Yes, the truck buying episode was brutal (self-imposed brutality). Searched the country for the right truck (price, mileage, options). I did a cost-benefit analysis of the various trucks to make Jeremy Bentham proud: short vs. long vs. single vs. dual. For us and our needs, they all worked out about equal. A short bed comes at the cost of a 1' loss of sleeping room for the kids (Hallmark Ute for a short bed), but a shorty could be a daily driver (allowing me to sell my little Corolla S that I use to drive to work every day -Yes, I'm that secure that I drive a little Corolla S....brick red.....or an old Bug convertible). A long bed would allow us to get the bigger camper and still get through relatively narrow spots. Not exactly a daily driver at 2' longer than our former Sportsmobile, but the longer wheel base eats up that dreaded Baja washboard better than a shorter wheel base. A dually costs more and comes with higher operating costs, but a dually is more stable when saddled with a big heavy camper. I did have a bit of a concern with the possibility of blowing a rear tire on Mex 1, with a heavy camper on back (in-laws had a rear blow out on their RV on Mex 1 and but for the fact it was a dually, it could have been pretty bad). Loss of off-road agility/maneuverability, added cost and no way it would work as a daily driver are some of the downsides to dually ownership. Since we tow a lot (boat, motorcycles, dune buggy or those damn horses and their damn hay), a dually is very well-suited for that application (which we do more of than the one annual or semi-annual Baja trip). So, with everything being pretty much equal, why this rig over the others? Well, it is the end of the week, end of the month, end of the year and the economy is by no means doing great. This one was sitting on a Chev dealer's lot for too long and it had to go. In a nutshell, I got this fully loaded LTZ dually for less than what many wanted for less-appointed short beds. Most importantly, its in the color I wanted (kidding, somewhat, but it matches our boat, so that's rather nice). The one thing I don't like about Chevs is they have that nose down ride to aid in handling and fuel economy. Thus, I've need to figure out if I want to level the rig out by bringing that front up a bit. Suspect I do. What I can't believe is just how quiet the Duramax is and the road handling is spectacular. Good thing I don't make a habit of going through fast food drive throughs because that's not going to happen with this beast.
