Buyer's remorse - resolved with 6 wheels
Discussion
A couple of years back I posted about purchasing a large American truck to tow our new (to us) caravan.
While it was awesome (and looked kinda cool in an American way - especially the interior), I did mention the only regret was that it didn't have 6 vs 4 wheels.
However today I traded it in for the replacement:
Parking may be a challenge with the additional 2ft bed length (which I need to resign myself to).
I did manage to get the colour I wanted and 90% of the spec. However the amount of chrome on it was jarring and would put at 1950's cadillac to shame, so to sweeten the deal the dealership agreed to tone down the acres of shiny silver, and it will be back in the shop in the next week or two for modifications.
Initial impressions are decent and possibly a smoother ride than the AT4, (which is surprising as it has an extra set of high-tech leaf springs bringing up to 6 leafs in total). Not sure this revolutionary suspension marvel/solution has reached European shores yet, but this should in theory allow me to tow up to 36,000lbs (16 tonnes in non-freedom units).
it does need a bit of extra awareness due to it's width, as even with the typical wide roads in the USA some turning lanes I find I'm over both the left and right the road lines with the rear wheels - anyway will post further updates once the chrome bling has been toned down...
While it was awesome (and looked kinda cool in an American way - especially the interior), I did mention the only regret was that it didn't have 6 vs 4 wheels.
However today I traded it in for the replacement:
Parking may be a challenge with the additional 2ft bed length (which I need to resign myself to).
I did manage to get the colour I wanted and 90% of the spec. However the amount of chrome on it was jarring and would put at 1950's cadillac to shame, so to sweeten the deal the dealership agreed to tone down the acres of shiny silver, and it will be back in the shop in the next week or two for modifications.
Initial impressions are decent and possibly a smoother ride than the AT4, (which is surprising as it has an extra set of high-tech leaf springs bringing up to 6 leafs in total). Not sure this revolutionary suspension marvel/solution has reached European shores yet, but this should in theory allow me to tow up to 36,000lbs (16 tonnes in non-freedom units).
it does need a bit of extra awareness due to it's width, as even with the typical wide roads in the USA some turning lanes I find I'm over both the left and right the road lines with the rear wheels - anyway will post further updates once the chrome bling has been toned down...
I rented a Dodge Ram Rough Ring Rider edition the other day, my first go in a proper big pickup, it was the base version of the straight six which means 400bhp and a ZF8 gearbox. The powertrain was utterly superb, all the more for knowing it was a Stellantis turd, the thing really shifted, but it was an evil thing to try to go fast in and highway manners on it's rufty tufty raised suspension and knobbly tyres was diabolical.
It was trying so hard to be big and manly and tough it absolutely oozed paranoia and insecurity, it was absolutely great and after much beer and weed fuelled discussions and covetously eyeing up others on the road we both decided we'd probably go for the GM one and probably the Denali like yours although I hadn't considered going for the full six wheels.
For the proper US six toe experience I now think six wheels is a must.
Or 10 wheels
It was trying so hard to be big and manly and tough it absolutely oozed paranoia and insecurity, it was absolutely great and after much beer and weed fuelled discussions and covetously eyeing up others on the road we both decided we'd probably go for the GM one and probably the Denali like yours although I hadn't considered going for the full six wheels.
For the proper US six toe experience I now think six wheels is a must.
Edited by GeniusOfLove on Tuesday 21st July 12:00
Or 10 wheels
Edited by GeniusOfLove on Tuesday 21st July 12:03
GeniusOfLove said:
I rented a Dodge Ram Rough Ring Rider edition the other day, my first go in a proper big pickup, it was the base version of the straight six which means 400bhp and a ZF8 gearbox. The powertrain was utterly superb, all the more for knowing it was a Stellantis turd, the thing really shifted, but it was an evil thing to try to go fast in and highway manners on it's rufty tufty raised suspension and knobbly tyres was diabolical.
It was trying so hard to be big and manly and tough it absolutely oozed paranoia and insecurity, it was absolutely great and after much beer and weed fuelled discussions and covetously eyeing up others on the road we both decided we'd probably go for the GM one and probably the Denali like yours although I hadn't considered going for the full six wheels.
For the proper US six toe experience I now think six wheels is a must.
Or 10 wheels
Love it - that did pop up in my search $130k so 100k old money and some pretty cool engineering. I don't think it would have a problem going in a straight line that's for sure It was trying so hard to be big and manly and tough it absolutely oozed paranoia and insecurity, it was absolutely great and after much beer and weed fuelled discussions and covetously eyeing up others on the road we both decided we'd probably go for the GM one and probably the Denali like yours although I hadn't considered going for the full six wheels.
For the proper US six toe experience I now think six wheels is a must.
Edited by GeniusOfLove on Tuesday 21st July 12:00
Or 10 wheels
Edited by GeniusOfLove on Tuesday 21st July 12:03
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/7...
Quhet said:
Conspicuous (fuel) consumption 
Early days, but managing 15mpg on the highways so far. On the previous truck (same engine) I managed briefly get it down to 1mpg when going up-hill towing the caravan (about 7 tonnes in weight) they do drink when towing (8-ish mpg).
And speaking of fuel, I've operated my entire life on the absolute irrifutable internet fact that 'empty/low' means you have at least another gallon in reserve. I pulled into the petrol station with the gauge showing 'low' and it filled up with just over 36 gallons into the '36 gallon' tank : /
jfdi said:
Perfect for Tesco's carpark. How do American licences (or licenses, take your pick) work with these monsters. Surely not a case of pass your test in a car and go out and buy one of these?
No restriction on 4 (or 6) wheels. From my experience, you turn up to the DMV, drive around the block and then pick up your new licence. Written test is similar. Not met anyone who failed their test, my former sales guy said he reversed into a car parking during the test and still passed. Might explain why there's 4x times death and injury on the roads vs Europe...
Technially if you are not transporting a commerical trailer you can even drive a HGV tractor unit with a 45ft loong RV on a normal licence in many states (and a decent used tractor unit can be had for $60k) and speaking with couple of guys who do that they get same mpg as my truck somehow...
(Maybe next upgrade)
jfdi said:
Perfect for Tesco's carpark. How do American licences (or licenses, take your pick) work with these monsters. Surely not a case of pass your test in a car and go out and buy one of these?
I'll jump in on this as I teach the commercial license stuff as part of my job. As a general rule, over here there are no additional license requirements if you are not operating a commercial vehicle or a motorcycle. For example, you can drive a coach-style RV, towing a toy hauler trailer, towing a boat trailer, and just need a regular driving license. A handful of states require a special non-commercial license to drive big vehicles, but they are in the minority. Commercial licenses are federally regulated and fall into three categories: A and B - which deal with weight, and C - which deals with passengers and hazardous materials.
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