My camper is 21K and yes if you talk to the dealer and look at the gvwr that 1 ton crew cab dually is suppose to be made to pull a 5th wheel. I had my cruise set at 70 going thew Kansas and my tranny went out with 1500 miles on the truck. plus I was getting 9 -10 mpg loaded and it was gutless up hills. THen I got another one and two trannys went out before 10k miles so I traded it for an 05 powerstroke mainly because I was told they had good fuel milage and they was wrong. It was about the same as the Duramax so I got a cummins and love it. It has 100 hp injectors and a 140hp edge chip and what a truck. It pulls like a dream and get awsome fuel milage.

Just can't say enough about a cummins

 

 

I know the feeling. Traded my 01 HD 2500 8.1 yesterday for a 06 Nissan Titan SE with a 9,400 tow rating. I only pull a 6.500# trailer occasionaly and was seeking better gas mileage. Really liked the HD - Hope I like the Titan. This is my first non-GMC truck in 17 years.

 

I have a 04 Nissan Titan...haven't had any trouble with it..other than the brake recall..which was fixed nicely..The 4X4 Titan is a BEAST offroad..plus it will tow almost anything..you made a good choice.

 

Gas prices suck (jsut thought i should throw that in) the prices in gas helped me with gettin rid of my 454 SS towed not bad (dont laugh it was all i had) so i went and bought a 2004 dodge ram 5.7 4x4 thinkin i was gonna save some money on gas. when towin a 20 foot open car hauler with a 1994 rx7 with a 350 chevy ( dont ask hehe) and managed 500 kms to a tank i was amazed but i was at 110 km/h the whole time and acclerated really smoothly. the road was fairly flat but stil had a few hills plus my truck has 35x12.5x20 toyo open country tires with 4.56 gears. im happy with it, plus the mods make it a fun truck to drives,
oh yea my step dad owns a 2002 6l chevy and he likes it too.

 

And what was the orginal question?

I have a 2003 GMC 2500 crew cab (full 4 doors) 4x4 8 foot box. w/8.1 motor.

When the truck was new we took a trip w/o pulling anything, (the only time) avg. 12mpg.
We tow a 28 foot 5th wheel Toyhauler to Florida in the winter. We get between 7 to 8 mpg.

Hope this helps

 

go diesel if you are going to pull anything with a truck. GMC duramax is the only GM product i would buy. screw 8.1 gas sucking hogs. my 5.3 z71 with 2-3 bikes on the trailer will get about 12hwy. not very good to me. gets about 16mpg avg. still not good. im looking into little suvs if all im going to be puling is a few bikes. 16mpg isnt good enough. 8mpg def will never fly with me. if i was pulling something more, though, the duramax diesel has my vote.

not trying to knock the dodge people, but every person ive known with a dodge - they stay in the shop. i want a vehicle i can reasonable depend on.

 

go diesel if you are going to pull anything with a truck.

Why?

The whole thing is either gas mileage or the ability to tow? What about cost per mile?
When I bought my 2003 GMC 8.1, I paided a little over $10,000 under msrp At the campground we stay at in Florida there was a guy there from Pa. that had bought the sametruck as mine, except with diesel. He said he was lucky to get $3000.00 off msrp. The difference in net cost between the two trucks, about $12,000!!!
I drive my truck about 7,000 miles a year. 7,000 divided by 8 mpg= 875 gal per year. Times that by $3.00 per gal= $2,625 fuel cost per year. Now divide that into the $12,000 I 'saved' on the initial purchase= 4.57 years of FREE gas!

Now I'm sure you can argue the resale, ability to tow HEAVY loads, etc.
The orginal topic by bamurf80 was the question about fuel milage. It's over a month old, hay bamurf80.... please tell us what you did.????

 

Diesel is the way to go. The truck in my pics page (my fathers truck) is a 7.3 Powerstroke and can pull anything. We've got a Diablo chip in it with a full K&N intake system and a 4 inch stainless steel exhaust system that really increases the horsepower and torque (its pushing over 700 ft-lbs). The chip increases fuel economy too, even with the monster 39' Pro Comp tires.

 

umm. i almost rest my case. you answered your own question to me of, "why?" with
7-8mpg with your 8.1 liter engine, thats why. you think thats better than a diesel duramax? yes it cost more originally but his original question had a little more to do with fuel economy than the ability to tow. of course your 8.1 can tow alot, no one disputed that. while i dont really fault your logic in your calculations, you must understand that no one is going to buy your truck, you have a sinking cost like with most autos. BUT a fuel hog - its worth even less in todays market and is a SUNK cost now.

if your truck was diesel, it would sell much quicker and at a much higher price, so are you REALLY getting "free gas" or having such a bargain? You will always pay one way or the other. Wait until gas tops 4.00/gallon. you wouldnt be able to give that thing away.

i can show you a myriad of H2 hummers for sale for about 1/2 of what they paid for them and they still are not selling. the #1 thing on a persons mind right now is fuel economy when buyng a new auto. if you need to pull something consistently- like the kind of stuff you are pulling, your money is better spent in a diesel. always has been, always will be.

diesel is around 2.85 per gallon around here. if the choice is between filling up a deisel or a gasoline engine, properly equiped truck, towing the same load - the diesel will always get you more per gallon than the gasoline. why do you think, pardon the term, "18 wheelers," use exclusively diesel? they can pull 70,000lbs and still get 12+ MPG. Thats why. the diesel engine costs less to operate, has gobs of torque at low RPM, lasts longer, and gets better economy. Go diesel. I know next full size i buy will be a diesel.

original question: