Ground Clearance

[Kansas Kid]

Well, I had always thought the frame on the 2500HD's and 3500's sat low, but the frame is much lower then I had originally thought.  The other night I checked the ground to frame clearance on my truck, against a 2500HD.  Now both trucks had LT245/75R16 tires, and were on level ground, parked side by side.  My truck had right at 11.5" of clearance at the lowest point on the frame.  The 2500HD had under 11" of ground clearance along the whole portion of the frame (It was a CC)  But it gets worse, because the 2500HD has that stupid transmission crossmember which hangs about 2" lower (not for sure, maybe somebody who owns one could measure how far it hangs down).  Thats under 9" of clearance, about about 2' behind the front tires!  To me this seems like a perfect stump catcher.  

 

 

But after looking at these trucks, I decided a few things.  First of all, a regular cab is definitly in the cards for me.  Even though the frame rails come down the same distance, they are much shorter.  Less places to get hung up.  The other thing is that aftermarket rims and some 285 tires are gonna have to be the first mod.  I was hoping to get away with the PYO rims and 265's (they have a 3400lb load rating vs 3300 for the 285's).

[quadrunner500]

Hey, if you think it's low to the frame, put your tape on that rear differential housing...ain't much clearance there either. I wouldn't recommend off roading. Use it as the mother ship for atv's and dirt bikes instead, deliver the payload, ground shuttle...it's a truck, not an off road adventure machine. It'll get your fifth wheel in there with the others. That's what trucks are for.

[CMNTMXR81]

No offense, 2500HD's and 3500's aren't meant as off-road machines.  They are meant to have stronger frames and driveline/suspension pieces for the added weight carrying capacity that they provide.

 

Now normally the heavier the frame classification, the higher the truck.  Problem is, they get to a point where you can't reasonably lift cargo into the bed especially if it's of the heavier variety for which the truck was designed.

 

This was one of GM's reasons behind the design of the HD trucks.  Give it maximum strength towing and load capacity but yet make it so the averge person can still load and unload it. As such, some ground clearance had to be sacraficed.

 

In the end though, the lowest point on your vehicle will be the bottom of your pumpkin, so no matter whether you have 9" of clearance or 25" of clearance on the frame, your axle(s) will still drag somewhere along the line.  So to me it's irrelevant unless you spend a lot of time rock crawling.

[Kansas Kid]

Quote from CMNTMXR81, posted on Nov. 20 2001,12:36

No offense, 2500HD's and 3500's aren't meant as off-road machines.  They are meant to have stronger frames and driveline/suspension pieces for the added weight carrying capacity that they provide.

 

So please explain to me why they even need to offer a 4wd configuration in a 3/4 ton and up truck.  If they aren't designed to be off-road vehicles, then you certainly don't need a 4wd.

 

This was one of GM's reasons behind the design of the HD trucks.  Give it maximum strength towing and load capacity but yet make it so the averge person can still load and unload it. As such, some ground clearance had to be sacraficed.

 

I don't know if you've looked at the previous C/K pickups lately, but what you said isn't true.  The bed on a 2500HD is atleast 4" higher then the bed on my truck, yet it lost over 2" of ground clearance.  So basically what GM came out with, is a low/high truck.  The bed is high in the air, and the frame is low to the ground.  Doesn't make much sense to me.  

 

I know the Ford SuperDutys bed isn't much higher then a HD, yet the frame is tucked up under the body.  There is no reason for the GM pickups to sit as high as the Superduty with such a low frame.

 

In the end though, the lowest point on your vehicle will be the bottom of your pumpkin, so no matter whether you have 9" of clearance or 25" of clearance on the frame, your axle(s) will still drag somewhere along the line.

 

Using a differental measurement as an example is not a good comparison. The tires will take you over a sharp high "bump" and you won't high center.  Can't say that about a frame rail.

 

So to me it's irrelevant unless you spend a lot of time rock crawling.

 

Well ya know, I'm certainly not a hard core off-roader.  But I certainly expect a truck with the 4x4 option to not be a low rider.  Is it that much to ask that a 4wd truck be able to go back in a pasture to feed or check cows, pickup up hay bales, check fence, or even go through a stream bed to get to a hunting spot?  Alot of the places I go to do routine stuff, the new GM HD trucks wouldn't make it.

[chevy4x4trucks]

So please explain to me why they even need to offer a 4wd configuration in a 3/4 ton and up truck.  If they aren't designed to be off-road vehicles, then you certainly don't need a 4wd.

 

Now, I realize that driving ability has a lot to do w/ it, but I'd like to see you get through a wisconsin winter w/ a 2wd.  It's nearly impossible, unless you wait for the plows.  And that's another point right there.  Most guys who plow want a 4wd pickup.

 

 

Let's face it, trucks are just going to get lower and lower and lower.  They want to make it easier for shorter people (mainly women) to get in since they are becoming the target audience of big trucks and SUV's.  That's where the lift kit steps in.

[viperapex]

Well fellas, I hate to burst your bubble, but the ol' HD seems to be right at home off the beaten path.  Maybe I'm not a serious off road guy, but it seems with my locker and 4x4 I can get anywhere I'm allowed by law.    I don't climb rock cliffs with this thing.  And besides going through clearcuts with high stumps an lots of em' i'm pretty safe.  The differential does hang down to about 7 inches but it's higher than my ol F150 so I'm pleased as can be.  And having those heavy frame pieces down a lil lower sure helps with that center of gravity.  I've been on some decent side slopes and it doesn't even hint at rolling over.  

 

I've been through some pretty good stuff (including a small river w/ a soft bottom, lotsa pasture fields, big ol mud bogs, etc and all while hauling a pretty good load of gear).

 

This trucks all I could hope for in a stump pullin' off roadin machine.

[Kansas Kid]

Heck, I'm just gonna give up on this issue.  Its quite apparent that nobody will admit (other then me) that this is the one area that GM is sorely lacking compared to the other makes.  I've never heard of a F*rd or D*dge rolling while off-road, and their frame is some 10" higher in the air.  I honestly don't think I'm asking that much for a 4x4 truck to be more capable off-road then my old mans 94 C1500 pickup.    

 

I think what really agravates me is that the frame keeps getting lower, yet the bed keeps getting higher, resulting in nearly the whole frame being exposed (and a very high bed to load stuff into).  But maybe I'm wrong to think the frame on this truck could have been designed better, but for that kind of money I expect alot from a truck.

[quadrunner500]

So please explain to me why they even need to offer a 4wd configuration in a 3/4 ton and up truck.  

[chevy4x4trucks]

can somebody buy that guy a snow brush

[RyanbabZ71]

quad wanted to make the picture look dramatic like he slept out there over night or something so he threw snow on his windows and took a pic haha

 

So you gonna take your new truck up there this winter man?

[chevy4x4trucks]

Quote from quadrunner500, posted on Nov. 21 2001,03:31

So please explain to me why they even need to offer a 4wd configuration in a 3/4 ton and up truck.  

 

 

Do this in a 2wd, you wouldn't have even made it out of the parking lot.

[CMNTMXR81]

Quote from Kansas Kid, posted on Nov. 20 2001,2:39

Quote from CMNTMXR81, posted on Nov. 20 2001,12:36

No offense, 2500HD's and 3500's aren't meant as off-road machines.  They are meant to have stronger frames and driveline/suspension pieces for the added weight carrying capacity that they provide.

 

So please explain to me why they even need to offer a 4wd configuration in a 3/4 ton and up truck.  If they aren't designed to be off-road vehicles, then you certainly don't need a 4wd.

 

This was one of GM's reasons behind the design of the HD trucks.  Give it maximum strength towing and load capacity but yet make it so the averge person can still load and unload it. As such, some ground clearance had to be sacraficed.

 

I don't know if you've looked at the previous C/K pickups lately, but what you said isn't true.  The bed on a 2500HD is atleast 4" higher then the bed on my truck, yet it lost over 2" of ground clearance.  So basically what GM came out with, is a low/high truck.  The bed is high in the air, and the frame is low to the ground.  Doesn't make much sense to me.  

 

I know the Ford SuperDutys bed isn't much higher then a HD, yet the frame is tucked up under the body.  There is no reason for the GM pickups to sit as high as the Superduty with such a low frame.

 

In the end though, the lowest point on your vehicle will be the bottom of your pumpkin, so no matter whether you have 9" of clearance or 25" of clearance on the frame, your axle(s) will still drag somewhere along the line.

 

Using a differental measurement as an example is not a good comparison. The tires will take you over a sharp high "bump" and you won't high center.  Can't say that about a frame rail.

 

So to me it's irrelevant unless you spend a lot of time rock crawling.

 

Well ya know, I'm certainly not a hard core off-roader.  But I certainly expect a truck with the 4x4 option to not be a low rider.  Is it that much to ask that a 4wd truck be able to go back in a pasture to feed or check cows, pickup up hay bales, check fence, or even go through a stream bed to get to a hunting spot?  Alot of the places I go to do routine stuff, the new GM HD trucks wouldn't make it.

 

"So please explain to me why they even need to offer a 4wd configuration in a 3/4 ton and up truck.  If they aren't designed to be off-road vehicles, then you certainly don't need a 4wd."

 

Four Wheel Drive isn't JUST used for intense off-road activity.  Contractor who utilize 3/4 and 1 ton trucks also tend to be in construction pits and other places where the paved road really isn't paved.  Many like (and you) live in northern climates where snow falls.  As you pointed out (which I will get to shortly), 4WD is essential in these areas.  As such, offering any truck without some form of at least a part time 4x4 system would be sales suicide.

 

"I don't know if you've looked at the previous C/K pickups lately, but what you said isn't true.  The bed on a 2500HD is atleast 4" higher then the bed on my truck, yet it lost over 2" of ground clearance.  So basically what GM came out with, is a low/high truck.  The bed is high in the air, and the frame is low to the ground.  Doesn't make much sense to me."

 

I think you are confusing things here.  Bed rails could be 15' high for all I care, as long as I can easily load the bed where the bed opens.  Lift in height and unload height is drastically different despite the HD having higher bed rails.  Try lifting bails of hay or 100lb bags of fertilizer into an F-250 and then do the same on a 2500HD.  You'll find you don't need to lift as high to get the stuff into the bed of the 2500HD.  Some of this lower lift in height can be attained by lowering the chassis a little.

 

"Using a differental measurement as an example is not a good comparison. The tires will take you over a sharp high "bump" and you won't high center.  Can't say that about a frame rail."

 

Why not?  No matter how much ground clearance you have anywhere else on the truck, the bottoms of you axle are still the lowest point.  End of story.  In certian situations such as crawling over stuff then it may be important but in most cases such as trail and mud pits that I run in, the frame is high enough, it's my rear end dragging through the mud that concerns me.

 

"Well ya know, I'm certainly not a hard core off-roader.  But I certainly expect a truck with the 4x4 option to not be a low rider.  Is it that much to ask that a 4wd truck be able to go back in a pasture to feed or check cows, pickup up hay bales, check fence, or even go through a stream bed to get to a hunting spot?  Alot of the places I go to do routine stuff, the new GM HD trucks wouldn't make it."

 

It's NOT a lowrider!  The frame is still higher than that in my Tahoe or my Blazer.  Both of which spent plenty of time in the trails and mud.  Both of which never left me walking, as such, the 2500HD with the exception of needing more care due to it being wider, taller and longer than the other two, it should take me to the same places the other two did nary a problem.  For going into a field or pasture, the truck isn't going to have a problem.  If you have problems in those situations you must have a really odd pasture/field.  I lived on a farm and we accomplished the same chores with a beat up ol 2WD Chevy C10.  If it could do it, I'm sure the 2500HD/3500 could manage it.

[Kansas Kid]

I think you are confusing things here.  Bed rails could be 15' high for all I care, as long as I can easily load the bed where the bed opens.  Lift in height and unload height is drastically different despite the HD having higher bed rails.  Try lifting bails of hay or 100lb bags of fertilizer into an F-250 and then do the same on a 2500HD.  You'll find you don't need to lift as high to get the stuff into the bed of the 2500HD.  Some of this lower lift in height can be attained by lowering the chassis a little.

 

Actually, I think you are confused from what I was trying to say.  GM made the 2500HD and 3500 trucks have a drastically higher load height then the previous generation trucks, but they made the frame lower to the ground at the same time.  I would have much prefered they make the body lower since the frame is lower, or make the frame higher since the body is so much higher.  I load bags of seed onto a 99 F350 all the time (Its the heavy hauling truck) and the bed height on it is no different then on a 3500 Gm.  Thats probably what pisses me off about more so then the low ground clearance.  If I have to load into a high pickup, it might as well have some good off-road capabilities.

 

But despite what you are saying, the truck is not near as capable off-road as I think it could be with such a high load height.  Its probably something I can overcome with larger tires, but that doesn't sit well with me.  It just means I have to lift stuff higher (Probably comparable to a F250 with stock tires).  This is just something I don't like like about the new trucks.  And probably the only thing....

[Kansas Kid]

Hey quadrunner, what were ya up to in that picture?  Hunting, snowmobiling, or something else.  Looks like a pretty cool place to be.  I bet that Dmax probably handles the altitude a little better then the 5.3 in that picture....

[02_2500hd]

I noticed that when I changed my oil a few weeks ago that I couldn't crawl under the truck to get to the plug. I had to run it up on my ramps to get the clearence. My Ram 1500 4x4 I have all kinds of room to get under it. I can even roll over under it.

With that said....

I love the way my 2500hd rides, tows, and hauls and does everything I've asked(except scrapping bottom on one rock heading up to my hunting lodge)

 

gary