Feeling somewhat torn about a decicion I'm making.

[Grizzly]

Y-Knot, I never realized you were the warm sensitive type :-laf .



Anyway, I just got back from the Chevy dealer where the truck was all cleaned up and the paperwork was sitting on the desk waiting to be signed. However, I had informed the salesman before I drove up there (dealer is 60 miles away) that I wanted to drive the truck one more time to make damn sure I was 100% satisfied before I inked the deal. During this second test drive I really focused on the entire truck and didn't let that new car smell cloud my judgement. When the test drive was over I got out of the truck and told the salesman that this was not the truck for me. You should have seen his face .



I will try to give you my opinion as to why I walked.



1. The Duramax makes way more racket under way than the Cummins does. It sounded like all the injectors needed replacement at 22 miles. I'm sure it was actually running fine but it was too loud for my liking.



2. The frame is no where near as stiff as my Dodge. It feels like a pogo stick when going over bumps in the road.



3. Every time I stopped or accelerated from a stop I felt a driveline clunk.



4. While cruising around 10 mph and 1000 rpm's the engine surges, definitely some bad engine programming.



5. As others have stated it does not feel "heavy duty".



6. On the drivers side floor the carpet felt wet and from all the reading I've been doing over on the DieselPage it seems GM has a problematic leak that is most likely coming from around the windshield.



7. The GM tow mirrors don't hold a candle to the Dodge mirrors.



However, I will tip my cap to GM on there seat comfort (biggest reason for almost making this blunder) and the sound quality of the radio.



The bottom line is that this truck was going to cost me an additional $22,000 over what I owe on my Dodge and no seat or radio is worth 22G's.



My truck may have a few irritating quirks but as I drove away from the Chevy dealer I turned up my lousy radio, smiled, and felt relieved I didn't make a costly mistake. Now I just have to go and reinstall my toolbox and brake controller Oo. .

Rosco, you did the right thing. I think CTD is the best of the big three. I used to be a Furd truck man and when I was ready to buy a new Furd a good friend, advised me to go for the best drivetrain, which he said is a Cummins with a standard shift. And so I did, which was my 95 CTD with a 5 speed. I had it for ten years and it was the best truck I had ever owned. I hope my 05 is as good and so far it is. The cloth seats on the 95 were far better than the leather on my 05.

 

[Tim]

My brother has a 2000 Duramax Allison and has had excellent trouble-free service out of it.

The Duramax wasn't out until the 2001 model year.



All this talk of Chevys is why despite all that is happened, I can't wait to get my CTD. If it had full torque output I would have seriously considered it, though.

 

[macdaddy]

Neighbor's got a 05 dmax 325/605 cc 4X4 SRW damn nice truck. The interior is definetly the hot set up and the ride is sweet.



To new to tell how it will work out. The truck just does'nt have the exterior look the CTD has when compared to a Dodge SRW 4X4's. If GM would lose the IFS they would have a winner.



Mac

 

[Yo Hoot]

I had a GMC Dmax/Allison for three years. Ran propane for a while and had a 90hp Juice.



Nice truck but I had a bunch of issues.



It would defuel under load from day one. I mean it would practically shut down when pulling a load... this was when it was stock, brand new. They did a reflash which helped a little but under propane it would always do it.



The 90hp Juice box cured the problem.



I had all kinds of issues with the HVAC controls. I had autoclimate. It would go cold on me and fog up my inside windshield when outside temps were 40-50 deg. The only way i could get heat was to put the knob on red hot.



Power steering at idle was terrible. Especially if you hit the brakes. Brakes sucked up all the boost.



RPCV (Rail Pressure Control Valve) replaced to cure idle romping.



Switch on the side of the Allison (NSBU) is prone to water contamination. Usually fails at the worst time... . in the snow. Causes your shift indicator to go crazy and the trans goes crazy.



Blew a head gasket at 55,000 miles. See my signature for pictures.



I was present during the entire headgasket replacement job. This is an engine most would not want to work on. Trust me. Another reason I went with the Cummins. The injector lines in the DMax were corroded with gobs of who knows what around the injector line fitting. Any mechanic that did not make sure this stuff didnt't fall into the injector fuel entry will send you off with a major headache.



Even though the Cummins uses the same injection system, I beleive they did a much better job with the install. Easier to work on, better fuel feed system.



The Allison was very nice but ... . and this is a big but... it can't handle any more power than the Dodge transmission without going into limp mode. I limped mine a bunch of times. It is no doubt a great automatic though and can be upgraded to work quite well with big power.



Driving a GM truck is like driving a car. I was ready for a truck. Been driving GM trucks for ten years. I wanted a straight axle truck. Tired of driving IFS low riders. You can only bolt on so much on the Dmax before it starts acting up. Same with all the others so don't just read the forums and think just plugging in a box is all thats needed. With the Dmax/Allison as soon as you go over 90 hp you need to dump thousands into the Allison.



The new Dmax now has the Variable turbo and cooled egr and a CAT. Not necessarily good things. My 04 Cummins has no CAT and the turbo is simple and can be replaced in a matter of an hour or so. Not so with the Dmax.



You get goods and bads with all brands. I would rather replace ball joints than pay the price of the Dmax Allison repair bills. I like the simplicity over the technology... . to a degree. I traded the DMax at 72,000 miles for this Dodge.



I don't buy my trucks because the seats are softer.