Chevy 2500HD 6.0L reliabilty

[amabee]

First, I don't expect any guarantees, just looking for personal experience.

We are considering at some point trading in our Silverado 1500 for a 2500HD. As we have no real need or desire to have a diesel we'll be looking for one with the 6.0L. Just wondering about the overall reliability of the engine/transmission? Any major known issues? Most likely it will be in the 2010-2012 range. Hopefully in the 50K range as far as miles. This should put us within our budget.

Also curious what kind of gas mileage to expect both towing and just driving around.

Thanks for any input.

[Crabman]

Just today I rode in my crabbing buddy`s 2002 GMC 2500HD 6.0L with over 260,000 tough miles on it. No engine or tranny work. 2 fuel pumps and one water pump only significant repairs. Still rides and runs good. As for mine, its an 04 but only has 92,000 miles so too soon to say............. But they have a very good track record for reliability and longevity. Mileage on the older ones like mentioned is about 9 towing, 13 in mixed driving, and 15 on hiway, although I have reached 16...

[clutch]

Look for a truck with the 6 speed auto. It should be better for gas mileage and towing.

[WVDusty]

I have a buddy that has 2500HD with the 6.0 Wow it is a strong truck and will pass everything except a gas station but he does have a heavy right foot

[Adk Camper]

I've had good luck with mine.I now have 134,000 miles on it and it still pulls and drives just as good as when I first bought it. I bought the truck strickly to tow the TT and I wouldn't want to have to drive it as a daily driver. Not towing I get 12-13 mpg and while towing I get 7 -8 mpg. The 2500 HD 6.0 gets the job done.

[Seann45]

I had a 2000 GMC 2500 with the 6.0 Towed over 100,000 miles with it (+daily use) never a min. problem. Change your fluids religiously and use high quality spark plugs and you will be very happy with it..

[Greenman]

Have been driving our 2008 2500 HD Crew (3:73 rear, six speed) for about 8 months and 13000 Kms now, towing our Exp 213 for about 1/2 of that. I am getting about 16 mpg (IMP gal) regular driving and 12mpg towing. I find the truck mpg is very sensitive to driving style, driving smoothly makes a big difference in mileage. When I drove the truck home after purchasing it I thought I had made a big mistake, I burned 1/2 a tank of fuel for a little over 200 kms. I figured out that the previous owner had used the range selection feature on the six speed transmission to lock out the top gear. The only thing I don't like about this truck are the headlights, the bulbs are a bear to replace compared to the 2003 vintage GMC we used to have.

[drk98]

A friend has an early 2000s model that he just parked with over 400,000 on it. It was a service truck for an AC company (their maintenance guy was a fanatic though) the first few years and then he bought it. The engine was never touched... I'm sure all of the consumable bolt on parts were though.

I have seen several with well over 200,000 with no major engine issues.

[amabee]

Well, it sounds like a reliable truck. The gas mileage is something to think about, hard to give up almost 20mpg when not towing, plus my wife would be driving this to work which may be a hard sell She isn't super happy driving our current truck, though it is only a 5 mile round trip for her.

[Crabman]

^^^Another thing to consider, the 2500 with its stiff suspension and 60-80 PSI tire inflation will ride harsher then your current 1500, so the wife may not like that as much either.

[amabee]

Yeah, thats the part she won't like, plus it would be a little longer and harder to park. We are going to go test drive one tomorrow because, to be honest, I haven't been in a 3/4 ton for a long time. The good thing is we've bought our last four vehicles from our local Chevy dealer, so they are good about letting us test drive w/out tons of pressure to buy.

[Adk Camper]

If I were you I'd ask myself, Do I really need a 3/4 ton or see myself needing one in the future? Then weigh out the pros and cons. I will say if you are concerned about gas milage then forget the 3/4 ton truck and stick with a 1/2 ton. I see your truck has 342 gears. Those gears are good for getting good gas milage but they are not a towing gear.If you went to another 1/2 ton with 373 gears you would notice a big difference and would gain on tow capacity. Just my worthless 2 cents.

[amabee]

To some degree payload is the concern, as it is we are quite honestly pushing it at times.

We just got back from a test drive in a 2010 2500HD LTZ and to be honest, it didn't ride all that bad, maybe a little harsher but not near what I expected.

[drk98]

Originally Posted by amabee

To some degree payload is the concern, as it is we are quite honestly pushing it at times.

We just got back from a test drive in a 2010 2500HD LTZ and to be honest, it didn't ride all that bad, maybe a little harsher but not near what I expected.

I just traded in my 2014 Silverado LTZ for a 2014 Ram 2500. The ride is stiffer but dropping the rear from 80lbs to 60lbs made a huge difference.

[Adk Camper]

Originally Posted by amabee

To some degree payload is the concern, as it is we are quite honestly pushing it at times.

We just got back from a test drive in a 2010 2500HD LTZ and to be honest, it didn't ride all that bad, maybe a little harsher but not near what I expected.

Your right they don't ride that much stiffer. Some people make them out to be like riding on a buckboard.I will say from personal experience I had a Chevy 1500 then went to the 2500 HD and after having the HD I would never go back to 1500 again. I will say this. I can pull my trailer full with water, bed load of wood and my 100lb generator and I get 7.5 mpg. In comparison my sister has a 2014 1500 with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears pulling a 28 ft Avenger with one slide and they get approx 9 mph pulling much less weight and no wood in the bed.

[amabee]

Originally Posted by Adk Camper

Your right they don't ride that much stiffer. Some people make them out to be like riding on a buckboard.I will say from personal experience I had a Chevy 1500 then went to the 2500 HD and after having the HD I would never go back to 1500 again. I will say this. I can pull my trailer full with water, bed load of wood and my 100lb generator and I get 7.5 mpg. In comparison my sister has a 2014 1500 with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears pulling a 28 ft Avenger with one slide and they get approx 9 mph pulling much less weight and no wood in the bed.

Curious what year your truck is, or more specifically whether it has a 4 or 6sp transmission? We get about 9.5mpg towing, if I am really careful I can squeeze 10mpg but that's only if I'm not fighting a headwind.

[Crabman]

I have both, a 04 1500 and a 04 2500. The real difference in the empty rides is really felt on bad and bumpy roads. On good roads, they are not that far apart. And most folks test drive on good roads by the dealer. As for towing, I pulled my trailer with the 1500 and got around 10 mpg in good conditions, but I was over my payload and was not comfortable with the combo, especially on windy days.

[ctbailey]

Going from my '04 1500 reg cab short body to my current '07 2500HD crew was a no brainier for us. We knew we had two kids. We knew our 24 ft TT w/o slides needed to be replaced with a bigger trailer.

My mileage not pulling us 11/12 and pulling its 8/9.

The Z71 package makes it a bit higher than my old 1/2 ton, and running 80 psi in the rear is a stiffer, but more awesome ride.

With 3.73's in the rear and front end I feel like a nice blend of towing and highway use.

As for longevity on the 6.0, only time will tell for me. I do notice a previous owner used a red gasket manifold repair goop on the exhaust. It's got just over 100k and I want to change plugs due to a somewhat noticeable stumble every now and then.

Am I looking for a Cadillac ride? Nope. I bought a work horse that can double as a family grocery getter. So far the whole fam loves getting up into the big truck and going.

I LOVE the previous comment "will pass anything except a gas station!" No truer words have been uttered.

[amabee]

Originally Posted by Crabman

I have both, a 04 1500 and a 04 2500. The real difference in the empty rides is really felt on bad and bumpy roads. On good roads, they are not that far apart. And most folks test drive on good roads by the dealer. As for towing, I pulled my trailer with the 1500 and got around 10 mpg in good conditions, but I was over my payload and was not comfortable with the combo, especially on windy days.

Oh, trust me I took some bumpy roads, sadly our town doesn't have much else, most of the streets would rip the front end out of car if your not careful. I know most places have the salesman go with you, at this dealer, they just hand us the keys And you sort hit my issue dead on, this truck does a GREAT job pulling our camper, but when we get hit with strong crosswinds, it gets a little shaky at times. I'm also tired of telling the kids we can't take their bikes because we don't have the payload. Basically we are on the edge of needing a 3/4ton.

The Z71 package makes it a bit higher than my old 1/2 ton, and running 80 psi in the rear is a stiffer, but more awesome ride.

I think its because our 1/2ton has the Z71 package that we aren't noticing that much difference, as 1/2 tons go ours has a somewhat stiff ride.

[Adk Camper]

Mine has the 5 speed automatic with 4.10 gears.