Chevy 6.0L

[OhioFarmer87]

I am looking at buying a newer Chevy 2500 or 3500 and was wondering how everyone has done with the 6.0L gas motors. I really want a duramax but I don't think that I will be able to afford one. They have some really good deals on the 2014 and 2015 6.0L around here. I pull a 20' steel moritz stock trailer. How does it pull on long distance trips? How do they pull going up big hills? Sometimes I travel to haul some cattle personally for shows and sales. Any info yall have on them would be appreiciated. Wanna make sure I buy something that's going to work for me. I only pull the trailer a 2-5 times a month at most so dont wanna spend on the money on a diesel when im not pulling everyday.
Thanks!

 

[Calhoun Farm]

They are dated motors but do well from what I've heard. Also check out the 6.4 hemi in the Ram 2500's.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

If you have to be the first one to the top of the hill while towing you will probably will not like it. If you want a drama free engine that gets the job done then it will suit you fine. We used one in a 2500 for a few years to pull a 16ft cattle trailer and a 24ft gooseneck and had no complaints. Gas up, let it rev on hills, rinse, lather repeat.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Great engine, dependable, fairly good power, dad just had one for 8 years in a 2007 3/4 ton 4x4 work truck and with 300k repair free miles the engine was still getting along just fine. Worst thing is they get terrible fuel mileage, 12mpg empty on the highway in perfect conditions, pulling 10 or 12000lbs 6 to 8mpg.

A diesel set up right will pay for itself in fuel mileage if you drive enough, for us that's a big deal because of the miles we put on trucks, for alot of people I know it's not.

 

[OhioFarmer87]

Thank you for the replies. Sounds like a good motor in general other then fuel mileage which out of all the fords I've had the best I've gotten was 11 empty. But I literally have them in the shop every other month. I've always been a Chevy guy but financial situations put me in a ford. I drive a lot but mainly empty and pull short distances unless I get a wild burr and buy a heifer out west like I did a few months ago. Would love a diesel but with the gas and oil stuff going on in Ohio it has jacked there prices up bigtime. A poor fella like me can't afford a nice diesel

 

[Brute 23]

It's a very dependable motor and will do what you want.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

It's a chevy motor. Of course it's going to work till the day is done.

 

[Kingfisher]

My suggestion if you get one would be run the factory oil or mobile 1 with an A/C delco filter.

 

[polledbull]

my 6.0 gets a cool 10 mpg , empty running around the farm ,

 

[HDRider]

Great engine, dependable, fairly good power, dad just had one for 8 years in a 2007 3/4 ton 4x4 work truck and with 300k repair free miles the engine was still getting along just fine. Worst thing is they get terrible fuel mileage, 12mpg empty on the highway in perfect conditions, pulling 10 or 12000lbs 6 to 8mpg.

A diesel set up right will pay for itself in fuel mileage if you drive enough, for us that's a big deal because of the miles we put on trucks, for alot of people I know it's not.

I just got a Duramax 2500. I don't reset the MPG very often and my driving mix right now is about 60% in town traffic. My MPG shows at a little over 18. I only have 3,000 miles on it as of today. It is a heavy truck with an 8' bed and crew cab.

 

[tnwalkingred]

I had a 6.0 before I bought my 5.9 Cummins and I loved it! It was a great motor and I never had any issue out of it. It had plenty of power and I pulled a 25' gooseneck loaded with round bales all hay season. Gas mileage wasn't great but the truck itself is a great ride. Much more comfortable than my Dodge.

Kyle

 

[DLD]

We just bought a new 2015 K2500 crew cab short bed 4x4 with the 6.0, about 3 weeks ago. It's been hooked to a trailer more often than not (loads anywhere from 5K -10K + 3.5K 20' aluminum gooseneck). Over 1500 miles, the computer shows right at 11 mpg. Mileage is noticeably worse burning 15% ethanol vs ethanol free gas - the little bit we drove with no trailer and no ethanol figured a little over 14 mpg, but I'm not sure it's been enough miles yet to mean much.

I like hillbilly beef's description of drama free. I'm not disappointed in the power or mileage - power is more than adequate for the loads I pull, and mileage is comparable to and fuel is cheaper than the diesels I've been driving for years. I thought I'd buy a 6.2L Ford when I started looking - I drove and priced several of all 3 brands (including some diesels) and this is where I settled - I'm really happy with it.

 

[saltbranch]

I will be the naysayer. We have 2 -2011-2012 GMC 3500s at work with the 6.0 and about 15 Ford f-250s and 2-- f_350's with the 6.2 gas. One 6.0 has blown at 130k and the other is repair shop hound. We have had 1 f-250 with the 6.2 blown at 140k miles. The rest have been good runners with multiple drivers on them in the oilfield. I am kind of partial to the ford 6.2 since I own one...but I bought it because of what I saw with our company trucks. As far as MPG....no difference between the 2. The driver will make the difference. I get 14-15 @ 75mph, I did have a high of 16.6 one day :banana: and 12-ish city/hwy combo. Trailers 6k and better expect single digit MPG for the most part, you might get to 10-11mpg with the right wind. I had a low of 8mpg pulling 18 k on my GN trailer.

 

[highgrit]

A gas engine is over matched when it comes to towing any kind of weight. I hauled a load of beans
3 - 4 tons with a 6.0 GM and thought the engine was going to blow up. The cooling fans were running wide open and every little grade the transmission would shift down at least one gear. My guess is a diesel engine can haul 3+ times more and put about the same load on the engine. IMO A gas engine works great in a truck, just don't pull a combined load of more than 10k for any distance.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I have never figured out why dropping gears on hills is a problem. I assumed that is how transmissions are supposed to work, :D but I do a bit of hauling with a gas 429 grossing 34k, so downshifting does not bother me.

 

[Calhoun Farm]

If you've ever owned a diesel its hard to go back. I could get by fine with a 6.0 chevy or 6.2 Ford easily, I've owned so many cummins its hard to leave all that torque. Once you get used to hooking up 10k and not feeling it it's hard to go back to rev'd to the moon and constant down shifting.

 

[John SD]

If you've ever owned a diesel its hard to go back. I could get by fine with a 6.0 chevy or 6.2 Ford easily, I've owned so many cummins its hard to leave all that torque. Once you get used to hooking up 10k and not feeling it it's hard to go back to rev'd to the moon and constant down shifting.

I recently got a notion to possibly upgrade pickups, so I plan to attend one of the annual state surplus actions next month.

On the closest auction to me, DOT is offering a choice of 3 Dodge 3/4T 2wd reg cab pickups with V10 and automatic. Don't know the miles, but the pickups all look pretty sharp in the pics. A 2000 Dodge V10 would be quite an upgrade from my 1982 Chevy 350. 8)

Don't think these pickups have ever done much actual hard work. They have electronic directional signs mounted in the bed, mostly haul orange plastic cones, and pull traffic signs around on wheels.

 

[Brute 23]

If you've ever owned a diesel its hard to go back. I could get by fine with a 6.0 chevy or 6.2 Ford easily, I've owned so many cummins its hard to leave all that torque. Once you get used to hooking up 10k and not feeling it it's hard to go back to rev'd to the moon and constant down shifting.

I recently got a notion to possibly upgrade pickups, so I plan to attend one of the annual state surplus actions next month.

On the closest auction to me, DOT is offering a choice of 3 Dodge 3/4T 2wd reg cab pickups with V10 and automatic. Don't know the miles, but the pickups all look pretty sharp in the pics. A 2000 Dodge V10 would be quite an upgrade from my 1982 Chevy 350. 8)

Don't think these pickups have ever done much actual hard work. They have electronic directional signs mounted in the bed, mostly haul orange plastic cones, and pull traffic signs around on wheels.

The 6.0 would be quiet the upgrade over that V10. ;-) A good deal is a good deal but if your looking the 6.0L owned that market in those years over Ford or Dodge's V10.

 

[John SD]

If you've ever owned a diesel its hard to go back. I could get by fine with a 6.0 chevy or 6.2 Ford easily, I've owned so many cummins its hard to leave all that torque. Once you get used to hooking up 10k and not feeling it it's hard to go back to rev'd to the moon and constant down shifting.

I recently got a notion to possibly upgrade pickups, so I plan to attend one of the annual state surplus actions next month.

On the closest auction to me, DOT is offering a choice of 3 Dodge 3/4T 2wd reg cab pickups with V10 and automatic. Don't know the miles, but the pickups all look pretty sharp in the pics. A 2000 Dodge V10 would be quite an upgrade from my 1982 Chevy 350. 8)

Don't think these pickups have ever done much actual hard work. They have electronic directional signs mounted in the bed, mostly haul orange plastic cones, and pull traffic signs around on wheels.

The 6.0 would be quiet the upgrade over that V10. ;-) A good deal is a good deal but if your looking the 6.0L owned that market in those years over Ford or Dodge's V10.

Not sure of the model years, but the king of all gas HD pickups likely was the GM 8.1L Everything I have read comparing the 8.1L to the 6.0L clearly puts the 8.1L on top. More power than the 6.0, and not really much difference in gas mileage. And the 8.1L came with the same Allison transmission that goes with the Duramax.

At the time I'm sure Dodge was the low bidder offering the most bang for the buck when the state took bids for buying these pickups new. I'm kinda hoping the resale value reflects that. ;-)

 

[saltbranch]

If you've ever owned a diesel its hard to go back. I could get by fine with a 6.0 chevy or 6.2 Ford easily, I've owned so many cummins its hard to leave all that torque. Once you get used to hooking up 10k and not feeling it it's hard to go back to rev'd to the moon and constant down shifting.

I had no problem leaving the Diesels in 2013. Only took roughly 15-17k price difference on the truck and .15-.75 pump price depending on time of the year. Its really not that hard, you lock out 6th and enjoy the ride. I had diesels since the 84 F-350, 6.9 that could roll some serious coal as the kids brag about.