Looking at one of these for a fuel/utility truck.Would carry around 600 gallons of fuel at times plus associated oils,grease,tools.They look alright and have some decent specs.Anyone have any experience with these trucks? Dominion:canada
New or if used what year? We own a Kodiak 4500, and have owned a 6500 in the past.
Dominion, these trucks (the new ones) have stopped being produced. So that may lead you to believe parts availiability in the future may be trouble, just a heads up. Our city started to replace their whole fleet of service trucks with the 5500's and now are stuck.
5500 Thanks for the replies.The local dealer has some good deals on new trucks.Am aware that they are not in production anymore,and that doe's concern me.Trying to replace a 99 F-450 diesel Super-Duty.250,000km's on it,and not easy ones either.Looked at a new F-550 4x4 with Power Stroke engine, but have seen way to many at the local Ford dealer's heavy truck shop in for repairs.Need the 4x4 as some of job site's are not easy to get around on. A Mitsubishi FG140 4x4 cab and chassis is another option I've looked at.They look well built and a dealer is not far from here. Dominion
i hate to say it, but, the mitsubishi is probe best bet. they are a great truck. the fords have been crap since they did away with the 7.3.
First, I may be wrong, but I thought that GM was continuing the 4500 models, though maybe not the 5500's. As far as parts, I would not be too concerned. I don't think there is anything too unique about the drivetrain. The cab is based of GM vans so those parts should stick around for a while. I imagine parts will be similar to the C60/70's from the 80's. Powertrain parts are easy to find (except 8.2 engine parts) and the common cabs with the pickups kept a pretty good supply of body and interior parts.
I have had one since '05 (the first year for 4X4) and have a total of 9k miles on it.....can't afford to drive the P.O.S. lol, take it from me, if you have a 600Gal fuel tank on it, half of the tank better be road fuel so you can burn it to get to the damn jobsite. mine get's 3-4 mpg,.....I can drive the WesternStar's cheaper Pj
I should add, that the 9k miles is either plowing or pulling (and yeah thats a 953 behind it), and in that 9k we have replaced 5 tires, one steering sector, 3 wheel seals (twice on the left side), and worn the damn threads out on the fuel cap! lol The 4X4 is a pathetic excuse for 4wheel drive, if you can go there in a 2wd 3/4ton with road tires, you CANNOT go there in this thing in 4X4. I have not heard that they canceled the 5500, however I have not wanted to buy a new one either so I havent checked. I know everyone has seen a picture of a ole GMC 4Wheeler before but.....here's some more Any Q's just ask, I'll give you an honest answer Pj
We've been really happy with ours, but o ya, it will pound through some fuel. We primarily use the 4x4 for the steep gravel roads we maintain, and its perfect for that, but if its a slippery at all it doesnt do so well, the tires we have on it kinda suck though. I have had to push it out of jobs that I know I could have driven out of with the tandem. PJ, how heavy is that 953? I was wondering if I could pull our 70SR kobelco (17000lbs) behind it on a 10 ton trailer, but from the looks of that pic it should be fine. Is that legal? looks like no prob for the truck.What is the tow capacity on those trucks? I heard that international bought the medium duty line from GM and was going to take it on, not sure how truck that is.
Here is what I was thinking International was trying to produce to keep up with the 5500. $68K for a 26,000GVW C/C though! Pics came from www.clarkstruckcenter.com
i have an '06 4500 4x4. my fuel milage is around 12 empty. i have been very happy with how it handles in snow, ice and mud from all the rain we have hed this year. as far as towing i couldn't be happier. this truck has definitly earned it's keep and if i needed another in this size i would buy another used over any offerings from other manufacturers. as far as the mitsubishi i have heard a lot of good things about them. on the downside is lack of power and feeling of tippiness on the 4x4. i would guess that if you added a 600 gal tank that half full that feeling would be a lot worse. i have thought about one for mounting a hydroseeder on and chose instead to load on 4500 for stability. this picture was taken on top of a mountain in north carolina towing the backhoe in a bit of snow. good luck,
The 953 in the pic is an old 44Z machine, it probably weighs 32k and the only problem you should have towing your 70sr would be that you would be limited to the distance from gas stations lol. the thing of it is our 2wd short cab gets 17mpg. and as far as being "legal"......probably . the trailer tires are 2750lbx12=33,000 plus about 5k on the tounge on the truck, although they may let it slide we still move it on sunday if the bigtruck is not available. Pj
Looks like it handles it ok though? So a 5500 with a 10 ton trailer should be legal??
Our 2005 Kodiak 4500 2x4 with Scelzi combo body gets about 12.5 mpg whether by its self or towing. We only tow a 6 ton trailer behind this with either a JD 4310 tractor and mower or a couple of 1932 scissor lifts, and sometimes a load of pipe. So nothing really much more than 8,000 lbs of weight being towed. The truck with all my tools and 110 gallon transfer tank weighs about 14,000 lbs. So far we haven't really had any problems, the only problem we have had is with the brake light switch. This is a known problem with the Kodiaks and all it really is, is that the contacts in the switch get carboned up. I just take the switch apart and clean them. A friend of ours that owns a logging company bought a 4500 4x4 last year and has been happy with it. He has also had the brake light switch problem, but no other problems so far. The Duramax/Allison combo has a pretty good track record and are dependable compared to the problems Ford has had. But since GM has supposedly discontinued the line, I would probably buy a International in the future to replace this truck. The Internationals are really nice trucks now compared to the past. But you never know and GM may bring them back.
Dominion, I have an awesome GMC6500 for sale? not 4WD though. I am going to post it as soon as I hit my 3 posts! PM me if your are interested. I have the title and want to move this truck.
GM hasn't said they won't bring the medium duty line back in the future. lately it seems they are going out of their way to make it sound like it will be back in the future. i guess we'll see.
A buddy of mine out here that started his own mobile repair business chose the Ford F-550 over the big Chevy's. I was a bit surprised but he said the Ford has a way better ride, more comfortable interior, and much better fuel economy. The guy he used to work for had both F-550's and 5500's with service bodies so as an operator/owner he knew what he wanted.