philaura wrote:

A couple weeks ago we had a chance to try out the new truck pulling our Nash27T, which weighs about 8500 lbs. We only had a few days to camp so we went to a State Park about 1 1/2 hours away.
We previously made the trip pulling with our 2006 GMC 2500HD EC SB 8.1/Allison. It did fine pulling, but downshifted quite frequently on hills.
We have the '06 up for sale, and I was having second doubts about selling it with diesel fuel going up so high. However, this trip with our new 08 GMC 3500 SLT with the DMAX/Allison blew me away! Only downshifted twice on two significant hills. Mileage traveling to the campground at a steady 60 mph was 13.5 mpg. The gasser would have given us 8.5 mpg. On the way back we were basically going up hill most of the time. This time, I increased the speed to 65 and still got 12.5 mpg, where the gasser would have gotten us 8. Factoring gas and diesel prices, I figure I only saved about $14 in fuel costs over the gasser, but man oh man was the pulling nicer! In addition, the truck actually rode better than the 2500HD, and the interior on the new trucks is so much nicer. Thanks for all the advice from this forum on the info about gas vs. diesel. My bank account may be in pityfull shape, and my face hurts from the perpetual grin I have on my face while pulling the trailer, and it hurts to look at the diesel price boards at gas stations, but I am very glad I made the switch.
Phil from Boise