*** 2002 Gmc Sierra C2500 Utility Bed With Alternative Fuel Option*** on 2040-cars

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Should heavy-duty pickup trucks have window stickers with fuel mileage estimates?

If you were to stroll into your nearest Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Nissan, or Ram dealership, you'd find a bunch of pickup trucks. Most of those would have proper window stickers labeled with things like base prices, options prices, location of manufacture, and, crucially, fuel economy estimates. But you'd also run across a number of heavy-duty trucks with no such fuel mileage data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA doesn't require automakers to publish the valuable miles-per-gallon measurement for vehicles with gross weight ratings that exceed 8,500 pounds. That makes it difficult for consumers to compare behemoths powered by turbocharged diesel engines – between one another, and between smaller, gasoline-fueled trucks. Consumer Reports doesn't think it should be this way, and it's spearheading an effort (PDF link) to get the government to require manufacturers to publish fuel economy estimates. In its own testing, CR found that heavy-duty pickups powered by Ford's Power Stroke, GM's Duramax, and FCA's Cummins diesel engines (which doesn't include the Ram's EcoDiesel) get worse fuel mileage than their lighter-duty gas-powered siblings. We're not so sure HD-truck buyers are unaware of this fact – big diesels don't really come into their own until big loads are placed in their beds or attached to their trailer hitches. Under heavy workloads, the diesel trucks will almost certainly return greater efficiency than a similar gas-powered truck. What's more, HD trucks with lumbering diesels in general make the driver feel more confident while towing due to greater torque at low engine RPM than gas trucks. They also offer greater max-weight limits. Still, we agree EPA fuel mileage estimates should be offered for heavy-duty pickups. And we think the comparisons provided by Consumer Reports might be interesting to potential buyers. Click here to see the results of CR's tests, and let us know what you think using the poll below. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty: First Drive View 22 Photos News Source: Consumer Reports Government/Legal Green Read This Chevrolet Ford GMC Nissan RAM Fuel Efficiency Truck Commercial Vehicles Diesel Vehicles poll gmc sierra hd chevy silverado hd

2019 GMC Sierra carbon fiber bed: How it's made

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The redesigned 2019 GMC Sierra has some pretty nifty features, and the one that has had the most attention is the MultiPro flipping and folding tailgate. But the Sierra also features the first-of-its-kind carbon fiber truck bed. It's interesting, of course, for its capabilities, such as being 62 pounds lighter than the all-steel box. It even adds more cargo volume since the material can be assembled and shaped differently from steel. As it turns out, the assembly process is cool, too, which we learned when GMC invited us to see the beds being made. Every GMC carbon fiber bed starts out as perfectly flat sheets of thermoplastic carbon fiber. The sheets consist of a mix of fibers and resins, a bit like the molded carbon fiber parts Lamborghini uses. The sheets are manufactured by Japanese company Teijin, which collaborated with GMC to develop the bed. They're all delivered to Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) in Fort Wayne, Ind., for construction into the actual bed. The company, a subsidiary of Teijin, makes a wide variety of composite and plastic parts for the car industry, including body panels for the C7 Chevy Corvette. The rectangular sheets are cut to shape and stacked up at a giant stamping press. Robots pick up sheets and slide them onto a conveyor that goes into a large oven. The heat softens the parts so they can be stamped. The large primary bed parts such as the base are stamped by CSP's enormous 3,600-ton press, and the smaller ones go through a 1,000-ton press. Each press can do different parts using different stamping dies, and CSP switches between dies to produce different batches of parts. After stamping, the parts roll out mostly ready for assembly, but there are rough edges that are trimmed off by water-jet cutters. These cutting machines also create holes for fasteners and for parts such as tie-down hooks and lights. The stamping process also provides the carbon fiber bed with a unique Easter egg. On the bottom of the base of the bed, there are two words: "Connors Way." This is a tribute to Tim Connors, who was the chief engineer of manufacturing at GM and a strong proponent of the carbon fiber bed. He was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash a few years ago. The words were added to honor him, and they were fortunately approved for production. There are some components to the bed that aren't stamped from the flat sheets of material.

2020 GMC Sierra HD pricing announced

Just as with its Chevy twin, pricing for the 2020 GMC Sierra HD has been revealed. Unlike the Chevy, though, prices haven't dropped across the board. The ultimate base prices for the 2500 HD and 3500 HD are technically less than the 2019 models at $37,195 and $38,395 respectively, but that's because those are the reintroduced regular cab models. Matching up the body styles of the last year's cheapest Sierras with their new equivalents, and the prices have crept up a few hundred dollars. But the next highest trim level, SLE, drops in price by nearly $2,000 between equivalent trucks. Equivalent SLT trucks are up nearly $2,000 each, though, and the base Denalis have gone up by about $7,000. This is due in part to the 2020 Sierra Denali no longer being offered with two-wheel drive. Comparing the old and new four-wheel drive models, the price is still up by about $4,000. While the new Sierra HD is only more affordable than the last one in certain circumstances, they all feature more capability. The standard 6.0-liter gas-powered V8 makes an extra 41 horsepower and 84 pound-feet of torque than the old one for a total of 401 horsepower and 464 pound-feet of torque. The 6.6-liter diesel V8 still makes 445 horsepower and 910 pound-feet of torque, but it now gets a 10-speed automatic transmission. Maximum fifth-wheel towing has increased, too. For the 2500, that number jumps from 15,400 pounds to 18,500 in the new model. For the 3500, fifth-wheel towing goes from 23,100 pounds to 35,500 pounds for the new truck. And of course, you can get GMC's fancy MultiPro tailgate on the new Sierra HD. One final note on the Sierra HD's pricing: it has the highest base price of the full-size heavy duty trucks. The Ford F-250 Super Duty is the cheapest at $34,745 and is closely followed by the Ram 2500 at $35,090. The full range of GMC Sierra HD pricing is listed below: Sierra 2500 HD Regular Cab Sierra: $37,195 SLE: $41,595 Double Cab Sierra: $39,795 SLE: $43,595 SLT: $52,195 Crew Cab Sierra: $41,595 SLE: $45,395 SLT: $53,995 AT4: $59,295 Denali: $65,295 Sierra 3500 HD Regular Cab Sierra: $38,395 SLE: $42,795 Double Cab Sierra: $41,195 SLE: $44,995 Crew Cab Sierra: $42,795 SLE: $46,595 SLT: $55,195 AT4: $60,495 Denali: $66,495 Update: The estimation of price difference between 2019 and 2020 Sierra Denalis has been corrected. Additional clarification of Denali price changes has also been added.