Originally posted by Ross
OK, here’s the report. We left New Mexico Thursday night (12/12/02) about 6:30 pm. Temperature approximately 42 degrees.
Truck: 4 door dually 2003 Duramax 4X2, 3. 73, Allison; 2,750 miles.
Trailer: Sooner 3 horse slant, 13 ft. living quarters, 2 horses (1,100 # ea. ); water, hay, & tack. Guestimated weight: 10,000 pounds loaded.
We drove to Sweetwater, Tx, (approx. 205 miles) the first night. Cruise control set at 70 mph. First impressions, first leg of trip: Truck accelerates to speed well. The truck did not hold set speed going up anything beyond rolling hills; downshifts and carries 4th gear to redline, then upshifts to 5th usually over crest of hill. I found this kind of surprising because when I first accelerated to speed, I thought, hey, this truck has some punch. When I climbed my first small/medium grade and it had to downshift, I thought, “this ain’t right, it oughtta climb this in 5th, no problem. ”
The ride was quiet and nice. The truck tracked very well. The seats were pretty good too. The best thing so far was the electric extension mirrors. The Sooner is 8’ wide, so being able to extend the mirrors (and then adjust them) from the driver’s seat was way cool and convenient. CD player skipped on every CD we had… This truck has dual climate controls; one for driver and one for passenger. Kind of neat also, but looks like something else to break that only the stealer can fix…
Next morning drove to Abilene TX, and filled up for the 1st time. Miles-310; Gallons- 30. 0; Mileage 1st tank: 10. 33. This mileage was a bit less than I expected. Owner said, “it’s not broke in yet. ” I said, “Yeah, ok. ”
After fill-up #1, we drove from Abilene to Stephenville and dropped horses & trailer. From Stephenville, we went to Ft. Worth to Standard Transmission to pick up my new NV-4500 for my Dodge. The 3500 Crew Cab dually’s ride was disappointing empty; much rougher than my Dodge 3500. After an awesome meal of Fajitas at Uncle Julio’s, we went back to Stephenville to rope in Saturday’s roping.
After two day’s worth of roping, we were ready to leave Sunday night, so we filled up. Miles-324; Gallons-26. 6; Mileage 2nd tank: 12. 18. Of these 324 miles, approximately 100 miles were towing, the other 220 miles were empty to/from Fort Worth, plus some running around. This mileage was somewhat disappointing. My Dodge would have done the same trip at 14-15 mpg.
Late Sunday night, we had driven from Stephenville to Big Spring Tx. Truck was loaded with trailer and horses, same as first leg of trip. Miles-222; Gallons- 23. 7; Mileage 3rd tank: 9. 37. Speed on this leg was between 68 and 75 mph. This mileage was disappointing. Owner (driver for this leg of trip) stated that it was “all those hills. ” If you’re familiar with I-20 West of Cisco TX to Big Spring, you know that there are some small hills, but not many. Only at Ranger and Baird are there any real pulls. The truck pulled these hills at about 52 mph, pedal mashed.
Upon arrival home, we topped off the final tank. Miles-177; Gallons- 16. 8; Mileage 4th tank: 10. 54. For this final leg, speed was reduced to 60-65 mph due to late night driving and some pretty bad New Mexico roads.
Summary: Comfort: The new truck is no doubt a comfortable ride, at least loaded. Empty she’s a bit rough. The room provided by the Crew Cab was a real delight. The fancy gadgets were fun and gimmicky, but I wonder about their longevity. Body: The sheet metal on the truck is very, very, flimsy. I don’t know if this matters, it just struck me as cheap. (Our Dodge’s aren’t all that great either in this department). Mileage: A bit of a disappointment. It is not as good as my Dodge, or my brother’s 2002 HO either. It looks like our similarly equipped Dodges (except for the Allison) get 1. 5 more mpg across the board, either loaded or unloaded. This may increase with break-in (the owner hopes so…). Power: Well, this is where it all matters, right? I was impressed with the acceleration with a load, but disappointed with the truck’s ability (should I say inability?) to hold speed, even up mild rolling hills. The Allison downshifts to find the right gear, but usually pulled fourth gear up to redline, then held rpm there until topping out over the hill. I missed my 6-banger’s ability to grunt up these same hills without ever shifting. I must admit that my dodge is heavily bombed, and my brother’s is mildly bombed (EZ only), but both our trucks pull this same trailer with the same load easier and with better mileage. It’s worth saying that when I tow in my Bombed 98, I keep the TST Powermax turned off, benefiting only from my DD Stage II injectors, and my PDR 35 turbo. Transmission: Generally, I’m not a automatic transmission fan, but this Allison is pretty cool. I believe the five closely meshed gears are the reason the Duramax feels so strong when accelerating. This transmission behind a Cummins would be unstoppable. (my opinion).
Apples to Apples? No. My truck and my brothers are bombed.
Chevy Bashing? I’m trying not to. If I had to have a Crew Cab, I’d consider one. It’s a nice ride; very comfortable.
Please don’t turn this information into a pi$$ing contest. I’m not trying to slam anyone’s personal choice. I actually enjoyed driving the truck, and it got the job done. We got there, and then we got home. I just wanted to share MY experience. If I had to have an automatic, and/or had to have a Crew Cab, I wouldn’t be afraid of owning one of these trucks. But, as for me and my house….
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
