Our Last New Truck

[JEBar]

We've pretty much hit the limit of what we can do with the current configuration.

that could most certainly be the case .... I had a 1978 Jeep J10 pickup with a 360 cc engine mated to a 4 speed floor shift that I literally kept for 24 years .... during that time we rebuilt the motor twice .... she would get about 10 mpg .... I need to get some miles on our new truck prior to towing our 5er, so tonight after eating I took her out on a 35 mile drive .... most of it was over a narrow, rolling 55 mph state road with some 70 mph driving on I-40 thrown in .... per calculations by the trucks odometer system she got 15.3 mpg .... I'm happy with that .... within the next week or so we intend to install a bed cover, it will be interesting to see if it has any impact on the truck's gas mileage

 

[JEBar]

another day, another drive to put some break-in miles on our truck .... the drive covered over 120 miles over the same mix of rural 2-lane and 4 to 6 lane interstate sections of I-40 .... today I had considerably more time on I-40 and used the Adaptive Cruise Control much less than yesterday today she got 16.3 for the entire trip .... it now has 520 miles on it

 

[JEBar]

just got back from a little over 100 mile round trip cruse to put some break-in miles on our truck .... it now has just over 830 miles on it .... once it reaches a thousand miles I'll probably not make many more miles such drives

 

[Jambe]

Will you do your first oil change sooner than Chevy recommends?

 

[JEBar]

Will you do your first oil change sooner than Chevy recommends?

yep, I most certainly will .... the first complete service which includes tire rotation is covered in the purchase .... I see no sense in an early tire rotation so I plan to have the oil changed elsewhere at 2,000 miles .... when she gets around 5,000 I'll take it back to the dealership for that free service .... after that the oil/fluids service will be every 5,000 miles and the tires will be rotated every 10,000 miles (every other oil change )

 

[JEBar]

another day, another break-in tow ... 100+ miles covered .... 958 miles on the truck .... that's close enough to 1,000 miles for me, no more break-in tows .... from now on, she'll be cranked for use .... averaged 14.9 for all break-in tows

 

[JEBar]

just hitched our new truck to our 20 year old camper for the first time .... for today all I wanted to do was to see how they look when hooked up .... with the tall grass its hard to see that the campers front landing gear that supports its weight when it is not hooked up to the truck have been raised enough to get them completely off the ground .... very glad to see that the truck sits level when supporting the pin weight of the camper .... the last picture shows the advantage of having a truck with a full 8' bed, there is plenty of room between the lowered tailgate and the front of the camper

 

[JEBar]

UPDATE ---- as this is being typed our new truck is parked in the driveway with 990 miles showing on the odometer and 29.4 hours on the motor .... the following numbers were copied from the truck's computer

average gas mileage to date ---- 13.9 mpg

over any 25 mile distance the best mileage 18.1 mpg .... overall average 14.2 mpg

over any 50 mile distance the best mileage 17.5 mpg .... overall average 14.4 mpg

over any 450 mile distance the best mileage 15.0 mpg .... overall average 14.8 mpg

none of the miles so far have been towing a trailer

going into the use of this truck we had no clue what to expect .... we purchased it with heavy duty towing in mind and mileage wasn't a prime factor .... based on a range of diesel and gasoline tow vehicles, we aren't displeased with the results so far

 

[JEBar]

the 6.6L gas LT8 engine produces 401hp and 464lb-ft. of torque. ... the horsepower/torque specs for the 6.6L Duramax from its introduction back in 2001 to date .... https://www.dieselhub.com/duramax/6.6-duramax-diesel-timeline.html .... we had an '01 3500 with the first generation Duramax motor .... it was rated 300 hp with 520 lb-ft of torque .... we towed our current 5er from (literally) ocean to ocean and border to border .... with it we climbed some of the steepest grades (like Vale and Eisenhower) .... I believe that that the 6.6L gasser in our new 2500 will handle the job