I’m new around here and to be honest to diesels as well. I have been reading a lot of the posts trying to find a few answers/opinions and figured I would go ahead and introduce myself and just ask the questions.
I spent 25 years on active duty and when we had time my wife and I would take the boys camping at a place we found where we had a camper and all the fixings sitting in the woods. Now that I have a real job and the boys are on their own we want to start going places to see this country but not doing it from a hotel. The boss (wife) has directed me to get a 5th wheel. The upside of this is that it has allowed me to buy the truck I have always hoped to get. Last Saturday the GMC dealer called said he had a 3500 I should look at. Get there and he has a Ford that they have been trying to dump for a few weeks and just remembered I had been looking for a tow vehicle. On the up side after I explained the difference between a truck and a Ford I started talking to a guy who was picking up a brand new 2500 GMC that he had special ordered and was dropping off his old truck. To shorten the story a little I left with his old 2008 GMC Sierra CC/SB 4X4 Duramax 6.6L turbo with Allison 6spd tyranny, the odometer hit 70K while driving it home and I have the original owner’s phone number and all maintenance records. The prior owner had a full detail of the truck done prior to bringing it in the day before so it looks like new. He had all repair and maintenance work done at Pep Boys and a few warranty trim parts replaced by the dealer but babied the truck to a fault. It’s a little mind boggling but he never even plugged a hitch into the receiver (never towed anything), he used it to haul things his wife makes that “get a little heavy” and yard selling. He told me that the heaviest item he ever carried was a pallet of bricks for a neighbor and that one load put a small scratch on the Dura-Liner so he put a rubber mat in the bed to cover the scratch and didn’t haul anything that heavy again (I can't find a mark on the Dura-Liner). Basically after a six month wait I fell into a deal.
I have always been a performance person and all my trucks have been upgraded in one way or another but to put it bluntly this is a different type of beast. So here are my questions and thanks in advance.
Additives: Yes or no. If yes, for water control or just too clean injectors or both.
While MPG is important I am more of a step on the pedal and it takes off faster (with/without a load) as long as it does not degrade my towing ability. Keeping that in mind my first performance upgrade should be…. Second should be…
The computer was showing an average of 17MPG. I didn’t get that with my Silverado but I mostly city drive and I have been getting more of what I expected at 15.3 MPG that climbed to 16 on a 30-mile highway trip. What should I expect?
Any other suggestions?
BTW wife decided her name should be 'Milla' as in Jovovich from Resident Evil, cause she may not be the sexiest thing around but she is bad ass.
I spent 25 years on active duty and when we had time my wife and I would take the boys camping at a place we found where we had a camper and all the fixings sitting in the woods. Now that I have a real job and the boys are on their own we want to start going places to see this country but not doing it from a hotel. The boss (wife) has directed me to get a 5th wheel. The upside of this is that it has allowed me to buy the truck I have always hoped to get. Last Saturday the GMC dealer called said he had a 3500 I should look at. Get there and he has a Ford that they have been trying to dump for a few weeks and just remembered I had been looking for a tow vehicle. On the up side after I explained the difference between a truck and a Ford I started talking to a guy who was picking up a brand new 2500 GMC that he had special ordered and was dropping off his old truck. To shorten the story a little I left with his old 2008 GMC Sierra CC/SB 4X4 Duramax 6.6L turbo with Allison 6spd tyranny, the odometer hit 70K while driving it home and I have the original owner’s phone number and all maintenance records. The prior owner had a full detail of the truck done prior to bringing it in the day before so it looks like new. He had all repair and maintenance work done at Pep Boys and a few warranty trim parts replaced by the dealer but babied the truck to a fault. It’s a little mind boggling but he never even plugged a hitch into the receiver (never towed anything), he used it to haul things his wife makes that “get a little heavy” and yard selling. He told me that the heaviest item he ever carried was a pallet of bricks for a neighbor and that one load put a small scratch on the Dura-Liner so he put a rubber mat in the bed to cover the scratch and didn’t haul anything that heavy again (I can't find a mark on the Dura-Liner). Basically after a six month wait I fell into a deal.
I have always been a performance person and all my trucks have been upgraded in one way or another but to put it bluntly this is a different type of beast. So here are my questions and thanks in advance.
Additives: Yes or no. If yes, for water control or just too clean injectors or both.
While MPG is important I am more of a step on the pedal and it takes off faster (with/without a load) as long as it does not degrade my towing ability. Keeping that in mind my first performance upgrade should be…. Second should be…
The computer was showing an average of 17MPG. I didn’t get that with my Silverado but I mostly city drive and I have been getting more of what I expected at 15.3 MPG that climbed to 16 on a 30-mile highway trip. What should I expect?
Any other suggestions?
BTW wife decided her name should be 'Milla' as in Jovovich from Resident Evil, cause she may not be the sexiest thing around but she is bad ass.
