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Best Half-Ton Truck For 2018 Test


RyanB

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I'd like to see the tests re-run with the standard engines.  2.7L Ecoboost or 5.0L NA.  5.3L GM.

For me, this test doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already know.  The 6.2L needs (or greatly prefers) premium fuel so it's immediately DQ'd for me.

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I have a 2019 Silverado High Country with max tow package. I have pulled a 16' trailer with close to 8k lbs on it. Seems to pull just fine but my daily driver is a non stock Duramax (not a fair comparison). The power tailgate is nice , but something to have to worry about going out after the warranty is up. I really like the 10 speed trans and I also opted for the 3.42 gears. I would be willing to bet that there is probably not many other 1/2 tons that give it much of a run from stop light to stop light. I haven't checked my mileage but I'm sure my gear choice and now I lifted it and have 35's on it won't help. Will pull the boat with it next spring.0

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1 hour ago, MLBurns said:

I have a 2019 Silverado High Country with max tow package. I have pulled a 16' trailer with close to 8k lbs on it. Seems to pull just fine but my daily driver is a non stock Duramax (not a fair comparison). The power tailgate is nice , but something to have to worry about going out after the warranty is up. I really like the 10 speed trans and I also opted for the 3.42 gears. I would be willing to bet that there is probably not many other 1/2 tons that give it much of a run from stop light to stop light. I haven't checked my mileage but I'm sure my gear choice and now I lifted it and have 35's on it won't help. Will pull the boat with it next spring.0

It's amazing to me that the "max tow" package only has 3.42 gears. 

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5 hours ago, UWSkier said:

I'd like to see the tests re-run with the standard engines.  2.7L Ecoboost or 5.0L NA.  5.3L GM.

For me, this test doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already know.  The 6.2L needs (or greatly prefers) premium fuel so it's immediately DQ'd for me.

Standard engine depends on trim.  The ram can be had with a v6, although I'd bet they are pretty rarely bought that way. 

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2 hours ago, oldjeep said:

It's amazing to me that the "max tow" package only has 3.42 gears. 

With the 10 speed transmission you don't need more gear than that. 

Edited by MLBurns
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7 minutes ago, MLBurns said:

With the 10 speed transmission you don't need more gear than that. 

Why? 1st gear on that trans isnt any lower than any other normal truck trans.  Gm 10 speed 1st gear is 4.70:1, ram 8 speed is 4.71:1

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4 minutes ago, MadMan said:

What I found interesting in the test was that 3 of the 5 trucks stopped quicker while carrying there max payload than when they where empty..

That isnt all that surprising, in an empty pickup the back brakes dont do much

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1 hour ago, oldjeep said:

Why? 1st gear on that trans isnt any lower than any other normal truck trans.  Gm 10 speed 1st gear is 4.70:1, ram 8 speed is 4.71:1

First gear doesn't really matter.  It's all the extra gears in between first and tenth gear.  You don't need the torque multiplication of a traditional "torque" rear end like 3.73 or 4.10 if you have more incremental gears to choose from to maintain forward momentum without lugging the engine down or having it screaming in a too low cog.

The 8 speed in my GMC works amazingly well when towing my boat up over the mountain pass on my runs out to the lake.  Having all those gears is really nice for towing.

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18 minutes ago, UWSkier said:

First gear doesn't really matter.  It's all the extra gears in between first and tenth gear.  You don't need the torque multiplication of a traditional "torque" rear end like 3.73 or 4.10 if you have more incremental gears to choose from to maintain forward momentum without lugging the engine down or having it screaming in a too low cog.

The 8 speed in my GMC works amazingly well when towing my boat up over the mountain pass on my runs out to the lake.  Having all those gears is really nice for towing.

My 8 speed ram has 3.92 gears, which really makes a difference off the line with a load. 

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11 hours ago, UWSkier said:

The 6.2L needs (or greatly prefers) premium fuel so it's immediately DQ'd for me.

I don't see the problem as the L86 and L87 get pretty good fuel mileage.  Hell, my complaint is GM doesn't offering them as Flex Fuel options like they do the lower models.  Easily fixed with a $300 sensor and custom tune, something my L86 will see once the warranty is nearing its end, which won't be for about 5 years.  

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11 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

I don't see the problem as the L86 and L87 get pretty good fuel mileage.  Hell, my complaint is GM doesn't offering them as Flex Fuel options like they do the lower models.  Easily fixed with a $300 sensor and custom tune, something my L86 will see once the warranty is nearing its end, which won't be for about 5 years.  

Can you still find cheap E85 by you?  For a few years in Wisconsin, there were some stations that would sell it for about $1 less per gallon, which when regular 87 was hovering around the $4 mark was a great buy.  Those all went out of business.  I haven't seen E85 once in the year I've been in Arizona.

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6 minutes ago, UWSkier said:

Can you still find cheap E85 by you?  For a few years in Wisconsin, there were some stations that would sell it for about $1 less per gallon, which when regular 87 was hovering around the $4 mark was a great buy.  Those all went out of business.  I haven't seen E85 once in the year I've been in Arizona.

E85 is pretty available around here, although with gas prices being low now it is only about .50 cheaper

FWIW, the RAM wants 89 for best performance which means that mostly mine gets 91 now that most stations have replaced their 89 octane E10 with 88 octane E15

Edited by oldjeep
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1 minute ago, oldjeep said:

E85 is pretty available around here, although with gas prices being low now it is only about .50 cheaper

FWIW, the RAM wants 89  which means that mostly mine gets 91 now that most stations have replaced their 89 octane E10 with 88 octane E15

In my 06 Titan, the difference in MPG was about 12 for E85 and 16 for 87 octane.  Would be interesting to know if the discrepancy is still that high as compression ratios have increased and engine management logic has gotten better.  E85 used to need to be at least $0.60/gal cheaper to break even on my old truck.

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Just now, UWSkier said:

In my 06 Titan, the difference in MPG was about 12 for E85 and 16 for 87 octane.  Would be interesting to know if the discrepancy is still that high as compression ratios have increased and engine management logic has gotten better.  E85 used to need to be at least $0.60/gal cheaper to break even on my old truck.

Hard to say as most of the big engines offered in full sized trucks are not E85 compatible anyways.

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Ethanol doesn't have near the energy as regular gas. You'll always get less mpg's using an ethanol mix vs a straight gas. And the more the ethanol in the mix the less the mpg.

And I would think the benefit of a 10spd transmission would be to allow you to run a 3.90 or 4.10 gear. I get it allows you to run at optimum revs but these are gas engines with pretty wide power curves. I can see the need with a diesel where your power band is typically narrow. That said, I haven't driven the 10 spds, so I'm sure that might be an eye opener.

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I have a 16 Sierra Denali with the 6.2, 8speed and 3.23 rear gear.  I pull my VLX to the river and 4place snowmobile trailer through the mountains.  I have never wished I had a lower rear gear.  Punching it from a stop light with the traction control on it moves about 20 feet before it bounces off the revlimiter or shifts to second gear.  First gear is plenty short without having 4.10's.

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25 minutes ago, Falko said:

Ethanol doesn't have near the energy as regular gas. You'll always get less mpg's using an ethanol mix vs a straight gas. And the more the ethanol in the mix the less the mpg.

And I would think the benefit of a 10spd transmission would be to allow you to run a 3.90 or 4.10 gear. I get it allows you to run at optimum revs but these are gas engines with pretty wide power curves. I can see the need with a diesel where your power band is typically narrow. That said, I haven't driven the 10 spds, so I'm sure that might be an eye opener.

Not sure on the 10 speed, but on the 8 speed GM vs 6 speed of the same year, the first gear and top gear ratios are very similar.  The two extra gears in the middle make a big difference though.  Off the line power isn't an issue with either.  Even with my boat in tow my 5.3L with 8 speed gets up to speed with the flow of traffic with zero issues and has no problem hitting 75 MPH by the end of an uphill on-ramp by my house.

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I’m still a firm believer that if all you do is tow with a 1/2 ton in the long run you’re going to have some serious problems. My dad runs a Snap-On franchise and the mechanics at the dealerships are always complaining about diffs and gears blowing on these newer trucks. 

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21 minutes ago, Cole2001 said:

I’m still a firm believer that if all you do is tow with a 1/2 ton in the long run you’re going to have some serious problems. My dad runs a Snap-On franchise and the mechanics at the dealerships are always complaining about diffs and gears blowing on these newer trucks. 

And do they find that this is with stock sized tires, or is the breakage mainly in the axles where they have taller, heavier tires with no regearing that put more of a strain on the gearset and shafts?

Always funny to see someone stick a set of 37's on a truck with 3.21 gears in it.

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1 hour ago, oldjeep said:

And do they find that this is with stock sized tires, or is the breakage mainly in the axles where they have taller, heavier tires with no regearing that put more of a strain on the gearset and shafts?

Always funny to see someone stick a set of 37's on a truck with 3.21 gears in it.

It's typically funnier watching them try to stop.

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