first tow with duramax

[rob10858]

with the allison trans. pulling about 14500, like all of our fords and dodges. bad news powersrtokes, it outperforms both our auto and six speed 550's. [by the way all of our trucks are one tons] . the biggest problem that i see right of the bat with the dura alli comb is the the trans wants to downshift right when the engine seems to be reaching it's best torque range, and that is something you have to 'feel' without reading the spec sheets. both on long pulls and descents, the allison would suddenly gear down and throw the rpm's way above the red line. i've always been told that overreving a diesel is the worst thing that a driver could do, but this truck does it to itself constantly. maybe the chevy engineers [and isuzu] can explain that this is the way the package was designed, and i'd love to hear it. the frame, brakes, rear end all seem to be much heavier than our 3500's of the past. nice truck, very roomy and quiet. by the way, good news ctd's our 6 speed man 3500's with 275's walked away from the chevy anytime a hill or mountain came into the picture. so on flat pulls, the ps,dm, and ctd were about equal, but only the dodges could maintain a acceptable speed on long hard pulls... . i'll keep y'all informed.

 

[C Schomer]

That's nice news - especially about the Cummins. Most DA owners love the Allison but I know mine will only shift when I want it to. Craig

 

[jwilliams3]

Do you have the VIN#'s for that Duramax!!?? :-{}

 

[PRout]

heeheeee! That was good. .

 

[CUMAPART]

That's great to hear. At work we only have Chevy 1 ton dump trucks. Three are gas jobbers and we have two 6. 5's. We had a PSD and a W350 Cummins. Boss is a Chevy man. The newest trck is a 2001 3500 with a 6. 5. We plow in the winter and tow|haul anyhting and everything when the weather breaks. On evey single one of our Chevy trucks the front frame horns are cracked almost from the top to the bottom of the frame rail. I always thought that GM should beef up their frames. We hang 9ft plows (central hyd) on all of them and man they dont like it at all. Boss wants to wait on the verdict of the DMAX's but I'm sure we'll have at least one soon. The extended warranty on the 97 is running out so we'll see what happens. It feels good at the end of the day when I can finally CLIMB into a real truck.

 

[MCummings]

Originally posted by packman

with the allison trans. pulling about 14500, like all of our fords and dodges. bad news powersrtokes, it outperforms both our auto and six speed 550's. [by the way all of our trucks are one tons] . the biggest problem that i see right of the bat with the dura alli comb is the the trans wants to downshift right when the engine seems to be reaching it's best torque range, and that is something you have to 'feel' without reading the spec sheets. both on long pulls and descents, the allison would suddenly gear down and throw the rpm's way above the red line. i've always been told that overreving a diesel is the worst thing that a driver could do, but this truck does it to itself constantly. maybe the chevy engineers [and isuzu] can explain that this is the way the package was designed, and i'd love to hear it.

Ditto. The D-Max is an awesome puller,, it is quieter than my Cummins, and can pull nearly as fast. (except uphills as packman stated. )



Redline is about the same as Dodge, ~3,300RPM any hill, and the the Truck downshifts just when I can feel the power getting put down,, Instantly, 3,400-3,500RPM, then the TC locks up and brings it down to 3,200RPM.



D-Max is nice, but The Cummins was built to pull, and D-Max seems to be more intended for city cruising and smaller loads.



Merrick Cummings Jr

 

[Jeff H]

What do you plan on doing with those vin numbers??

 

[rob10858]

rest assured that i'll never give the vin #'s on any of our trucks over the internet. also rest assured that the comparisons of all of our makes and model duallys are honest. after all, i have to drive them all and when i find a better truck, all around than our dodges, i will. so far i have'nt. and that's the honest truth. i tend to be biased towards the ctd for one simple reason, i've never been left walking by any of my dodges, from 1991. thaat says it all.

 

[DHenry]

Power Edge Juice

I'm really curious to hear about Duramax experiences running with the new Edge Products Power Edge Juice. The power curves look pretty good compared against stock.



Not that I'm in any way considering "jumping ship"; I'm just interested in how all consumer diesels perform stock and BOMB'ed.

 

[BV]

So what is the news ?

That is what I expected from a v8 diesel - rolls on the flat just fine but hills will slow it down. Don't know how many times a v8 will pass me on the flats doing 80 just to get in the way on the next hill



So - What kind of miles per gallon did the big "D"

 

[MCummings]

Me driving, Both trucks,, different road.



Pulling trailer loaded at 26,508 with D-Max (GCW) without me.

7. 5MPG I pulled about ~150 miles, no idling.



Pulling same trailer loaded the same PE COMP on 4x5 + DD1's Pulled 130 miles,, (Was 2,400 pounds heavier going to our location) (400 gallons water)

We got to our location at 7am unhooked the trailer,, pulled around to be facing towards the trailer, Idled all day on location, pulled the trailer home (No Water) Filled up at gas station at 5pm,,, 7. 7MPG Turned the truck off around 5:30pm



Merrick Cummings Jr



EDIT: D-MAx is optioned the same as my truck except for the Allison Auto. (CD Player, QC, 2wd, LB, Power Seats, Power Windows, etc. )

Chevy is 2001 model with 40,000miles (Fuel mileage was read at 36,000 miles)

My Dodge is a '98. 5 with over 100,000 miles (odo. reads 87,000miles)

Best Mileage ever on Chevy was 17MPG. Best Mileage on Dodge was 25. 2MPG

Chevy is completely stock, My Dodge,, is slightly BOMBed (See sig)

 

[Ray Torresdal]

Average milage?

Do you have figures for the average milage for both the duramax and Cummins? (assuming approximately the same % loaded vs. unloaded miles)



Thanks!



Ray

 

[BK]

Why ask about "over reving" a Ddud...



The Ddud guys all claim that it's a high reving motor to make power... makes it lighter and more hi-tech. . just a summary of some of the words I've seen them throw around.



BUT... .

I thought oil burners were supposed to make low rpm power?

and get good fuel economy while doing it?



So whats the difference between the reported sub 10 mpg and high revs when towing with a Ddud Vs a gasser?



Just asking?



( I think I read the answer in one of the other replies above...

"D-Max is nice, but The Cummins was built to pull, and D-Max seems to be more intended for city cruising and smaller loads. ")

 

[rob10858]

haven't checked the fuel mileage yet on the duramax, and won't until 20000 miles or so because i still beleive in a break-in iterim for any motor. i'm going to bet the farm that dmax and powerstroke will have identical #'s it's a little unfair to compare a v-8 to a sraight six anyway. when a 6 outpulls and performs a v-8 , it makes you wonder why ford and chevy are so hell bent on putting v-8 diesels in their pickups. the answer is simple, to a customer, advertising "the biggest diesel " unfortunately equates to cubic inches and hp, vs durability and torque. i can guarantee you that if the ctd was offered in all makes of duallys, the salesmen that badmouth the cummins, would be slobering over the chance to add about 4000 bucks for a ctd in their trucks.

 

[R.E. Miller]

bk,

All of that stuff is changing with the powerband of diesel engines. Today, "The Consumer" has to be spoon fed everything, and vehicles are no exception. People... (note: not members of this site) are all too used to the feel of gas burner power. You know what? Save gas burners, diesel power is the best feeling, most reliable thing to drive, but you can't sell that to people today. Besides, most people don't pull anything anyway, so I see the powerband's of diesels changing to cater to the people who will be using them... hint hint... buy a Dodge and enjoy



Russell

 

[BK]

Russel, your soo right. Just like getting rid of locking hubs and leaf springs and soften rides. Not what I call the right direction.



I know it's all "consumer driven". . but I'm not one of them.

I had to post the obvouis question to stir the pot. We know the Chevy guys just keep reading what we write.



The main reason I bought the dodge, was that I wanted a real diesel. Got tired of towing with a gasser. And I had a friend that towed with everything else but a dodge/cummins in pickups and drove 18wheelers for 15 years. He wasnt happy with "others" pickups since he knew what the real trucks were like. He gave me all his feedback, but had never driven a dodge/cummins but thought it should be great. I bought mine, he drove mine and a few months later had his owned on order. I admit leaking cargo lights and rear TC seals stink. But I guess the sound and feel of a real work horse and 13-14mpg while towing through the mountains of NY while passing other "trucks", just makes you forget about all those other issues.

I almost didn't buy mine cause I don't like dodge's 4x4's front end. I still don't.

My perfect truck would be a QC, 8' bed, with a proven allison auto transmission in a Ford 350 4X4 chassis with the cummins.

 

[Archive]

Originally posted by R. E. Miller

bk,

... hint hint... buy a Dodge and enjoy



Russell

The CTD is what they all compare themselves to isnt it?

 

[MABurns]

The only thing I have to compare my new Chevy with the Duramax/Allison combo to is my last two stock CTDs with automatic transmissions.



Bottom line, the Duramax pulls better! But opinions are like a^%holes. Every one has one.



I get 13 MPG in the Chevy towing a 12,000 pound fifth wheel. And it pulls the hills of NY just fine too BK. I doubt you passed me!

 

[MCummings]

Originally posted by MABurns

The only thing I have to compare my new Chevy with the Duramax/Allison combo to is my last two stock CTDs with automatic transmissions.



Bottom line, the Duramax pulls better!

Stock to stock the Automatic, 245HP Cummins, doesn't do as well as the Automatic 300HP Duramax. That's the Bottom line.



Even though the D-Max pulls, DIFFERENT (High RPM Power) it does pull faster and harder, stock to stock.

A few BOMBs and that cummins can be as good as a D-Max, and a few more BOMBs and you can whoop up on 'em. (Injectors, Clutch/auto transmission, PE COMP)



Merrick Cummings Jr



P. S. I do not have average fuel economy on either of our 3500's.

 

[MABurns]

Most of the initial bashing was over the aluminum heads. But there does not seem to be any problems with those.



Now the focus has shifted to "high RPM" gasser like engine. Peak torque is 520 ft lbs at 1800 RPM.



Where is it in a CTD?