15.2. At 80 it was 14. Imagine at 60 might be over 18 but didn’t ever go that slow. Pretty impressed so far with the 6.6 gas.

Yeah I had cruise set on some fairly steep hills that my previous truck(16 tundra) would downshift to 5th on and the 6.6 was holding 6th pulling these same hills at 70. I liked it.

CRApex · December 21, 2022

14 hours ago, gkhashem said:

Tell me how battle tested it is later on. 3 years means little if you need to replace that 10 speed at 100,000 miles or 5 years.

I just replaced my transmission on my 1999 GMC that was rust free and pristine, but the transmission went at 110,000 miles. I had a 2016 GMC with 21,000 miles which I sold to get my 2500. The 2016 was starting to hunt for gears at times the last few months I had it.

I am not into spending big money on something I do not need.

I will glady tell you soon, approaching 90k and it drives like the day I picked it up.

Hey, if youre happy with the 6spd more power too you, I want the 10spd and I was only responding to your comment that its not battle tested which it is. I think we will all find that it makes the 6.6 gas a much nicer truck to drive and tow with.

Edited December 21, 2022 by CRApex

Ray Pickle · December 21, 2022

Defining " battle tested", may require more than one or two examples of just 100k. That being said I have minimal concerns that the 10 speed will be problematic based on other versions already in service.

gkhashem · December 23, 2022

Here's one for you here in the bullet proof 10 speed.

CRApex · December 23, 2022

3 minutes ago, gkhashem said:

Here's one for you here in the bullet proof 10 speed.

Of course there will be failures, that doesn't change the fact it is an excellent transmission. Let me just say, don't stress, you still have a very nice truck regardless of the tranny. The 10spd will be great paired with the 6.6 gas though. I put 50k on my 1st 2020 and almost 90k on my second so far with the 10spd, once you spend time driving it you'll understand how good it is.

gkhashem · December 24, 2022

On 12/22/2022 at 8:07 PM, CRApex said:

Of course there will be failures, that doesn't change the fact it is an excellent transmission. Let me just say, don't stress, you still have a very nice truck regardless of the tranny. The 10spd will be great paired with the 6.6 gas though. I put 50k on my 1st 2020 and almost 90k on my second so far with the 10spd, once you spend time driving it you'll understand how good it is.

I'm not stressed at all. But the need for some people to add more and more complication to things to eek out a small advantage. There is a point of diminishing returns. Look at the cylinder deactivation garbage, the 8 to 4 cylinder game to get a mile per gallon more. While you wear out he engine prematurely. Or the stop/start the engine on new cars. This was a big reason why I bought my 2500, it had none of this on it. If they come out with a 12 speed or 15 speed the same people will be clamoring for that too. GM loves it, the truck will need to be replaced in 5 or 6 years. No more 150K-250K trucks, you will buy a new one and be happy.

My 4 speed on my 1999 GMC 1500 died at 110K. Now I bought it at 90K, but from the looks of it there was no hard use. I think the sunshell broke. But I spent the $3200 since it was rust free and hopefully I get another 100K miles and 7 years out of it.

Also if your towing for max weight, would not the diesel be a better choice?

Edited December 24, 2022 by gkhashem