[Case95xt]

They're going to regret not offering a gas engine. Our fleet started going gas on the 650 Ford's after 2011 or so. WAY less downtime, no def for workers to contaminate (a massive fleet problem) and the gas V10's are one of the best engines Ford made, very dependable. Plenty of other fleets were going the same way, they're just sick of all the emission garbage causing issues. Some of these commercial trucks spend plenty of time idling, some have to in order to run V-mac's, PTO's etc...this causes huge issues on modern diesels with DPF filters.

Other than that these trucks look great in and out. I'm glad to see GM back in the med-duty game.

I am seeing the same thing. A lot of ambulance rigs that were diesel are going to gas. Simply too many issues with the diesel Ford and Ram trucks in that application.

 

[Case95xt]

GM owned this segment with the Kodiak/Top Kick trucks. No reason to think they won't get a lot of that business back, desptie the stupidity of calling the new ones Silverados. One of the reasons they went bankrupt was ditching market segments they dominated, like these medium duty trucks and virtually the entire police and taxicab business in this country with the body and frame Caprices.

I don't know that they owned that segment, I owned a 5500 CC 4X4 for 10 years and while they did ok, they never dominated in sales that is for sure. I think if they would have followed up with that first release of the Kodiak with an improved version, by now they could at least be sharing it on equal terms with Ram and possibly Ford. I loved certain aspects of that truck and hated others. Super solid in towing at max GVW. However, the ride was so rough I hated driving it. The interior was not up to the task of a medium duty truck. The 5.19 gear ratio on the 4X4 was way too low, according many engine upfitters and builders the low gear ratio created higher RPM's which lowered the life of the Duramax. I lost injectors which washed a cylinder, resulting in the engine being toast. It looks like they have upped the ratio to 4:30 in this setup so they may have learned from previous.

Honestly, there was not enough of these trucks being sold during the down turn to have made any money, but if they could have weathered it, it would have put them in a better situation for now when times are much better for commercial truck sales. It is what it is now, I wish this truck was not still this far out.

Between IH and GM I have to hope that this will be done right when it finally is available. I will buy another 5500 4X4, CC unless I see something way bad, so far I don't by looking over the specs.

 

[Sierra12]

Going over the specifications, I see some interesting things. First, the GCW (not GVW) seems a bit low at 30,000#'s for the 5500. Pretty much means you are going to use this thing for hauling or towing, not both at the same time! For comparison, the F-550 has a GCW of 40,000#'s. I remember some time ago there was a bit of controversy over GM adhering to SAE towing standards while the competition wasn't, could that be a factor? Another interesting little thing was GM was making a point that the air compressor for the air suspension was engine-driven, not electric. That seems to be overkill. Unless air brakes are going to be an option at some point.........

 

[ChrisGinNC]

GM owned this segment with the Kodiak/Top Kick trucks.

Not even close.

With a 30,000# GCWR, they for sure won’t be owning it this time either.

 

[ChrisGinNC]

Going over the specifications, I see some interesting things. First, the GCW (not GVW) seems a bit low at 30,000#'s for the 5500. Pretty much means you are going to use this thing for hauling or towing, not both at the same time! For comparison, the F-550 has a GCW of 40,000#'s. I remember some time ago there was a bit of controversy over GM adhering to SAE towing standards while the competition wasn't, could that be a factor? Another interesting little thing was GM was making a point that the air compressor for the air suspension was engine-driven, not electric. That seems to be overkill. Unless air brakes are going to be an option at some point.........

An F-350 Dually has a higher GCWR than this truck, IIRC.

 

[maxaccel]

Like the painted frame rails,should keep the rust away for a good while..why cant GM do all their trucks like that?
Surprised it has less power then one tons with same motor..
Would make great truck to carry my camperino..but
Dont care for its square look,,will have to wait for Tesla truck..:

 

[Case95xt]

Not unusual for the med. duty trucks to be derated from the 3500's. They all do that. They detune them for increased service life anticipating a tougher duty cycle.

It is the same motor just tuning, historically it is not hard to go in and get that back with different tuning, if your willing to forgo warranty.

 

[Sierra12]

It uses the same interior as the K2 3500 pickup. I'm actually glad they didn't go with International interiors for this segment.

The Class 6-8 MV replacement will also involve Chevrolet. They will likely go with an entirely new cab for that in a few years.

A little more news about the cab: 'GM Authority' is reporting the new medium duty cab will be built by Navistar.

It is pretty clear the medium uses a version of the current K2XX cab. This makes sense with the coming changeover to the T1XX trucks. Fort Wayne will not have to continue production of the old cab after 2020 when the HD's go to the new platform.

BTW- I hear some Navistar dealers are upset the new MV isn't much changed from the old DuraStar/4400. Makes me wonder if the MV isn't an interim model to be replaced with a Chevy/International class 6-8 in a few years.

 

[mbukukanyau]

Not even close.

With a 30,000# GCWR, they for sure won’t be owning it this time either.

Depends on the standards used to declare capabilities