Duramax

[TPotter]

Help me out here guys. I have a chance on a 2002 HD 4x4 Duramax, its loaded with 60k on it. I can buy it for $21,000. Whats the good points and bad ones? I love my Dodge but price is hard to beat on this one.

 

[britannic]

My wife has one and she loves it, tows beautifully, plenty of stock power, great handling etc. My only gripe is that the frame rails are too low for practical off road in stock form, but GM was aiming for the 5th market. Isuzu certainly know how to make a V8 diesel. Interestingly the next size up Isuzu diesel is an i6.



The MPG didn't get to where we wanted it until the truck had clocked up 12K, but now it's consistently returning 17mpg in the mountains and 21mpg on the flat - not bad considering my wife drives it like she stole it!



Check this forum out for DMax info and help: Duramax Forum

 

[BPonci]

My dad has a 01 duramax and loves it. Runs good towing his 18ft skeeter bass boat. Gets good milage and the power is good. Very nice riding truck. Still can't keep up with my old 96 dodge,

 

[MO'Donnell]

I believe the d-max has had some injector issues - and the injectors are VERY spendy if you have to foot the bill out of your pocket. At 60k miles the warranty is gone, so any repairs come out of your pocket. Go troll for a bit on the GM forum and search for problems, etc. Is the truck being offered by a dealer or a private owner?



For $21k I would think you could get a nice Dodge with comparable miles if you shopped around for a bit.

 

[TPotter]

I do prefer a dodge, but I dont think I can find an 03 4door 4x4 for 21k.

 

[britannic]

They're sold with a 100K factory warranty.

Originally posted by MO'Donnell

I believe the d-max has had some injector issues - and the injectors are VERY spendy if you have to foot the bill out of your pocket. At 60k miles the warranty is gone, so any repairs come out of your pocket. Go troll for a bit on the GM forum and search for problems, etc. Is the truck being offered by a dealer or a private owner?



For $21k I would think you could get a nice Dodge with comparable miles if you shopped around for a bit.

 

[DMC]

I recently read on here somewhere that the Duramax was having some problems at or near 100K. I dont have any underlying reason to bash Chevy. I would buy one in a heartbeat if it had a Cummins in it.

The Allison transmission is a good one though.



Do your own research, make your own mind up, its your money.



Good Luck



Don

 

[TPotter]

Well, I am going to check it out in the morning. If its like they say and how it looking in pics, I will probably buy it. But I will still keep the ole 94 to get around in. lol (IN CASE) the Duracrap dies.

 

[wlowe]

I've been told that if you go to the chevy dealer and give them the VIN number they can give you a printout of all the maintenance and service work that has been performed by the dealer. I would shy away from buying it if there were any injector problems, might have diluted crankcase oil with diesel fuel, can cause expensive problems later on. Just my opinion, your decision.



Good Luck

Bill

 

[DMC]

You can do that on any vehicle. For example I got all of the service history on my 96 when I bought it from the dealer. A good Idea. If you are buying it from one dealer get an additional info from a different dealer. And compare the printouts. Some dealers will omit service records that could bring up past negative issues, and cost them a sale.



Don

 

[TPotter]

Yeah, I plan to have a history check done. I normally have no problems buying a vehicle, but this one really has me kinda scared. Guess the test drive will tell the tale.

 

[krs]

Is this at a dealer? When I was truck shopping around Oakland, CA one of the chevy dealers was selling lemon law buyback trucks at really good prices. They told us about the buyback but I don't know if they were required to do that, so maybe some don't?

 

[Rescue Ram]

Yes, they do have to notify you if the vehicle is a buy back. It is the law.



Is the truck an 02 or an 03? You said both...



As far as the duramax goes, I know they have had some injector problems, and fuel filteration problems, especially on the 01 and 02 trucks. The 03-04 trucks have an updated filter system. If it is an electric shift T-case, make sure it has the updated switching system. There are quite a few cases of the -Tcase deciding it wanted 4 low at highway speed. If you can, find out about maintnance history, repairs, etc. Alot of damage can be done in a short time by a careless owner. Remember, too, any vehicle can have problems. Check her out. If all is well and you like it, snatch her up. My opinion.



Brian Z.

 

[Rescue Ram]

Oh, and go check out http://www.gm-diesel.com

It is free, there are some good discussion groups, and most of the guys there are very friendly and helpful. They even have a sense of humor...

Brian Z.

 

[nickleinonen]

Isuzu certainly know how to make a V8 diesel. Interestingly the next size up Isuzu diesel is an i6

same thing for navistar eh... they have the t444e and the vt365 being V8's and the next up being the dt466 being a inline 6...

 

[DMC]

Are you sure you want a Duramax

T Potter:



Are you sure you want a Duramax



http://ca.autos.yahoo.com/031205/11/vtm8.html



Dodge unveils 2004 1/2 Ram Heavy Duty Cummins 600 pickup



Friday December 5 9:15 AM EST









Auburn Hills, Michigan - Dodge released photos and technical details of its new 2004 1/2 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty Cummins "600" pickup truck on Wednesday. Its Cummins turbo-diesel engine develops 600 lb. -ft. of torque at 1,600 rpm and 325 horsepower at 2,900 rpm. The Standard Output Cummins Turbo Diesel has been dropped from the Ram Heavy Duty line-up. In addition to the most torque ever offered in a production heavy-duty pickup, the Dodge Ram Heavy Duty Cummins "600" has the best-in-class towing capability of 16,400 lbs. (a 3,000 lb. advantage over the Ford F-350 PowerStroke), a payload of 5,020 lbs. and a best-in-class Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) and Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 23,000 lbs. and 12,000 lbs. , respectively.



"The Ram Heavy Duty has the most sophisticated chassis in the segment, the biggest brakes, excellent handling and class-exclusive safety features such as side curtain air bags," said Eric Ridenour, Executive Vice President Product Development. "It is only fitting that it now has the most powerful diesel engine. This is also the quietest Ram diesel ever and the first High Output Cummins Turbo Diesel that meets 50-state emissions requirements.



The re-designed 5. 9-litre Cummins 600 powerplant was designed with premium exhaust valves and seats, high-strength exhaust manifolds, gallery cooled pistons and an oil bath turbo system.



According to DaimlerChrysler, the new Cummins "600 delivers best-in-class oil change intervals of 15,000 miles (versus 7,500 for the competition) and is the only heavy-duty diesel pickup pre-equipped for an exhaust brake. The Ram Heavy Duty Cummins 600 is also capable of zero-throttle launches, enabling smooth drive-offs under load with the 6-speed manual transmission. An automatic transmission is also available with the new Cummins "600. "



Our goal during the development of the Cummins '600' was to make meaningful changes, not just chase numbers," said Frank Klegon, Vice President, Truck Product Team. The Ram Heavy Duty Cummins '600' delivers more torque and power where our customer needs it, under a full load and heading up a steep grade. We designed the Ram Heavy Duty Cummins '600' for the severe use customer, and for them, torque is everything. Dodge is also the only heavy-duty pickup manufacturer confident enough in our product to offer a seven year powertrain warranty.





Good Luck



Don

 

[TPotter]

Well its Monday morning, I am still a Dodge owner. Dealer called me Friday night and said the Duramax truck he was holding for me sold. Likely story since it was supposed to be taken off the lot and held for me. So Saturday I load the wife up and am bound to find me a 4 door truck, drove several 4 dorr Furds they just didn't do it for me. So, I made the easy decision to keep the ole girl I have a keep driving my 1994 Dodge.

 

[DMC]

Don't sweat it T.



It wasn't meant to be. Have some patience, take your time you can find a good Dodge. Have you been watching the TDR classifieds, Or Ebay.



I wonder what happens to all of the buy backs people are talking about? I'm sure that the problems are found and resolved. These trucks have to be resold at some point.



Good Luck



Don

 

[TPotter]

Yeah, I have been watching ebay. I think i'll just add some bomb parts to my truck and keep it another 2 or 3 yrs.

 

[Rebel_Horseman]

Here's my opinion FWIW.



I owned a 2001 Chebby 2500HD 4x4 with the Dmax and Allison. I bought the truck used with 41k on it for about the same price as the one you looked at. When i bought the truck I was elated and I thought the truck had good power. I pulled my cattle trailer to TX with it and it had great performance and got about 15 mpg. Sometime later, at about 60k miles, I started hauling hay as a sideline business. I would haul out of north Mississippi and bring about 260 bales of horse hay down to where I live in Louisiana. The first haul I got 8. 5 mpg because the truck would not pull a hill in any gear but 4th and it would frequently downshift into 3rd pegging the tach at 2800 rpm. I added the Edge Juice to help my performance and noticed a difference. The truck started getting 10. 5-11 mpg and could pull the smallest of hills in 5th but usually stayed in 4th gear. I was not pleased with the towing performance at this point. At 69k miles the fuel system went out. When I say "went out" I mean that I was driving down the road and noticed the truck had no power. I got to my apartment and was scared to death when i saw the entire undercarriage of the truck was coated in a film of diesel fuel and oil. I brought the truck to a dealer close by and 2 weeks later they had the problem fixed finally. During the repair they found that a couple of the stainless steel fuel supply lines that bring fuel to each injector had rusted off at the injector. The dealer replaced all 8 injectors and all 8 of the stainless steel fuel lines to fix it. This did not fix the problem, so they then installed a new high pressure fuel pump. Finally the problem was fixed. I sold the truck 2 weeks later fearing more problems. During this repair I was moving 270 miles to a new job and the POS left me stuck and in a bind. Gm customer service basically told me tough poop, wasn't our problem and we can't do anything to help you.



Personally I will never again buy a GM vehicle. I feel that performance from my Dodge stock equaled my Dmax with the Juice on towing level 2. The truck was comfy and had awesome performance (especially on level 4), and I think a big part of my towing woes was the fuel system failure.



Just my $0. 02. Sorry for the ling winded post.



Brian [><]