RE: Thinking of this, would like all opinions
Not to be mean (if you're serious) but $10K for that truck is ludicrous.
Get below $5K and then come back and ask the same questions.
RE: Am I crazy? '01 Suburban LT 2500 Autoglide 8.1L - UPDATE
The 6.0 makes good power but it's not available 'til higher up in the rpm range.
Most people don't like the tactile feel of an engine running 4,500 rpm.
The 8.1 makes its power way further down in the rpm range and although it is stronger overall, the seat of your pants difference is compounded by where the power is made.
RE: GM selling Hummer, maybe more
GM has never made any sense with all their duplicate, triplicate, quadruplicate, etc cars. I agree that eliminating Buick, Pontiac and GMC and just having Chevy and Caddy would be the wisest thing GM could do. Ok, second wisest... First wisest is to get rid of that rediculus Hummer!
Maybe most already know this but back in the day it did make sense. Up until mid-70s or so, the cars really were different.
GM's marketing plan back then was to get everyone started off in a Chevy, then move them up to Pontiac (the "performance" division), then Olds (a little more lux), onto Buick (still more lux) and ultimately to Cadillac.
Even after the mechanics of the lines basically consolidated, they still had the options and advertising geared to take advantage of the brand identity/mentality they had cultivated all those years.
Granted, now, it doesn't make sense - and I think that's what's going on now, although long overdue.
RE: The best way to save money for gas!
Financial Rules to live by:
1. Credit card debt is the root of all evil.
2. Never pay interest on anything that depreciates in value.
3. Never buy a new car/truck/boat/rv unless you expect it to be your last one. Instead, buy something one or two years old and let the previous owner take the hit.
Last fall (2007) I bought a 2006 Mercedes that was sold new in October 2005. I don't know what the original owner paid for the car but the factory (not dealer) sticker price was $74,515. It had just over 14K miles on it when I got it. There is a scratch inside the trunk area like someone maybe put a sheet of plywood in that didn't quite fit and one of the headrest mounted dvd players in back doesn't retract into the headrest properly. Other than that it is pristine. I bought it for $42,500 plus Florida sales tax and tag.
BTW, I don't mean to sound smug. I lived paycheck to paycheck for many years and spent thousands and thousands of dollars on interest and depreciation. But I wised up about age 40. Now I'm 49 and debt free except for a mortgage that is bugging me too.
RE: Thinking or Regearing Tahoe After Long Trip.
Thanks to all!!
I got a quote from the local gear shop. $850 for either 3.73 or 4.10 gears, parts and labor. But, the guy says I need to recalibrate the engine computer, which can be done with a $350 Diablo. So, we're talking $1,150, plus the hassles involved.
I think I'll drive in 3rd for a while, and spend the bucks elsewhere.Smart man.
RE: Three in a row no problems
I have a '02 Sebring with the 2.7L engine. It was an ex-rental car and had about 14K miles on it when I got it. I did research (of course after I bought it, not before) and came across the websites about the failures due to sludge buildup.
I'm now at 117K, car gets 27 mpg on the interstate with the cruise set at 78 (and the speedo is dead on by gps) and will still happily wind up to 6K rpm between shifts if it needs to.
And although I'm not the fanatic about an engine not using oil like I was years ago, this one does not use one drop that I can discern on the dipstick between its 5K mile changes.
If it locks down on the way home today I figure it didn't owe me anything.
RE: Little help!!
My '02 Suburban behaved like that once when I let it run out of gas. The engine revved, seemingly free of the transmission, but I did make it the last quarter mile or so to the filling station.
RE: Not always safe to just worry about tow rating only
My guess is he's put as much weight as possible on the rear of the truck to minimize the weight on the trailer.
Towing near your limits at 75 mph is crazy and I don't care who you are or how you're set up.
RE: Chevy 8.1 engine?
I thought the 8.1 was 502 cubic inches? I have a 2002 2500 HD GMC and it tows great! I have a 2004 360RK Open Road 10800 lb dry and the GMC has no problem with it. At 75 mph I get about 6 mpg (I know, I know). After blowing some chinese tires, I slowed down to 60-65 mph and I now get 8 - 9 mpg. I've gotten as high as 9.5. I try to keep the 8.1 at about 2,000 rpm, but, it seems to have more torque at about 2,400 rpm. I'm amazed at the mileagee difference I got by slowing down. I'd like a newer truck to get the integrated brake controller, but, I'd like another 8.1. I guess I'll just stay with what I got. If GM won't give the customers what they want, it's no wonder they had to shut-down some truck plants.
The 502 was never put into a production vehicle. It was based on the Gen 5 and Gen 6 blocks.
The 8.1 (496 ci) is based on the Gen 7 block and was first offered in 2001.
RE: Toyota May Buy Back Your Truck For 150% The Value!
1979 Corolla wagon - replaced the waterpump at ~100K then it got wrecked.
1981 Starlet (remember those?) - transmission got noisy around 100K. Cost $400 at the dealership to fix - had them redo the clutch while they were in there. Sold it to a friend who drove it for another couple years.
1987 4wd pickup - still in the family and pushing 300K. No problems that I'm aware of.
1991 4wd pickup - didn't have a/c so sold it when I moved from Wa. state. Only had about 20K on it but never had an issue.
1993 Paseo - had just rolled over 100K when a little girl turned in front of me and I totalled it. Never had a wrench on it.
The only bad vehicles I've ever had were a 1976 VW Rabbit and a 1980 Olds Cutlass.
RE: 2010 Titan with a Cummins under the hood? Yep
The V8, for the same power output i know of no kenworth/peterbuilt/etc. running a v8 diesel. Not disputing the advantages of an inline configuration but there are still many V8 Detroits and probably a few Cummins on the road in Class 8 trucks.
And as you go bigger than OTR trucks, Vs become more common than inlines.
RE: 2010 Titan with a Cummins under the hood? Yep
The V8, for the same power output, is shorter, lower, and lighter than the inline 6. If anyone gave Cummins enough orders, they'd build just about anything.
Dodge may be taking on the Nissan business because they don't have enough business of their own to keep their factory full and busy.
And typically has a alot more moving parts. There is already one other american engine builder, although it has a tarnished record as of late, and there are import engine builders with V8's why would Cummins start building a V8 when they have proved the I6 to be better?Cummins has built V8s for years.
RE: JEEP WRANGLER TOW VEHICLE ?
For stability, more distance between the hitch and the trailer axles is better. Less distance between the axle and the rear of the trailer is better.
For a TT, less distance from the rear axle of the tow vehicle to the hitch is better.
RE: Actual honest MPG's on 3,263.3 mile Florida trip
Considering your significant air resistance, I think 15.4 mpg is very impressive. As you stated, speed makes a huge difference. I would guess that you would have been at 10-11 mpg at 70-75 mph.
Do you really think dropping 10mph would help that much? I may have to try a trip at 55-60. It would be worth it if I could get up from 10 to 15mpg just sacrificing 10 mph.
Food for thought. An engineering thumbrule is it takes eight times the power for a given vehicle to double it's speed, eg 30 mph vs 60 mph.
Actually 4 times.....3600/900 = 4
Run Travelnutz's numbers above. Wind resistance increases with the square of the difference in speed. Power required to overcome it increases with the cube of the difference. It works the same as pump laws.
RE: Actual honest MPG's on 3,263.3 mile Florida trip
Considering your significant air resistance, I think 15.4 mpg is very impressive. As you stated, speed makes a huge difference. I would guess that you would have been at 10-11 mpg at 70-75 mph.
Do you really think dropping 10mph would help that much? I may have to try a trip at 55-60. It would be worth it if I could get up from 10 to 15mpg just sacrificing 10 mph.
Food for thought. An engineering thumbrule is it takes eight times the power for a given vehicle to double it's speed, eg 30 mph vs 60 mph.
RE: Towing with a Chrysler 300C (max official tow rating 3800)
There are a great number of people who believe that man never landed on the moon. They argue that NASA invented the entire fiction to help the United States appear to have more technological prowess in space than the Soviet Union in the post Sputnik era of the Cold War.
The pictures we saw on television in 1969 were said to be photographed in the nether desert regions of Nevada, New Mexico, and California, in secret government installations like "Area 51" and the like.
With this controversy in mind, I wondered what to make of the spy photographs to follow, given the quote immediately below:
1) There is little if any testing done by the vehicle manufactures to determine the ratings. Blindly following them could wind you up with a very dangerous tow vehicle and trailer combination.
Andy
Hmmmmm....
http://blogs.edmunds.com/.ee9b093/cmd.233/enclosure..ee9b094
http://images.motortrend.com/future/spied_vehicles/112_0509_spy_silverado_l.jpg
http://images.motortrend.com/future/spied_vehicles/112_0509_spy_silverado_z.jpg
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/Heavy-Duty-GM-Pickup-(1).jpg
http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/2008/ford/sdspy/208sd.jpg
http://images.motortrend.com/future/spied_vehicles/112_070629_02z+toyota_sequoia_limited+front_three_quarter_view.jpg
Are we, as a gullible group of Americans, being hoodwinked again? From the photos above, it looks like Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota are all in on this towing durability testing ruse.
I'm with you Bro', now tell me, which one was the 300C?
And what exactly did Dodge do to the SRT-10 (or whatever the nomenclature) to justify its tow rating?
RE: Towing with our 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD (turbodiesel)
I have been exposed to RV's for much of my 60+ years, and, as earlier noted, have seen very "small" tow vehicles tow very large (relatively)loads. Also, when I was very young, I traveled cross country multiple times in Greyhound busses that were generally 4 - 6 cylinder non turbo diesels. By today's standards, they were pitifully underpowered, but I never felt unsafe. The drivers simply adjusted driving tactics to the load. about 20 years ago, I drove/towed a 55' motorhome/enclosed trailer combo to Alaska and back. That rig was marginal, and taught me some valuable lessons about weight and balance. I had to be very careful driving once started, and had a trip of a lifetime (good). It sounds like the author has done the paperwork to make his rig as safe as possible, and try to solve a multiple variable problem of economy, expense, weight, and space. Most of the posts simplify the variable considerations by defaulting to the biggest tow vehicle possible in every case. Maybe for a couple more years, that approach will still make sense to most. But once fuel is $5+ per gallon, the author of this post will be enjoying rving while the rest of us have our rv's parked! By the way, I believe that it is just fine to be more than a little concerned about towing a load with ANY vehicle. All towed vehicles increase the danger of accidents, and the more comfortable drivers are, the more likely they are to take chances they shouldn't (like excessive speed).
Excellent post. My own experience mirrors a lot of what you describe, but I only have 48 years worth.
