When I worked field service I had fewer problems with Chey/GMC vehicles. Seem like the Ford vehicles seemed to miss their buddies at the dealership. Not to mention the fact I always had to take back several times to get it right.

I have just past 100,000 km mark on full size Chev Express Van with 4 cyl diesel. Told dealer to replace brakes and any parts as needed. They called me to say" It needs nothing, brakes only half worn" Wow, you gave a dealership carte blanche to fix your van, and they admit it's all ok!
I'm very impressed with GM van. Little 4 cyl diesel gets 1,200 kms to the tank. They have lots of room, best gas mileage of anything out there, beating little tin can vans to ****. If you need a work van, don't sacrifice room for tools and equipment by getting a mini or micro van. Get a real truck with all the room you need, and great gas mileage, 160,000 kilometer standard warranty.

The Chevy express is the last one standing after Ford changed to the transit which is a European style van. I got burnt so badly from the ram Promaster that I only get the good old Chevy with the 6.0, 8 Cylinder engine.

Thanks for your input!

It's got decent pick up, all those gears. When you need tp accel fast, it's there, but hey, the van is loaded to the gills..all that stuff ends up on ground if you go too fast. Best thing is getting a call 100 kms away when you have 600 already on tank, you know you can go without stopping for gas as it gets 1000 to 1200 kms consistently. A lot less time spent looking for gas stations.

Finally someone that's tried this engine in a 3/4 ton

How is it for pick up? I was concerned it wouldn't be abe to get out of its own way. The 4.8 is a bit of a dog even with bulldog chip

Nissan drinks gas like it had a hole in the tank. We had changed over to Ford years ago from Chev, and had too many breakdowns from transmissions to spark plugs blowing out cyl threads and all!. Then, the smaller size made it impossible to carry what you needed. You ran overloaded and swerved on highway. Nissan is too small. We went back to Chev Express, with new Duramax 4 cylinder diesel with 8 speed trans. Wow, I go 1200 kms on a tank now. That's better mileage than small Ford or Nissan, and all the room you need.
as far as brakes, my Chev has 50,000 kms in 1.5 years. GM dealer just replaced rotors and pads under warranty. They did 4 oil changes free. That's as good as it gets for reliability. Full size Chev with 4 cyl diesel is best bang for your buck, and best warranty.