New TV 2008 Sierra 2500HD

Those that have read my posts in the past may recall that I have always claimed that with a big enough truck you don't need a WD hitch. I have towed the TM since 2005 with a 2002 Chevy Silverado 1500HD crew cab, 4wd, gas, automatic, 6 foot bed. And until the last trip this was big enough.

We added two ATVs and two motorcycles this year. This required a second tow vehicle. Fortunately, I already had a 1997 Dodge Dakota V6.

On our first trip, Memorial day, all was well. Due to my motorcycle crash previously I did not take my motorcycle. There were five of us and the two trucks did fine. One motorcycle in the Dakota towing the ATV trailer and the Chevy doing its normal thing.

On our second trip, 4th of July, we added my motorcycle and two more people. This required additional chairs, tables, food, water, drinks, etc. We had one motorcycle in each truck. This resulted in both trucks sagging more than I would prefer.

So this past Saturday we purchased a new 2008 GMC Sierra 2500HD crew cab, 8 foot bed, automatic, gas, 4wd. This will replace the Dakota. The GMC will tow the TM and carry the two motorcycles. The Chevy will tow the ATV trailer and carry freestanding awning, generator, bicycles, etc.

We startd looking at trucks on Monday and on either Tuesday or Wednesday GM announced employee pricing for all. Boy, did I have good timing.

I already have a buyer for the Dakota.

I have never sold a vehicle in my life. I always used them until they died. This is the first time I failed to predict my future needs. In 1997 I did not predict buying the TM in 2005 and the ATVs and motorcycles in 2008.

I'm pretty sure I will not need a WD hitch. I'll know by this weekend.

It was difficult to find the truck we wanted. Requirements were:

3/4 ton
crew cab
8 foot bed
gas
automatic
4wd
prefer not black and not white
prefer leather

There were two Chevys in the entire state of California. A black one in Napa and a black one and a white one near Los Angeles.

There were no Fords. There were no Dodges. I had no interest in what ever Toyota has.

There was one GMC, and it was only 4 miles away at a local dealer. So we bought it.

We would have preferred buckets with leather, but this one came with a 40/20/40 split bench in cloth. Same configuration as the Dakota.

We will replace with leather and keep the 40/20/40 split. I will also add Line-X to the bed. These two upgrades will happen after our trip this weekend.

If I had waited until the 2009s came out we could have gotten exactly what we wanted. The price very likely would be about 9K more. Who knows. I know this one had MSRP of 39,886 and we got it for 30,086, plus tax and license. I still think it was about 2k too high in this market. But the dealer would not budge and if I waited too long I ran the risk of some other buyer grabbing it and then I would have no choice but wait for the 2009s or buy used.

I thought they should have come down a little more because though the truck is new, it was built in August 2007. It is already a year old. Sorta like buying ST tires. The battery was so dead that the electric door locks and windows would not work. The truck had 48 miles. Assuming 5 miles per test drive it was only test driven about 8 times. No one wanted this truck, except me.

I need to update my sig.

If anyone is interested I will add to this thread my experience, fuel economy, etc.

[wbmiller3]

Yes, I'd like to hear. The Expedition is pushing 100K miles and although no failures yet, I am starting to think about the next vehicle.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

So this past Saturday we purchased a new 2008 GMC Sierra 2500HD crew cab, 8 foot bed, automatic, gas, 4wd. This will replace the Dakota. The GMC will tow the TM and carry the two motorcycles. The Chevy will tow the ATV trailer and carry freestanding awning, generator, bicycles, etc.

I've been meaning to ask you, as a GM pickup owner, if you ever looked into that company (http://www.realacpower.com/products.htm) that makes a serious AC generator that mounts on the side of your transmission. It has always made sense to me that the most reliable power plant is the one that you use every day, and therefore the most reliable emergency generator powerplant is the one already under the hood in the garage. Or in the field out back, in the case of an RV where logically, that low mileage motorhome engine should be generating the AC instead of schlepping an extra lawn tractor engine, but I digress.

What do you think, as a guy who uses these things a lot?

That web site says:

6.0 Gas Engines are not PTO equipped – No Application

So both my Chevy and Jimmy can not be used.

For generating 120 volt power in a campground, it seems to me you want a very fuel efficient engine. I can charge my pair of group 24 batteries in the TM with my Honda 2000 generator using about a pint of gasoline per day.

My Chevy gets 13 mpg at best. Don't know yet about the Jimmy. One pint of gas is enough to drive the Chevy 3 miles. I don't know how long it would idle, but certainly not as long as the Honda.

Using the tV to charge the TM batteries while sitting still in camp is never an economical idea. I'm sure it will work, and is a good backup plan if all else fails. But as a primary means of charging the batteries, solar or generator are likely the only viable options all around.

There was a discussion on RV.net about the lowest cost way to charge batteries when boondocking. The consensus seemed to be run a generator until bulk charge mode has completed and then use solar to top it off.

I tow with a similar vehicle (6'6" bed though, and diesel), with a lot of weight in the bed. I've never had problems - I think you'll be fine without the WDH, but let us know how it goes!

We went from San Jose to Bass Lake, CA, a distance of about 190 miles. Sea level to around 5,000 feet, with one mountain between us and the California central valley.

We were pretty heavy. A dozen cases of beverages on the floor of the back seat. Motorcycle, tools, awning, generator, firewood, dual 5 gallon gas cans, both full, 3 coolers full, 3 bicycles and a bunch of other stuff.

According to the on-board computer we got 9.9 miles per gallon. About the same as I have been getting the the 2002 Silverado 1500HD. Same engine I think. Certainly a different transmission.

The longer wheel base of the Sierra compared to our Silverado is a factor in the increased stability when towing. The Silverado, with a similar load, will porpoise sometimes depending on speed and quality of the road surface. That did not seem to happen with the Sierra.

I did not drive, due to a bad knee. My wife liked the factory tow mirrors. With the 1500HD we were using McKesh mirrors.

No matter how big the truck is, it will always be full. We took more stuf this time than we ever did before. But, this was a family reunion with a total of 13 people camping and another 8 that lived nearby and just visited during the day. Everyone else had tents.

Everyone was impressed with all the stuff that we take with us. The children liked the Otter Pops that I kept frozen in the TM fridge. The grownups liked the Tequila that I also kept in the TM freezer. When using a Margarita machine, the ice is shaved and will melt quickly. Keeping the tequila in the freezer reduces quick melting.

The only thing we did not have that anyone wished that we had was a screen room. For part of the day the gnats were annoying. I'll have one for the next trip. I still have some room I need to fill up.

Here is an update on my fuel economy. We do not drive the GMC much except to tow the TM.

Today I made a round trip from San Jose to Pacifica, a little over 100 miles. Just DW and I, no cargo, 3/4 tank of gas when we started. I reset the onboard miles per gallon as I go onto the freeway.

In the beginning I was getting about 15 mpg. Then we hit rush hour traffic. it dropped to around 13.

For the total trip, open freeway, traffic clogged freeway, 10 miles of city streets it said 12.9 by the time I got home. This is about what I was getting with my 2002 Chevy 1500HD.

So I have a bigger truck, with more cargo capacity and more towing capacity and it gets about the same, lousy. But I don't drive it to work except about once a month just to keep the fluids moving around. So I don't care a whole lot about mpg. We love both trucks for what we do with them, tow toys to the forest.