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Old 08-13-2016, 08:33 PM   #1
the sodfather
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Too big?

This may sound like a dumb question but can you have too big a TV?

I have a Bullet 272 BHS that I tow with an Avalanche. It does fine but that is it. It struggles with hills as you can imagine. A family member has a low mileage 09 Duramax DRW crew cab 4X4 that they are wanting to part with for a very fair price.

Im pretty sure it would eliminate any hills issues...
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Old 08-13-2016, 08:49 PM   #2
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You can never have enough truck if you can afford it. Many people use their TVs as daily drivers. So having dualies on their full ton doesn't seem practical when grocery store bound 95% of the time.

That's our scenario. I'm pulling the larger 308BHS Bullet with my 1/2 ton Yukon XL Denali. I had a problem with sway in heavy crosswinds recently. Upgraded the hitch to a Hensley Arrow and now my wife can tow it. Also, a good set of TV brakes, a great trailer brake controller, GM's 400 hp and torquey Vortec 6.2L gasser engine all make for a very relaxed towing experience. Plus, I saved 10's of thousands of dollars keeping the 1/2 ton Denali.
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Old 08-13-2016, 09:38 PM   #3
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I'd jump on that in a heartbeat, if you trust that they maintained it properly.

And diesel.

Family member, known history, used truck that someone else took the massive depreciation hit on, not that old...

And diesel.

And not a model year from one of the big three that had lots of known problems...

And diesel.



Nothing's perfect. It won't eliminate "hills issues". It'll change them to needing to keep your foot out of it for heat reasons on really long ones. Heh
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Old 08-14-2016, 02:21 AM   #4
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Towing capacity for that Avalanche is about 5K, the gross weight of your TT is about 7.5K. Am I missing something here? The Avalanche was made to tow your little fishing boat to the lake after your relatives have towed your Bullet to the lake FOR you with their "dirtymax." Yep, I am having a little fun at your expense, but you have "outkicked your coverage" towing with the Avalanche.
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:04 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by busterbrown View Post
You can never have enough truck if you can afford it. Many people use their TVs as daily drivers. So having dualies on their full ton doesn't seem practical when grocery store bound 95% of the time.

That's our scenario. I'm pulling the larger 308BHS Bullet with my 1/2 ton Yukon XL Denali. I had a problem with sway in heavy crosswinds recently. Upgraded the hitch to a Hensley Arrow and now my wife can tow it. Also, a good set of TV brakes, a great trailer brake controller, GM's 400 hp and torquey Vortec 6.2L gasser engine all make for a very relaxed towing experience. Plus, I saved 10's of thousands of dollars keeping the 1/2 ton Denali.
Kinda what I figured. I have an Equalizer hitch and I think it is fantastic as well. Used one of those cheap chain flip up ones initially and was very disappointed. I pull a lot of trailers at work and on occasions use the truck with dualies. Mostly city driving and small very heavy trailers and loads. You brought up one point I've been contemplating....do I want to drive this big freak of nature everyday! Thanks for the input...
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:06 AM   #6
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Towing capacity for that Avalanche is about 5K, the gross weight of your TT is about 7.5K.
When properly equipped, late model 1500 series Avalanches are rated at 8100 (2wd) and 8000 (4wd). He may be close to his trucks capacities but I highly doubt he exceeds them by 2,500 lbs. His weakest link is that 5.3L Vortec. Those towing with this small block v8 definitely can feel the hills.
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:15 AM   #7
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I'd jump on that in a heartbeat, if you trust that they maintained it properly.

And diesel.

Family member, known history, used truck that someone else took the massive depreciation hit on, not that old...

And diesel.

And not a model year from one of the big three that had lots of known problems...

And diesel.



Nothing's perfect. It won't eliminate "hills issues". It'll change them to needing to keep your foot out of it for heat reasons on really long ones. Heh
This "potential" TV is in perfect condition. Garage kept. Family owns a trucking company with diesel mechanic on staff. It's a loaded 09 GMC with 66K highway miles and never pulled a trailer. They eventually bought a very fancy bed mounted camper and only used it 4 times. It's got air bags in rear and a custom made 1 off front-end replacement bumper with a big freak of nature wench that's next been unwound.

And it diesel!
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:23 AM   #8
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Towing capacity for that Avalanche is about 5K, the gross weight of your TT is about 7.5K. Am I missing something here? The Avalanche was made to tow your little fishing boat to the lake after your relatives have towed your Bullet to the lake FOR you with their "dirtymax." Yep, I am having a little fun at your expense, but you have "outkicked your coverage" towing with the Avalanche.
You might be missing something...like 2K lbs...My AV is rated for 7K with the 3:73 rear gear. We mostly camp within a couple hundred miles of home. I generally head out early and set up and my wife and girls come up later in her car. We tend to load the trailer light with most stuff in my wife's Camry. You know...except for a few cold beverages after set up and the A/C is on...
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:26 AM   #9
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When properly equipped, late model 1500 series Avalanches are rated at 8100 (2wd) and 8000 (4wd). He may be close to his trucks capacities but I highly doubt he exceeds them by 2,500 lbs. His weakest link is that 5.3L Vortec. Those towing with this small block v8 definitely can feel the hills.
It's an 07 AV rated for 7K with the 3:73 rear gear. I believe my weak link is the motor with 186,000 miles on it...
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:46 AM   #10
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A few things that you might want weigh in as you make your decision:

1. How often you'll use the truck for its intended purposes (towing/moving things) vs...
2. Everyday drivability of an empty full ton dually.
3. How far your camping trips are from your home base.
4. Diesel vs gas powerplants (maintenance and fuel costs).

Sounds like a cream puff of a truck if you do buy it. No argument there.
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:56 AM   #11
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A few things that you might want weigh in as you make your decision:

1. How often you'll use the truck for its intended purposes (towing/moving things) vs...
2. Everyday drivability of an empty full ton dually.
3. How far your camping trips are from your home base.
4. Diesel vs gas powerplants (maintenance and fuel costs).

Sounds like a cream puff of a truck if you do buy it. No argument there.
These are all things running through my head...

1. Actually not as much as I'd like...
2. No idea but I'm willing to give it a shot. Hey, I live in Texas, everybody drives a big truck!
3. With this truck we would definitely extend or our camping trips, distance and time wise.
4. Looking into diesel maint vs. gas now.
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Old 08-14-2016, 05:12 AM   #12
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I wouldn't hesitate for a second. My dually is a daily driver as well, my wife even prefers to drive it when getting groceries. The idea that driving a big dually crew cab truck around town daily is difficult is purely psychological. People drive tractor trailers down the same roads that we drive our trucks. I haven't found a parking lot that I can't get into, out of, or park in. As for maintenance costs, other than a fuel filter and a few more quarts of oil, there isn't a difference. If you are like the average person, you will change the fuel filter once a year ($30) and the oil once or twice per year. 10 qts of oil vs 6 isn't that big of a difference. You have an opportunity to get an amazing TV at a great price. If I had that opportunity, the only regret I would have is if I didn't take it. I keep thinking about getting a new truck, I don't look at anything other than a dually. Even if I downsized RVs I wouldn't. We love our dually, best truck we have ever owned. I avoided buying one for years for the same reasons others talk about, size, cost, maintenance......I was never more wrong about anything.

As for too much truck, there is no such thing. If that trailer ever has a problem, blown tire, broken suspension or whatever, the more TV you have it hooked to, the safer it will be for you, your family, and everyone else sharing the road with you.
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Old 08-14-2016, 05:15 AM   #13
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I would jump on that if I were you. If you tow trailers at work with diesel DRW, then you already know how superior that TV is compared to what you are towing with now. The other consideration is your current TV has 186k miles on that gas motor compared to a 66k mile diesel with a well documented service history and the great reputation of the Duramax. In all honesty, with that many miles on your AV a replacement TV is probably in the near future anyways so why not take advantage of this great opportunity. It's not often you find a used diesel with that kind of background information at a great price. As for the "size" of the truck for daily driving, people told me the same thing about my 1 ton SRW crew cab long bed. They said it was too long and big for daily driving. While it is all personal perspective, I absolutely love it and have had no issues parking or driving it anywhere. Some parking stalls are tighter than others but I've navigated the tightest streets in Seattle and never regretted having this truck ( I daily drive 30 miles each way to work). I have driven many DRW and in my opinion don't feel they are cumbersome to drive around the city streets and definetly not on the highways. Just my 2cents.
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Old 08-14-2016, 05:17 AM   #14
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BTW, I have 150k miles on my 2011, I think it's just about broken in. The only reason I even consider getting a new one, I really like some of the bells and whistles on the 16s. GM hasn't changed the Duramax or Allison since 2011 so powertrain would not be an upgrade for me. For the 09 you're considering, the only thing you may want to look into at some point is a DPF delete.
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Old 08-14-2016, 05:55 AM   #15
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BTW, I have 150k miles on my 2011, I think it's just about broken in. The only reason I even consider getting a new one, I really like some of the bells and whistles on the 16s. GM hasn't changed the Duramax or Allison since 2011 so powertrain would not be an upgrade for me. For the 09 you're considering, the only thing you may want to look into at some point is a DPF delete.
Good info. Thanks! Can you shed some light on deleting the DPF?
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Old 08-14-2016, 06:13 AM   #16
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The DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) is the diesel version of a catalytic converter. The problem with them, just like the catalytic converter, is that over time they can clog. They are expensive to replace. In the 2011 and newer trucks, they use diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) injected into the DPF to burn the soot out, cleaning it. The 07-10 didn't use DEF or a 9th injector in the exhaust system to burn the soot, they added additional fuel and changed timing to increase exhaust heat to clean them, which wasn't as effective. Most people (outside of CA) resort to a DPF delete, basically just changing the exhaust like we did in the old days on our gas engines. Here's an article that explains everything pretty well.

http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/eng...r-your-diesel/
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Old 08-14-2016, 06:21 AM   #17
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BTW, I have 150k miles on my 2011, I think it's just about broken in. The only reason I even consider getting a new one, I really like some of the bells and whistles on the 16s. GM hasn't changed the Duramax or Allison since 2011 so powertrain would not be an upgrade for me. For the 09 you're considering, the only thing you may want to look into at some point is a DPF delete.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsmith0404 View Post
The DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) is the diesel version of a catalytic converter. The problem with them, just like the catalytic converter, is that over time they can clog. They are expensive to replace. In the 2011 and newer trucks, they use diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) injected into the DPF to burn the soot out, cleaning it. The 07-10 didn't use DEF or a 9th injector in the exhaust system to burn the soot, they added additional fuel and changed timing to increase exhaust heat to clean them, which wasn't as effective. Most people (outside of CA) resort to a DPF delete, basically just changing the exhaust like we did in the old days on our gas engines. Here's an article that explains everything pretty well.

http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/eng...r-your-diesel/
Awesome. Thanks!
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Old 08-14-2016, 06:40 AM   #18
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Too much truck if the daily driving gets to be too much. Pick up an inexpensive daily driver. I daily drive a Jeep Wrangler. Once I went dually the first time they have all been dually. Even if I don't really NEED it.
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Old 09-01-2016, 06:15 PM   #19
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This is opposite of is my truck enough. So, with my truck, TT and boat I believe I have to much truck. I have been thinking of downsizing for years but, just have not. Problem with my truck is I am way under max. towing ratings on GVW both front and rear and CGVW. I get about 12 mpg while towing. The rear tires do not even bulge out with my loaded weights. Heck I go up 6% grades at 55-60 some times faster. It steers and stops like I am not towing. The 18 wheelers do not push me around if they pass, they mostly get passed. High winds, yeah driven in those at some times slowing down to 50 is the best thing to do. Just having fun, everyone be as safe as you can while towing.
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Old 09-02-2016, 02:47 AM   #20
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This is opposite of is my truck enough. So, with my truck, TT and boat I believe I have to much truck. I have been thinking of downsizing for years but, just have not. Problem with my truck is I am way under max. towing ratings on GVW both front and rear and CGVW. I get about 12 mpg while towing. The rear tires do not even bulge out with my loaded weights. Heck I go up 6% grades at 55-60 some times faster. It steers and stops like I am not towing. The 18 wheelers do not push me around if they pass, they mostly get passed. High winds, yeah driven in those at some times slowing down to 50 is the best thing to do. Just having fun, everyone be as safe as you can while towing.
This is where I hope to be soon. My aunt is ready to sell the 3500, we just have to find time to hook up and handle the finances and exchange. Busy, busy, busy!!!
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