New Guy Looking At A New Truck. Your Knowledge. I Seek It!

TheUNZippee! · November 30, 2008

Hi everyone. Forum noob here.

I currently own a 2007 Mustang GT, and I absolutely love the car.

However. I live 100 miles north of Toronto, and I commute 240 miles one way to work, every week. So 480 miles of nothing but highway driving.

A few weeks back, due to a bunch of personal reasons, I wound up down at work with two cars, my Mustang, and a 94 Buick winter beater I had just bought, and no extra driver to get the extra car home the 240 miles.

So, I rented a tandem axle car trailer, and my buddy lent me his 06 F150 4x4 SC to tow the Mustang home with......this may have been a grievous mistake. lol

I also kept the truck an extra week when the weather went south and the beater wasn't quite ready, so I had the opportunity to drive the Ford through a couple of big snow storms.

Yeah and guess what. Now I want a truck. Go figure, my drive through 6 months of hellacious winter is a lot easier in a4x4 than a car.lol

So, I started doing research, and discovered that GM appears to have the best fuel economy. With my long hwy commute, and gas still 3.20 a gallon up here, this is obviously the main factor for me. Ford is out of the question, Dodge can't haul for crap, and also the new Ford's are hideous.

Thus I landed at GM.

I am thinking of an 09 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4, with ext cab, 5.3, 6'6" box, and the all terrain package.

What, if anything should I be looking out for when purchasing this truck?

Are there any options I should look for or avoid?

Are there any engines and gear ratio combinations I should avoid, bearing in mind hwy mpg is important to me?

For 09, is there a difference in mpg between the 5.3 (non-flex fuel) & the 6.0 with the 6 speed auto?

I know with my Mustang, things like a cold air intake, tune, and exhaust (not my race tunes, but like my 89 torque tune) not only added power, but also gave me 1-2 mpg. Will this hold true on either the 5.3 or 6.0?

Any information before I take the 35k plunge would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to learning and becoming part of the truck world again.

Oh. And being able to pull my own damn trailer and haul my own damn crap home will be awesome as well. lol

-Rick

P'cola Denali · November 30, 2008

Thats a sweet truck. If you are just going to drive around and tow light loads thats your best pick. Have you looked at a Denali? More goodies and power for about $5,000 more if that. The 6.2 put's out over 400hp and you can get it in AWD.

TheUNZippee! · November 30, 2008

Thats a sweet truck. If you are just going to drive around and tow light loads thats your best pick. Have you looked at a Denali? More goodies and power for about $5,000 more if that. The 6.2 put's out over 400hp and you can get it in AWD.

I have, but up here they are way out of my price range. Also, I'm not sure what the 6.2 gets for hwy mpg.

Silver Wraith · November 30, 2008

Thats a sweet truck. If you are just going to drive around and tow light loads thats your best pick. Have you looked at a Denali? More goodies and power for about $5,000 more if that. The 6.2 put's out over 400hp and you can get it in AWD.

I have, but up here they are way out of my price range. Also, I'm not sure what the 6.2 gets for hwy mpg.

If mileage is at all a concern, why not check out the new Silverado hybrid? 6.0 litre (332 hp), and has not only the electric motor but the fuel management system.

Silver Wraith · November 30, 2008

Thats a sweet truck. If you are just going to drive around and tow light loads thats your best pick. Have you looked at a Denali? More goodies and power for about $5,000 more if that. The 6.2 put's out over 400hp and you can get it in AWD.

I have, but up here they are way out of my price range. Also, I'm not sure what the 6.2 gets for hwy mpg.

If mileage is at all a concern, why not check out the new Silverado hybrid? 6.0 litre (332 hp), and has not only the electric motor but the fuel management system.

By the way, as far as options to avoid...get the base interior or the leather...avoid the lint-trap premium cloth. You'll be sorry.

Paul58 · November 30, 2008

I agree, the 5.3L will do you fine with what you're looking to do. If you could find a low mileage 07 or 08, that could save you some money, but the 6 speed tranny in the 09 is a really tempting feature. I can get 20 mph on the highay with my truck (2WD), the 6 speed will probably do better just because the gear ratios are closer and the engine does not have to rev as high before shifting to the next higher gear. Good luck and welcome to the Forum!

2000DV4.8 · November 30, 2008

What, if anything should I be looking out for when purchasing this truck?

Are there any options I should look for or avoid?

Are there any engines and gear ratio combinations I should avoid, bearing in mind hwy mpg is important to me?

If you do a lot of highway driving and don't haul or tow a lot, you would probably want to stay away from 4.10s. 3.73s are a good all around ratio, a good balance between a towing gear and a highway mileage gear. 3.42s are going to give you the best highway fuel economy, but will not be as good for towing, and would decrease the driveability of the truck. If the truck you're looking at has the 6spd, throw these numbers out the window, the 6spd has a very low first gear, so a 3.42 rear end will be good off the line, and net good highway fuel economy.

For 09, is there a difference in mpg between the 5.3 (non-flex fuel) & the 6.0 with the 6 speed auto?

Can't comment, I drive an old rustbucket.

I know with my Mustang, things like a cold air intake, tune, and exhaust (not my race tunes, but like my 89 torque tune) not only added power, but also gave me 1-2 mpg. Will this hold true on either the 5.3 or 6.0?

All of these will help a little bit, but probably won't be worth the money if fuel economy is your main reason for purchasing. A custom tune will greatly increase the driveability of the truck. Do a search on here, this kind of stuff has been covered before, and you'll find a lot more info a lot quicker.

Any information before I take the 35k plunge would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to learning and becoming part of the truck world again.

Oh. And being able to pull my own damn trailer and haul my own damn crap home will be awesome as well. lol

-Rick

Answered as best I could above in red.

TheUNZippee! · November 30, 2008

Thanks everyone

Wraith- those are also out of my price range up here. Plus I really want a PU. Thanks for the tip on the interior as well. The all terrain package is supposed to come with an upgraded interior, so hopefully I will avoid that issue.

Paul- thanks for the info and the welcome.

DV- thanks for the information man. I'll look at the 6 speed, but in the 1500 ext cab I must then get the 6.0 to get it. So I need to find out what the 6.0 is rated at hwy mpg.

VMax2007 · November 30, 2008

Thats a sweet truck. If you are just going to drive around and tow light loads thats your best pick. Have you looked at a Denali? More goodies and power for about $5,000 more if that. The 6.2 put's out over 400hp and you can get it in AWD.

I have, but up here they are way out of my price range. Also, I'm not sure what the 6.2 gets for hwy mpg.

If mileage is at all a concern, why not check out the new Silverado hybrid? 6.0 litre (332 hp), and has not only the electric motor but the fuel management system.

The advantage of the Hybrid is in city driving, not hwy.

VMax2007 · November 30, 2008

Thanks everyone

Wraith- those are also out of my price range up here. Plus I really want a PU. Thanks for the tip on the interior as well. The all terrain package is supposed to come with an upgraded interior, so hopefully I will avoid that issue.

Paul- thanks for the info and the welcome.

DV- thanks for the information man. I'll look at the 6 speed, but in the 1500 ext cab I must then get the 6.0 to get it. So I need to find out what the 6.0 is rated at hwy mpg.

I am not certain, but I believe the 6 spd will be available in the 5.3 Ext cabs beginning in Jan 09.

2000DV4.8 · November 30, 2008

Thanks everyone

Wraith- those are also out of my price range up here. Plus I really want a PU. Thanks for the tip on the interior as well. The all terrain package is supposed to come with an upgraded interior, so hopefully I will avoid that issue.

Paul- thanks for the info and the welcome.

DV- thanks for the information man. I'll look at the 6 speed, but in the 1500 ext cab I must then get the 6.0 to get it. So I need to find out what the 6.0 is rated at hwy mpg.

I am not certain, but I believe the 6 spd will be available in the 5.3 Ext cabs beginning in Jan 09.

That's what I thought as well...

TheUNZippee! · November 30, 2008

Thanks VMax.

I'm pretty sure from all the trucks I've been building at GM's website, that you can't get the 6 speed with a 5.3, but I'll double check with my salesman to be sure.

MarkPMB · November 30, 2008

The cloth interior does attract lint and such, but the seats are very comfortable IMO.

I don't like leather, so the cloth works well for me. Lint rollers are cheap I guess

If you will have more than 2 adult passengers on a regular basis I would go for a crew cab.

Other than that, I love my truck, and I love the one you are looking at even more!

VMax2007 · November 30, 2008

Thanks VMax.

I'm pretty sure from all the trucks I've been building at GM's website, that you can't get the 6 speed with a 5.3, but I'll double check with my salesman to be sure.

MS3Dale has mentioned several times that beginning in Jan 09, they will be producing the Ext cabs with the 5.3 and 6 speeds. Your salesman may play "dumb" (or simply may be dumb) and not reveal this info to you since he wants you to buy what he has now.

Paul58 · November 30, 2008

Didn't mean to mislead anyone, I was going off an article I read in a Truck Mag about the 09 GMT900s. They made it sound like all 09's would have the new 6 speed.

Another option is the new XFE Models that are supposed to get better mileage than the standard trucks, but I don't recall if they are available in 4X4.

If the 09's do still come with the 4 speed, then I would definately be looking at the left-over 08s because there are some awesome deals on those right now! Other than Bluetooth, I'm not sure what other options are available on 09s that aren't available on the 08s. And pretty soon, Bluetooth will be available as an aftermarket option.