Making Hummer owners feel good about the gas mileage they get..

Okay, I think pretty much anyone who knows me is familiar with my dislike of big SUVs. There are some people that genuinely need an SUV and a few that need a big one, but it freaking pisses me off that Hummer owners not only get less than 10 mpg as they tool around town, but they also get a big tax break for owning one of these (and successfully bypass the gas guzzler tax) by purchasing the vehicle for their business. Since it weighs over 8000 pounds, it qualifies as an industrial vehicle, and thus is exempt from the gas guzzler tax and some emissions requirements.

As the title implies, I found something worse. I talked to the owner of a GMC 4500 industrial truck that he has converted into a pickup. He took the bed off of a big GMC dually truck and fit it on the back. It had to be wideneed significantly to fit on.

I asked the guy how he used his truck. His answer amazed me. He uses it for commuting. He's never carried anything in the back of it in the 10 months he's owned it. He'd be hard pressed to get anything in the back of it because the bottom of the bed is almost 6' off the ground. He's not sure how much stuff he could put in the bed anyways since he had to widen it and isn't so sure how strong it is. The bed is mostly for looks. He also said he wouldn't want to put a bunch of stuff back there because it would scratch the paint. He's in the process of getting custom wheels made for it. He's found someone who'll make 26" wheels for him. He's not sure there are tires that will be able to handle the weight of the truck though. He might just have those for shows and riding around on the weekends, then go back to the stock wheels for during the week.

I'm not sure if you can imagine how big this truck is. I asked him what his last truck was. He had the biggest of the GMC SUVs. I asked how this compared. He said his new truck is 7' longer, seats 7 adults comfortably in the 2 rows of seats. He's getting ready to install an audio and video system in it.

I didn't get a photo of it. I went out to GMC's web site and found a picture of what it looked like when he purchased it.

Here you go.



I gotta get me one of these... or two! :/

Pete