Found a used 03 2500 hd 4x4 8.1 with the 6 speed tranny and regular cab just like I wanted, but I wanted a duramax. How would the 8.1 compare in power to my 6.5 litre turbo deisel? Fuel mileage? I'll be using the truck for the farm and probably won't drive it but a couple times a week. I would need to pull 14000 lbs at times and to be honest my 6.5 has a lot of trouble with it and only gets 14 mpg at 20 cents more per gallon than gasoline. Now the duramax is about7 or 8k more on a comparable truck. I don't want to regret not buying the duramax again like I did when I settled for the 6.5.
Is $15795 a fair price on an 03 with 23k miles?

How many miles a year? How long you going to keep it?
Milage will be low expect 12 -13 on the highway and 8 hauling. Not bad when you consider the savings in upfront costs.
Can't coment on the price, is it loaded or stripped out?

It's loaded. Every option I wanted. I don't plan to drive it but a couple hundred miles a week. I don't want to have that look on my face the 454 guys all had when they had their first meeting with a dodge cummins turbo deisel. If I am not sacrificing much in performance to a duramax ok it could be a good buy. However if I am going to be wishing I had spent the money and gotten the duramax then it's not a good buy. I wouldn't be giving up that much in mileage compared to the 6.5 it only gets 14 and I pay more for deisel. I can do everything I need with the truck I have now it is just not happy about doing it. I'm tired of being passed on the hills and wishing I ahd a real deisel. Then again I'm going half as fast for less than half the money.In short I am looking for performance comparable to my dads 97 cummins. When I bought my 6.5 it was strictly to keep from buying a dodge. We need a truck for the farm capable of pulling our 10000 lb tractor, 12 rolls of hay, or a loaded cattle trailer. I don't know how long I'll keep the truck. Maybe a year maybe ten. If I got the performance I needed I couldn't justify trading. If I was getting good performance from the 6.5 I would keep it.

Sounds like you really want a Diesel, I say buy whats going to make you happy. 8.1 is going to need 4.10 gears, to be some what happy with those loads. I am regearing mine to 4.56 for truck pulling. 3.73's really little too high for good towing.

I am sure other diesel heads will chime in. Duramax has a lot of performance potenial, just how much you willing to spend is up to you.

Actually, since it's a six speed, that truck will have 4:10 gears in it already..My 01 had that exact combination, and I got somewhere between 12-14 mpg depending on how I drove it....I pulled tractors all over the place with mine (overloaded sometimes, like a stupid farm kid http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif) The 8.1 always performed great....No problem with power......I wanted something different this time, so I went with the duramax instead....My current truck has been great, just like the 01 was...and 15,xxx doesn't sound too far out of line for that 03.......

Parts Guy How much weight you say you pulled easily with the 8.1 and 6 speed combo? How deos it compare to what you can pull with the duramax?

Parts Guy How much weight you say you pulled easily with the 8.1 and 6 speed combo? How deos it compare to what you can pull with the duramax?Well jw, on a regular basis I pulled a tractor (1938 JD G) ~5500 lbs, about 2000 lbs of suitcase weights, steel ramps, and trailer....Generally in the 11,000-14,000 area, depending on the weight class I was going to be in...If I was pulling in the 9500 lb class, I had more weights with me...This was with a regular ball-hitch trailer...no gooseneck....The one time I was completely stupid was when a friend's trailer broke, and I hauled two tractors with the weights......All told, I was pulling somewhere around 22,000....:badidea: Truck had plenty of power for the haul...However, if there had been a stopping issue, it would have been ugly..That I do know...
When I bought the diesel, I had the same plans for it...Same loads..However, I sold the main tractor I had for pulling (The "G" is owned by a friend of mine, I do the wrench work on it) I sold my JD "A" I had for pulling so no more long trips with the trailer...Now, I just use the trailer to transport the tractors I'm restoring to my shop and back to their owners when I'm done...Having said that, the diesel has pulled every load the same way the 8.1 did...
If you don't mind the 8-10 mpg you'll get when pulling hard with the 8.1, you'll love it..If you're looking for better economy unloaded, get the diesel...