Chevy/GMC Owners

scuba1

After seeing several wrecks involving GM,Dodge, and Ford 3rd and 4th doors in the extended cabs, it seems to me that the extended cabs, not crew cabs, are not very safe with a side impact collision. There is no support beam between the doors like the crew cabs and any hit in the side will collapse that particular side. I have seen where a side impact on the passenger side has pushed the door and seat halfway across the the cab to the driver. I have also seen where the trucks have rolled over. This particular region between doors is the weakest part and always seems to collapse. Just wanted to make buyers aware of this.

powerisfun

scuba1,
Thanks for the info. I was wondering about that, myself. It seems like it might be a good idea to put a lift kit and bigger tires on the truck to get it up above normal car front-end height. But then again, if another truck or SUV hits you, it probably wouldn't help much. Still,
since there are a lot more cars on the road than trucks, it may improve the odds quite a bit. Just a thought.

powerisfun

Has anyone had their truck weighed? I went to the
county dump and they weighed my truck ('98
GMC Sierra, ext-cab, three-door, K1500, Z71, short-fleetside bed with 5.7L engine and auto trans.) with empty bed and the total was 5620 lbs with a full tank of gas (25 gal tank = ~175 lbs gas), my wife (150 lbs) and myself (270 lbs, and it's all muscle!...yeah, right!). I also added a hard tonneau cover that weighs about 30 lbs. That means my truck's weight is real close to 5000 lbs even. I'm just curious how that compares to the other trucks particularly the new
body style GM's. They probably list curb weights somewhere, but I'm not sure if that includes things like trailer hitch, big tires (265-75R16), tow hooks, Z71 suspension (all present on my truck). I'd appreciate any input. Thanks.
-Tim

P.S. I'm going to post this message on other boards as well so sorry if you're reading this many times.

cdean

rcude

the 6.0 will not pull as well as the Ford 7.3 or the 454. If you like the new GMC style, maybe wait till the fall and see if the new GM heavy duty's come out with the new Isuzu diesel or big block gas. The 6.0 is basically a replacement for the 350 HD. Its meant for heavy towing in the lighter trucks, but your boat and fifth wheel combined are more load than that engine is meant to pull. It has a nice powerband, it is geared great, and WILL pull, but your diesel will get much better mileage. You would get better or same mileage with a new 454, and it would pull better than 6.0 or your old diesel.

RichinKs

I believe for 99 the rating for the 6.0 with 4.10 rearend is 10,500 pounds. Initially it was 10,000 but that was upgraded. When you say your fifth wheel is 9000 pounds do you mean empty or loaded? Mine is 7000 empty with a max of 9000 loaded. Its easy to add weight, more weight than you think. For 2000 the rumors I hear are the 6.0 is to have slightly more horse power but no torque increase. It is about 100 ft pounds below the 454 if my memory serves me on torque. It should handle 27 footers and some 30 foot ffith wheels. Very few people tow more than 10% of the time. Even many full time fifth wheelers park at one location for months. So my question is will it do better on mileage solo than the 454? I hope so. ..... Rich

stevek

I have a '97 Z71 and the registration said 4900#. On the scale it registers 5400# with a half tank of gas, me (170#) and a hard roll top cover.