Need opinions 2016 Chevrolet 2500HD

[goeduck]

I am still not finding evidence of mice in the HVAC ducts, they look clear as far as I went. The mice were behind the vent controls and in a few other places as well. I think I will put the blower back in and flip it to high speed and see if I smell anything or hear anything. All the vent openings look like those pictured, no droppings. Sure is a lot of rust but no evidence of chewing on wires.

 

[alexpops]

Try running an ozone generator for a few hours with the heat/ac on recirculate. May take a couple rinse repeat cycles. Don't be in the truck while its running and making ozone. I did that with a 2011 that had mildew issues due to a roof leak, & it cleaned up the smell pretty good. A container of baking soda under the back bench seat for a few months may finish up the smell cleanup. Check the area around your high center brake light real carefully. I had rust through problems in that area on both a 1999 and 2011 silverado 2500.

 

[deezler]

^ whoa whoa, go weigh it first before you give up.

My 2003 2500hd Ext-cab 6.5' bed with 6.0L only weighs 6000-6100 lbs with fuel in it. People rarely believe me when I say that, but its what the scales at my local stone supply yard say. I also have 9200 GVWR so thats right around 3000 lbs payload with me driving it. Your 8.1L isn't really going to weigh much more than my 6.0L.

I can tell you this, my '03 can handle a full pallet of bricks or pavers just fine (~3000 lbs). Yes, it squats a bit and sways in corners some, so you might want helper air bags. But the truck could handle it, for sure.

 

[goeduck]

^ whoa whoa, go weigh it first before you give up.

My 2003 2500hd Ext-cab 6.5' bed with 6.0L only weighs 6000-6100 lbs with fuel in it. People rarely believe me when I say that, but its what the scales at my local stone supply yard say. I also have 9200 GVWR so thats right around 3000 lbs payload with me driving it. Your 8.1L isn't really going to weigh much more than my 6.0L.

I can tell you this, my '03 can handle a full pallet of bricks or pavers just fine (~3000 lbs). Yes, it squats a bit and sways in corners some, so you might want helper air bags. But the truck could handle it, for sure.

Good to know that yours only weighs that much. It will be a few weeks before I can get it back together and the dash cluster comes back from the repair shop so I can get it to a scale. The last thing I want is to get into an accident with it and insurance finds I was over GVWR. I like that blue color on your truck, looks good.

 

[deezler]

Its actually "graphite metallic" and really a dark grey/ black, but it was just waxed in that pic so it's reflecting the blue sky well. Looking forward to seeing how yours cleans up! Might need to claybar yours and give it a couple coats of wax.

 

[goeduck]

I got the center console apart today for a deep cleaning since the mice seemed to be using it as a hotel. I did not see evidence of chewing on wires in the console. Since the "feet" of the console are visible when inside the truck I am cleaning the rust off (Kleen Strip Metal Prep) and will paint them with black Derusto Before going back in the truck. I think I located part of the moisture light rust problem. Simple adjustment of the door strike. I think I am going to like this truck.

 

[goeduck]

I got the interior put back together and took delivery of my repaired dash cluster. It does not tell me what position the transmission is in, but I can live with that. Looks like brakes need attention.

 

[goeduck]

Well I finally have a clear dash cluster. Problems were a bad transmission speed sensor and bad Transmission Control Module. Why the dash showed brake problems, I may never know. Now I can safely drive it and get it to a truck scale.

 

[jyoutz]

It’s a no brainer to me, going from any half ton to a 3/4 ton will be night and day in towing as I discovered.

Yep. All the half tons that I towed with felt like the trailer is pushing the truck. With 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, it feels like the truck is controlling the trailer.

 

[goeduck]

^ whoa whoa, go weigh it first before you give up.

My 2003 2500hd Ext-cab 6.5' bed with 6.0L only weighs 6000-6100 lbs with fuel in it. People rarely believe me when I say that, but its what the scales at my local stone supply yard say. I also have 9200 GVWR so thats right around 3000 lbs payload with me driving it. Your 8.1L isn't really going to weigh much more than my 6.0L.

I can tell you this, my '03 can handle a full pallet of bricks or pavers just fine (~3000 lbs). Yes, it squats a bit and sways in corners some, so you might want helper air bags. But the truck could handle it, for sure.

Well I got my bad news today. Bare truck is 6760 lbs with a full tank of gas. The 8.1 plus the Allison transmission is a heavy combination. The 9200 GVWR leaves me only 2440 of payload. The truck drives really nice I have to say. 9 mpg around town. I have not had it out on the highway for any length of time yet.