had a 2012 gmc and it was crap. i loved the body exterior, but that was it. the seats were comfy, though. now that i have my ford the gmc interior was cheap in comparison, same with toyota. and that 5.3, well the cam and lifters were going out before 12k. anytime it switched to the 4 cyl., you can hear a knocking sound and i thought it ran quick, before i got my 5.0. ive had a ton of bricks in my truck for 2 days now due to work and it just levelled out my truck, where the same thing in the 5.3 would have it bottomed out.

 

Wow. A lot of great information here guys. If you keep it coming that would be great. Maybe it'll help others dealing with the same decision I am making. I like the new chevy exteriors and interiors and even the way it drove... But I don't want it to crap out on me. I am surprised to find that the general concensus was the same on the fullsizechevy forum as well lol. Everyone for the most part was really upset about mpgs and the engine.... Looks like its just down to which gears....

With that said... With a 5.0 and looking to put 34's on - mostly highway driving, which would be better: 3.55 or 3.73? The 5.0 with 3.73s seemed to "search" for the right gear a lot less than the 3.55. And I even seemed to get better mpg overall with it, but I only drove about 5 miles with one and 2 with the 3.55....

Only issue is I am liking the Sterling Gray Metallic which at the dealer has 3.55 and the one with the 3.73 which "seemed" to drive better was not my fav - Blue Flame

 

Granted it is not cheap, but gears can always be changed.

 

If you know you are going to larger tires, choose 3.73's.

Order a truck or search dealers, don't switch colors or switch out to options you don't like just because it's not on the closest dealers lot.

 

x2!!

 

Chevy is coming out with a "heated tailgate" option for 2013. This is for us F-150 owners so our hands won't get cold when we are pushing the Chevy down the road in the winter because it won't run. Go with the F-150, keep yourself and your soon-to-be new wife happy. Nuff said.

 

Now, even though we're all Ferdd owners, I have to give props where their due.

Yes, the new 5.0 is amazing! We know that. With the technology and all it has, its a beautiful machine. Also, if comfort, ride, looks, payload & towing capacity, an all around beauty & LONGEVITY is another thing you're wanting in your truck [Which I Think You Would Want All], you HAVE to go with the Blue Oval, hands down, all day.

But, to say the 5.3 is an under-performer is definitely an understatement. Yes, GM still uses OHV motors, which isn't a bad thing. Hell, OHC motors are just as old, and date back to the late 1800s. Cool thing about those LS motors is that their cheap to work on if need be, smaller & lighter than our Mod Motors [Width & Length Size], and they get amazing MPG even on their bigger cubed motors. A couple of bolt ons and a sick tune on that thing and you will definitely not be dissatisfied.

5.0 4V: talk about a hell of a performer. And with all that's coming out for it in the aftermarket place, its definitely a force to be reckoned with. At the end of the day, it will boil down your personal preference. Us Ford guys are gonna tell you to get the 5.0hh F-One Fiddy, & the guys on GMFULLSIZE are gonna tell you to get the Silverado, lol so you see how this works.
Do alot of comparisons to make your decision easy.

Those new FX2s & FX4s are beautys. The Silverados are ehh, nice, but the GMC's are even nicer. Just my $.02

 

Yes there is Ford and there is Chevy. With that there are issues with both. I have owned Ford and I have had GMC and Chevy. I love the new ford over GM because of size of the cab. The ride is much better to.

 

Thanks for motor break down, sweet_n_low150..

I used to drive a 99 OBS Tahoe LT with a 5.7L V8. Really good truck. Got 178k out of it before it was sold. I got my current truck in 2008 - it was 2008 model that sat on the lot for a year and nobody even test drove it. Got a killer deal. That being said, I'm pretty sure it was legally a lemon, buuuut Ford fixed it all, so Ford and me, we're good now

I drove a 4.8 L Chevy tonight just for kicks - it was sitting at the Ford dealer. I was genuinely interested, but man did that feel like a piece of junk. I know why it's sitting at the ford dealer - some poor guy had to lose all his equity in that thing to get a decent truck. So, while chevy was already X'd off my list, I just took took it off of any future list as well - what a piece of junk. It looked good, drove pretty good, but interior was crap and the shifter was like one of those edible straws you used to could get from Ragazzi's. Probably doesn't taste good either.. Soooo, now I just need to figure out some financing. Apparently having an accident report on your truck kills the trade in. Maybe I should post it up on Craigslist and see what I could get for it.

Chevy dealer offered me 13K (plus 6500 in rebates + extra 750 for end of month blah blah blah)
Toyota offered 17K
Ford is waiting for me to come back in.

It's amazing how much better I feel about truck shopping after going truck shopping with my best friend earlier this year. All the, "Well would you like to drive home with it tonight?" and the "Well, even though it's not on the price tag, we're running a [moron who's never bought a truck before] sale down at Dewy, Cheetum, and Howe, and all the "We can save this truck for you if you put down a $500 non-refundable deposit" - remember, these trucks go fast." All those things don't phase me anymore.... At all.... I don't care. I used to be intimidated by the salesmen. Now I don't really care. I can spot an "around the bush" financial question from a mile away.

I think I should go into auto sales as a career. Or possibly auto sales consulting.

 

And just FYI, I really do appreciate all the inputs guys! This will be the first truck I finance on my own and I want to make sure that I'm doing it right. Ive always had good guys to lend a helping hand - or keyboard - on this site, and y'all are great! I now feel like I have viewed the entire playing field; I even researched the lifts and other mods with this go around. I feel as though I am making a very informed decision. Hopefully I can be posting some "Just brought her home" photos soon!

 

Not sure about the 5.0, but the 5.4 vs the 5.3 (wifes is an '08 Avy), and you can see from below what I chose. The hp/tq curve pretty much sold me from the numbers and from driving them. The payload/bed options played a part to but that engine I do not like when towing. GM did do a far better job in the towing programing vs Ford's simple lockout of 4th. GM's engine is just to peaky for me, but I've also heard that the 5.0 is pretty peaky compared to the 5.4 so they may have gotten pretty similar in the new models. Look at the dyno numbers and hp/tq curves side-by-side, and also I'd drive both if I was looking at a new or used one.

 

Wingman:

My advice to you having converted from a 5.3 Silverado CC LTZ in back in July would be to simply google 5.3 oil consumption, 5.3 AFM oil problems, and 6L80E shift flare.

I bought my Silvy simiply due to the fact that the price was right and the incentives put GM up over Ford at the time. I put about 50,000 easy miles on the truck and replaced all four door lock acutators, two window regulators, and had the truck in the shop twice for a 1-2 upshift flare (revved up between gears) under light acceleration.

What broke me was at 58k the truck started to enjoy the taste of lube oil. This lube oil consumption was to the tune of 2 qts every 2000 miles. No oil on the dipstick! GM replaced the valve covers with a newly designed cover that would divert the high pressure oil from the AFM actuator in the top end of the motor. The motor still consumed oil, so they installed a shield in the lower end so that the AFM acutator down there did not spray as much oil up towards to bottom of the cyliners. They also chemically shocked the motor to release stuck rings as the cylinders that shut down in V4 mode all had stuck rings allowing the consumption of oil.

Nothing solved the issue. Next step was to tear the motor down and replace the pistons and rings. Not a new motor, but rebuild what I had.

Nope... All done for me. Now have an 11 F150. It has an EB vs. the 5.0, however could not be happier with it.

Again, don't take my word for it. Google the issues above. There are thousands dealing with these issues.

 

I don't know how many times i've gone in and I first told them, I am not buying today, and yet over and over so are you ready to sign some paper work on this truck. That right there runs me off, if you can't be patient or listen to what I say to you, i'd rather my money go to some one else.

Call ford and have them dealer search the truck you want w/ in xx mile radius. Then deal with Internet sales and get a deal made. This might also get you a few dealers to try and work out the best deal possible for you.

a 5.4 4 speed vs. a 5.0 6 speed is no comparison. Mine tows 10x better than my dads 08 5.4 I used to tow with occasionally (a much smaller load at that).

the 5.0 is more high rpm, but it does a great job towing. 6th gear it doesn't like while towing except on flats, but 5th gear keeps the rpms low enough where it doesn't guzzle down fuel. I actually got a tenth of a mpg better than my dads 6.4 f250 on my trip out to moab and back towing about the same load. That's not saying he didn't have more power, but there were only a few hills where i couldn't keep up.

 

Also ford has full power all the time instead of cylinder deactivation and gets better mileage. Another reason why I could never touch that garbage. Yet another computer controlled item. No thanks.

 

Yep, I fully understand that, wish I would have looked a little harder for an '09 or '10 just for extra gears but this one had low miles and great condition from a retired guy. They wanted far too much extra to put me in a truck with a 3.5 or 6.2, all they put in them seems to be the 5.0. My comparison is of both still being 4spds and that thing is a dog compared to the 5.4, and that 5.3 eats oil and they have yet to do anything about it. The people at the counter looked surprised, but the tech in the shop just nodded in agreement when I was telling him her Avy eats twice as much oil between changes as our old '98 F150 does with 190K on it. He wasn't surprised! It is a great vehicle for road trips tho. The 5.0 looks like a good engine for most, but my next 1/2 ton will have a 3.5 in it personally. I really miss diesel style tq.