Need a 4wd tow vehicle
 

Current truck is a 2wd 95 C2500 ext-cab long-bed with the 454, tow package, and factory installed 1 ton suspension. Had it since 1998 and it's been a great truck. With 1000lbs of ballast in the bed she'll pull my boat out no problem,, as long as I'm on concrete.

Unfortunately, my local lake (Travis) is abt 55' lower than normal and not expected to recover any time soon. There's not a real ramp in the water anywhere, so all launching/retrievals are done off the beach which is mostly rock and a little sand.

I'm looking to stay under $12K. I'm partial to Chevy's but I'm considering other too. Need to keep the overall length close to what I currently have so it will fit in my crowded shop. Been looking at K2500's, F250's, and a couple of 2500 Dodges with crew cabs and short beds.

Truck will be used for towing the boat (abt 20 miles to the lake), taking my kid to daycare (4 doors would be nice here), and occasionally driving it 26 miles to work if my daily driver goes down.

Due to my price limit, I'm looking at mainly high mileage vehicles. Diesels seem to be the obvious choice due to their extended service life, but I've never owned a diesel and don't know a lot abt them. I know the Ford 7.3's have a really good reputation, but don't know much abt the Chevy and Dodge diesels.

Reliability and low cost maint are up near the top of my concerns.

Thx in adv for any suggestions!

Perhaps a 2500 Avalanche would work for you as well. 8.1L Gas engine & can tow 12,000 lbs with the 4.10 rear end; or 10K with the 3.73.

1999-2003 7.3L PSD Fords with the 7.3L will always be a sound platform; even with high mileage as long as they have been maintained well.
There are plenty of Cummins Dodge options out there, but the early 2000 model years were known to have weak automatic transmissions.
Duramax came out in 2001, but the early ones have injector issues later in life which get's really expensive.

Early model 2500 hd 4 dr 4 wd with 6.0 gas. Ls motors are proving to stand the test of time and if it goes can be replaced rather inexpensive. I have a 2007 2500hd 4dr 4wd 6.0 and love this truck. It pulls anything I ask and has 90,000 now with 0 problems.

How much weight are we talking? You have a 20 mile tow in Texas no less (flat, low elevation) I would just get a 4wd 3/4 ton gasser. I have a an 00 7.3 I've had since new and it has been a super truck, but I sure wouldn't looking at a 13 year old diesel to replace it....not when an F150 ecoboost will do 90% of what my old diesel will do towing and be newer and more comfortable everyday. Diesels, even the older ones have different and more costly maintenance considerations that really don't payoff unless you have some serious towing to do.

Boat is 7800 lbs. Alum Myco trailer is abt 2000 I'm guessing. All fueled-up and loaded I'm estimating close to 11,000 lbs. While it is fairly flat around here, there are some fairly steep hills near the lake.. With my current truck (454), I have to use 1st gear and close to full throttle to get up one of the hills between my house and the lake (it's on a very twisty road and I can't build up any speed)..I wouldn't think the 496 gasser would have too much trouble. Not sure abt the smaller gassers.

What year did the Duramax inj issues get addressed. Was it the mid 2004 models?

Yeah but even the LLYs (04-05)had issues - 06 and newer would be the dmax to get but that will be out of your price range.

I've been researching the 8.1L engs and have heard nothing but good things abt them. Seems like a good choice in place of a diesel and the prices are definitely more appealing.
I'm now looking at the Chevy 2500 pickups and the 2500 Avalanches. Sounds like either one would pull down the road ok, but which would do better pulling the boat out off the beach?
How well will the Avalanche handle the roughly 1000 lbs of tongue weight?

A 2500 avalanche would be perfect. Most were 4wd.

Wannabe

The Avalanche 2500 will handle the tongue weight just fine. I towed a 37' Active Thunder with mine for a couple years and never had a single issue. I added rear airbags to mine as it improved towing and moreso non-towing stability quite a bit. I've made some posts about my mods to my old truck here on OSO in the past. http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/ is a fantastic resource.

The 2500 Avalanche has a front wheel track that is about 3 or 4 inches wider in the front than the back. This makes it look a little goofy if you are nit-picky. BUT, this actually helps you in your use case of pulling well in the sand since you will have a wider path of terrain to grab vs. front and rear tires in the same track. The automatic in the Avalanche is the 4L85E aka M32 4 speed automatic. I put spacers on the rear of my Avalanche 2500 to make it look and handle better with the rear track pushed out as much as the front is.

The 2500 Truck is going to be a bit more stout of a vehicle. You are either going to have the Manual 6-speed transmission or 5-speed Allison automatic. This is going to give you some more options when you try to dig out on the sand; and both transmissions are stronger than the M32 in the Avalanche 2500.

They ALL come with the pencil thin 6.5" wide GM steel wheels. Dump these immediately. Go with an 8" wide wheel on the Avalanche or 9" wide wheel on the truck. This will also improve your grip and stability. There was a recent thread on here about a guy towing up his steep gravel driveway and which tires he should choose. I'd take a look there as well.

You will need to do some comparing with the final ratios on each truck compared with the transmission options and rear end options. Ideally, the lowest ratio final (with the 4.10 rear end) is going to be best for the sand and grunt. More than likely this is going to come out of the 2500HD and not the Avalanche 2500 purely because of the additional gears in the transmissions.
GT4 on a GM build sheet is a 3.73 rear end
GT5 is a 4.10
I don't think I have seen a 4x4 that was not LSD.

The 4WD systems are identical as far as power transfer/placement and 4-HI and 4-LOW settings.

One more thing: the stock hitches on all of the GMs suck. They are a tube design and flex like crazy. Spend the money on an upgraded Class-V hitch and add Grade-8 bolts. This will be the smartest money you spend on a GM tow vehicle.

I briefly owned a 96 3/4 ton 4x4 suburban with the 454. (Price was right in the city, and make a few dollars selling it in the country.) Hooked it up to my boat, which weighs like yours does, and was pleased with its abilities. That would be a great truck for you, as you don't trailer far, or that hard. Plus, it would leave thousands in your pocket vs a diesel truck.
As has bee said, I'd not encourage a diesel in your case. They are expensive to maintain compared to gas, and will only provide you a small pulling advantage due to your few miles and hills. A big gas engine will work fine, and save you a lot of money.

2500 8.1 Suburban or 7.3 Excursion has all the doors, 4x4, and capacity you are looking for. Equivalent 2500 and 250 Trucks would work too but may be hard to find in a crew cab in good shape in your price range. Don't know until you start narrowing down! Good Luck!

Bought a 7.3 Excursion about a year ago, it's an 02, high miles but love the truck, it's my second 7.3. Couldn't give me any other diesel.
Looked for the right one for a long time, plan on keeping it for a while.
Looked at the 2500 Sub's with the 8.1 but like the Ex better.

I will add to the 7.3 Fan boys here, but one thing to consider with the diesel's, is the increased weight in the sand. If it isn't pretty firm and/or you aren't running some big shoes, you'll sink. None of the big gassers are going to have any MPG advantage over the diesel's, actually the opposite. I think a short box, 4x4 7.3 is likely the best bet. Mild lift, w/ 35's and you should be good to go. It fits in the 12K range as well.

I have a 2001 Suburban 4 X 4 with 3.73 gears, 8.1 engine and 135,000 miles. Love the truck and have pulled 12,000# over 1000 miles with no trouble and 15,000# 10 miles to and from the ramp with no trouble. Put it in 4 wheel drive low and you could pull a house up the ramp. The 8.1 is a thirsty beast averaging 8 to 10 mpg not towing and 7 to 8 towing. Another problem is substandard steel in brake, fuel and trans cooler lines that have all been replaced at 100,000 miles and about 10 years service. I'm told all GM trucks from late 90's to mid 2000's have same problem but still a lot of bang for the buck as a tow vehicle used in short distances.

Thx for the info Sydwayz. I wasn't aware of the different track on the front. Seems kinda odd they leave the factory like that. I'll be dealing with a lot more rock (limestone) than sand. Not sure exactly what a 4L85E tranny is. I know the "E" means elec control but the "5" has me confused. I have a 4L80 in my current.truck and it's been completely trouble free for 230K miles. It is basically a Turbo 400 with OD. Pulled my old boat (abt 9000 lbs) all over the place with it.

I'm still torn between the Avalanche and a truck. Kinda leaning towards a pick-up at this point since I believe it will be a bit more rugged and I really like the Allisons, but if I find a real cream puff it could still go either way.

Definitely need a bed to occasionally haul my motorcycles, move large appliances and etc, so the burbs and excursions are out.

I do all my own maint but never really tore into a diesel. The inj issues on the early Duramaxs really concern me. $7-8k to replace the injs is ridiculous. I could build a stout big block gasser for that kind of money.

The 7.3's definitely have a good rep and considering my price range, that's most likely what I would wind-up with if I got a diesel. The weight of the diesels does concern me a bit due to the issue prev mentioned abt sinking into the soft stuff and also my 2-post lift might not be real happy with all that weight up front.

I have found a couple of 2500HD's with the 8.1L's but they both have lift kits. How much lift is too much for a tow vehicle? I have a 6" drop hitch on my C2500 and it works perfectly. Dropping 12" seems like it would be a bit too much.

Have you considered doing a solid axle swap into the front end of your current truck to make it 4x4? Somewhat popular swap on the 88-98 GM trucks, I did it myself on my 89. If you really like your current truck it's an option, would probably run you $3000-$3500 to do.

http://www.offroadunlimited.com/orus...?idCategory=18

I would not buy one with a lift kit for your purposes. Higher mileage vehicles are going to be "loose" already and the lift kit just makes it worse. If you end up with the lift, swap it back out for stock. You are going to want the smaller tires (no more than a 33" tall) tire to keep the final drive ratio and torque you are investing in a grunt of a truck for.

The axle is wider on the 2500 Avalanche and the 2500 Suburban because they use the same axle as the trucks which was wider/heavier to accommodate the diesel. The back axle is still stout, but narrower. If you look closely, the 2500 Avalanches (only, not the 1500s) have a little extra fender lip on the front.

Also, make sure you are looking at the 2002-2006 Avalanche 2500. 2007 and later is a totally different truck. 2002-2006 had the 8.1L. After that they only had 6.0L I think. Here is a picture of a 2006 with the extra fender lip, Look close and you can see the track difference.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]506218[/ATTACH]

This one was mine back in the day:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]506219[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]506220[/ATTACH]

I bought it new and sold it with 50K miles on it. My BIL and I have had 3 of them between us; two 2500s and one 1500.

If you are used to the utility of your truck, go buy a 2500HD. If you want something a little more domesticated, go with the AV.

I saw where someone mentioned that on a different site. I thought it was a joke.

I checked out the site and only saw conv kits for 1500 series trucks. My truck is a 2500 and the suspension is 3500 series from the factory.

Whoever is quoting you $7-8k to replace injectors on an LB7 is out of their loving mind.

Sounds like the magic 6.0L Powerstroke Ford number.
It's been said on here before: "If you have a 6.0L PSD, keep $8K in the bank because eventually you will need it."

Head gaskets, studs, injectors, labor are in that price range.

I have a 97 Chevy 3500 dually, 6.5 diesel with 112k for sale. It's exceptionally clean, no rust anywhere. Interior mint. Like to get $10k for it

Sounds like a decent deal but that's a little too much truck for my needs.

Thx anyway!

Good luck on your search. I pm'ed Sydwayz yesterday as I didn't want to create another thread. Got some great ideas from him on what I need to do to my tow vehicle. 2002 Yukon XL 2500 with 8.1 just NOT 4wd. I know the vehicle well and previous owner (he ordered it new, just don't know why no 4wd) and bought it from him about 4 to 5 years ago with 54,000 miles. 92,000 now. Have looked and found like vehicles with 4wd but either mileage or color (I want white) would keep me from getting serious. Thought about 04-06 Duramax but really don't want diesel and do like the people hauler you get with a Burb or Yukon XL. I've had my Baja 302 for 4 summers now and have only pulled to ramp which is at my storage facility. Ramp still good even though lake is low so don't have the issues like you at Travis. Would like to pull to other places but will happen only 1 or 2 times a year if I start. Will probably keep it and do a few upgrades and live without 4wd for now. Will purchase a tow strap for that one time when a slick steep ramp gets me. Keeping fingers crossed on Lake Travis, but not looking good. Good luck!
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...2500/Yukon.jpg

ZZ- Try this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevr...#ht_500wt_1048

You can sell the cap too i bet.

Nice looking Yukon! Can't go wrong with white, especially if you have a white boat.

The Lake Travis situation really irritates me. We had plenty of water before some idiots decided to release most of it downstream so some other idiots could try and grow rice in the desert. Hope they learned their lesson.

I'm going to try to get on the water for memorial day weekend. After that, I'll probably be done for the season. That will give me plenty of time to shop around and hopefully sniff out a great deal on something local.

Thx for the link wannabe, but that's waaay to far up north for me. Dallas is pushing my northern limits!

Thanks! Just wish it had 4wd. Understand about Travis and the use downstream. They are building a water treatment plant here at Lake Conroe and will start drawing water out for use cause they want to eliminate all the underground wells from here to The Woodlands. They say it will not make a tremendous impact, unless we are in a drought. Well, going on 3 years of a drought now. I really think the death of Conroe will come eventually. We have thought about moving to Austin as 3 of our kids (wife 1, me 2) live there off 620. If we did I would get a slip at the new marina that took the place of Hurst Harbor and keep it on a lift so we could enjoy. Of course it would probably be $500+ for that slip.

We just took in on trade a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 quad cab full 4 door Laramie turbo diesel loaded up .Black with light grey leather. 1 owner 54k mi.