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GM Fleet Offroad upgrade

DOH, I knew I saw an interesting Chevy Truck, just too many bigger ones for me to really take note of it till you mention it :angry1:
 
so it's a z71 with 285/75/16 mt/r's. i'm not impressed at all. i mean hey, dodge is only offereing 33s, front and rear selectable lockers, winch, skid plates, and power sway bar disconnect. but hey, gm has rear limited slips! gm hates us. i can take a hint. i know where my money is going.
 
Yeah, when they put a live axel back on the front, I will take a second look until then I will stick to Dodge when it comes to newer trucks. That is one of the major reasons I chose my wife’s new Dodge 2500 over the Chevy the other and biggest was the Cummins.
 
OffRoad said:
so it's a z71 with 285/75/16 mt/r's. i'm not impressed at all. i mean hey, dodge is only offereing 33s, front and rear selectable lockers, winch, skid plates, and power sway bar disconnect. but hey, gm has rear limited slips! gm hates us. i can take a hint. i know where my money is going.
Click to expand...

You need to read the second page of the pdf. I do agree, GM needs to go back to the live front axle...

Here are the special features.
A skid plate that runs from the front bumper to behind the transfer case.

Jounce shocks. Looks like some kind of anti wrap shock setup.

Tire pressure montering system.

Extra guages

HD front bumper.

AND MY FAVORITE- Two piece aluminum beadlock wheels.
 
DP_90K5 said:
AND MY FAVORITE- Two piece aluminum beadlock wheels.
Click to expand...

Find me another manufacturer offering those(besides hummer). Yeah they have a little bit to go, a locked rear and air lock front would be a pretty good start, but really, for the use it will likely see(forestry service, maybe police work) the IFS won't be a big problem. Some of those groups use freaking Trailblazers with success right now, this is definetally better then a trailblazer. I doubt GM will ever go back to Solid axle. Most people never break a CV or tie rod end or any of the problems we who modify do. And most of the truck buyers, LIKE the IFS. My dad for one. To people who don't off road the handling and smooth ride are pluses, and guess what, offroaders are still the minority.
 
I personally don't understand the "IFS rides better" blanket statement that everyone tosses around. Just yesterday I put about 100 miles on my work's 1991 K2500 (6 lug), and it bounces and has just as harsh of a ride as my GMC had. Also, it just feels unsteady at highway speeds...swaying and leaning. Most of the frontend is new, just replaced this last winter, because its used as a plow truck :(
Maybe I am the minority.
Well, at least GM uses a solid live axle in that new K5500 or whatnot.
 
I think the SFA BS is stupid, if you driven a ford or a dodge, the chevy tracks and drives about 20 times better in my opinion, but then again I dont need a Dana 60 or whatever the hell those new trucks use in the front because I dont plan on rock crawling the tow rig. Fire roads maybe, but certainly not anything challenging.
 
I don’t plan on rock crawling it either, but I also don’t plan on spending more money on tires and worn out components that break a lot easier for a 4wd that is barely capable of being called a 4wd sure it spins all four tires but you loose a lot of your traction when you do not have a live axel to bind the opposing tire into traction. IFS and 4wd are not worth it. If I am going to get an IFS truck I would save the money and get a 2wd truck as IFS negates almost all of the good points of a 4wd. If it is for the riding characteristics then get a 2wd with an IFS, if it is for 4wd then it is inferior no way around it either you need the capabilities of a 4wd or you don’t.
 
dodge (and ford) doesn't seem to have any trouble selling their straight axle trucks. i won't buy a truck just because of what's on the grill.

face facts. if chev sold a truck with sfa, 33s, lockers, winch, etc. you guys would be practially killing each other to buy one. i prolly would too, i'll admit it.

i've driven new chevs for about 2 months for work. i didn't like em. for a big work truck, i'd buy a ford.

i'm really not trying to be a **** disturber here, i'm just not gonna get fired up about this truck.
 
Every truck has its fair share of issues with the front suspension. Dodge's seem to have a problem with the trac bar, and Fords just drive like crap. I would rather have a truck that drives straight and required a simple alignment every 20k miles than one of those SFA trucks that drives and rides like crap. Plus the Fords are horrible and cheep feeling even compared to the dodges, but dodge still doesnt have an auto trans that can even touch the allison in regards to durability and overall performance of the transmission. In fact im looking into the EMP package for my next tow rig, if it doesnt cost an arm and a leg I will probably get it.
 
zcarczar said:
. In fact im looking into the EMP package for my next tow rig, if it doesnt cost an arm and a leg I will probably get it.
Click to expand...

The cost is supposed to about about a $5000 option..
 
I am not going to get into a truck war over it, it does not matter if it is GM, Dodge, or Fords IFS is sub-par for a 4wd vehicle it is the nature of the beast. If it does not bother you then fine. My comment was that I prefer not to spend my money on a 4wd IFS truck as I as well as the common body of knowledge think that they are weak, failure prone and do not accomplish their stated goal which is more traction. If you equate it to traction for dollar IFS comes up wanting. As for the Mopar auto tranny I would suggest checking the specs on the 48RE as compared to the Allison. I personally agree that the Allison is a better tranny when you look at track record and history but the 48RE is a very good auto tranny. Throw in the engine and you have no comparison nothing in the market compares to the Cummins Turbo Diesel. In the end I was not comparing trucks, trannies, or engines rather making a statement as to why I would not consider a new GM truck and that reason is IFS.
 
i would buy a "newer" dodge over chev because it has a cummins, nv4500 or nv5600, and giant dana axles. guy i new had a 3/4 ton 4x4 with a cummins, auto, and dana 60 and 70 axles. beef.

i don't like autos in my trucks, so i wouldn't buy one. i don't give a poop about an allison or 47re or whatever cause i wouldn't buy it. plus new chevs are ugly and new dodges aren't (imo).

if you want to buy this emp thing, go ahead. i wouldn't. that's my point.
 
One of the guys a few bays ovev from me had a new Power Wagon that had a bad mdule for the front swaybar on it. truck on had like 4k miles if I remember right. Besides, we've got a couple Power Wagons for sale on the lot and the cheapest one is $43,387. Also, I dont know if you can get anything besides the 5.7 Hemi in them.
I've taken one of the new Power Wagons out and played with it..pretty nifty truck for being factory equipped. But there's no way in hell I'd pay that much money for one of those things.
 
Guy I new had a dodge with D60 and D80 and an NV4500, but the front axle had no hubs, real spindles, or a real inner long side axle shaft(CAD). I don't want to keep this going on the pissing match direction, its everyones own a opinion about what to do with their own money, so thats that. I will note that the new Dodges no longer have the NV5600(forget what reaplaced it but its gone) and the axles are AAM(same as the Chevy rears).
 
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