Vortex MAX with NHT towing package:
3:73 2WD
4:10 4WD
Bummer that you get locked out of 4:10 with 2WD.

I'm interested!! Please post!

After reading the trailering breakin period, I decided it was time to hook up the boat and head to the lake anyway. I never exceeded 60mph. The truck performed as everyone said it would (pulled the boat with little effort). When on the 2 lane road I switched to trailer tow mode to see the difference. What a shock the 1st time the transmission downshifted on a down hill grade. I then put it into manual mode and set it for 4th gear(much better). IGKEK, I test drove a duramax diesel and can only imagine the pulling power and better fuel economy. I am very pleased with the performance and the little lady loved the ride. I avg. about 9.6 mpg towing. I left the boat on the lift and headed home. The mpg was at 10.5 and rising when I reached home. I hope to avg. 14-15 mpg. Time will tell!!!

We start towing and loading these trucks right away and get big miles (250-300K) out of them, wouldn't worry much about the break in rules.

Glad to hear it worked out well for you!

Just noticed you're from St Louis, P. Which lake? We normally spend Saturday's on Mark Twain.

Pacesetter,

Change the rear gear oil as per the manual, this is important!

1GKEK, I keep the boat on Goose Creek,a private lake near Farmington. Has Mark Twain lake been crowded this year? I have a friend that goes there quite often. I plan on making a trip there this summer. My sister has a place on table rock lake near Kimberly City. I probably won't get there this year. I never been to Norfork Lake in Arkansas but would like check it out.I hear it is a nice lake.

D-Rod, we didn't make the tour. The schedule just didn't work out. If I order a new one in '09, I'll go up to watch them built it and post a review.

Pacesetter, the east end of the lake is pretty busy. From Blackjack marina south it's been REALLY busy, from Indian creek to Blackjack is moderately busy, and the west end of the lake is still very quiet. I like quiet, so we generally stay west (we put in at the Route U ramp).

Norfork is our favorite lake. It's MUCH quieter than Table Rock (again, we like quiet) and the lake is amazing. We were last there in '05 when it was about 9 feet low so I'm not sure what conditions are now. For a place to stay we like the "Take It Easy" resort. Their dock can't handle anything much bigger the 20' but it's a nice place with really friendly people.

Back to the 2500HD's, diesel specifically -- I'm told that for '09 there's a small change to the exhaust system that will *hopefully* cause regen to use less fuel and run at a cooler temperature. It wasn't described as a huge change, more of an incremental improvement. We'll see.