For those saying it's made for payload rather than towing. Yes and no. Usually the dealership or customer will spec these things out to a certain GVWR. For example when ordering this most will order it with a 14,500lbs GVWR because it allows you to tow more overall weight while staying dot compliant. Also for your GVWR to stay dot compliant when carrying a load of gravel. That was Chevrolet's main focus. A 3500 sometimes will have a GVWR of 17,500 but in reality is not nearly as heavy duty as Chevrolet's medium duty trucks. I guarantee you are much safer in towing 37,000lbs with this medium duty truck then you are in any 3500. I know someone who tows a dozer with their 6500 on a tandem axle gooseneck that's probably in between 32ft to 38 ft long. I think that those are ways around 15,000 to 16,000 pounds plus whatever the trailer weights not including the job box, tools, chains, compressors, jacks, a welder and a whole lot of other junk. No the truck is not Dot compliant ,but it easily tows every bit of that. Any 3500 either Dodge or Chevy as well as an f-450 "all have been tuned". The 6500 "Although admittingly slow going up steep grades" but she tows and stops very confidently compared to anything that has ever towed this equipment. So yes it will tow and toe better than anything else besides a full size semi or bus.
We have one at my job and It got into small highway accident while it was towing a 28 foot 2 axle dump trailer loaded with an excavator and a pallet of concrete bags. An SUV swerved into it and hit the bedside pretty hard. The guy driving it said he pulled over to look at the back of the trailer but then realized the hit was right behind the cab. He could barely feel the hit. They’re units for sure!
I’m excited to see a f600 in person. Everyone doesn’t realize that these are made for payload rather than towing. Is it capable, yes. I’d feel a lot safer towing 30k with something like this rather than a one ton, “ratings” aside.
I have a 2020 5500 hd 4x4 and I have to say I love it. These trucks were designed to haul. You can tow with these trucks with no problems. I tow all kinds of equipment with mine. I also tow a 36 foot camper along with a side x side, generator, 100 gallons of fresh water, firewood, and 50 gallons of gas on the bed which is 11 foot long. The 2wd version of these trucks turn a lot sharper. You can also get air ride rear suspension in the 2wd version which I highly recommend. As far as the interior goes you have to keep in mind that this is a work truck and they do make a LT model as well. I have a few videos on my channel of my setup. Feel free to check them out
Kelderman makes great front as well as rear air ride suspensions and stabilizer bars for 4x2's and 4x4's.You can do a complete air set up for brakes as well and even run tool's of the compressor with the right set up.
Unloaded heavy duty spring suspended trucks are super rough haha. A lot of the big trucks have full air suspension for this reason. I wouldn't mind havinf one of these too. ..... In like 20 years when it comes into my price range lol.
The payload is where its at, i haul 700 gals of water and 3 hotsy units on the bed and it barely squints.. i put 22.5/11r and it sits tall and look awesome..✌
Hell yeah, go for it. I'm looking at getting the 6500 4x4 myself. I would definitely go with the LT model. They now offer the Allison 2000 series transmission, which is a 10 speed automatic
What I want to do with this truck? Put an aluminum CM truckbed with boxes from Satble Camper. Then load a Host Mammoth truck camper with 3 slides out onto it. Done. The perfect rig
As far as the big 3 medium duty stuff goes these are by far the coolest. They are really Navistar/International built trucks with a GM powertrain and interior in them. Some cool features you won't ever get on a Ford or RAM medium duty. Not a fan of 4wd on a truck like this and it needs the aluminum wheels IMO.
Put a mild towing tune in my F550 service truck and the TopKick service truck, DRAMATIC improvement in the overall performance of the engine, without the tune both were a dog, never had issues but never exceeded flashing anything beyond a mild towing tune. Next service truck in a year will get the same tune or something similar ..
The only option to decide is how much a person or business wants to pay for maintenance, most people commenting dont seem to have experience spending the many thousands of dollars maintaining these combinations . Duramax/Allison, Cummins/Aisin, or Powerstroke/Ford Trans.
usually manufacturers use previous gen's cab on commercial vehicles. Ford F-650/750 still have the same cab from the 1999 super duty albeit updated to the early 2000s interior. It is easier and cheaper to produce an already tried-and-true cab vs always using the latest and greatest.
The guy from Big Truck Big RV was looking to buy a 5500hd to tow his 40ft 5th wheel. The Chevy dealer talked him out of it. Said it wasn't rated for towing. I bet it would tow just fine. I also believe you can order one with the LTZ trim package.
It’s not as good for towing, because you don’t have the proper weight distribution. The rear is too light since it’s made to haul and won’t allow the back wheels to get the proper traction.
Those trucks don't come with many options also most of them aren't four-wheel drive its cool this one is. DMAXRYNO wanted to buy one but he said they're too plain for the money. And you can tow this with them use them to tow horse trailers sometimes hotshots because remember all this truck is a updated Kodiak or Topkick
If you get this truck tricked out with the available air ride package, then I bet the ride would be much better. The interior cab itself is boring but hey, it's a work man's truck anyway. Just think what the truck could be like with the interior of a Dodge Ram or Silverado truck with all of the bells and whistles. Wow.
Im thinking that with a 22.5 gvwr and 15k rear gawr, this truck should basically be cabaple of about 6k+ tongue wieght.. and could be hell of a hot shot style unit. I'm still learning myself because I want to make the proper decision when buying my next tow rig.. but to say you cant tow with it is silly. Check out LOAD MIZER's video on gvwr.. this is sooo much more capable than a 3500 and you wouldnt have to poo yourself at the scales.
If you think that's cool, the the next step is to go checkout some real medium duty trucks - like 26k GVW on up - with big truck features like air brakes. Those tiny tires ride like crap and don't stop very well when your loaded out to 20K lbs.... My Freightliner M2 rides almost as comfy as a sedan with air suspension rolling on 11R22.5's. It stops better (and the engine brake is strong) and the short wheelbase turns better than my previous F550 service truck...even being ten years old, I'd take it over any new sub-CDL chassis out there....And, after living through working all these truck through the worst emissions BS of the early to mid 2000's, I sure as heck would not touch anything International is involved in.
It probably has air brakes like you said but also it might have air ride suspension but most likely that specific air tank by the step ups is just for utility purposes since it’s technically a commercial truck
@@lenny8100 There is no such thing as "carrying". You are taking about hauling or payload just like he said. So "carrying" and hauling would be the same thing. It's hauling/haul and towing/tow.
I looked at one near my house that was four-wheel drive four-door it was really nice it was only like $49K some reason but I like the older Topkick/ Kodiak 2003-2009 they had more room because they use basically the van body Express van
*Kodiak They do offer an LT package Yes it’s the 2015-2019 HD cab It is NOT the same tranny as in the new HD’s. If you get max GCWR package it’s also a different trans in it You need to add air ride 😀
Cool video. Those trucks are designed for commercial use. They have decent GVWRs but not so great GCWRs. I also think they were announced before the 2020+ trucks came out so that’s partly why they use the old cabs. Still would be cool to have and I would bet they would handle a big fifth wheel or gooseneck much better than a 3500.
Yes they do sometimes. There’s one of those trucks pretty local to me that is an LT. Black with an aluminum gooseneck flatbed on it. I’m not sure what that type of bed is called but it’s a flat bed with some storage buoy in and a goose neck hitch built it. It’s SHARP. Pulls a monster gooseneck horse trailer.
Your crazy to use a 3500 for regular heavy towing. That is not a commercial duty truck like that 6500. If you try heavy haul in a 1 ton it might make to 100K before its shot. Not only is the longevity of the truck it self greatly different. Service is way easier/cheaper with a tilt front and then there's the safety factor. The weight of the truck helps tremendously when towing. Have you ever compared the size of the brakes. The commercial medium duty trucks are like four times the size of a of a 1 ton's brakes. If your hauling 18K + daily even weekly you'll be changing those brakes every couple of months and they still might fail. (at the worst possible time too) God forbid if your in a mountainous region. Those down grades will light your brakes on fire! Engine brakes or J brakes will save your a** and keep you running on down the road. I still believe for every day heavy hauling a 9 speed Allison in the medium duty class is the best set up preferably mated to either a Cummins ISB6.7 or the Detroit 60/ DD5. The Duramax 6.6L has a few issues that have to be attended to right out the gate like crappy injectors and a plastic impeller on the turbo that likes to melt, other wise it's a good motor. Better then the Power Stroke IMOP just not the same level as the DD5 or ISB6.7. I've run a lot of Medium duty trucks from flat beds hauling building material on 20' dump beds and 24' piggy backs to Heavy equipment low boy 30'/40' trailers so this is just real world experience I have had and the other drivers I worked with plus the mechanics that kept our trucks on the road. Not numbers on a piece of paper full of factory specs. Anyone can take my advise for what you want.(or not) I just know what I felt safe driving and what stayed on the road and out of the mechanics shop the most since I got into the industry back in 1988/89.