New Chevy truck

Ed in Northern VA · Feb 13, 2012

I need to replace one of our trucks. Its used by a roofing estimator/repairman who would usually carry a ladder rack, tools, and maybe a couple of hundred pounds of material & debris. The current truck is 3/4 ton with 4WD & a 350 engine that gets about 9 mpg. I'm thinking of getting 1/2 ton, maybe with a V6 in hopes of saving money on gas.
Does anyone have any recommendations on what engine to get or avoid? Fuel savings is important, but not everything. Or based on the descibed use if I should get another 3/4 ton? I don't need 4wd & we don't tow with this truck. I'm leaning towards Chevrolet because of a $4000 discount built up on a GM sponsored credit card.
Your advice would be appreciated.

Russ from MN · Feb 13, 2012

We really like our 5.3, Gets almost 20. If you pull anything that has a lot of wind resistance 10-12. 07 1500 Z71. Have stuck with GM for the same reason, The GM card!

tjiniowa · Feb 13, 2012

A half ton 4wd with a 5.3L will get you 17-18 mpg or more if you drive it 55 mph. The small V8(4.8L) is a dog and won't save you much gas if at all. I have a 98 half ton 4wd with a 350 and 189000 miles and on the highway will still do almost 17mpg

Anonymous-0 · Feb 13, 2012

tjiniowa I love my 97 GMC 4wd with 5.7 V8. Made a trip from central PA. to northern IN. truck was loaded and pulled a loaded tandem axle U Haul trailer it was all interstate highways and it averaged 20.3 mpg. I have a brother-in-law that has a 98 GMC 2wd with a 5.3 and the best he can get on open highway is 17mpg.

MattE · Feb 13, 2012

you won't get twenty out of the 11-12 5.3l. The 2011 I have gets fifteen to 18 still but it's still better than the 4.8 or 6.0

if you want fuel economy new ford ecoboost. Amazing power and fuel economy only draw back is it sounds like a six cylinder

Bill in IL · Feb 13, 2012

I wouldn't bother with the smaller motor for fuel economy. If you overwork the smaller engine it will cost you more. My 09 with a 5.3 get 15-16 mpg. I think its the 3.73 gear that hurts my mileage.

8N'r--WI · Feb 13, 2012

"if you want fuel economy new ford ecoboost. Amazing power and fuel economy..."

Fella that I work with just picked up a F-150 with the eco-boost for his wife....they farm and use the trucks on the farm, though not full time.

He says the truck with the eco-boost will work circles around his F-150 with the Triton engine in it....

They get around 20mph on the highway when not pulling anything with it.

Tim

Grampy · Feb 13, 2012

Ed, I'd be kinda curious about how much weight your existing truck is really carrying around every day. I have a '97 3/4t, 4x4 with 350 and 5 speed manual. It's all farm and ranch work, I have a heavy crossbed tool box full of "stuff" and that's probably 500 lbs. plus fencing tools, steel posts, shovels and "whatever" in the bed and also probably carrying around 2 or 3 hundred lbs. of mud most of the time. with all that weight, I get about 10 in the winter and 12 in the summer. When I do take a road trip, the truck will usually get about 15. I put the truck on the scale once, it was over 7500 lbs. (GVW is 8600). I'd like to have a new 1/2 ton with the 5.3 but, knowing how I use a truck and what I'm really toteing around - a 1/2 ton probably would'nt get the job done. Just a thought. Ken

chucksoliver77 · Feb 13, 2012

(quoted from post at 09:48:29 02/13/12) I need to replace one of our trucks. Its used by a roofing estimator/repairman who would usually carry a ladder rack, tools, and maybe a couple of hundred pounds of material & debris. The current truck is 3/4 ton with 4WD & a 350 engine that gets about 9 mpg. I'm thinking of getting 1/2 ton, maybe with a V6 in hopes of saving money on gas.
Does anyone have any recommendations on what engine to get or avoid? Fuel savings is important, but not everything. Or based on the descibed use if I should get another 3/4 ton? I don't need 4wd & we don't tow with this truck. I'm leaning towards Chevrolet because of a $4000 discount built up on a GM sponsored credit card.
Your advice would be appreciated.

i have a 2011 f150 hd with the 3.5 ecoboost engine and it gets 18-20 around town and makes incredible power. the gvw is 8200. the cab is very guiet with almost no engine noise. i'm a retired builder and have used hd 150s for years and it will do what you want with ease. chuck

dhermesc · Feb 13, 2012

The 4.3 V6 is kind of a dog but if you are mainly going to drive it and not tow or haul heavy loads they are "adequate". If you do tow with them you just need to plan on it taking more time - they just don't have the power. If you are used to a 1980s early 1990s 350 V8 you may not notice a difference. Back then those things were dogs too.

We have 9 of them (2006-2008) and they average about 17 MPG with guys driving them that don't care at all how hard they are pushing them (we pay the gas). We tend to get 150K to 170K miles on them without putting to much cash in them. Usually a new in tank fuel pump at 80K and brakes all the way around at 100K. We moved up to 4.8 V8s on our newer truck - the guys seem to like them a lot more than the 4.3s with about the same mileage.

Rick Kr · Feb 13, 2012

Bill,
I think you have the 3.42. Don't believe you can get a 3.73 with 5.3L, only 3.08 and 3.42. 3.73 you can get with the 4.3V6, 4.8L, and the 6.2 max trailer package.
Rick

Anonymous-0 · Feb 13, 2012

If you're just carrying a ladder and a couple hundred pounds of tools, you don't need a 3/4 ton or even a big engine. Test drive a base 3.7 litre F150 V6. It has way more power and way better fuel economy that any other V6. The Ecoboost is if you need lots of pulling power but the 3.7 still has over 300 HP and gets better than 21 MPG and is rated to get 23. The 6 speed transmission is very responsive.

tjiniowa · Feb 13, 2012

Ya I wish they still came with the 5.7L,I have got over 18 with it before. Friend of mine at work has a 2006 4wd with 5.3L and he drives about 30 miles each way to work and he gets consistently 17-18, he drives exactly 55mph. My father in law has a 1500hd with 6.0L 3.73 gears and can get 16-16.5mpg, while a lot of guys with the 6.0L in the 2500's get 13mpg, I think they have 4,10 gears?

Bill in IL · Feb 14, 2012

I double checked my invoice for my truck. Its an 09 4wd silverado ext cab with a 5.3 that has 3.73 gears in it. Cost an extra hundred bucks for that option... came with the truck.

cumminspuller · Feb 14, 2012

If you buy a half ton don't bother with the smaller engine to save on fuel. While the smaller engine may do good in a Ranger or S-10 in a 1/2 ton it will be somewhat loaded with the bigger truck already. When you do actually start to work with it the milage will go down more drasticlly than a truck that already has the bigger motor in it. I like some ,wish you could still get a 5.7 in a 1/2 ton GM truck. At my work place some of the salesman have 5.3 4wd's. Milage is around 15-17 with nothing in the bed. I don't know much about the new Ford engines. I don't like the cutting off of cylinders in some of the new GM trucks. I don't know if that is what the EccoBoost is on a Ford or not. Good luck on whatever you decide.

Tom-NorthCenTX · Feb 14, 2012

Ford F-150 with the V-6 3.5 Ecoboost, outstanding fuel economy and more torque than large gas V8 models. It will cost a little more than the basic V-6 3.7, but will have power to spare. Plus Ford runs itself without taxpayer handouts, Nobama runs GM, and Fiat runs Chrysler. Tom

New Chevy truck

Ed in Northern VA

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Russ from MN

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tjiniowa

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Anonymous-0

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MattE

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Bill in IL

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8N'r--WI

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Grampy

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Rick Kr

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