Chevy Silverado? Anyone heard of it...

[Ntex]

Our 2013 Denali 3/4 ton diesel does not have those mirrors. Ours have the separate upper and lower parts, and they extend, but but you have to manually extend and retract them. You can adjust them electronically, however, and the mirrors are great for towing. My understanding is that GM did a pretty substantial redesign on creature comfort things with the 2014 model. More connectivity and that type of thing. That said, our truck is mighty comfortable. A smooth and quiet ride. I drove a Yukon (Denali version of the Tahoe) before we had the truck and had to give it up to get something with more payload when we got our 28 ft Classic. I was sorry to see the Yukon go because it was a wonderful, cushy vehicle, but the truck looks pretty much the same inside and comes in a close second. My main complaint about it is that, even with running boards, it is so tall that I have to pull myself in and basically fall out. I am short though.


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[DHart]

Originally Posted by Danattherock

Anyone looking at the 2500 chevy/gmc needs to be mindful of a few things

Reluctantly, I agreed to test drive a black, brand new, shiny Denali 2500 HD Duramax this past Friday. There were so many options on the window sticker they had to type them on both sides. You read most the crap from outside the truck, then have to open passenger door so you can read the rest from inside.

Really wish I had not bothered. You ride down the road and it's like being in a locked air tight chamber. Hardly any noise. It's odd, I will say that. To less intellagent country folk in my area, I dare say it might be confusing, scary perhaps. Like Roswell. Elvis's empty grave. Suspension bridges. That marshmallow in a jar stuff. Not sure how many have exploded over campfires. Non-alcoholic beer. Etc.

There may be a powerful engine up front, might be a battery pack, not sure. It looked like a big powerful truck, but I feel like I'm riding around some swanky $200/round golf course in an electric golf cart in Pinehurst on smooth perfect concrete paths. Where's the beer girl?

Hell, I'm cultured by comparison to my redneck lineage (means I can type and travel a lot, otherwise no differences) and I rolled the auto driver door window up and down three times. Yep, salesman looked like I was eating crickets. Saw the glass moving, but no sounds. Almost like I rolled windows up and down after having fired my 50 BMG rifle. It's for black choppers circling the house. No sound with windows. It's just weird any way you cut it.

This is not how trucks are supposed to be. My grandpa had duct tape seats. You just can't buy seats that durable on these new trucks. Nor can you slide in and out as easily on this unusually high quality leather Denali seats. He could fix anything on his old Chevy. Almost like he hoped the damn thing would break down just so he could prove his Shadetree skills off. By comparison this Denali has sensors that monitor sensors. The back up system, surely has two back up systems. I'm sure.

Then the meager 397 HP Duramax. What the hell were they thinking?? Geesh. Just do something, anything, throw a small can of octane booster in during dyno testing, GET IT TO 400!!!!

No way I'm buying this pile of GMC ^]!\>\<\<. It's way too nice for me. Tongue in cheek, surely. This was the nicest truck I've ever seen. Absolutely floored me. I wasn't prepared to be impressed like that. Would never have pictured myself in a Denali anything. Till now.


Dan

Dan... unlike you, I have had two Denali vehicles before the Denali HD pickup (both were Yukons). They have spoiled me.

I was like you, though, when I drove the Sierra Denali HD Duramax. So quiet I couldn't believe it was a diesel. Such power I wasn't expecting either. Most definitely the nicest truck I've ever been in. (I've had an F-150 and an F-250 in the past.) There is something about GM full size SUVs and trucks that really "do it" for me!

[Tater]

When I ordered my 15 Silverado the power folding mirrors weren't available. For Chevy they were a mid model change. I would have ordered them for sure and will when I trade in 2018 MY.

[DHart]

I like that when the towing mirrors are extended and the running lights are on... it gives oncoming traffic a good idea of how wide this vehicle and trailer are.

[Danattherock]

Originally Posted by DHart

Dan... unlike you, I have had two Denali vehicles before the Denali HD pickup (both were Yukons). They have spoiled me.

We had a 2004 Escalade for years. Loved it. But the Denali still impressed.

Bad accident on way home from work totalled my ride, about did me in, surgery on back among much other stuff, but that's how we got the 2005 Tahoe I got now. Ambulance (empty rig thank God) pulled out in front of me at 55 mph with no warning or time to brake, Totalled their rig too. Snatched up Tahoe three days later. Had to have something for work and saw it on Autotrader in Ga. great deal with 40k miles. It's our 2nd Tahoe. Great cars. But no Escalade, certainly no Denali.


Dan

[DHart]

Originally Posted by Danattherock

We had a 2004 Escalade for years. Loved it. But the Denali still impressed.

Bad accident on way home from work totalled my ride, about did me in, surgery on back among much other stuff, but that's how we got the 2005 Tahoe I got now. Ambulance (empty rig thank God) pulled out in front of me at 55 mph with no warning or time to brake, Totalled their rig too. Snatched up Tahoe three days later. Had to have something for work and saw it on Autotrader in Ga. great deal with 40k miles. It's our 2nd Tahoe. Great cars. But no Escalade, certainly no Denali.


Dan

Dan... underneath the luxe goodies, the Chevys, GMCs, and Cadillacs are all nearly triplets! That's what I love about GM full-size products. The Denali HD pickup is sort of a Cadillac truck, as I'm sure you know now.

Glad that you came away from that wreck is reasonably good shape. Good enough to REALLY enjoy life moving forward with a great Airstream and a great tow-vehicle.

We brought our first Airstream home tonight! A 2016 30' Serenity. Stopped by a local RV park (McDowell Mtn. Park) a few minutes from our house, on the way, for a "photo op". Locals would recognize Four Peaks, off to the east. First photo taken of the truck and trailer together. What a sweet and easy town these Airstreams are! They track like they're part of the truck. Big smiles on our faces on the way home from the dealership today.

[Danattherock]

Congrats!!

That's the stuff dreams are made of. Can't imagine a finer pairing.


Dan

[DHart]

Originally Posted by Danattherock

Congrats!!

That's the stuff dreams are made of. Can't imagine a finer pairing.


Dan

Thanks Dan, I agree.

[Tater]

Great combo. Have fun and enjoy.

[DC Bruce]

I have those mirrors on my Sierra 1500. Definitely worth the trouble. FWIW, my test drive of an empty Silerverado 2500 6.0 gas truck left me feeling that it's down on power, compared to the 3/4 ton gas competition from Ford and Ram, which it is. I wasn't excited about it as a tow vehicle. Ultimately, I bought the 1500 6.2 SLT (gas) over a 2500 LT diesel at about the same price. The 2500 did not have tow mirrors and my wife liked the way the 1500 drove. With the max trailer tow package, the 1500 offered enough payload (1960 lbs.) although less than the 2500. The Chevy/GMC 3/4 tons are the most "car-like" of the group in terms of how they drive: not quite as high or heavy as the offerings from Ford or Ram.

[Danattherock]

Originally Posted by DC Bruce

Silerverado 2500 6.0 gas truck left me feeling that it's down on power, compared to the 3/4 ton gas competition from Ford and Ram...

I wasn't impressed with the few V8's I drove lately. Loved the Ford 6.7, but not sure it's the motor we 'need'. It's a monster though and leaves the other trucks I've drove in its dust. The Duramax was very impressive, especially the transmission and almost unpercievable shifting. But it's not as strong as the 6.7 in my casual opinion.

And still leaves the main question I have about whether a diesel is the right choice for us. Driving style, stop and go, in town, not sure diesel is best way to go. In reference to what diesels like, and what driving style might yield best longevity of said motor.

But as I said, the V8's have not thrilled me. Big heavy trucks, I get it. But still. The Ford 6.7 and Chevy/GMC Duramax were far more impressive to me than their gas counterparts. Although I have not seen a Chevy/GMC with 6.2, so no comment on that particular power plant.

There is an interesting way to make a V8 more fun and bridge (or exceed) the gap between diesel and gas truck offerings. Sounds crazy, but it's only twice as much as the diesel option. Basically another step up, assuming the $7-9k diesels are a step up from gassers.

The following can make Tahoes, Suburbans, 5.3 L's, etc 480 HP and Yukon Denali, Silverado with 6.2, etc 560 HP!! $18k with warranty intact.

Giddy up.


Callaway Silverado/Callaway Sierra | Callaway Cars


Dan

[Tater]

My 15 Silverado is a Duramax. Just set the cruise and go. Stop and go impacts my mileage more than anything. Otherwise I get 21 driving and 13 towing the 30' Classic.

[KJRitchie]

I reviewed Fast Lane Truck's youTube video of the 2015 GM 2500HD with the 6.0 gas and due to the software parameters the truck's transmission would not shift down by itself as they approached the summit. They were at a crawl nearing the top. Of course you can always manually override the transmission to overcome that issue.

The Duramax Denali didn't have this issue in its youTube video and was towing more weight, 12000lbs vs the 6.0 8000lbs for the 6.0.

Kelvin

[KJRitchie]

Dan, if you go with a Ford 6.7L diesel opt for the F350 as the F250 6.7 have less than 2000lb payload.

Duramax 2500hd have greater than 2000lb payload and a larger fuel tank if you go with crewcab and 6.5' bed.

Payload seems to be your highest priority.

Kelvin

[Danattherock]

It's been a preoccupation as of late. We are kind of on the bubble it seems.

Regarding the fast lane videos, I saw the Gauntlet, section of miles in Colorado, Ike tunnel. The Chevy 2500 gasser did terrible, it was so hard to get and maintain speed. Just watch the video, it was a turtle. But the weight and all is to be considered, and it escapes me what it was. Took over 10 minutes as I recall.

Same folks at fast lane tested Denali Yukon XL against a Lincoln Navigator, which is a Ford Expedition. Same Gauntlet testing stretch, Ike tunnel, whatever. Lincoln outperformed the Yukon Denali with its big 6.2 L. The Lincoln, as with Expedition, use the Ford Evoboost 3.5 L V6!! It's time was 7 min 30 seconds as I recall.

Interesting.


Dan

[DC Bruce]

The Silverado 1500 with the 6.2 and 8 speed easily ran the Ike at the speed limit pulling 10k pounds. The 6.2 with the 6-speed did not, which shows the importance of transmission mapping. The real loser in the gas 3/4 Ike runners was the Ram 6.4, which after a certain amount of time at high rpm (where it was doing pretty well), throttled back to 4100 rpm in first gear and went up the final third of the run at 30 mph. The Ford pulled the grade at a steady 5000 rpm.
Forced induction on a truck engine not designed for it, strapped to a heavy load?>"Blown engines I have known." 😁

[Jack46]

Because we travel a good deal to the Rocky Mountains, there was no question that we would go with a 2500 diesel, in this case a Silverado LT. Our previous Suburban 3/4 ton really struggled in the mountains, I believe, due to the loss of horsepower at altitude. The Duramax is unmatched as a climber. We experience 13-14 mpg towing and about 20 mpg when not.

[pappy19]

Originally Posted by Jack46

Because we travel a good deal to the Rocky Mountains, there was no question that we would go with a 2500 diesel, in this case a Silverado LT. Our previous Suburban 3/4 ton really struggled in the mountains, I believe, due to the loss of horsepower at altitude. The Duramax is unmatched as a climber. We experience 13-14 mpg towing and about 20 mpg when not.

Duramax is the slowest climber going up the hill as shown in this real world towing comparison. The Ford 6.7 hauls the mail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCygT6mGcT8

[Danattherock]

Originally Posted by DC Bruce

The Silverado 1500 with the 6.2 and 8 speed easily ran the Ike at the speed limit pulling 10k pounds. The 6.2 with the 6-speed did not, which shows the importance of transmission mapping. The real loser in the gas 3/4 Ike runners was the Ram 6.4, which after a certain amount of time at high rpm (where it was doing pretty well), throttled back to 4100 rpm in first gear and went up the final third of the run at 30 mph. The Ford pulled the grade at a steady 5000 rpm.
Forced induction on a truck engine not designed for it, strapped to a heavy load?>"Blown engines I have known." 😁

I saw that video. Not good. The Cummins they bragged on in its test.

[KJRitchie]

What I didn't like about the Cummins in the 5th wheel video was the high pitched noise compared to the Ford and GM. However in the Ram/Cummins pull up to the Ike Tunnel in another FLT video the high pitch noise was absent and the Ram had one of the best times to the summit.

Kelvin