Chevy 2500 HD question?

[Pick]

Wow, after reading all these tales of woe, I am glad I got the good old fashioned shift lever on my 4X4.

I am getting 23 mpg mixed/around town/some freeway, about 31 mpg freeway, 70-80 mph, with propane on. Cost per mile is about the same, sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on cost of propane and diesel. My cruising range is 800 miles per tank of diesel and gas. So I can plan my fuel stops at the most economical stations.

[ticki2]

[quote=Pick]Wow, after reading all these tales of woe, I am glad I got the good old fashioned shift lever on my 4X

Pick , Overlander64 has a whole different animal . The 2500HD dosn't come with that system(automatic 4WD).We have electronic switch 4WD . The part that goes bad is about 50 bucks.

[Pearl54FC]

Hi All,

I just got back from Jackson Center with my 86, 32' Excella on the back (2400 miles round trip) and I averaged 15 mpg! I get the same towing Pearl (54, 21' Flying Cloud) and I thought the bigger trailer would take more fuel! The big guy just likes pulling trailers and doesn't seem to mind which one!

Patti

[Alumaholic]

Originally Posted by Pearl54FC

Hi All,

I just got back from Jackson Center with my 86, 32' Excella on the back (2400 miles round trip) and I averaged 15 mpg! I get the same towing Pearl (54, 21' Flying Cloud) and I thought the bigger trailer would take more fuel! The big guy just likes pulling trailers and doesn't seem to mind which one!

Patti

What was your average highway speed?

[dscluchfc]

I have the GMC 2002 HD2500 crew cab Duramax Allison with hard shell taneau cover.
Solo I get 19-21 mpg depending on how easy I am with it enjoying the acceleration of all that torque...(sure is hell on tires) and if I am doing 70ish mph or 80ish mph affects it.
Pulling the 1984 Excella 31 ft, I get 14ish if I am 60ish mph, and 12 if I am 70ish mph on speed.
Ken, sounds like you may have an incorrect code on your injector pump, or you may be in the early stage of injector seat failure on one or more of them.

My injector seats washed out starting at about 80,000 miles and in a space of about 2000 miles, I went from 19-21 mpg to less than 11 and the crankcase full of diesel instead of oil and oil all over the undercarriage of the truck displaced out the slobber vent. My injectors were fully warrantied and continue to be warrantied to 200,000 miles on a recall. A dealer in Denton TX repaired my troubles and provided a rental all at no charge. I was on a trip and it screwed up my schedule, but it all turned out ok with no apparent damage to the truck as it now has almost 100,000 miles on it.
So, keep careful watch on your oil level....if you start "making oil" you may be in the early stages of injector seat failure. I hope not, but just a thought.

[silverback]

Originally Posted by dscluchfc

Ken, sounds like you may have an incorrect code on your injector pump, or you may be in the early stage of injector seat failure on one or more of them.

David,
Which of us Kens are you replying to? I'm pretty sure the injecter problem was fixed when my late 04 LB7 was built.

Ken

[ticki2]

Originally Posted by silverback

David,
Which of us Kens are you replying to? I'm pretty sure the injecter problem was fixed when my late 04 LB7 was built.

Ken

Don't count on it , not as many as '01-'02 , but some are still having problems.

[Alumaholic]

Originally Posted by silverback

David,
Which of us Kens are you replying to? I'm pretty sure the injecter problem was fixed when my late 04 LB7 was built.

Ken

Silverback,
I'm pretty sure he's talking to me... I asked you the low fuel mileage question, and if you thought the bed cover or the Banks contributed most to your sweet mileage numbers.

I'm only getting 13.3 pulling my 31' Sovereign at 65-72 mph in the wide open spaces of NM, AZ, and UT. In the mountains of CO, where average speed is more like 55-60, I still get 13.3. In four wheel drive dragging a Jeep on a trailer in and out of the wildereness, I get 13.3. Around town not towing, I get 13.3. I have never taken a road trip without a trailer, so I don't have data for non-towing highway. I have a 2005 4X4 Crew Cab, short bed,with fewer than 10,000 miles. Should I have the dealer check it out?

[dscluchfc]

Originally Posted by klevan

Silverback,
I'm pretty sure he's talking to me... I asked you the low fuel mileage question, and if you thought the bed cover or the Banks contributed most to your sweet mileage numbers.

I'm only getting 13.3 pulling my 31' Sovereign at 65-72 mph in the wide open spaces of NM, AZ, and UT. In the mountains of CO, where average speed is more like 55-60, I still get 13.3. In four wheel drive dragging a Jeep on a trailer in and out of the wildereness, I get 13.3. Around town not towing, I get 13.3. I have never taken a road trip without a trailer, so I don't have data for non-towing highway. I have a 2005 4X4 Crew Cab, short bed,with fewer than 10,000 miles. Should I have the dealer check it out?

Ken Levan-
It's under warranty, so you have nothing to lose having the dealer check it.
Your tow mileage is about like mine when towing my 31 footer at 65-72 mph.
My in town mileage is a bit better than yours maybe, but I am broken in a little more than you are at almost 100K, and I have adjusted to driving with "the egg under my foot" methodology to keep from wearing out tires in only 20,000 miles per set on the rear.
This set has 30,000 on them and is about 1/3 tread left. The last set was gone on the back tires at 20,000 miles, but I was loving the torque pinning me to the seat.
I have a 20 minute commute at 70 mph down I-27 to see my clients, so my mileage daily is mixed city and highway and usually runs about 17 mpg. If I was city only, I might be 13-14 mpg. Like I say, I have toned down the jackrabbit starts and really go easy, and my tires are thankful.

[Cracker]

For the record my 2003 GMC, LB, 4x4, CC with Duramax/Allison and an A.R.E. tonneau cover on the bed averages just under 14 mpg with the 2000 30' Excella in tow and about 18.5 mpg solo at about 60 mph average. I can get 21 mpg, on the level, at 55 mph - but that's not a realistic scenario. My overall average, since I purchased the beast, is 14.9 mpg. I have a built-in bed load (generators, tonneau cover, custom bin and floor items, plus other camping gear, of around 750 lbs. The rigs overall weight, ready for the road, and including the hitch assembly, is right at 8,400 lbs - the same as the trailer - although the 18.5 mpg solo doesn't normally include the hitch assembly. I use Mobil 1 Synthetic but I don't believe that's a factor - contrary to others that swear by synthetics! I simply like the extended change interval (---usualy about 7,500 miles, regardless of the computer numbers) and I change the fuel filter with every oil change. Cheap insurance for a great vehicle! I get a sh-- eating grin on my face every time I fire it up for a trip! It's too bad that the fuel Gods have pushed diesel prices right up there alongside low octane gas.

As for the original topic regarding overdrive, I use the "tow/haul" mode religiously since a lot of my travels are in Eastern mountain ranges. It does switch to overdrive at about 57 mph, provided we're not climbing - but the most noticeable difference is in the lower gear shift points. The Allison transmission is simply something else - and what a joy on long downhill grades! The transmission will never allow the truck to "lug" in overdrive - but note that I'm only towing about 63% of my design capacity.

[DreamStreamr]

Late post on last Summer's thread, and echoing another's comment -- I love my 2500HD! We opted for 8.1L (496!?) gas with allison 6spd, glas tonneau cover on back. Muscle truck! we get 13 mpg hiway towing CCD 25 and 18 mpg hiway solo. I think we get 6-9 mpg solo if we do errands in town, and the town miles just don't add up so who cares -- we love towing in our truck. While it seems nice we have capability to "manually" shift the allison we learned pretty quickly the transmission brain is way smarter than we so we just leave it in overdrive. holds 58 mpg at 1,500 rpm all day except for little excursions to 2,400 rpm for hills. cool

[gphillips]

I have a 2005 D/MAX, allison 4+4, I average abut 12.5 at 75 mph. Pulling 31 F

[RedSHED]

Originally Posted by balestrine

I have a 2005 D/MAX, allison 4+4, I average abut 12.5 at 75 mph. Pulling 31 F

not in the same league, but for the sake of comparison...
2003 1500HD, 6.0 gas, 4x4. 4-up in front and 31' Excella: worst tank 9mpg, best around 12.5, 11 is mean, median, and mode.
But only at 60mph. Hey, it's a vacation, if I wanted to be in a rush I'd have stayed at work, right?

[Silvertwinkie]

My 04 burb 4x4 w/ 6.0L and 4.10s ranges between 9.8 and 12.6 FWIW.....

[safari57]

Originally Posted by rebel beck

Gas will probably be $5 a gallon then.

That would be in parts of Canada. We are paying over a dollar a litre right now which equates to a tad over $4 Canadian for a US gallon, all rough calculations. The way things are going we'll hit that sad $5 mark soon enough.

Barry

[jdalrymple]

The price of fuel (diesel) makes one think of french fry grease, doesn't it?