I have been EXTREMELY happy with my 2007 chevy 2500HD classic. I bought it brand new in july of '07 and hands down has been the best truck I have owned, period. The engine is quiet and powerful. The allison 6-speed cannot be beat. Silky smooth, grade braking, and it holds the gear you want, as long as you want downhill. I'm at roughly 90k miles and i've never had a problem. Just fill it with fuel and drive it. This isn't my cowboy cadillac either, I use my truck. I tow everything from a heavy 5th wheel toyhauler, to heavily loaded flatbeds, boats, jet skiis, this truck tows everything. I take it offroad quite a bit and haven't had one single problem. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another duramax.
Weak front drive train ? I haven't heard of any problems with the front drive train other than a c/v joint breaking from ABUSE.Where did you get your info from about this because I would like to read it.
Flashman wrote:
retired-tech wrote: as a technician i say drive them both and buy the one that you like better. my buddy just bought a megacab cummins truck, we have several fords and chevys in the fleets i service. any one will work. i think the chevy steers better but man that mega cab has some rear seat space. and if you are going off road at all the dodge is very heavy in the front compared to all else.
But the Chevy has really bad ground clearance and that weak front drive train - if you are talking real off roading that is.
Bryan
2003 2500HD Ext. cab short box
6.0 liter 4.10 gears, Nelson performance PCM
98 K1500 4x4 heavy duty 1/2 ton
6,600lb GVWR 5,280lbs on the scale empty
14 bolt rear diff. 3:73 , Tranny and oil coolers
332,000 miles still purrin' like a kitten
I got lucky and got an 07 2500HD Classic with the LBZ engine. Biggest problem I have had to date with it is loosing prime in the fuel filter. Mostly a minor nuisance and I doubt once I change the filter again in a month or two I won't have a problem after that.
While I wanted to get a Dodge, it was my mechanic who was pressuring me to get the GMC. They told me the Cummins engine might be better, but they weren't that happy with everything else. They said you can bet the last thing to go would be the Cummins engine.
I will say that in our club we have a lot more Cummins motors than Dmaxs. No one has a truck from the problem years (from Dodge or GMC) and they all seem to perform quite well. I did have a friend with a Dodge in the problem years and he had to use the lemon law to get the manufacturer to give him a deal on a new Dodge.
The nicest thing about the Dodge is that straight 6 Cummins diesel engine and the 33 gallon tank. The other thing to remember is from the years you are targeting, Dodge had 4 or 5 speed transmission. Later years I think Dodge went to the 6 speed.
On the GMCs the Dmax engine is an excellent engine, much quieter than the Cummins, and 6 speed Allison transmission is absolutely a thing of beauty and envy. Whether you put the transmission in tow/haul or not, the Dmax/Ally combo just really does not care. The thing I do not like about the GMC is how the seatbelt system works, and the 26 gallon diesel tank. Whoever at GMC thought the 26 gallon was adequate should have the skin hacked from his feet.
The hardest thing to accept from the Dmax is that I have had to eat my words about GM being the mark of Mickey Mouse. It has been a very good truck, though I still baby it quite a bit since die$el$ terrify me.
One weird thing about the Dmax engine is the oil change intervals...there isn't one. The Dmax engine computer tracks how the vehicle is being operated and calculates oil life in percentages. Someone reset my trip odometer, but it looks like right now the oil change by DIC is about 5,000-7,500 miles.
I don't know if there are different 4WD selectors on Dmaxs. The one I have does not have an automatic 4WD option, it just has the 4WD hi/lo. Not a big deal, but the manuals only want you using 4WD on loose surfaces. Good idea since the truck feels a little weird when 4WD is on. 4WD also save me from a tow the first time I took the new trailer out too.
One other tip too. Have the engine computer checked to see if its been chipped (hooked up to a performance computer). I have some pretty good mechanics and they say a good mechanic can tell you if the engine was ever chipped.
As far as mileage goes, I can get about 12 MPG around 65 MPH towing 8K-10K pounds), 21-22+ not towing. I got about a two or so MPG more towing my 5K pound trailer with the 2WD gasser. Our TH is lot bigger and we are getting almost the same mileage (paying less than 10% more per gallon for diesel).
It will be interesting to see this summer when we go to Wyoming just how well it does in the mountains. I am guessing much better than the gasser did, since I have yet to see it even remotely struggle on the few steep, short grades it has tackled so far.
I loved my 2003 GMC Duramax LB7 (supposed to be the on of the bad ones) owned from new, 10 yrs and the only thing I had to do out of regular maintenance was a water pump. Just bought myself a 2012 3500 with the Duramax/Allison combo and love it just as much!
Just switched to a dodge after many years driving Fords. The 6,7 cummins power and fuel mileage as well the ease of aftermarket performance parts installation won me over.
2008 Forest River Wildwood Le 27BHBS - 2010 Dodge 2500 Laramie Mega cab 6.7L Cummins diesel, Flo-Pro exhaust, XRT Pro tuner, Mygig Lock Pick, Access tonneau cover, Ranch Hand grill guard, KC daylighters.
Well as long as everybody is loving their trucks I will add we have an awesome truck also. Can't say I love it but it drives great.
chevman
chevman
2001 35 ft avalon alpenlite RK
2005 3500 2wd duramax CC dually
prodigy
easyrider/reese airhitch
trailair center point suspension
JT Strong Arm Stabilizers
KSH 55 inbed fuel tank
Garmin 2720
scanguage II
TD-EOC
Induction Overhaul Kit
TST tire monitors
45Ricochet wrote: Not enough band width for a PSD 6. doh problems guppy, like you were invited into this OB thread. But since your here what was that amount of warranty repair again? Yeah start throwing rocks from your glass house.
Rico the entertainer... has alot to bring to the table with his ~12k miles/year rate.
Since you asked about warrenty here you go:
1. (1) EGR valve
2. (1) Engine seal
3. (1) drive shaft yoke
Alot of bandwidth consumed right there Rico... Best truck I've owned to date w/167k miles. And to add to the the bandwidth I've installed a set of shocks and another EGR valve after warrenty.
I will go out on a limb and suggest you will be performing a costly transmission repair before 167k miles that will total much more $$$ than my 6.duh has cost to run for the same amount of miles.
Offline
