Posted 2006-07-19 7:55 PM (#45083) Subject: 06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1160 Location: Denver Colorado
My review of the 2006 HD 2500 Duramx GMC with the 6-speed Allison is on the home page. Cool off enjoy the picitures of deep, cool, cold snow. About 20 degrees and the wind was blowing.
Posted 2006-07-20 12:15 AM (#45104 - in reply to #45083) Subject: RE: 06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1160 Location: Denver Colorado
I think the mirrors are CIPI. They replaced the Power Vision mirrors that were the power telescoping mirror as the factory tow mirror for 2 years. Ford uses Schefenacker on the tow mirrors F250-750 from Australia. So does Nissan with the Titan tow mirrors. They are my favorite. Dodge has improved their one arm tow mirror, it used to vibrate bad when first introduced in 2002.
Posted 2006-07-20 8:29 AM (#45117 - in reply to #45083) Subject: RE: 06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
Elite Veteran
Posts: 671 Location: THE GREAT NORTHWET, OREGON(THE REAL GODS COUNTRY)
It looks like a great improvement.I know the old mirrors were hard to see behind you when pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with hay.
I realize things have been more streamlined but I remember the westcoast mirrors I had on My 75 ford F350 and when your towing it seems like you never have enough mirrors !
Is it just Me or is Dodge really crankin up the advertisement lately ? with the german guy.If they are not careful they will turn everyone off because they get tired of the same add every 5 minutes.Like election time.
Posted 2006-07-20 12:15 PM (#45132 - in reply to #45083) Subject: RE: 06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
Expert
Posts: 2689
The electronic dash has been simplified, relative to my '03,
I prefer to 03.
In particular I can reset/stop/continue each of the trip ODOs independantly and they will each display gallons used as well as miles and MPG. On the '03 I use one for trailering only, the other for when I'm driving just the truck - I could use one for trailering the small trailer and one for the larger one, since I rarely use the truck without a trailer anyway. It is a feature that I find useful. The '06 only displays miles and they can only be reset, I couldn't find a way to turn off either of the trip odos.
This is feature reduction, which in the electronics age is WAY out of step with feature emcumbrance that we find on everything else (-:
Also, there is a CHOICE on when I want the doors locked, "speed" or "in gear", but NO CHOICE of not having them locked. On the '03 there was an option to not lock them. I don't see it as a safety feature to be locked in a vehicle, it will only slow down resuers if the driver is unconscious. Sure, I can unlock them with the button, but it is a_NOTHER (minor) aggravation that I just don't want.
The 6-speed seems to be just another high gear, of doubtful utility in towing, sort of an overoverdrive.
I asked when he would have the '07s, he told me I didn't want one of those b'cause it would be way more expensive due to the new emissions stuff and they wouldn't be discounted.
Yeah, right - - maybe not in the FIRST week, but they WILL be discounted.
or, "Buyer incentived", whatever the salesspeak of the week is at the time.
BTW, the 2500 DOES burn some rubber if you get on it heavy, the rear end locks up quickly and they BOTH burn - this feature may not work once there is a decent load on the rear tires. I didn't try it in 4WD.
Posted 2006-07-21 7:11 AM (#45173 - in reply to #45170) Subject: RE: 06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
Expert
Posts: 2689
Originally written by MrTruck on 2006-07-21 2:01 AM
Does your mirrors set level? The factory ones tilt up, I don't know why. I like them level so the frame of the mirror runs parallel with the truck.
If I understand your comment correctly...
The flat vertical back of a horse trailer results in aerodynamics that (effectively) SUCKS dirt onto it. I think I've experienced a similar effect with door mirrors when set "level". OK, so I carry a windex squirt bottle anyway, but in wet weather it is still an aggravation to have to clean them off every couple of hundred miles.
My GUESS is that the factory mirrors are tilted up for a reason that the engineers didn't explain to the marketeers, so they got it through.
Mayhap it is a FEATURE ?
(-:
Posted 2006-07-21 11:24 AM (#45189 - in reply to #45083) Subject: RE: 06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1160 Location: Denver Colorado
GM is the only manufacture that I've seen that has outside mirrors tilting up. Most are straight out parallel with the truck. Maybe it's the "tough" look like the late Chevy's with the tilt in hoodline, looks kind of like a carved pumpkin evil eyebrow. I like the mirror to match the same level of what I'm looking at through it, like the ground, trailer, oncoming traffic. When they tilt up I loose some of the reference points, gives me an uneasy feeling. The mirrors are fine, taller than the previous ones with a spotter mirror on the bottom, so they work well for a towing mirror, I would prefer them level. I'll ask GM next month when I see the GMT900 truck platform for 07 and see the next mirrors. This picture only shows the standard mirror, so I'll have to wait and see. This picture is from SEMA for the 2007 Silverado.
Posted 2006-07-21 1:19 PM (#45195 - in reply to #45139) Subject: RE: 06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 560 Location: Mena, AR
Chadsalt,
Thanks for the link.
I couldn't tell from the link if the mirrors power extend & retract or if you have to do it by hand. The ajusting of the actual mirrors works on your '05 chevy, correct?
Posted 2006-07-24 8:08 AM (#45302 - in reply to #45083) Subject: RE: 06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
Expert
Posts: 2689
I'll wait at least until the '07s go on clearance, maybe the '08s.
By that time the lower than low S fuel should be everywhere, though probably over $5 a gallon (maybe WELL over).
My '03 should be good for another couple of hundered thousand and PERHAPS by the time it's deterioration passes it's depreciation they'll bring back the electronic dash functions.
I know this seems trivial, but I did another 600 miles this week-end and I really DO use INST ECON, and the two independant trip ECON, GALLONS, MILES. It is aggravating that they have downgraded the dash in this way, I'd like to see any rationale they offer to reviewers. Heck, the chips are getting so cheap anyway that spec'ing a reduced function chip probably costs them MORE (-:
I didn't think much of the transmission "M" mode either.
This is more about GM's "control interface" to the transmission than the trans itself.
Bahh, humbug; I'm probably just a bit (more than usual) trailer sour this monday morning (-:
06 HD 2500 review, pictures of snow, it will cool you off !
