About to buy

[Tim Richardson]

I am planning on buying a truck within the next 2 months. I must confess, that up until a few weeks ago I was only considering an F250 with the powerstroke diesel. However someone told me to take a long look at the 2500Hd with the Duramax, and I must say that I am impressed.
I have never owned a diesel before so all of my diesel knowledge(and that is very little) comes from what I know about the F250.

After reading some of the older posts,from this site, I have a few questions...

1. From what I can tell, there is no factory or aftermarket idle controller. You must wire
one yourself. Is this correct? The main reason I need one, is during the summer, I would like
to leave my truck in park, and be able to run my a/c for extended periods (up to an hour) without
risking damage to the engine. Is this a possible?

2. Does the duramax have use glow plugs? In other words, is there a wait to start period when you
first turn on the key?

3. Can someone tell me how much space is in the back seat of a crew cab? Not actual measurements,
but real world examples. ALso can anyone compare the room to the crew cab F250?

4. Are there any differences between the Silverado, and the GMC 2500?


5. Also, without getting into any brand wars, can anybody give me some objective differences
between the chevy and the ford?


I am sure I will have more questions later, but thanks in advance for any answers


Tim

[dmaxalliTech]

Tim, welcome. I dont remember all your q's exactly but I will try and remember. Yes the dmax uses glow plugs. My crew cab is more roomier then the bonneville i traded in for it. I am a big fella, 6' and 285 lbs and I am comfortable in the back seat. You can easily install an idle up circuit to your truck. Its very easy.
The differences between the Chevy and GMC are cosmetic only. biggest difference it the front end
I was never a diesel freak until I drove one. I was satisfied with the 6.0 gm engine for performance, my biggest reason was I wanted the crew cab. Now I coulndt own a gas truck again.
Diesels are designed to run and idle all day, no problems with a/c.
GM is going into 4 yrs with currect D/A combo with little changes, Ford is entering first year of production with thier 6.0. First year anything scares me.
The best reason to buy a gm?? All you new friends on TDP
;)

[a64pilot]

Tim,
Welcome to the forum. I will try to address some of your questions as best as I can. Other people may do a better job soon

1. You are correct. It is very easy to do though. I do not believe it would damage the engine to idle for extended periods in the summer but the A/C will work better if the idle is increased.
2. Don't all automive Diesels require some form of preheat? The Dmax uses both glow plugs as well as an intake air heater I believe. Apparently it will start in extremely cold weather.
3,4 and 5 I can't help you much with, but I believe there have been some initial teething problems with the Ford 6.0 that are not yet resolved.
Hope this helps

[BassinRVer]

Tim,

If you want we could go for a test drive in mine. I could show you what an unleashed D\A feels like. E-Mail me at rjconner@transystems.com or call 501-7842.

[Mike Fultz]

I was in the same boat as you a few months ago. All I had for the past 15 years has been Fords, mostly with good experiences. I have family that have F-250's Powerstrokes and I have borrowed them many times. I did not consider a GM diesel, mostly because of my Ford heritage. My wife, who was upset with Ford over our Explorer wanted me to drive both a Dodge and Chevy before dropping big money on a diesel truck. I test drove the dodge, and decided it was not for me. I went to my local Chevy dealer with the same attitude and test drove a new 2500HD Duramax/Allison. I had to do a double take. In fact it stopped my truck buying that weekend dead cold. I had to re think my position.

I loaded the family up and borrowed a new F250 4x4 Diesel from my local Ford dealer that knows me all too well-- he knew I always test drive, and return to buy. I drove the F250 around for a while and then headed over to the Chevy dealer. The Chevy dealer decided to loan me a 2500HD 4x4 D/A to ride around with the family. I was very impressed with the ride, performance, creature comforts, towing ability, etc. of the Chevy. Even with "bugs" in the first year of Fords new engine/tranny I knew they would fix them for me. But in the end I bought the Chevy, I think its a great truck, I tow my race car trailer very comfortably, and I take the family out in very comfortably. The rear seat easily fits two adults, even on our long tow's. No issues with the engine or transmission. I towed up Fancy Gap on the NC/Va border with 9,800 pound in tow and a 900 pound golf cart in the bed at 75 MPH passing many struggling sedans.

The Chevy offered me a good combination of performance, comfort, and a good track record of the Isuzu/GM purpose built diesel coupled with a purpose built automatic trannsmission, at a very fair price. It also does not hurt that my truck out accelerates, and rides nicer than the other family trucks. :D

[Oongawah]

Welcome Tim,

You're in for a real treat if you hook up with Bassin'. I remember not long ago taking Tony out for his first drive in an unleashed Max. Now he grins in his own truck(he was grinnin' even before the juice though).

Comparisons:

I looked at both. The back seat in the Ford looked bigger, but the seat in the GM felt bigger. I think there's more leg room in the GM. Maybe it's the seat, but I felt more comfortable in the GM.

The three biggest differences for me were overall height, shift points, and turning radius.

To pull my 5ver it was more actractive to me to have it sit level. The bed of the Ford sat too high for my 5ver to pull level even with the hitch, and pinbox adjusted.

The tranny on the 7.3L was doing all the work while the engine appeared to run at 2800 constantly on acceleration. The Max is fluid on acceleration much like a car with all kinna torque.

The turning radius is not even comparable between like trucks. Hope this helps, Chuck.

[JMJORDAN]

I can help with questions #3 and #5.

I keep a fuel filter, fuel filter wrench, front grill cover, and insulated Carhart overalls behind my back seat. Their is also a great deal of room under the back seat. I keep 4 big ratchet straps, 2 small straps, 4 reciever hitch inserts, and spare ammo under the back bench seat :D As far as comparing to a Ford. The space behind the back seat of the Ford is about 2" wider, but the seat doesnt fold down completly like a Gm. My backseat bottom folds up agianst the front seats. The back seat back folds down flat. This makes for flat surface 37" wide and it goes door to door. The Fords I have see the seat bottom doesnt fold up. I do not need to remove any thing from under the seat to fold it down.

Question #5 I love my truck! A buddies PSD 7.3 525 TQ can not keep up. It is fine out off the hole but once I rolling See Yah! I all so get about 2 mpg better then his truck pulling the same load or running empty. The fuel filter on the GM is pain change. That new 6.0PSD runs real strong but cant stay running

Hope this helps

[JMJORDAN]

Whoops! I miss read. The backseat room is about the same in both trucks. The Ford's seat doesnt fold down like I talk about above. :D

[chuntag95]

My wife and I looked at a whole list of things including turning radius and ride height. On the height, good for her was on the other end of good for me. I like tall, but she won that point. The Chevy turns shorter (based on CC SB) and is not as tall (both 4x4). My 22 month old still has to strugle even with the nerf bars, but he LOVES the truck. :D I have 2 car seats in the back and there is room enough for my 6'4" 225 lb friend to sit in between them. I do believe the Ford is a little larger in the back seat, but I can say the Chevy seats are MUCH more comfortable in both front and back. I held off buying until the second year of the DMAX just to make sure all of the big bugs were out. That was based on the issues seen with the intros of both companies new models in the past. That's about as nuetral as I can be talking about a truck I have truely been pleased with, including my few issues.