How well does a Chevrolet Express 3500 tow?

Hello,

Newbie to the board here but have been RV'ing for many years.  Here is my dilemma: I currently have a 2003 Ford F350 Crewcab Diesel that I bought new.  Despite much publicized concerns, it's been good to me.  The most expensive repair to date has been cleaning the turbo, I think it ran about $1500.  Maintenance has been expensive though.  That just comes with the diesel territory.  I get about 16 mpg mixed driving, less than 10 while towing.  It pulls my 9600Lb GVW Travel Trailer very nice.

The problem is that we bought a cabin last fall and really don't anticipate driving the truck much anymore.  In fact I just fired it up and drove it around after it sat for 6 weeks.  The local dealer mechanic just told me that having the truck sit for 6 weeks is not a good idea with the Ford 6.0 because of a variety of things, including the variable pitch vanes in the turbo, which can rust up.  Apparently diesels prefer to be driven and worked.  I am very nervous that this truck will cost me a bunch of money down the road because of it sitting and that there is just more to break with the diesel.   

So I am thinking about trading it in for a Chevy 3500 Express Passenger Van.  The 6 liter gas motor with the 4:10 can pull 9700 pounds (2006 model year, about the year I expect to buy).  So that puts me right there at the max.  Although I don't have a large family, I can think of many instances when having a passenger van could be both fun and handy.  But if anyone can tell me how the Express tows, that would be great.  I anticipate towing 4 or 5 times a year, less than 200 miles away each time.

In the end what I am hoping for is a vehicle which will tow the camper, but will tolerate periods of non-use, be relatively cheap to maintain and not surprise me with a huge repair bill down the road.  Switching from diesel to gas and 4wd to 2wd will help I think.  But I am worried that I will regret my decision down the road.

Sorry, I am getting a little windy here. 

Thanks.

The 6.0 with 4.10's will be plenty of power and SUV's and vans tow great but I'd be concerned about your trailer weight. If you ever get it near the 9600 mark it will probably prove to be a little much for the 9700# limit of the van. Swaying and tongue weight might get the best of the vehicle. The 6.0 in my uncles 04 2500HD barely gets into the teens for empty mileage and 6-7 towing 11,000#'s. If my search was correct I found the max trailer weight for your truck to be 12,500, the switch to a lesser tow vehicle will probably prove your

shinysimon said:

But I am worried that I will regret my decision down the road.

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theory. I would think a weekly trip around town in your truck to keep it happy would be easier than switching to a lesser tow vehicle that might have it's own problems with sitting also. This truck has proven itself to you, I wouldn't want to start all over with another.

glockholiday said:

I would think a weekly trip around town in your truck to keep it happy would be easier than switching to a lesser tow vehicle that might have it's own problems with sitting also. This truck has proven itself to you, I wouldn't want to start all over with another.

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For what its worth, I concur with that statement.  That is the exact reason I still have my '97 F350.  I 'want' a new one, but it sits in the winter ALOT and I just can't see something new with a payment just sitting there.  Not sure wher you are located, but going from a 4WD to a 2WD may be a mistake as well?

IN Edit:  Kinda funny my sig says truck has 160K.  Really at 156K and I rounded up, but it just doesn't get the miles that add up.  But my beater with a heater again needs to be updated to 210K....lol

FWIW I'd suggest putting a "smart" trickle charger on any vehicle that routinely sits around for a week or two not being driven.  A friend states that in his testing a diesel pickup with an Allison transmission uses 125 mAmps per hour or 3 amps per day.  With a 80 amp hour battery it doesn't take too long for the battery to become discharged low enough that you will get a substantially shorter battery life.

(My cousin with the Corvette Z06 has a similar problem but he said it would be completely dead in 10 days.  He also said it was way too much horse power for him.  Next time I'm visiting I have to ask him how many tickets he has received.  Assuming he still has his drivers license.  Oh yeah, and he's 61 and enjoying the good life.)

You also need to calculate the weight of all the passengers you might have in that van while towing.  The gross vehicle weight of the van only includes one 154# driver and a full tank of gas.  If you add more people or "stuff" you need to add that to the weight of the van and subtract that amount off of the combined gross vehicle weight of the trailer and the van.

I'm kinda like the rest of the fellas.  I'd just keep that dependable truck running:  If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

Marsha~

Yep, you guys have been reaffirming the direction I have been leaning.  On the surface it seemed like a good idea, but I might miss the ol' beast.  And since I got some bad sticker shock the other day while at the dealer, I know that it will be pretty dang unlikely I'll be driving home a new one any time soon.  Or ever.

I live in Minnesota so the 4 wheel drive is pretty nice once in a while.

Thanks for the thoughtfull responses, this really is a friendly place!

We have a 3 year old 3500 Express Van that runs from Homestead to Orlando quite frequently hauling produce inside and on a trailer. My son-in-law loves the 6.0 as he says it really pulls. I had a 3500 chevy 6.0 in an express van cut out that had a 29 foot coach on it and it towed the Jeep Liberty very well even in the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico. Biggest problem we have on the business van is tires.

I think it is an excellent tow vehicle.  I have a 2003 3500 cargo van with the 6.0 v8.  It now has 103,000 miles on it and runs beautifully.  For the past 3 years we have pulled our 7,000 lb TT all over the country, up and down mountains, through hot and cold weather and through wind, rain and snow.  this truck is a workhorse.  You must be careful with a couple of things, though.  1) make damned sure you have the right hitch for what you are pulling.  We tried 3 before we found the right one, the Husky Centerpoint (I think that's what it is called).  We had trouble with both the Equalizer (the steel brackets on the TT railer bent and almost broke on two ocassions) and the Reese dual cam sway control (the sway was almost uncontrolable).  The Husky is great, no sway at all and great weight distribution.  I highly recommend the chevy Express and we are considering getting a new one.  I think they are the best of the vans.  I considered the NIssan NV tall van but they don't have the towing capacity that the Express does.  the only way you get more towing capacity than an express (unless you get the durmax diesel engine) is to get the big Ford, Chevy or Dodge pickup trucks.  While the express has about a 10,000 lb towing capacity, the big pickups go as high as 24,000.