I picked up my 4dr crew cab 6'4 bed 4x4 tradesmen today. The biggest 1500 there is. I had about a 40 mile drive home of city and some highway driving. Here are some things I noticed.
Received truck with a full tank of fuel and 3/4 tank DEF. The interior was better than expected with cloth, plastic and some vinyl. Very spacious in the front and back seats (I'm 5'8) plenty of leg room and head room. Right away I noticed the sound quality of the cab. I couldn't hear anything from the engine at idle and could barely hear it at 2 thousand RPM. The gear up and down shift is conveniently located on the right of the steering wheel along with the cruis control. The satellite stereo has good clean sound with way to many stations and enough base to vibrate my butt in seat. I like how the tradesmen comes with power everything except the seats and heated mirrors. Overall the controlls are very simple to use and the rotary gear selector is smooth and easy to get use to. Storage space is definitely not an issue inside with 2 glove compartments, cener fold down console and rear seat storge bins.
Driving is the best part of the entire truck. Smooth smooth smooth shifting. It doesn't have the typical throttle delay most diesels have but more of a normal car response. This thing has plenty of power at take off and in passing gears. I kept the coil spring suspension instead of the air ride and am glad I did. Lets just say it rides nice. The thing that is surprising me the most is the MPG. I drove it normal like I do any other vehicle and in stop and go traffic I never dropped below 24.5 mpg (0 - 35 mph traffic). At speeds of 55 to 65 I saw at best so far 33mpg and 29.5 at worst. I cant recall the RPM ever going over 2 thousand. One other thing I noticed is when standing next to the exhaust, there was no sound or smell.... just oderless invisible fumes. I have single exhaust not dual.
I will get pics maybe tomorrow if its not raining like today. I live in Kentucky by the way so the roads are MPG friendly for the most part, no mountains just small hills here and there. I hope this small review is insightful for you. If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Received truck with a full tank of fuel and 3/4 tank DEF. The interior was better than expected with cloth, plastic and some vinyl. Very spacious in the front and back seats (I'm 5'8) plenty of leg room and head room. Right away I noticed the sound quality of the cab. I couldn't hear anything from the engine at idle and could barely hear it at 2 thousand RPM. The gear up and down shift is conveniently located on the right of the steering wheel along with the cruis control. The satellite stereo has good clean sound with way to many stations and enough base to vibrate my butt in seat. I like how the tradesmen comes with power everything except the seats and heated mirrors. Overall the controlls are very simple to use and the rotary gear selector is smooth and easy to get use to. Storage space is definitely not an issue inside with 2 glove compartments, cener fold down console and rear seat storge bins.
Driving is the best part of the entire truck. Smooth smooth smooth shifting. It doesn't have the typical throttle delay most diesels have but more of a normal car response. This thing has plenty of power at take off and in passing gears. I kept the coil spring suspension instead of the air ride and am glad I did. Lets just say it rides nice. The thing that is surprising me the most is the MPG. I drove it normal like I do any other vehicle and in stop and go traffic I never dropped below 24.5 mpg (0 - 35 mph traffic). At speeds of 55 to 65 I saw at best so far 33mpg and 29.5 at worst. I cant recall the RPM ever going over 2 thousand. One other thing I noticed is when standing next to the exhaust, there was no sound or smell.... just oderless invisible fumes. I have single exhaust not dual.
I will get pics maybe tomorrow if its not raining like today. I live in Kentucky by the way so the roads are MPG friendly for the most part, no mountains just small hills here and there. I hope this small review is insightful for you. If you have questions, feel free to ask.
