Got to drive a 2002 Dura****

[Nordby]

Step-brother bought a new 2002 Duramax 4x4 3500 Crew-Cab Long bed, GMC badged, with everything on it. Leather, heated seats, power everything, OnStar, the works. Probably nothing more he could have put on the thing.



Fast. 0-40 quick. 40-80 real quick. Nice transmission. Quiet has heck, have to roll the window down to know you are in a diesel truck. That Alison even engine brakes a bit in Tow/Haul mode (no weight in it though).



My rig is a 1992 2wd 5spd with 163K on it, mildly bombed. He's been in it many times, and still is a non-believer in the mighty cummins. Oh well, my hp isn't even close to his, but my rw torque numbers at 512 probably beat his out soundly enough that I'd ruin his day towing 10K lbs. I'll challenge him to a family dyno day somewhere, be nice to know what true rear wheel torque numbers are on his rig.



He bought it for use as medium hauling/light towing, and with an extended warranty to insure against that aluminum head. The 45K price tag I cannot fathom though. Unreal. 2001 2500 Quad dodges are 29K around here (probably not with all the features though). Better engine. Better mileage, slightly less room.



Sales puke claimed a 300K mile service life on that Duramax motor, is that true?



Just thought I'd add my experience here. I'll have more chances to drive/ride in the future and will add anything new that comes up.



later,jon

 

[Pit Bull]

Know what you mean, my brother in law just bought a new 3500 powerjuke 4x4 crew. Think of it this way. As long as they are happy that is all that matters . When you talk about service life, most of the people that buy these rigs like this that have everything in the world on them, service life won't make a difference, since they never will have the truck past the time of their extended warranty

 

[LarryB]

Face it guys, we're the underdogs here and I personally like it. Only 6 cyl, little 5. 9l, low revs, noisey, and cheap. If they out pull us, no big deal. But imagine how you would feel if your big expensive almighty V8 got beat by a lowly 6cyl



Bomb On!!

 

[Snow man]

A good friend of mine has a duramax,its got over 35K on it now,it is a real nice truck,i'll admit it,and stock for stock,it walked away from my 2000. But therei s something about it,I dont know,I just like the personality of the Cummins,yeah its loud,but its a truck. My ram gets more attention eveywhere we go,and now he wont even line up next to me at a light,must be the comp,and DD3's that scare him off.

 

[JConley]

On our trip to Colorado last week, we passed a Duramax pulling a trailor about 60 MPH in a 70 MPH zone, and my wife said " Hey, that is one of those Duramax's" , and I replied " Yea, and he probably has it flored"

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

I was at the local Papa John's Pizza yesterday. The delivery truck was there and it was a full sized Volvo 18 wheeler. It was sporting a CUMMINS POWER badge on it. I went over and asked the driver about the motor. He said it was a cummins 5. 9... ... ... ..... Wonder if there is a 18 wheeler with a Dura max? Ask your Brother... ... ...

 

[Snow man]

What's more impressive to me is the industrial applications, these engines are found in,You'd never,ever find a PSD,or a Dmax in an industrial air compressor,generator,bulldozer,backhoe,wheel loader,etc. . The Cummins is found in all of them and more. I'm glad the General built theD-max,it helps get daimer to make the Cummins in higher Hp versions from the factory.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

The 2001 GMC 4x4 shortbed DMax I tried was pretty quick, but after it shifts into high gear it would be no match for my truck. Highway power wasn't that great. I think mine could outrun it stock, no chance of it keeping up now that I have DD2s. I thought it was rather quiet but the tinny sound from the engine was rather noticeable and annoying.



Vaughn

 

[PZicha]

Please remember for warranty reasons Dodge chooses to run a de-rated Cummins 5. 9s ,if these were cranked up a bit like in the greyhound sized motorhomes ... ... ... ... ... ... . I think the underdogs would get the respect they deserve



P. S. Happy new year guys

 

[Cummins Corvette]

"Sales puke",, LMAO!! And Greg, that driver was messing with you. The 5. 9 couldn't push a 18 wheeler empty. It is one awesome pick up engine though.

 

[Alan Reagan]

The comment about how quiet the engine is... ... ..... Friday I picked up my wife for lunch and a new DMAX Cheby was parked out front and running. It sounded like a Power Stroke. Then one went by my house on Saturday. Same thing. I wonder if the pilot injection turns off in cold weather or what?

 

[Snow man]

Canderson,the 5. 9 couldnt push an 18 wheelers empty?You are kidding i hope,especially since most 18 wheelers gross out at 17-20K for the tractor,and 3-8 K for most trailers,that is only 25K average weight. With all those gears,it would be easy to keep the engine in its sweet spot. There's a guy around here with a Ford single axle dump,F750,i think,he grosses out at 60K with his 20 ton trailer,bulldozer quite often,for local driving its fine,I wouldnt want to be on a hilly interstate,but it has served him well,and has adquete power for what he does,it runs much better than the 427V8 Gas GM it replaced for him,and burns less than 1/2 the fuel.

 

[Pit Bull]

I think my brother-in-law is smoking that wacky weed again. He just bought a powerjoke crew cab a few weeks ago. I was talking to him last night and told him that he needed to plug it in at night, temp's are how in the single digits. He said he did not have to plug his in, that it started fine (man this guy doesn't know sh*t about trucks) He also said that it was warmed up and pushing out warm air from his heaters within two blocks from his house He only lives 2 miles from his home to his shop. I wonder how long this poor Phord will last with this type of abuse??? I'm a lucky guy because my brother-in-law happens to know everything and never takes anyones advise, oh well.

 

[HillCountrykid]

Alan, I don't know about the pilot injection shutting off in cold weather, but they were having a problem with the pilot injection NOT shutting off at higher RPM's when it's supposed to. Alot of people were missing hp and GM could'nt figure it out. This was about 4 or 5 months ago, so they might have figured out something by now.



Brian

 

[PZicha]

We have a guy that lives one block from work and drives it . . he also owns a p-stroke and it is -24 celcius here today , I live 3 miles but I put on 10 before I shut down P. S. my inlaws are smarter than yours , He just told me oil is oil and the cheep stuff is the best

 

[Ray Torresdal]

semi engine

The 5. 9 would do well in a semi, compared with the 6-71 Detroits and 220 Cummins that were around when I started driving. The 6-71 Detroit was typically rated 238 Hp. , and did a nice job of making noise - love that Jake brake. It wouldn't take much bombing, and with a 13 speed I'm sure the 5. 9 would run with the old 855 cid, 250 Hp. rated engines also.



Ray

 

[carson6]

mad as hell

I was towing our 26' t. t. south bound 5 out side of shasta and passed a d -max @70 towing the same size t. t. (leapfroged him a couple of time's)with my bank's power pack and stock tran's. I even rolled down the window's and you could tell it was a diesel under load. he knew I had a 6 and he was mad as hell!

 

[DarrellB]

My buddy Ryan just strait piped his Dmax and it sounds just like my cousin Danny's PowerStroke except for a kind of tin can sound when it's ideling. It still isn't as loud as my strait piped Cummins and it just kills him.



Not sure what kind of miles he has on it but it's been a good truck for him, but still kind of light duty for the kind of stuff I do with mine.



I just want to know when the Cummins will have 300hp from factory.



Big D

 

[LarryB]

Darrell

You don't want the factory to make 300hp, It'l have 30 valves and 2 computers, 97 sensors and 12 actuators. You'll need a PhD to work on it. You can do it yourself now.



I like my "dirty" 300+hp.

 

[Cummins Corvette]

Well all I know about heavy duty trucks (after driving them for five years) is that they suck and the 13. 8 liter detriots, 14 liter Cummins, and 14. 6 liter cat engines can move those trucks. They do it slowly though. There is a reason that the engines are that big. I see them going up parley's canyon at 25 mph every day. A 5. 9-liter would fall apart in a hurry. At work we have a 97 Freightliner FL70 (biggest pos I have yet to drive) with a Cummins 5. 9/210 with 260k miles on it. That is with an average GVW of 16k. It is on the second engine, the first one blew up at 150k because a piston broke. The one in it is just pathetic. No power, makes all sorts of funny noises, and the truck now gets 4mpg. That truck is sad. It has been regularly maintained by Penske truck leasing, who owns it. In a rig weighing 80k, that engine wouldn’t last long. It would take two or three hours to get up parleys, at maybe 3 or 4 mph in first gear. BTW all the trucks I have weighed have been about 30k empty with a single trailer. But based on my experience with the Freightliner, it would not work at all. 4 mpg at 70mph with only 14-18k gvw is pathetic. I really doubt that the engine in there now will make it much farther.