Sorry, I gotta call BS on that. I had a 05 Crapolet with the "mighty" Allison and 8.1. I never got better than 10-11mpg with it-all stock. As for outpulling, don't know what V10 you pulled with, but I towed the same trailer with both and the V10 will wipe the floor with it.

 

Call what ever you want. They are all 11 mpg rigs. I've been there and watched them compute the mileage at fill up. Down here in the flatter ground the V10 holds it's own, but when we hit the hills at higher elevations the extra cubes of the 8.1 take over. My V10 is in my sig.

 

LOL indeed.

I come from a long line of GM fans. Father, sister, brother all drive Chevy and profess the bow tie doctrine. Last time I owned a GM was back in 2000. Their GM vehicles seem to be rattle buckets and ride too soft for my taste. Even though my rig is 10 years old, I get compliments from them all when they climb aboard. Clean layout (not a sea of buttons on the dash), no rattles.

 

I have owned both motors in class c motorhomes, an 03 e450 v10 and a 05 chev 5500 kodiak with the 8.1. Both pulled 28' race car trailer. The E450 would wipe the kodiak's butt towing as in it would downshift and gain speed on hills, the 8.1 would downshift and just keep loosing mph.

 

All this talk of big'ol V-8 power is making me miss my '97 F-250 with a 460! I loved that engine.

 

That 8.1 was a Beast!! Great Puller!! Cant beat the Allison tranny either. Im a Ford guy and I love my V-10 but GM did their homework on that drivetrain. The Dodge V-10 was a great motot also.

 

my friend had the 8.1 in his truck and he got 9 mpg empty. He liked his truck but loved gas. We have them in our small bus's here at work and after 2 years they loose a ton of power! They get 4 mpg here but that's all city driving. Not a horrible motor but they seem to drink more then the v10.

 

The 1999 to 2007 GM trucks had notorious frame rusting issues, I've heard of some being replaced by the dealer. The rocker panels were of bad quality steel also, I've seen many rusted out badly and in my eyes the trucks not that old yet.

 

I've known people that had 454s and 460s in large RV's and the 454s all ran hot and did not last like the 460 did.

 

Suerdutys have rusting issues as well. Mine is rotting out around the rear wheelwells. I see alot of other ones with the same issue.

 

I've got one in a 33' 20,000lb motor home with 5.36-ish gears and 22.5" wheels. It's not too bad, get around 7MPG and gets the job done. I LOVE the Allison 6 spd. Put that behind the V10 and you have a winner. In the RV world the V10 gets the general edge in power, but the trannies make them about even. IMHO, there's more potential to power upgrades for the 8.1. The Workhorse is/was also rated for slightly higher gross load ratings.

My blood runs blue, but will admit that the chevy small block wiped our asses for years. Too many engine/tranny formats, made it hard for aftermarket to provide parts economically for all the various Ford combos. That was the game changer.

 

But it's worth a good laugh

Oh, and pushrods are for pussies.

 

I drove a 2500 dodge with the 8.0L v10 for 140k miles. Another decent engine for my money.

"Big power: the 8.0L Magnum V10
As the design for the 5.2L Magnum V8 was coming together in 1988, consideration was given to the design of a larger V10 iteration, mainly intended for use in Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups. This was to be Chrysler's second 10-cylinder engine (after the '92 Viper, see below), and can best be understood as a 5.9L V8 with two cylinders added. This 488-cubic-inch engine was based on a cast iron block, and was rated for 310 hp (230 kW) @ 4,100 rpm and 450 lb·ft (610 N·m) torque @ 2,400 rpm.[4] Bore was 4.00" and stroke was 3.88"; compression ratio was 8.4:1; firing order was 1-10-9-4-3-6-5-8-7-2.[4] Valve covers were die cast aluminum, rather than stamped steel; this lowered noise levels and made for better gasket sealing.
"The 8.0L Magnum V10 first became available in the 1994 model year Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups, and it was the most powerful gasoline-burning engine then available in any passenger pickup truck. The engine lasted through the 2003 model year, after which it was discontinued.[1]"

 

Ford's 2v v10 has the same hp and only 25 ft lbs less torque with 1.2L less displacement, you can make a lot of power with 1.2L of engine. The dodge v10 will destroy its self if you run it over 4,000 rpm for any length of time but Ford's v10 will gladly run 5,000 rpm literally forever. Did dodge ever do the recall where they give you a spare auto transmission to take with you? LOL

 

I have 2 8.1 in a 04 Avalanche and in a GMC XL i also have the 7.3 excursion 02 but those 8.1 definitely out pulled anything those V10 can. Oh and I'm a fan of the V10, 7.3