Hey guys new member looking for input. I've been reading the forums regularly and my dealer is supposed to get a demo 2017 f250 on the 14th.

I'm going back and forth between a new f250 or new GMC 2500. The most important thing to me is ride quality while unloaded and loaded. I'm coming from a 2013 F150 Lariat FX4 EcoBoost that did a great job but looking to move up in power.

Questions:
Anyone driven the new one compared to say an 06 F250? My friend lets me borrow his 06 and it drives like a tank. How about compared to a new GMC 2500HD?

Interior? other than the brown / red interior in the platinum is there any difference in material? I've got a Fusion with fords Leather and it's basically vinyl. If the Platinum had real leather that would be a huge plus.

Thanks in advance!

 

I assume you are looking at the diesel engines only? None of the HD V8 gas engines have more power than the EcoBoost you are getting rid of.

Haven't compared all the new trucks for ride, can't help with that part.

 

1st there is very limited info on the new GMC twins. They will have a new duramax with more power. But, as far as the 2016 GMC, it rides and feels the same as the 2008 MY to me. I was going to go with it, because it is what my father in law had, but after driving the Ford....well it was more powerfull, drove better, and felt bigger (put a smile on.my face when the foot went down). With the 17's arriving in a couple weeks even more reason for the Ford change for me. Plus I have seen the new front ends and the hood scoop on the new 17 GMC's and it is not my cup of tea...

 

Yep sorry diesel only =) or id stick with a 2017 f150 with the new 10 speed.

any one on the interior? I dont really like all the bling platinum? has anyone removed the tail gate decal?

 

I have an 06 F250 4x4 and it drives like a "truck" the new ram I drove drives like a "truck." The ford and GMs drove like cars, nothing like the ram or my current f250. The ex was actually willing to pay half of a truck to get one and get out of the current 06 F250

 

I looked closely at the 2016 GMC Sierra 2500 Denali (Duramax) and I'll share what I disliked. To be clear, I'm totally brand-agnostic (I've had RAM, too), and evaluate vehicles on their merits in a given model year.

• The trailering mirrors do not extend/retract.
• The DEF tank hangs at frame height and could be perforated more easily when going off road.
• The DEF tank cannot be filled from the diesel fill area. You refill DEF with a funnel under the hood like you would engine oil - given the hood height, this sucks massively if you're < 6' tall. It's still a PITA to have to open the hood to do this.
• There is no DEF tank gauge (RAM is exclusive on this for MY2016)
• The steering wheel is angled approx 5 degrees toward the driver's door. This is (surprisingly) by design and a holdover from when steering wheels did not have power telescope/tilt to assist in ingress/egress. A lot of folks don't care but this bugged the ever loving **** out of me while driving - it always felt like I was "turned" in my seat.
• There is no LED headlight option. Again, some folks don't care but I find the HID output to be lacking compared to LED, not to mention durability.
• There are square wheel wells. I don't care about this but they significantly limit your choice of upsized wheels/tires without a lift.
• There are no rear HVAC vents or power outlet. I see this as a glaring omission - GM is the only full size or HD trucks without this on the crew cabs.
• There is no real rear under seat storage; you get a POS, flimsy plastic "bucket" that's soft enough to flex with one finger.

To be fair, they have some strengths:

• They are the only HDs with independent front suspension. A lot of folks thing this is a negative but I thoroughly appreciate it when off road.
• Allison is a very well respected for transmissions; Duramax seems like a good engine.
• They do have marginally better resale value according to CULA but the difference is small between 2016 Sierra Denali & 2017 Ford Super Duty

Again, I don't care about brand, it's about merits - I hope this helps you with your decision.

 

Is the Chevy steering column still shifted to the left 2"? Used to bug me a lot too, sit in the middle of the seat, good posture, straight forward, and the center of the wheel is off to the left. Drove me nuts.

 

First off, "more power" is subjective. The mightiest diesel pickup (which happens to be the 2017 Super Duty for the moment) is much, much slower than an EcoBoost F-150. I guess it depends if you want more power for towing or for speed.

That said, the new 2017 will be the best-riding Super Duty ever. I have owned 3 Super Dutys from the current, outgoing generation. They all ride better than the previous generations, but not drastically. Due to the new box frame, the 2017 Super Duty will have a significantly better ride than a 2016. The GM HD trucks may still ride better due to the front IFS, but nobody buys an HD truck for ride quality. They simply don't ride all that well because they must have stiff springs and high-pressure heavy-ply tires for their load carrying and towing abilities. Again, an F-150 will ride better. However, the best-riding Super Duty will be a crew-cab long bed truck.

I think AZFordlover gave a fair assessment of the GM's strengths and weaknesses. Those trucks were "new" for the 2014 model year, despite carryover drivetrains. The 2014 update gave the trucks a "higher quality" interior compared to the Super Duty and some new features. However, the negatives remain such as the terrible DEF tank location, the cocked steering wheel, the square wheel wells, lack of rear vents, etc. None of these are massive problems in real life, but they make the competition look better. Even though it is a good engine, the Duramax is down a long ways in torque from the others now. I'd feel kind of disappointed buying a big-dollar truck only to have much less power. Granted, a new diesel is expected soon.

The King Ranch and Platinum leather are higher grade than the Lariat leather. Virtually all leather seats have some vinyl in them, unless its a Rolls-Royce or similar.

 

Ride quality. Many of the major truck stops have air supplies which have a clamp on air chuck and service all 4 tires at once to ensure they are inflated the same. I may build a similar set for at least 2 at a time to make the chore of inflating and deflating my truck tires easier. I run the full 80 pounds much of the time between heavy loads to avoid having to air up for the trip. I drop to 55 pounds when there is an extended time between these loads and the ride greatly improves as well as tire wear. Fully inflated load range E tires without a load are like Fred Flintstone's rocks on the highway, especially after the first 25% of treadwear is gone.

 

Ride quality... The 2016 crew long-bed without the snow-plow or camper package rode smoother than my 2009 F150 - very nice. The short bed crew with the snow-plow package was not nearly as nice.

 

RE ride quality - FWIW the early reviews seem to indicate that the 2017 Super Duties (even CC SB) have significantly better ride quality than they did previously.

Obviously, this is subjective and we'll get more details as time goes on but I'm not really surprised, given the new frame.

I'm really looking forward to comparing the Super Duty's ride, back to back, against competition and even light duty (e.g., F150 Heavy).

 

Does anyone have any links from Ford stating the Platinum has a higher quality of leather.

I've got a 2015 GMC Denali Yukon and the interior is way better than what I've got in my Ford 2015 Fusion (Material wise)

 

Good to know about the rear HVAC, i've got two little ones and live in warm summer (california) so they need AC. Also power is a must I use my 110 outlet all the time in my denali to charge IPAD's etc.

 

Welcome to the forums. Hope you learn and can contribute experiences for us all.

But I note that little ones today need AC. Must be that is what happened to me. Riding around in a huge old Buick and Mercury in the summer time, all windows down and on a vacation to Georgia enduring 100+ degree weather without AC. Ruined me. We didn't even have air in the front where my parents got to sit with the turned around vent windows.

Oh well just had to chide you a bit on that one. Cheers.

 

Yeah this was really surprising. It's even more surprising that GM didn't fix it in the MY2015 or MY2016. Maybe they'll finally get around to it in MY2017.

The other rub is that if you get the cooled front seats, they exhaust hot air out the bottom when they're turned on. Normally, no big deal because your rear passengers would have cool A/C coming through the rear HVAC vents and it would "cancel out" the hot exhaust.

But in the GM products, you're treated to nothing but that warm exhaust from the front seatbacks. You'd be amazed at how much bitching and moaning happens as a result on a 15-minute test drive if the truck's been in the sun a while.