MVR 155

I don't have the data handy but there were only around 5,000 Hummer H2's produced in 2008 and less than 1,000 for 2009. The 2009's with low miles are currently selling for around sticker price providing they are near perfect examples. It was a hard choice to part with ours as it was still lower miles (under 50K) but the GMPP was expiring and we have a 1year old daughter so getting something with captain's seats in the second row and a fold flat 3rd row was a selling point. The technology of Bluetooth phone/audio was also another big factor. It was hard to let go of the H2 but in the end I feel it was the best choice. I owned it for the better part of 6 years and sold it for around $9K less than I paid. Not bad for a full size GM SUV!!!

FAUEE

The GM trucks are flat out just not as good as the F150 right now. ESPECIALLY from a luxuries standpoint. My buddy recently spent 70 grand on a LTZ Silverado 2500, and while it's nice, my F150 Platinum cost 15 grand cheaper and is significantly nicer in every way except he has more power outlets, and a louder (but not better sounding) stereo.

My F150 has the 5.0, and every option with 3.55s, I can get 21 mpg highway at 75-80, but I get 16 or so around town. I figure if I slowed down and didn't have hills everywhere I could get it up to 23-25 highway. The Ecoboost F150s absolutely kill my truck in highway fuel economy, but I didn't trust them for a long term vehicle - maybe not an issue if you drive it for 3-5 years. Also, they suck fuel down when towing, and I bought my truck to tow jetskis and eventually a boat, so the fuel economy in daily driving is a tradeoff I made. The 2.7 Ecoboost can probably hit almost 30mph highway.

But if you're buying a truck for fuel economy there's really only 2 options, and they're both diesels. The Colorado/Canyon Diesel, and the Ram 3.0 diesel. Of the two, the Ram is MUCH MUCH MUCH nicer, and is only slightly less efficient. Similarly priced too. However, part of me wishes I had waited for a Canyon Denali Diesel, because while the space in my F150 is nice, it's also overkill.

But basically, it sounds to me like you were in the same boat as me for a truck - you needed some truck usage, but really wanted a luxury vehicle. In that situation, Ford is the top dog and GM doesn't even play in that field. Their stuff is just 2 generations behind where Ford and Dodge are form a luxury standpoint, at least in their trucks. For whatever reason, some moron at GM decided that the new generation SUVs could get more luxury features the trucks could not have, so you can at least not have to use a key like an idiot in their SUVs.

I also have a neighbor with the new Titan XD. It's really nice. It's big, and it's very much a diesel, but it's a real nice truck. Just pricey and the value prop is sort of weird. Nissan went from having the "sporty to drive" truck with the old Titan, to the "better than it looks on paper" luxury truck.

Jus Cruisin

Thanks for the help. I've been a "Ford Truck" guy most of my life. Ecoboost could be an alternative. The 5.0l just doesn't tow. That is what the 6.2l has going for it. I still will continue to tow my 24' car trailer. The little diesel trucks can't tow anything and you still have to deal with emissions issues that are now cropping up.

promocop

I have a 2011 Yukon, 4X4 with the Denali Package. It has 70,000 miles. It has been without question the BEST vehicle I have ever owned. Not one issue whatsoever. Oil changes, tires and thats it. Love that year

FAUEE

My 5.0 is rated for like 10k pounds or something absurd like that. The most I ever intend to pull is a 21-23' boat or a car on a trailer, probably less than 5,000 pounds maximum, but it's nice to have the extra room honestly.

I think the Ecodiesel Ram can tow 10k+ pounds too, and the new Titan XD tows like 12k or more, but does it like a champ as opposed to getting sketchy when you start getting close to the limits like a true half ton would.

The new SuperDuty is gonna be nice. Aluminum body like the F150, looks to be the same cab (the new generation F150 is HUGE inside) so you should get a lot of toys. I don't know how much your 24' trailer weighs... but you might be hating life in a half ton. Towing ratings have gotten totally out of control the past few years, I had a Grand Cherokee with a Hemi rated to tow like 8000 pounds or so, and if you put over 5k behind it the thing got real sketchy. Back when I was racing more, everyone (who could afford to) was using the 3/4 ton trucks or bigger to pull their big enclosed trailers. They said that while the half tons could "technically and legally" pull their trailers, they just weren't really built for it. My buddy at work has a 6.2 Silverado (previous generation, but doesn't matter much really) that he's upgrading out of because he bought a big toy hauler trailer and his truck with the family and their stuff inside it just really doesn't like to pull it.

That's the real ******* of it all nowdays, amazingly nobody has come up with a magic bullet. Ford's got the Ecoboost which tows great but guzzles fuel when you tow but is good unloaded. The V8s can do good-ish on the highway, and don't suffer as bad of fuel economy drops when towing, but to get the big tow numbers you need 3.55s or better and your highway fuel economy suffers. The diesels require DEF, and are being smogged to hell and back due to ineffective beaurocrats. And half ton trucks are getting to the point where they can claim to pull a lot of weight due to their power, but they really shouldn't be towing as much as they claim they can. It's all about the right tool for the job, and the right tool for big, long, heavy trailers is still a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

FWIW, TFLTruck raved about how great the Titan XD tows compared to a half ton. That's probably the truck I'd be most looking at.

gbvette62

I bought a 2016 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT 4x4 crew cab, with the 6.5 box, just over a month ago. It has the 5.3L, 6 speed auto and 3.42 gears. Since 2000, I've had 4 Silverado 1500 LTZ extended cab, 4x4 5.3L's. I went with the GMC crew cab this time, because the available deals on them were better than the Chevys.

Some things standard on the Denali, are optional on the SLT, but the biggest difference is that the Denali comes with GM's Magnetic-Ride. The only options I passed on were the Driver Alert Package, 6.2L, Max Trailering Package, and cooled seats (I rarely even use the AC, since I like to drive with the windows down and the sunroof open).

I tow an 18 foot cargo trailer to Corvette swap meets, all over the East Coast. My trailer weighs 5000-6500 lbs loaded, depending on how much I take to a show. I also tow a friend's 66 Corvette vintage racer, a couple times a year. His 28 foot enclosed trailer, with the race car, assorted spares, 8 extra wheels/tires, tool box, jack, jack stands, etc., weighs around 7500 lbs. On average, I tow between 6000 and 8000 miles a year. My previous Silverado's had no problem towing either trailer, and delivered 10-12 mpg doing it, depending on the terrain. My last Silverado was rated to tow 8200 lbs and the new GMC is rated for 9100 lbs. I've only towed once with the GMC so far, but it pulled at least as well as my last Silverado. The Max Trailering Package takes the 1500's towing capacity over 10000 lbs, but personally, if I was regularly towing that kind of weight, I'd go up to a 3/4 ton truck.

I've driven a 6.2L, and it is a real rocket. It is fun to drive, but from my experience the 5.3 has all the power that I need, and it was about $2500 cheaper. In daily driving, my 2016 is delivering a little over 17 mpg (a 1 1/2 mpg improvement over the 2011), and 20-21 on the highway.

So far, I've been quite happy with my GMC Sierra.

Biggus Blockus

Love love love my 15 Sierra Denail 6.2. Traded my F250 diesel (which I thought I would own forever) and have never looked back. The comfort, power and looks won me over. The GMC tows brilliantly and the magnetic ride makes it more like an Escalade than a pickup. No problems so far except I don't get to drive it enough...

Jus Cruisin

I've pretty much convinced myself that a GM truck will be my next.truck. I'm a an original "big 3" guy, even though it's somewhat blurred. There won't be an import truck in my drive. Regardless where built, I look at where the headquarters are and where the cash ends up.... Just my "hangup" from growing up in the Motor City area.

TurboTnZ06

The Denali with the mag shocks is nice. Drives like a caddy, smoother than regular trucks and great for towing. The trailer doesn't bounce when you hit any overpass. Mine pulled a 30 ft with a 2 ft vnose easily. My wife prefers driving the 15 Denali 6.2 over her 09 Suburban LTZ 5.3 6 spd.

Jus Cruisin

That's the ticket.


This is what I'll drag around. 24' v-nose.

Vette_Minded

In some popular configurations the Ram Ecodiesel isn't even a 1/2 ton truck. It actually has an 800# payload capacity. If I'm not mistaken the Colorado has more standard payload than the ecodiesel and with a Duramax might match it in towing.

FAUEE

Looked into it a bit more and the Ecodiesel maxes out at just under 10k pounds towing. But, it's said to tow better than the Hemi does (and frankly the Hemi has plenty of power for towing) due o diesels being more efficient under load and the gobs and gobs of torque.

But that's sort of the point I'm getting at, nowdays trucks have these absolutely insane towing ratings that while yes, they have the power to pull these weights, they're not pleasant ordeals and the trucks are seriously overloaded when you actually do it. The Canyon with a diesel is rated to tow 7600 pounds... I can't imagine towing near that much weight in a vehicle that small is a pleasant experience.

TurboTnZ06

Have you first hand experience with the 14-up Denali 1500?

32 ft v nose bumper pull, 4000# trailer, 3500# car inside, plus tools for racing, towed just fine at any speed I wanted to go. I think I hung around 68-72 most of the time. I did 80 plenty of times to pass. The Denali with mag shocks plus the 6.2 8 speed is perfect if you tow just a few times a year. I did 6k miles last summer with this trailer. I believe the tow rating is around 9500 on my truck and I'm sure I was near that with all the gear I had. Make sure the tires at the right pressure, bearings greased, have spares, jacks, 2x4's, gloves, flashlights, good to go.

FAUEE

You're talking about towing 7700 pounds with a 1500. I was saying it's probably not much fun to tow that with the Canyon with the diesel, which is rated to tow right around 7700. Your truck is probably rated for like 11k towing? I can't imagine they'd have the 6.2 have only a 9k tow rating.

I'd think with a trailer that long it's gotta pull you around all the time with wind and whatnot. Does the truck actually pull something that long without any sketchiness? That's a really long trailer...

gbvette62

According to the 2016 GMC Sierra sales brochure, crew cabs with the 6.2L, 4x4 and 3.23 rear are rated to tow 9100 lbs. The 2x4 version of the same vehicle is rated to tow 9300 lbs. It makes no difference if it's an SLE, SLT or Denali. Double cabs (not available as a Denali) are rated 100-200 lbs higher than crews.

With the optional Max Trailering Package (9.76" rear axle, 3.42 gearing, increased cooling, heavier duty rear shocks and springs) the 6.2L crew cab, with the short (5.5') box and 4x4, is rated to tow 11700 lbs, and the 2x4 version is rated at 12000 lbs. The standard (6.5') box 6.2L crew with 4x4, is also rated at 11700 (crew cabs with the standard box are not available with 4x2).

Crew cabs with the 5.3L are rated exactly the same as the 6.2L, with standard suspension (9100), and 1000 lbs less than the 6.2L (10700 vs 11700), when equipped with Max Trailering.

Jus Cruisin

If the trailer is loaded right, the truck doesn't know how long the trailer is. Actually longer trailers are more stable in my experience. I used to drag 53 footers around with an over the road semi for a few years.

TurboTnZ06

4000 + 3500 + 200 for tools? You must not ever tow to a race. I was at 9000 easily. Have to load it right. Car was towards the back, gear just in front of it strapped down, light stuff tossed up in the Vnose or strapped to the wall. Towed fine at the max.

Mehfoud

I'm considering the same configuration for Sierra, but by the time I price it out it comes pretty close to a 2500 HD Duramax, so I think why not the Duramax?

TurboTnZ06

At the time, I got my 15 at the end of the model year run, right before they started the 16's, so there were rebates on existing stock. Those were stronger rebates than what I could get into a 2500 for. Some 1500 SLT crews with older vin's for the year had 20% off rebates to start with...

cv67

I guessing you guys are flat towing most the time?


We got a stretch of fwy whats called the Grapevine, no way in hell my 5.3 would tow a simple trailer and car up it without puking a trans or worse. Many miles of long uphill grades dont know how even a slightly larger LS or a 5.0 would pull it off.

Going old school 454/400 dually