Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Any 2500HD Duramax/Allison owners out there?

Another consideration is how much of a discount you can get on a given model(gas vs diesel). I'd pretty much decided on buying a Duramax 3/4 or 1 ton, late last spring, and was all set to head south of the border to get a better deal on one....had a good offer on one from an Ohio dealer. In the meantime, GM Canada started a truck promo and I was able to get $14,500 knocked off the truck I ended up with. Either gas or diesel in the HD's will work fine for you with a properly set up truck, albeit the diesel will do it with less effort for sure. Price is always a consideration, so see where the best deal is...the discount I was able to get was far more than the gasser although I still payed a premium for the diesel.

Towing is a concern, looking at the specs, with a 3.73 rearend the 6.0 is rated in the 9,000lb range. Most fifth wheels start in the 8,000+ range and up empty with nothing in them. So you would have to opt for the 4.10 rearend which would get worse mileage to get the higher towing capacity. Looks like people are getting 7-9lbs towing and up to 15-16mpg best hwy with no towing, not great.

Let me check my owner's manual(2010).

Are you looking at 4x4(most likely)....extended/reg/crew cab?

I only know two things about them :

1. When I was driving through the Colorado rockies in my Jeep trying to pass logging trucks uphill (with very little success) another guy on the trip passed me *and* the logging truck going up a steep hill, with a crew cab full of people, a bed full of toolboxes, *and* flat-towing his Jeep.

2. Unless something goes seriously wrong in my life the next vehicle purchase will be an HD2500/Duramax/Allison; I just have to save up enough money to justify buying the truck *and* something to tow with it

My (admittedly not well-informed) feeling is that there is nothing which makes diesel fuel intrinsically more expensive than gasoline once the costs of upgrading refineries for low-sulfur fuel have been amortized, and that the prices should converge rather than diverge over time.

crew cab (kids are getting bigger) standard bed, I'm with you on that John, everybody I've talked to say they don't break a sweat up hills. Chevrolet Silverado HD is the 2011 Motor Trend Truck of the Year. Watch and see who wins as the Chevy Silverado HD takes on the Ford Super Duty in an uphill race on Interstate 70 near Dillon, Colorado. The trucks are timed as they climb a 5-7% grade pulling a trailer of 19,000 pounds, and the results are impressive. This was posted soon after Ford did their own comparison of the new Ford against Dodge and Chevy on their own track using that guy in all the Ford commercials. Chevy got some unbiased editors to do this test.


Rumble in the Rockies Uphill test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4sULsDDkI&playnext=1&list=PLBBBCE308074B12ED

Rumble in the Rockies downhill test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STEVLilrgfg&playnext=1&list=PLBBBCE308074B12ED

Does such a beast exist?

Apparently not over on the Chevy truck forums Randy has been visiting.

I am partial to GM, however, not ruling out Dodge or Ford. My Uncle is a service manager at a Ford dealership and can get me his cost. I like the looks of the Dodge's and interior, as Mike said if they would pair up the Cummins with the Allison, it would be killer. The diesel forums are not all GM based.

I don't think there's too much to choose between the Cummins or the Duramax, they're both proven motors.