Duramax dually...

[wlowe]

My buddy has a 2005 Chevy Duramax crew cab dually that he is thinking about selling because he is moving out of the country. It has 115,000 miles on it with about a third of that towing a 38 ft. fifth wheel and an 18 ft. boat, (not together,seperately). It has a five speed allison, an edge juice on it and four inch exhaust with aftermarket intake. He has offered to sell it to me, and I know he will give me a good price, but I'm a little concerned about the cost of an engine or trans rebuild if becomes necessary. He drives it hard but has never had any problems with it. The thing is a beast when it comes to towing, very impressive. His son is a mechanic and does all the maintenance on it, which includes synthetic oils. So what do you think, should I jump on it. Any problems with the '05 duramax's/allisons. Any advantages or disadvantages compared withn the newer models with the six speed allisons.

 

[HBarlow]

I don't remember now which years were involved but back in the mid-2000 era the Duraduds had a serious overheating problem and injector problems.

A Govt. Motors Duradud with that many miles, part of it towing a very large and heavy trailer, and with a magic black box installed would be of zero interest to me at any price regardless of how the owner's son maintained it with synthetic oil.

A Duradud can accelerate fast from stoplight to stoplight but can't hold a candle to a Dodge-Cummins for towing prowess, reliability, durability, cost per mile to operate, or any other comparison.

 

[RustyJC]

Check to see if it has the LLY engine - these had real overheating problems. Just Google "Duramax LLY overheating" and you'll have a lot of reading.



Rusty

 

[Simplysmn]

If you want to keep him as a friend and not a Enemy I wouldn't buy the truck your asking for troubles if you do

 

[wlowe]

Check to see if it has the LLY engine - these had real overheating problems. Just Google "Duramax LLY overheating" and you'll have a lot of reading.



Rusty

I'll have to check but I'm pretty sure that it has the LLY engine and I believe it was the previous model, LB7, that had the injector problems. I do recall him mentioning that it runs warm when he is towing heavy on steep grades. I went on the Dieselplace forum and there are a lot of unhappy owners who have had issues with running hot on the LLY engine. Looks like the LBZ and up engines are the ones with the least problems. I think I'll pass on this one, I don't need the headaches.

 

[Wingate]

LB7 had injector/pump issues, LLY had some overheating issues, LBZ is a solid performer...

 

[SRay]

A Duradud can accelerate fast from stoplight to stoplight but can't hold a candle to a Dodge-Cummins for towing prowess, reliability, durability, cost per mile to operate, or any other comparison. [/QUOTE]



HBarlow is correct here in the paragraph. I keep service records for everything on my 1997. I spent far less than my duramax and powerstroke buddies. And they still tell me Dodge is not reliable when they don't fix their own trucks, as its labour intensive and turn a blind eye to their enormous bills.



They're not worth the headaches that come with them. Sure there are some that are reliable and lasted years with high mileage but the potential for expensive failures someday is not a good thing.

 

[HBarlow]

Some Duraduds and Furds do last 200k or 300k miles but rarely beyond that without multiple engine replacements. It is extremely rare for any Furd diesel since the old Navistar 7. 3 liter bus motor to last much beyond warranty expiration if they do any towing.

On the other hand, Rams with Cummins engines easily last into the million mile range. Many owners prefer shiny new trucks with the latest bells and whistles and sell or trade them off.