Chevy chassis cab 2015

2423 Views 17 Replies 4 Participants Last post by hiluxxulih, Dec 19, 2014

hiluxxulih

Discussion Starter · Dec 8, 2014

Went by the local GM dealer and they have a new two wheel drive Chevrolet Silverado chassis cab gas powered and they are pretty stout looking trucks , I give it a thumbs up , it had a huge rear axle and a huge fuel tank behind the axle if I had a need for a chassis cab I would buy one , the salesman said its going to a local Oyster farmer so we will see how corrosion resistant they are .

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

C/K Man

· #2 · Dec 9, 2014

Unfortunately, they are not competitive with the Ford 450 and 550 or the Ram 4500 and 5500. I see a few of the GM 3500HD cab and chassis, usually as service body, flat bed, or an occasional light tow truck. You won't see them as roll-back car transporters or 1.5yd. dump trucks, the GVW isn't heavy enough (they max. out at 13,000#'s) nor is the wheelbase long enough. These trucks are not much more than dually pickups without the beds, though they do have straight C-channel frome rails aft of the cab for easier bed mounting.

GM really needs to wake up here. Ruess even said they had a big hole in their cab and chassis commercial truck offerings.

Reactions: 1

hiluxxulih

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 9, 2014

I wonder why GM does not up the gvw , the frame under the cab is gigantic so much so it tapers down where it goes to the straight rail , maybe it's because the rear of the frame is welded to the front frame starting behind the cab .

C/K Man

· #4 · Dec 9, 2014

Nothing over 13,000 GVW since the Kodiak and Topkick were dropped, except for that oddball Express/Savanna 4500 cutaway bus/ambulance chassis. I honestly don't know why GM is content with such a limited and uncompetitive commercial truck lineup.

Lowboy

· #5 · Dec 9, 2014

C/K Man said:
I honestly don't know why GM is content with such a limited and uncompetitive commercial truck lineup.

Same reason they are out of other segments, there is no market.....just ask them.

hiluxxulih

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 9, 2014

There is plenty of market there is just no guts to do anything about it .

C/K Man

· #7 · Dec 9, 2014

Since they failed to make any money with the somewhat ill-conceived GMT-560's you have to wonder if GM believes it is impossible to be profitable with commercial trucks.

I think there is no question they could make some money with 4500/5500 cab and chassis versions of the K2XX Silverado/Sierra. Not sure GM really needs to build anything larger, it would be very tough to compete with Freightliner, International, and PACCAR.

Ford after years of relying on Navistar to supply a rather sorry line of medium duty class 6 and 7 trucks seems to think there's a buck or two to be make bringing production of those class 6 and 7 trucks back 'in house' to their Ohio plant. That move is going to be a big 'wait and see', I am not at all convinced it will be successful.

C/K Man

· #8 · Dec 9, 2014

hiluxxulih said:
I wonder why GM does not up the gvw , the frame under the cab is gigantic so much so it tapers down where it goes to the straight rail , maybe it's because the rear of the frame is welded to the front frame starting behind the cab .

I am told the current HD chassis isn't an issue, they just need some longer wheelbase options, heavier rear springs, larger rear axle (Spicer 110) and 19.5" wheels.

ChrisGinNC

· #9 · Dec 9, 2014

Lowboy said:
Same reason they are out of other segments, there is no market.....just ask them.

Tell that to Ram, Ford, Navistar, Paccar, etc.

ChrisGinNC

· #10 · Dec 9, 2014

C/K Man said:
Since they failed to make any money with the somewhat ill-conceived GMT-560's you have to wonder if GM believes it is impossible to be profitable with commercial trucks.

I think there is no question they could make some money with 4500/5500 cab and chassis versions of the K2XX Silverado/Sierra. Not sure GM really needs to build anything larger, it would be very tough to compete with Freightliner, International, and PACCAR.

Ford after years of relying on Navistar to supply a rather sorry line of medium duty class 6 and 7 trucks seems to think there's a buck or two to be make bringing production of those class 6 and 7 trucks back 'in house' to their Ohio plant. That move is going to be a big 'wait and see', I am not at all convinced it will be successful.

This is what I'm saying, it should be relatively easy to make money on a higher GVWR Silverado and Sierra C&C.

hiluxxulih

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 9, 2014

C/K Man said:
I am told the current HD chassis isn't an issue, they just need some longer wheelbase options, heavier rear springs, larger rear axle (Spicer 110) and 19.5" wheels.

As far as wheel base it looks like GM has the crew cab frame and it looks like they also put the regular cab on a crew cab frame for a longer bed and then they have a short wheelbase regular cab only frame .

ChrisGinNC

· #12 · Dec 9, 2014

hiluxxulih said:
As far as wheel base it looks like GM has the crew cab frame and it looks like they also put the regular cab on a crew cab frame for a longer bed and then they have a short wheelbase regular cab only frame .

They offer the RC with a 162.0" wheelbase that will accommodate a 12' body or 137.5" wheelbase that will accommodate a 9' body. Crew is only available in 171.5" wheelbase which will accommodate a 9 or 10' body. I had a 2011 crew cab with a 9' (I believe) dump body. That truck would max out legal payload really quickly which is why I don't have it anymore.

C/K Man

· #13 · Dec 10, 2014

Crew cab frames are different than regular cabs, even in the chassis-cab models. The frame rails drop under the cab to accommodate the cab floor.

GM kind of busts me up in some of their commercial truck sales website/literature images. They will show some ridiculous 3500 HD crew cab dump truck, and anyone who knows anything about commercial trucks knows right off the bat that a truck like that is close to GVW just sitting there empty!

hiluxxulih

Discussion Starter · #14 · Dec 10, 2014

C/K Man said:
Crew cab frames are different than regular cabs, even in the chassis-cab models. The frame rails drop under the cab to accommodate the cab floor.

GM kind of busts me up in some of their commercial truck sales website/literature images. They will show some ridiculous 3500 HD crew cab dump truck, and anyone who knows anything about commercial trucks knows right off the bat that a truck like that is close to GVW just sitting there empty!

Great for hauling feathers .

Lowboy

· #15 · Dec 11, 2014

ChrisGinNC said:
Tell that to Ram, Ford, Navistar, Paccar, etc.

I think there is a market as well but they (GM) doesn't, again, just ask them.

There are so many people running around with 1 ton dumps hauling 3-5 tons of material and think it is ok. Those are the people the DOT should be going after, everything in the chassis is overloaded, wheels/tires/springs/axle etc.

C/K Man

· #16 · Dec 11, 2014

Lowboy said:
I think there is a market as well but they (GM) doesn't, again, just ask them.

There are so many people running around with 1 ton dumps hauling 3-5 tons of material and think it is ok. Those are the people the DOT should be going after, everything in the chassis is overloaded, wheels/tires/springs/axle etc.

Not a problem here, that's the California Highway Patrol's favorite bust.

Lowboy

· #17 · Dec 11, 2014

Recently passed a GMC 3500 with so much heavy slag the overload springs were negatively arched and all four rear tires "looked" low.

hiluxxulih

Discussion Starter · #18 · Dec 19, 2014

Went to get a point welded on to my aluminum walking staff and the new chevy chassis cab this thread is about was there having a new aluminum flat bed built for it , it looks pretty good so far .

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