How's the DuraMax

[regcab02HD]

I've never driven a DuraMax but I've heard good and bad things about them.  Some good things I've heard is they are fast.  How are they compared with my 6.0, 5 speed, with a 4.10, and no mods.   I've also heard they get atleast 16 mpg.

 

One bad thing I've heard is they don't pull worth a flip.  As much torque and hp as these things have, I don't see why they shouldn't pull anything and everything.

 

How do you rank them?

[RyanbabZ71]

One bad thing I've heard is they don't pull worth a flip

 

Have you ever seen the pull off video?  Anyone out there have it can you please post it.

[TxDoc]

Bottom right selection. Other good info here,too.

 

Click Here

[CMNTMXR81]

Who told you it couldn't tow worth a flip?

 

Sounds to me like you talked to some disgruntled PSD or Cummins TD owners!

 

As far as I'm concerned, it puts the others on the trailer! (no pun intended)

[Colorado Kid]

My buddy just told me this morning that he pulled his rock crawling Scout on a car hauler this weekend.  He said that without a doubt his extended cab longbed 4x4 2500 HD D/max 6 speed can haul itself + the trailer + the Scout faster than the Scout (345 V-8, 4 bbl, 4 speed, more or less stock powertrain) can haul itself, and doesn't burn any more fuel doing it!  For locals, he says he went through Monument at 65 MPH and accelerated to 75 before the top of the hill, Northbound on I-25 with the Scout on the trailer.  He also said that his friend who was hauling a Jeep behind an older P-stroke fell back so far he couldn't see him.

 

If that's not towing worth a flip I'd like to see a truck that can tow!

[bluenote]

I've had my Silverado for a little over 4 months, have 10,000 miles and can say, without hesitation, it kicks a**.  I've only pulled my 10,000 pound 5er twice with it, but it handles the load without a problem...as long as I don't drive stupid, it never drops out of 5th/OD when towing.  As far as speed, I think that it will beat a 6.0 liter.  My previous truck was a 99 GMC with a 7.4 liter and 3.73 rear end, and this truck could easily beat it in a drag...the first couple of seconds off the line, it may be slower, but once that turbo kicks in, forget it.  If you hold the brake and rev the rpm's up, the turbo will kick in right away and you get set right back into your seat.  Without a doubt, much more power and balls than the 454 had.  Mileage has been mostly 17-18 unloaded, and was about 12-13 when I've towed.  One more note, I've easily smoked a couple of Ford PSD's when accelerating at highway speeds.

[regcab02HD]

My friend at school said they didn't pull worth a flip.  I doubt he's ever driven one but that's what he said.  He's a ford guy, so I guess that's why he talks trash.  He's probably just bitter because his POS Ford is broke down.  I guess I shoulda got the DuraMax so I could show everyone in town how good they are.

[Kansas Kid]

Now don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, because from the experiences I've had with the Duramax it appears to be a very good engine, and it does have lots of power.  Those things will flat get up and leave a PSD or Cummins when unloaded, especially with the automatics.  Heck, they even run pretty good compared to the other two when they all have 6-speeds.

 

But, I'm not going to proclaim the Duramax as the top dog until I get one hooked up to a 25ft gooseneck trailer with 11 big round bales of hay on there.  Must be a 6-speed of course, because that evens things out to the motor only, no advantage because of the tranny.  I'm sure it would probably outpull the other two by a slight edge because of the difference in horsepower, but I seriously doubt it can do signifigantly better then the PSD I pull those kind of loads with on a regular basis.  But like I said, until someone loans me their truck to give it a real workout, I just don't know......

[wtbrowne]

I've never driven a flip so I can't make the comparison, but the dmax will outpull just about any other truck in its class.  The Allison transmission has no equal in the pickup truck market.  Anyone who says otherwise simply hasn't driven one!  No brag - just fact.

[Maverick]

Kansas Kid,

 

I already hauled them bales for ya.  I have hauled 16 rounds at 750lbs a piece which is 12,000 plus 5500 for the trailer for a total of 17,500.  If thats not enough how about 10 frozen silage bales at 2,000lbs a piece plus the trailer for 25,500.  Want more weight?  Add the weight of the truck which is 7300lbs (for mine) for a total of 32,800lbs.  Duramax didn't even break a sweat.  I have done what I typed here.  The Duramax hauls like you wouldn't believe.  Powerstroke this!!!

[Garmat]

Bout this time last year, GM put on a 'ride and drive' in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area.  They had a Duramax, PSD, and Cummins loaded with max payload in the bed and all were pulling trailers.  I can't remember how many lbs., but they were all equal.  They let us drive the trucks through a closed course as many times as we wanted and everybody there was talking to each other about what they thought.  The general concensus was that the difference between the PSD and the Duramax loaded was almost indistiguishable.  They both pulled really well.  Now the unloaded Duramax was a rocket, easily beating the PSD....but loaded there was no 'seat of the pants' difference.  (They also had a 8.1 there.  I traded my 2001 PSD for an 8.1 five months later.  The 8.1  is a bad ass.)

[Duramax_Dually]

As you can tell from my login name I have the K3500 model Duramax Allison Combo.

I tow a 10.3K lb enclosed car trailer and this truck tows it with ease, gets great mileage, is exceptionally fast and is extremely quiet. To be fair, I have never owned a PSD or Cummins to be able to say one is better than another(both were too noisey for my personal preference plus I have always liked GM's IFS). But I can say this, the truck does exactly what I expected it to do. And to add further, I have been on open road trips empty and with cruise on going 60, I got 22mpg. Imagine a 7500+ 4x4 truck averaging 22mpg.

 

I have been doing a lot researching since the "other guys" have posted that the heads crack and the truck blows head gaskets all the time. I have many many friends in GM circles and I can report truthfully that all of those posts you may see are completely unfounded and are down right lies. There have been confirmed reports of a "Lopey Idle" condition and some "quirky" shifting issues with the Allison trans but it has been limited to a very few and as you know web page forums are usually frequented by a small population of owners so the sample size is small compared to actual owners. So the % of people with this problem could be very small....

 

I do hestitate in recommending either the 2500 or 3500...I am a DRW person but the 2500 is still an awful nice truck.

 

Good Luck.

[BDBWTE]

The DMAX is a great puller I don't know what those people you are talking too are talking about.  I have pulled a gooseneck that weighted 18,000lbs and the truck pulled it great so I don't know what you considered to be a good puller but in my opinion the truck did great.  If 18,000lbs isn't enough weight for you then I don't know what to say.

[antig24]

yep, that dmax sure can pull

[walkerkd]

well well im about to find out how good it pulls this weekend.. i have all the others i have (3) f550 psd and (2) dodge ctd and haul alot.. ive also had a 8.1 w/alli it will haul heck all of them will.. i carry 17-20 round bales on my trailer every other week if you travel down i-20 from ftworth to el paso youve probally seen me chugging down the highway. anyway i just got a dmax/alli and will put it to the test this weekend.. and what i can tell you is that the dmax is awesome. ive been driving it for 2 days now and im very very impressed. im not die hard about any of them i just want and need the best. and i will by any of them once. and as of right now. i would buy 3 or 4 more dmax today! they are awesome. but i just have to stick a trailer on the back and let her lose!!1 will report my findings monday on trailering..