:iamwithst Well, I think it's time to buy me a new truck. I'm in love with the new GM's with duramax/allison, but have heard horror stories of REALLY poor fuel mileage with the new lly engine. What do you people think. Am gonna tow a 31ish foot fifth wheel with it in the near future. Is GM the way to go or should I look somewhere else? Any common problems I should be aware of also???

I really love mine. What are you considering? I'd guess you're going DRW for that trailer.

:welcome2: to the Place!

Well, you took the time to sign up here, and ask a bunch of biased Duramax lovers if you should buy one.......I think you should take the plunge. :ro)



Tom

Mileage on all the big three took a dive from what I hear. Emissions that went into effect Jan 1st is what was susposed to have done it. I get between 15 and 19 on my LLY's dually's.

What is DRW....and is there some place here where I can find out what all these acronymns stand for?

I have owned both the Lb7 and my new LLy ZF 6 speed. You want power and mileage go for the shifter. Do some good upgrades and youll get your mileage and eat the fords and dodges all day long for lunch!:ro)
If youre wooried about miliage the secret is keep your speeds down under 70-75 and youll see big improvements.......now if your like me youll get a bigger fuel tank and drive fast anyway?:exactly:

DRW is Dual Rear Wheel. "Dooley". I don' tknow where you can find the def's of all the acronyms. I don't know all of them myself.

:confused: No DRW.....think I'm gonna go with 2500HD. Are there other "common" problems I should look out for tho? :help2:

Get in one, take it for a drive X-treme....If you can swing the payments for it, and its what you want, sign the dotted line......I have zero regrets about jumping from the gas world.....

:confused: No DRW.....think I'm gonna go with 2500HD. Are there other "common" problems I should look out for tho? :help2:
With the size (weight) of trailer that you plan to haul look at the 3500. List price is actually lower than the 2500HD. I just don't like the DRW so I compromised and bought the 3500 SRW. Mileage on the DIC (Driver Information Center) I'm averaging 16.2MPG and it continues to get better. only have 2.200 miles on my truck.
One other factor you can only get the 8' bed on the 3500, but the long wheel base should make towing smoother.
As it was mentioned keep your foot out of it the mileage is better, problem is you just can't!!!:lol:

The towing specs are ALMOST identical for 2500HD and 3500.....With 5th wheel hitch 3500 can take 700lbs more.....THAT'S IT. Think I will stick with the 16000lb towing of the 2500HD.

When getting ready to buy that new truck, think real hard about payload. Todays fivers with slideouts are quite heavy in the front, moreso than what dealedrs like to talk about. You might want to look at the dually.

I have an 01 LB7 and an 04.5 LLY, the LLY gets better mileage unloaded and trailering by a couple MPG. I tow a 5er as well about the same size your talking about has dual slides front and rear. Tongue weight is around 2500lbs. Both trucks tow it very well and it squats suprisingly very littlle when you set it on the hitch.


I have over 260,000 on the 01 and 22,000 on the 04.5 have had no problems with the 01 and only a turbo sensor problem on the 04.5 when i purchased it. They are great trucks if the price dosen't bother you.

The mileage on my LLY is not bad. When the truck was brand new I drove to Florida from California at high speeds. Seldom under 75mph, usually 85. Got 17.5 MPG hand calculated. While not good by small car standards, that's not bad for a 7120lb (dry empty) 4x4 automatic on all terrain tires. Only a mini truck would beat that mileage.

Then I put a 2500lb 9' tall machine in the bed and drove back at high speed. 15.5 mpg. It gets over 15mpg towing a loaded car trailer, and 11mpg at 75mph with a 11.5' camper AND the car trailer/spares (17,000lb combined weight).

I'm sure I could get better mileage if I drove at the legal limit, but I seldom do. When forced to drive the limit, hwy mileage is 19 mpg.

I was told by my dealer the MPG was 19 to 20 on the expected 05 2500HD Dmax allison - he wouldn't lie to me right ? :lol: :eek:

The 2500hd should be ok as long as you don't exceed your pin weight too much.

Really happy with mine. Pulls 14,000 no prob stock.

In my opinion, the gm/chevy would definetly be the best buy! The reason being the Allison Trans. Ford and Dodge can't build an auto tranny to save their lives .Allison is a company that basically specializes in transmissions,and has been building them for decades. They make heavy duty trannys for all sorts of heavy eqipment. Sure the D-max may be a little hard on fuel , but it's not that much compared to the amount of replacing the tranny 2-3 times during the lifetime of the truck as I've seen some Ford ,Dodge owners doing.

just something to ponder...
-Matt