Chevy 3500 8.1L...Not!

[IdaH.O.Train]

A guy I work with just bought one of these trucks with the big block, Allison transmission and 4. 10's. He had looked at the ford PSDs and D/Cs; however, his wife did not like either. He had me take it for a spin last evening and I was sorely disappointed with the power. I expected much more out of an engine w/almost 500 ci. and a low rear end. He told me he has checked the mileage and is getting anywhere from 10. 5 to 13, unloaded. I then took him for a spin in my truck, just to show him what he gave up in selling out for another gasser. I could tell he was impressed with the power, especially when I told him I get over 20 mpg empty @70+ mph and over 13 towing. :{

 

[MikeR]

The day a woman pays my bills and pays my truck payment, is the day she has ANY say in what I buy. Tell that guy to get his manhood back and buy what HE wants.

 

[hammersley]

Oh Mike -

Nasty Shot across the bow - well maybe dead center! Remember it's always better to ask for forgiveness than permission. .

 

[EMDDIESEL]

I had a ford PSD guy shooting his mouth off here once and i told him i would take him light to light. He got spanked (Of course). I aksed him why he needs the 2 extra cylinders?

 

[mimprevento]

Wife and truck

My wife hated the truck that was the clincher for me- like a focus group- if a woman hates it it is right on the demographic target- these things were not built for women- Ford Escapes and Acura "SUV"s are. I love her but she has NO say in my wheels and we get along just fine. FOR TWENTY YEARS.

 

[zimman20]

The only possible reason she could have for wanting to have input on the new truck purchase was she was planning on driving it..... AAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!!



:{





YOUR FRIEND HAS JUST FAILED 'MANHOOD 101' !!!!



You need a new friend!!!





zman

 

[NVR FNSH]

NoCal - I want your truck. 20mpg at 70+ mph? What gears/tire size do you have? I barely break 17mpg at 65mph in my truck... ...



Brian

 

[E7mack96]

women and trucks and 20 mpg

I made the mistake of buying a '99 3500 auto, because my wife said she may need to drive it. I then proceeded to trade it in on a 2001. 5 3500 HO 6 speed. The clincher was that I had to buy her a 2001 Durango. She drives hers, I drive mine. We get along like that.



On the 20+mpgs' I have seen them too. Not all the time, But they are out there.

 

[JoeyD]

Originally posted by NoCalH. O. PO

A guy I work with just bought one of these trucks with the big block, Allison transmission and 4. 10's. He had looked at the ford PSDs and D/Cs; however, his wife did not like either. He had me take it for a spin last evening and I was sorely disappointed with the power. I expected much more out of an engine w/almost 500 ci. and a low rear end. He told me he has checked the mileage and is getting anywhere from 10. 5 to 13, unloaded. I then took him for a spin in my truck, just to show him what he gave up in selling out for another gasser. I could tell he was impressed with the power, especially when I told him I get over 20 mpg empty @70+ mph and over 13 towing. :{

You must realy hate anything GM if you are not impressed with the 8. 1 with the 4. 10 gears and the allison. That truck runs hard all the way to red line. 340hp and 450ftlbs is alot of power stock.

 

[baby.driver]

They all don't run the same. You should know that.

 

[Snow man]

I have driven the 8100/allison,and 4. 10. it is a quick truck that will smoke the tires off the line without trying. It is a quick truck IMO for stock. If you werent impressed with it,then you comparing it to your bombed cummins,it will walk all over a stock cummins any day. Try a Dmax with an Edge juice it will impress you as it walks away for your HO like it was standing still. Like it or not the GMs raised the bar for power a truck should have from the factory,with both the 8100,and Dmax. My wife loves my truck,I can hardly pry the keys from her hands,the only bad thing is the tires are smoldering when i get it back,and the mileage drops big time too.

 

[Big_Daddy_T]

As to the power of the 8. 1 I distinctly remember reading that they get about 230 hp to the wheel and 350 lb ft to the wheeel. That is more hp but less tq than the cummins. It would be faster but not pull as well under load. The usual when comparing gas to diesel. quicker but less ability to resist deceleration under heavy load. Not to knock it Im actually quite partial to the bowtie but where is the 30 plus percent drivetrain loss coming from. Ive pondered purchasing the 8. 1 for as long as it has been out but I couldnt afford it at the pump. I drive 3 or 4000 miles a month no problem . So the pump can make or break me.

 

[Champane Flight]

Old

I had a old 440 in a 29' motorhome that would take about anything out there. However, it would only get 6-12 mpg and eat a quart of oil when pulling hard. It was a fun old beast though, you should see the look on the drivers of the fancy diesel pushers when a old box with a boat in tow walks around em on Monarch pass. I finally sold it when I thought the floor in the bathroom was going to leave someone in the middle of the highway on the commode!



I have not driven the 8. 1 yet. So far I have not seen any gassers on the market today that impress me. Except the V-10 in the Viper... ... ..... I saw one the other day that was beefed up by some outfit in Texas, it was cammed and had a supercharger on it. The guy was just passing through and said he was surrounded whenever he pulled in for fuel or coffee. He said he didn't pull over unless he wanted to waste thirty minutes telling everyone about his car. Was thinking about making a recording and setting it on the hood when he stopped! It was a beautiful thing... ...

 

[nickleinonen]

Originally posted by Big_Daddy_T

... Im actually quite partial to the bowtie but where is the 30 plus percent drivetrain loss coming from...

it's called the allison transmission. while it is a good trans, just like every automatic, there is more powerloss there than in the manual versions. . one point though, at least on the dmax, the computer down rates the power in 1st gear in stock form. that aids in potential traction problems. could be the same for the gasser. now, get a dmax in 2nd or 3rd and give 'er full throttle and it flys. .

 

[Pit Bull]

Re: Wife and truck

Originally posted by mimprevento

My wife hated the truck that was the clincher for me- like a focus group- if a woman hates it it is right on the demographic target- these things were not built for women- Ford Escapes and Acura "SUV"s are. I love her but she has NO say in my wheels and we get along just fine. FOR TWENTY YEARS.

Same here, mine hates the sound, size, only thing she likes is how much it will haul. All that made me want to buy it that much more.

 

[Steve M]

My wife has liked all three of my Dodge Cummins trucks. She has occasionally driven both the autos and the '98 5spd. Shifting or not shifting doesn't matter to either of us. Both have been no trouble.

Our Durango only gets 12mpg in town. But it hauls axx. I like to feel some power when I step on the loud peddle. IMHO, the Suburban with an 8. 1 and Allison would be a ride worth charging admission too.

 

[TPCDrafting]

My brother has a 2500 with a 8. 1l. Snow man is right, it runs away from my stock cummins. He's had to replace the motor (under warrantee) because it was leaking coolant into the oil, but they couldn't find the leak and determined the block was pourus. I've also ridden in a stock duralax auto, it too would beat my '98 stock off the line. I'm just gonna have to start bombing.

 

[jpeterson]

I had a 2001 GMC 2500 8. 1L Allison, it ran low 16's in the quarter around 86 mph stock. It also averaged 11 mpg empty and 7 mpg pulling a 20 ft enclosed car trailer at 70 mph. It was a nice truck and had some thoughtful features, but it also left me stranded 9 times with a dead battery that the dealership and GM could not figure out and was repurchased from me under the MN Lemon Law. At that point Dodge had excellent deals on trucks and I was able to walk away with a similarly optioned Dodge CTD for about $1000 less than the GMC.



Jeremy

 

[Pit Bull]

I guess I don't get it. If you wanted something that would go fast from 0 - 100 you would buy a Viper. Who is counting when one truck goes 16 seconds in the 1/4 mile and another does it in 18 or 19 or 20. They are all slow. When we are talking big trucks I guess we are talking the least slowest I know there are some in the TDR that have bombed their trucks to the point that they can beat a Mustang in the 1/4 mile, now that is in the fast categories and is a different story. But there are not many of them out there that can do that. Were talking 450 - 500 HP and 850 - 1000 ft. lbs of torque. From what I can tell it is not cheap to get in this league and costs even more to stay (stuff breaks )

 

[Mike Sisk]

I have a 2002 Winnebago with the 8. 1 L and 1000-series Allison--been pretty happy with it so far. Even though it weighs in around 20k lbs. it still gets around 9 mpg and has decent power and acceleration for a 35-foot gasser motorhome.



I wonder if the engine is down-rated for emissions in a light truck as compared to the engine in a motorhome application?