Diesel 4 Wheel Drive or not

[Ken Washington]

Two years ago this August in Va., I had to back the Landmark out of a camp site and spun the tires in two wheel drive! Had I not had 4X4, I would still be there! That was the best trip I have been on because we went to help my son and daughter-in-law adopt. Spent eleven days with our new grandson, Jay William.

Ken--Proud PePaw!

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

NHunter.......... you wrote "Ok, I have a confession to make. At a very troubled time in my life, was pulled out of a snow bank by a GM. I feel better that my dark secret is out."


WAS THAT KIND GM GUY A 2WD OR 4X4?????????????????

 

[dieselengineer]

With free spin hubs, drives like a 2wd. Same mileage as 2wd, drive train is not spinning. Lock the Hubs, shift into 4wd. and head into the mountains. The best of both worlds. The one thing I do really like is being able to back the rig into the camp site in low range. Just for that, the 4wd pays for itself.

 

[nhunter]

That kind GM guy was a 4x4. I only got stuck trying to break open road for his "low rider" though. I also wouldn't buy a 2x.

 

[DougLynne]

One other thing to consider with a 4X2 is the resalew value. Being not as popular they are hard to sell and the price drops more, that may only be here in Canada but I doubt it.../Doug

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

I just knew that I could get you 4x4 guys off the couch and blazing away on the keyboard....................I can smell the keyboard smoke all the way from Michigan and Canada clear down here in sunny SO. Cal. "On the Road" got answers to his question........................

 

[Rogdog]

If you change to a larger tire on a GM Duramax/Allison truck your mileage will definitely suffer. I have a 4x4 D/A and get 10-11.5 MPG towing, depending on speed and headwind, and up to 18 solo.

1. True for any truck. Not just the D/A
2. Can somewhat be mitigated by recalibrating your odo with a device like a predator.
3. Guys with the other two diesels would kill to get that kind of mileage (on their way back and forth from the repair shop.)

 

[nhunter]

1. True for any truck. Not just the D/A
2. Can somewhat be mitigated by recalibrating your odo with a device like a predator.
3. Guys with the other two diesels would kill to get that kind of mileage (on their way back and forth from the repair shop.)

I get 17mpg from a power stroke averaging 80mph. And wouldn't we be getting 0mpg on the way to repair shop?

 

[fireflipper]

Fireflipper

Rogdog
The Duramax with the Allison tranny can be reprogramed by the dealer to match the size tires that you put on the truck up to a certain size. What that size is I am not sure of. The cost was about 100 bucks.

 

[Rogdog]

265/75/16 I believe is max because that size comes stock on some 3500 SRW models. Many dealers will threaten to void your warranty if they find anything bigger than stock. Mine did whith the 265's on it. It's chicken s__t.

My predator was about $300 and does that job any time I change tire size. Also uptunes the engine, reads the diagnostic trouble codes and clears them. This last trick it can do on any GM with an OBD II port. The tunes and tire size thing is truck/engine specific.

Getting caught with a non-stock tune will also void the warranty but it doesn't need to be there when you take it in either.

I obviously went this way rather than deal with the pain at the dealer. Maybe your dealer is terrific. Mine rarely knows what to do. The service writer starts sweating when a diesel comes in because he knows he doesnt have a single competent duramax technican. There are maybe five of those at dealerships in San Diego county.

The $100 is excessive BTW. It takes five minutes but they usually charge an hour minimum which is about $50.

If you have a max, check out dieselplace.com. More info about GM diesels than you can handle.

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

fireflipper,
After reading your post, I called Chevy. They will recalibrate the odo tomorrow under warranty. According the my GPS, the odo was 2 mph fast @ 65 with original tires. I will ask them the limits of recalibration and post.

 

[Rogdog]

I get 17mpg from a power stroke averaging 80mph. And wouldn't we be getting 0mpg on the way to repair shop?

Depends on what fell off I suppose!

 

[ct0218]

As Rogdog said, they can only reprogram for the very few sizes of tires than can come on a D/A--and I believe that is 3 sizes. The largest is a 265 that comes on a 3500 SRW. They have to use the GM program, and that is all that is in there. I have seen them try it on one when mine was in for service a few months ago, and it was a no go. There are hundreds of posts in Thedieselplace forum referencing tires and reprogramming, or the lack thereof. The problem with larger tires is the additional mass and weight that has to be rotated, and even though there is the extra rolling surface in a revolution it has a negative effect on mileage.

 

[Uncle Rog]

Howdy, just a thought here, on some of the truck forums I have seen that some of the majors have tried to squirm out of warranty issues because of over sized tires. My GMC came with lt 245's I changed out to 265's, within the limits of the spec's. The other, and best mod that I have done is cahange out the stk fuek tank for a 48 gal model, that baby has some range now!

 

[BluegrassMan]

My dear wife wants me to get 4wd on the f-450. I said no I don't want it, for a number of reasons (maint.,economy,height) I like my rig to ride level, all of mine have. If I go 4wd on this truck, the bed rails are way high, I don't want my GC up in the front, and having minimal clearance between the two. I figure the $$$ saved can go toward the KingRanch cost, should be close to it. I also think, though I may be wrong, 2wd's turn sharper than 4wd. It used to be that way. Any thoughts on this ?

 

[trdeal]

My dear wife wants me to get 4wd on the f-450. I said no I don't want it, for a number of reasons (maint.,economy,height) I like my rig to ride level, all of mine have. If I go 4wd on this truck, the bed rails are way high, I don't want my GC up in the front, and having minimal clearance between the two. I figure the $$$ saved can go toward the KingRanch cost, should be close to it. I also think, though I may be wrong, 2wd's turn sharper than 4wd. It used to be that way. Any thoughts on this ?

As you know I recently purchased a 2007 F-350 4x4.I hooked up and went down the road the other day for a test drive. Got out and checked for level. The rig all set fairly level, and I know it sounds strange, but I told my wife when I got out and looked that I thought I had more clearance between the bed and the Mt Rushmore than I did with my 2 wheel drive. I don't remember the truck turning any less sharp than my 2001 2 wheel drive f-350 did. Just my opinion.

 

[nhunter]

I only have an F-350 but when my trailer is hooked up the truck actually sits level and rides nicer too. I don't think you will incur much for extra maintenance costs for the 4x4 (I have only had to change 1 vacuum seal. And they sure turn a lot sharper with the new front end. Just my thoughts

 

[phranc]

"Give me forty acres and I'll turn this rig around"..That used to be the story with my '03 Ford.. Lots have changed since then.. I worried over the height of the BigHorn as to weather it would match up well with my present Dodge 4x4.. Turned out to be a non issue.. Try this if you can, stop by a few truck dealers of different makes and measure the height to the top of the bed rails. Then compare to yours............Put the trailer on level ground and then make trailer level and measure distance from ground to bottom
of nose..subtract from bedrail height and you now have bedrail to bottom of nose clearance.

 

[fireflipper]

Fireflipper

Bluegrassman
I have the 3500 Duramax, 4 x 4, when the Grand Canyon is hooked up the read drops about three inches, not much for a one ton, I relevel with the Firestone airbags and in cab controller. I have about five to six inches of clearance over the rails, only had one situation so far where I came close to hitting the rails and it was a pretty steep angle of departure coming out of a gas station. As for the four wheel drive issue, I have found myself in several situations where I would have had to call a tow truck without it. Everytime it was in a park with dirt roads, or paths if you can call them that, or sandy areas like some parks in Fl. I get 17 to 18 gpm on the highway not towing and 9 to 10 towing. Which is only 1 gpm less than what the 2 x 4 owners I have talked to are getting. Good Luck which ever one you choose, because in the end you are the only one who has to be happy with that choice.

Glenn

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

Glenn,
I hope you meant to say mpg (miles per gallon) not gpm (gallons per mile)At that rate GM could not give a truck away. Your milage is similar to mine which I will take any time considering the weight plus I usually average 63 mph, no need to hurry.