2012 Silverado 2500 with 6.0 and 6 speed auto

[Lynn]

Anyone have a Chevy/GMC 2500 from this era?

Looking at one with less than 90k miles. Plain jane with no carpet (which is what I would want for a work truck) just rubber floor mat.

Decent condition.

Did some searches on this engine (L96) and apparently it is not prone to major issues.

Any personal experience?

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

There are a lot good upgrades on the HD 2500’s.

Ryan W31

[67since67]

Lynn, I do have experience with GM 2500 trucks, having towed my car trailer with both DuraMax and 6.0 gas.
As said the 6.0 is a solid dependable engine, But, If you plan on doing any towing, especially any distance, hook it up and try it out.
Being tactful, you may not find the 6.0 up to the task. (constant downshifting)

[Lynn]

Biggest issue for me is I don't know how to work on diesels. Too old to learn. Even if i did, I can't stand the smell.

And, I hate farming out repairs.

[Lynn]

I have used my AWD Denali for towing with the previous gen 6.0. About a 35 hp bump on the newer ones.

[bbbenny]

Lynn, I had 2013 2500 HD. Six speed truck. I put over 120,000 miles on the truck. Some towing, of the race car. Never Missed a beat!!!! BBBenny

[Too Many Projects]

Bill is right in that, once you go diesel, you never want to go back to gas for a tow rig. BUT, I'm with ya on the smell. My wife always laughs when I turn off the blower motors in our cars when we get stuck behind a diesel truck on the road. She finds it comical for a guy who owned and drove semi's for 40 years to not be able to tolerate diesel exhaust.

[83hurstguy]

I tow with a 2010 Express 3500, has L96, 6 speed, 3.42 rear. I have 75k miles on it now - the engine piston slaps cold, it's susceptible to breaking off exhaust manifold bolts, but the core engine itself has been great. I just changed oil and it hadn't burned any over the last 3k miles; trans fluid was changed around 55k with GM stuff, fluid is still clean.

Tows open trailer with car (5000 lb) like nothing is back there and rides great, probably gets 11-12 mpg on highway with the open, more like 15-16 mpg no trailer. Once I went to a 24 ft enclosed (probably towing between 8-9k), it did okay, if you were pulling up hills you just had to get used to hearing RPM, and it would get right around 8.0 mpg. Since I don't have a great rear gear ratio for towing like the pickups, I just lock it in 5th gear and let it kick down to 4th or 3rd when needed.

Best change I made was getting it professionally tuned - in the vans, GM never let it go into power enrichment mode (had it effectively locked out) so it was always trying to pull at stoichiometric (14.7:1ish), the torque converter locked in every gear (tuner disabled for gears 1-4), and the timing tables were really soft based on intake air temp, so it was effectively always pulling timing. It feels like it picked up 30-40 lb-ft from the tuning, pulls hills way better, acceleration is great, and now I'm getting just a tick over 9 mpg towing the exact same route with the same trailer at 70ish mph. I do typically use premium fuel due to the tune (don't need it around town unloaded), but it's worth it due to the power and economy.

The sad part is that the rest of the truck will have issues with everything else (wiring, accessories, evaporative emissions control system, rust) long before the powertrain gives up.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Originally Posted by 83hurstguy

I tow with a 2010 Express 3500, has L96, 6 speed, 3.42 rear. I have 75k miles on it now - the engine piston slaps cold, it's susceptible to breaking off exhaust manifold bolts, but the core engine itself has been great. I just changed oil and it hadn't burned any over the last 3k miles; trans fluid was changed around 55k with GM stuff, fluid is still clean.

Tows open trailer with car (5000 lb) like nothing is back there and rides great, probably gets 11-12 mpg on highway with the open, more like 15-16 mpg no trailer. Once I went to a 24 ft enclosed (probably towing between 8-9k), it did okay, if you were pulling up hills you just had to get used to hearing RPM, and it would get right around 8.0 mpg. Since I don't have a great rear gear ratio for towing like the pickups, I just lock it in 5th gear and let it kick down to 4th or 3rd when needed.

Best change I made was getting it professionally tuned - in the vans, GM never let it go into power enrichment mode (had it effectively locked out) so it was always trying to pull at stoichiometric (14.7:1ish), the torque converter locked in every gear (tuner disabled for gears 1-4), and the timing tables were really soft based on intake air temp, so it was effectively always pulling timing. It feels like it picked up 30-40 lb-ft from the tuning, pulls hills way better, acceleration is great, and now I'm getting just a tick over 9 mpg towing the exact same route with the same trailer at 70ish mph. I do typically use premium fuel due to the tune (don't need it around town unloaded), but it's worth it due to the power and economy.

The sad part is that the rest of the truck will have issues with everything else (wiring, accessories, evaporative emissions control system, rust) long before the powertrain gives up.

Very interesting!!

Where did you get the tune done?
Do they have a 94 octane tune and 91 octane version?

Ryan W31

[83hurstguy]

Originally Posted by Ryan1969Chevelle

Very interesting!!

Where did you get the tune done?
Do they have a 94 octane tune and 91 octane version?

Ryan W31

I used a local tuner that is very good (finish line performance) - it was a 6-8 month wait to get in and I had to bring the whole van. He adjusted parameters and test drove it around to assess the impact of the changes. I asked him about multiple tunes, but he basically said it wasn't worth it, just use the 91 octane when towing. We had 87 in the tank when he tuned it (no trailer) and couldn't get it to ping under load. He said I could try the 87 and see if it pings, but I didn't want to take the risk.