Luke, I don't understand why the requirements, in your opinion, to tow 5000lbs. are the same as to tow 20000lbs ???.

 

I'm just saying, the auto equiped trucks will never really perform to the max with the faster gears. If you want the max power and want to keep up with a Dmax or Powerstroke you'd better get the 4.10's. But what do I know? Maybe I'm crazy? I'm just speaking from my own experience. But what I do know is the trucks I've had with 4.10's ran about 2200 rpm's to do 70mph, so the speed is not a real factor, and I am willing to lose the 1mpg or so for the extra power. Heck the last one I had (03,3500, qc, 4x4, SO/47re, 4.10's) still got 18 or so empty. What more do you want? I still stand by my statement, if you want a CTD/Auto, get the 4.10's, sorry if I upset anyone with this statement :'(

 

I just changed my order to 4.10 gears. END OF STORY, I'm tired of dealing with this whole deal.

 

You go boy! 8) ;D

 

I can now sleep well at night knowing my next truck will pull worth a dam. I talked to the sales manager and asked him why the other sales guys were saying to get 3.73's his response was " because those guys have never towed anything!" They only drive the trucks which means they drive them "80 MPH and on" They look at the top speed and not the mechanical advantage of what the 4.10's can do for you when towing a load at 70 MPH. The sales manager I talked to said I should have talked to him because he would of flat out told me 4.10's are the way to go on Auto's bottom line.

So for all you guys who told me to get 4.10's in the beginning I will never question your "towing" knowledge again. :P

 

Ya that'll teach ya to listen to me I do know everything, you know

 

TON4FUN<br>A guy has to do what a guy has to do.<br><br>Correct choice for towing. The extra $200 or so in annual fuel cost will be more than recovered in the smile it creates as you go up each hill or mountain.

 

Preach on brotha Ken

 

;D I know I should`nt but :P Told Yah!

 

I AM ENJOYING ALL THE DIFFERENT OPINIONS AVAILABLE HERE.WE OWN A 93 3500 WITH AN AUTOMATIC AND 4:10'S.IT HAS 195,000 MILES ON IT.USED AS A FARM VEHICLE,AND PULLS A 3,000# TRAILER AND A 7,000# SKID STEER.IT LAGS SOME UP STEEP HILLS,BUT DOES GET THERE.MY DAD HAS A 2001 3500 4WD. 6 SPEED WITH 3:55 GEARS,AS THIS WAS THE H.O. MODEL WITH 245 HP.HE HAS PULLED A 5,500# TRAILER WITH A 12,000# TRACTOR TO WYOMING AND BACK A FEW TIMES.PULLS 60-75 MPH.THEN HE PUT A CHIP IN THIS THING AND MAN WHAT A DIFFERENCE.ALSO GOES TO KANSAS 1 TIME EVERY OTHER WEEK TO GET HAY WITH THE SAME 32 FT. TRAILER AND 10-12 HUGE ROUND HAY BAILS.I LOVED THESE TRUCKS SO MUCH WITH NO PROBLEMS SO I WENT AND PICKED UP A 2003 4DOOR 4WD. SO CUMMINS WITH THE 47RE.SO FAR THIS HAS BEEN GREAT.SURE CHEVY HAS THE ALLISON TRANSMISION-BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO GET THE DURAMAX IF YOU WANT THE DIESEL.2 OF THESE OUT HERE AT OUR FARMING AREA.BOTH HAVE CYLINDER HEAD PROBLEMS ALREADY.GREAT TRANSMISSION!3 POWERSTROKES-2 WITH AUTOS,1 WITH PROBLEMS,THE OTHER 6 SPEED-BELL HOUSING CAME APART FROM ENGINE-GRENADED THE CLUTCH.7 DODGES-MY NEW ONE WITH THE LOWEST MILES TO A NEIGHBOR WITH 380,000 MILES ON IT.THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS HAD ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS WAS A V-10.ANYWAYS-THESE DODGES ARE GREAT TRUCKS,EASIST TO MAINTAIN-BEST REPUTATION.ALL'S I AM SAYING IS IF YOU DONT LIKE IT-UP GRADE IT.GREAT HISTORY.FROM WW2 FIGHTING THE GERMANS TO WORKING WITH THEM TO ENGINEER THE BEST HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS ON THE MARKET TODAY-ALL IN 60 YEARS!ENJOY YOUR TRUCKS FELLAS.

 

I do not want to start a war here, but there are some things I need to say. First off, the Dmax. You here a lot of BS about Dmax and head problems and all sorts of other problems but I will say it now and I will stand by it that we have sold a lot of Duramax powered trucks and the only thing any of them have been in the shop for is for routine maintnence. We can bash them all we want to try to make ourselves feel superior if that is what we think we need to do then go ahead. But the fact is the Dmax is a good engine that makes a bunch of power. Will it live as long as a Cummins? Probably not? But we will not know the facts for a few years. I know a man who has one that he hauled cars with 24-7 and put over 400k on it. I think the Cummins is a more structurally sound engine. I like the Dodge truck better than the chevy truck. But I firmly believe that the Dmax/Allison is a better automatic powertrain than the Cummins/48re. Now if we flip the tables and put a 6-speed in the Chevy and a 6-speed in the Dodge I think the Dodge would then be the superior combo. As far as modifing goes I want a truck that will pull my heavy loads in stock form cause I do not want to become my own warranty station. But I could be wrong on all of this, these are just the opinions that I have come to after putting a heck of a bunch of hard miles on the trucks you see in my sig below.

 

I must add my 2 cents now FWIW.<br><br>I had a 97 chebby 6.5turbo-d that was nothing but injection pump problems.<br><br>When it was in one time for its 6 week injection pump replacement and service I noted to the shop foreman that I was looking at the new Dmax-Allison trucks. He said go look at dodge and the cummins, coming from a Shop foreman with 50 years experience with Chevrolet.<br><br>He then pointed to 3 3500 crew cab dualies and noted (and I quote as I will never forget), &quot;you ought to be glad you dont have one of those. These trucks, and not all of them to date, have 4-5 shift/slip problems; the problem seems to start with a sloppy 1-2 shift and then turns into a complete failure in the 4-5 shift. Our only recourse per GM policy is to remove the complete tranny, crate it up, and ship it to the nearest Allison authorized service center and wait for them to fix it and return it to us for reinstallation. About 3-6 weeks&quot;.<br><br>That is all I needed to hear after all my injection pump problems on the chevy. The icing on the cake is when I heard dodge eliminated the injection pumps and is using the Bosch electronic fuel injection setup.

 

Well actually Dodge does have an injection pump and what they are using is Bosch Common Rail Fuel injection and that happens to be the same thing the Duramax has. I guess I must be one lucky sob because I have owned 5 D/A's so far and no problems to date and i run the heck out of em. Gee I guess I should sell that D/A I have now and run out and jump in the Cummins/48re I have out here cause that service manager said Chevy's are junk. Also Comparing a 6.5 to a Duramax is not a comparison. I don't want to make this into a war, but I say don't talk crap about stuff you have no experience with. I would guess that I have put more miles on the Dmax/Allison combo than anybody on this board and have had NO problems to date. I also tow heavier than most people on this board, so I'd think if there were problems I would have seen some by now. I also check with our Chevy service manager every time a Duramax rolls across the service drive because I want to know if we have had any failure's and to this date, we've had none. I do everything possible to stay informed and keep ahead of the curve. I am not sitting here trying to be a Dodge basher, I love Dodge trucks, probably more than I love Chevy trucks. But for us to try and say Chevy and Ford are not making good trucks is rediculous. I'm done now &gt;

 

All I am saying is...<br><br>My experiences with the pump on my 97 chebby led me to immediatly process the information the GM Shop Forman was giving me regarding the limited and occasional allison tranny problems (although he did have 3 sitting there with no trannies). <br><br>I equated the pump problems I had with the 6.5 truck, GM service and myself being in the middle of &quot;the big blame game&quot; with the hastles and hoops of a new Dmax.Allison conversation. Personally having gone through the inefficiency of GM's policy (minimum of 3 weeks max of 6 weeks) of fixing &quot;name brand 3 party parts&quot; it ditched the Dmax/A as a viable alternative...For Me!<br><br>Maybe I am just predisposed due to my personal experiences with GM service pertaining to 3rd party &quot;name brand&quot; parts and one very reputable shop forman speaking his mind and being a friend pushed me over the edge. <br><br>I will have you know I have never owned a MoPar. I just hope Dodge has a better 3rd party manufacturer relationsihp with Cummins than have been my expericences.<br><br>But let me ask you this...&quot;What is GM's policy for internal repairs to the Allison transmission?&quot;<br><br>

 

I dont know if this has already been responded to correctly, because i dont have the time right now to read through this whole thing. But in response to the &quot;no break in period&quot;, i cant believe anyone would buy a truck and not even check with the builders of the engine. I wouldnt trust DC, and i know most guys in here feel the same way. Cummins says there IS a break in period of 5,000 to 20,000 miles and fuel mileage will improve after this, BUT cummins advice is to hook as big a trailer that you can haul up and make the engine work. if you do this for the first 5,000 miles your truck will be &quot;broken in&quot; if not(which sadly i am not) you will have a longer so-called &quot;break in period&quot;.....again sorry if someone already said this, but im just tryin to tell people what i know(which aint much :