I see absolutely no point in brand loyalty... Drive what you want to drive and have fun with it..

 

i like honda

 

I just traded an 05 d-max in on the 6.7, and will not own another duramax. I love the new 6.7 and have no complaints with it.

 

We know you lost one Michael, but the propain (Propane!) had nothing at all to do with the failure either did it?

By the way my Duramax in almost 6 years old, and 143,000 miles with no injector issues at all. I've run this truck at or above 400 rwhp from the time it had about 1600 miles on it. I have limped the tranny countless times. Entered it in 17 truck pulls, I've run more then 100 4x4 boosted launches through the 1/4 mile, and have towed 10,000# more then 35,000 miles. (All on a stock tranny.) I think it has held up pretty good so far.
(Yes, I did blow the original turbo, but I don't blame anyone but myself. I was the one running the gears too 4,000+ rpms, and ran 43.7# of boost. Not you, and not GM!)
Add 200-300 rear wheel horsepower to both the 5.9L, and the 6.6L and see which one needs a head gasket first. Chances are very, very good that it won't be the Duramax.
When you owned the Duramax it was the best, now the Cummins is the best. What next? You going to try and say the Powerstoke is the best?

I am not brand loyal, but would be hard pressed to buy a Powerstroke, or new tundra. (If they come out with a 2500HD type with a diesel.) I don't like my chances with the new 6.4L, and I just plain don't like toyota........ I could see myself buying a new Megacab if Dodge offers a real bed on the truck.....

 

Well Mike it looks like I was dead wrong on the Dmax way back when. Guess I got caught up in the excitement thinking that Isuzu was so good at building reliable diesels that they had to keep their reputation up there so I assumed it was safe to call the Dmax the winner even before it left the starting line. That was stupid on my part.

It wasn't the headgasket that convinced me to unload my Dmax. It was the overall experience. Too many glitches in the running of it that I did not like. Also the chances of injector failure is so high on those model years I didn't want to bother going through the BS of getting it fixed maybe even more than once. I was concerned about cost of ownership after 100,000 miles and I wanted a real 4x4. After three years I gave it a good chance. It served me well. I was ready for a change. I am already past the three year mark on this Dodge and I can tell you this I have a totally different feeling about it than I did with the GMC. This one is a keeper.

It does look like GM trucks and the Dmax cannot compete in the heavily modified pulling classes. There is no comparison when you see the big Dodges pulling and than you see a GM. The motors just blow up when they try compete in the big pulls.

Ben I really did like the 6.5 for what it was. It ran really nice on the highway. Pretty zippy for a diesel of it's time and was reliable.

 

I'ved owned my ETC 24V since 1999. From that time until now I wasn't aware that the Duramin was ever better than even my old Cummins. Hmmmm. I guess it depends on what you wanna say it was the best at. Best at losing injectors ... best at overheating ... best at consuming fuel. Not sure. I bet it's better at some things ... like that.

 

good thing you've got a strong 48re to hold that TST box...I know it would have trashed my junk allison thousands of miles ago.

ben

 

Well lets put it this way. I know for a fact 90-100 hp over stock through the Allison can limp it. After enough limps the your Ally gets tired. I'm dynoing 160 hp (423RWHP) at the rear wheels over stock. I forgot what a limp is.

 

and if your 48re ever dies I suppose we'll never hear about it, lest you look silly


Id rather have a trans that limps at 120hp over stock than a trans that lets you run 160hp over stock and all is fine and dandy and BOOM. You're dead on the road. An allison will 'always' get you home. I know of trans's that have been limped nearly 30 times. So say you are keeping a truck stock, which trans do YOU think will last longer hoot?

have you ever run it at the track hoot? Dynoing 423hp and running 423hp **lls to the wall on the street and at the track are completely different.. dyno's hardly tell anything and are good for a buncha numbers and thats about it.

first you dump on the dmax, now you cant even give the allison credit. Its an amazing fact that people even buy GM trucks. Beats the he** out of me.

JMO

 

I here you with the getting home thing but the limping is a pain. So far at my power levels and my careful foot, I think I will do well with this truck. I am one to not thrash the heck out of my drivetrain. I was pretty decent with my Dmax. That's why I was surprised I lost a headgasket.

I NEVER hide issues with my trucks.

Sorry if I hurt your feelings. I don't buy trucks based on feelings anymore.

What's the dif between a dyno and the 1/4 mile???? 1/4 mile?

I remember a time when the diesel place people... you included, harassed me for being a Dodge boy on a GM site. What gives? Thinking about a real truck

 

I was at a Dealer today with all the big 3 there. in the showroom was a recently sold White GMC Sierra Crew Cab Short bed 2500 with the Duramax/auto. It had the Z71 package on it and every other option available. GPS, leather, everything. The chevys are not appealing to me but the GMC's are and that was a nice truck. Too bad there was a Silver Mega Cab 6.7L there that i wanted just as much. May have to start working some numbers

 

Just an update on my new truck. I am running the edge evolotion (100 hp) on the LBZ engine which I believe is running arounsd 300 RWHP. I know that my 03 tore up the tranny @ 348 HP (bully dog Powerpup) I have raced the duramax (ran a 14.6 1/4 with my superglide hitch, my 200# kid, and my tool box full of crap) The truck is otherwise completely stock. It would take nothing to get this truck into the 13's, probably by taking the extra weight out of it would put me down around a 14.3 ish. My dodge when it was stock with a programmer on it, ran high 15's.

My fuel mileage has gone up to around 20 on the chevy now,, still not as good as the dodge, but liveable.

This is a very nice truck. I still love my dodge, and still drive my dodge, but to be honest, the chevy is a better all around truck. My Dodge is just plain ol fast now.

Kevin

 

Early 03 Dodges came with the 47RE auto. Which did you have?

As for all around truck yes the GMs are very nice. Easy to get in and out of and easier to load with the IFS. They are more of a street truck or as they say "grocery getters"

Fast is nice. My truck is fast. Do I need or want the problems associated with making it a 13 second or faster truck? Nope.

What I do need is piece of mind.

 

LBZ's dyno around 310hp bone stock...as far as how much extra the trans will take, its hard to say...they are all different.

ben

 

With the TST on my stock truck I have run two different individuals on the street and either was able to pull away or at least hang with them. Both of them told me they were driving 14 sec vehicles. I figure I'm in the high 14's.