Just got back from the first haul with the 05 d/a. Well at first i was really impressed with the power. Until i hit a large hill. With my 02 1500 5.3 gas pickup i could go at least 65, although floored at 5500 rpms. The dmax could only muster 60 mph floored.:help: .

That sure doesn't sound right.

A bit more information would help. Does your truck have any mods? How heavy was the trailer? Did you notice any white smoke from the exhaust?

ok lets see. the truck 2500 d/a cc lb 2600 miles bone stock. outside temps around 55 degrees. asked buddy following me if i was smoking he said no. trailer/gear no more than 12000 lbs. also the same load with the 02 gasser.:(

That 1500 gasser sounds like one heck of a truck towing 12000 lbs. I'm very happy with the duramax's towing ability. Seems to have it all over any gassers we've towed with.?

my first comment is how the 5.3 can pull 12k and go up hill faster than a Duramax?? that is very impressive since my old 5.7 worked pretty hard pulling less.

were you using tow mode in the duramax? or even in low 3? I have personally never had any problems accelerating at any time pulling or not. Maybe your EGT's got too high and it limited your speed??

who knows.. any other problems that you have noticed?

How many miles on the Dmax. You've got to give it a few thousand miles before it starts to pull hard.

BTW, There is no way I could have pulled 12K# with my '99 6.0 gas up a large hill at 65. That is one very strong 5.3.

Not saying it's the case here but I find some people expect their trucks to be "Superman Truck" and pull a house and a half.

i don't know maybe tire size different than stock? 410 in gasser? still sounds extremely fuzzy to me.

This one time ......in Band Camp, I pulled my cabin with my 6.0 and a row boat and did 100 mph. Come on now...... 5.3 with 12K load at 65 up a hill. Ya, I wear flip flops in the snow and it is not cold. Now....if you were to tell me that you just rolled through the scales with a load of Oak logs being pulled by your 2005 DORF F350 CC dually 6.0 six speed tipping the 37,600 lb mark I would say no way.......but I was in the passenger seat. Now, It did pull it and we did manage to go the back roads but stopping might have been a problem :)

was the 5.3 blown? maybe you got a strong wind

im not sayin it was 12k. said it was less. the trailer is about 8-9k and truck had bunch of gear and wood in it. did not weigh it. the 5.3 would haul same hill 65 floored but always getting hot

Nobody is going to like to hear this, but in the end game, it's HP that does the work. The 5.3 is what, 275HP? And the truck is at least 1500lb lighter than a 2500HD Duramax with 310? They should pull about the same, because the Duramax is pulling a heavier load.

Now 60 in the 5th gear in the DA is not an optimum speed. Downshift to 4th (lockout) to run it at 2000+ RPM. I can actually tow easier at 75mph uphill than 60 in 5th.

Put a 50HP-65HP tune on the truck, and everything changes. Not even a big block gasser is going to keep up in an uphill towing contest.

PS - Bet the 5.3 used about 1/3 to 1/2 more fuel going uphill.

sure thing the 5.3 only got 8 mpg with it that among other things is why i got the dmax and i will try downshifting it. thank you:)

Just got back from the first haul with the 05 d/a. Well at first i was really impressed with the power. Until i hit a large hill. With my 02 1500 5.3 gas pickup i could go at least 65, although floored at 5500 rpms. The dmax could only muster 60 mph floored.:help: .
A 5.3 with 12k pounds behind it up a hil at 65????? :eek: I don't believe it....

I put 260000 miles towing with a 99 6.0 gasser for 5 years. Average 8500 lbs on 2500 lb trailer. Pulling hills were never a problem, and all we have in the austin tx area are hill of all sizes. The 6.0 has intake, chipped with hypertech, headers and full dual exhaust. The downside of the 6.0 were, temps got too high, low end torque was barely sufficient, Fuel mileage was 8 mgp. My 04.5 has 52000 miles plling same trailer and equipment. I have intake, edge, no cat ss 4 inch exhaust. My engine temps stay around 200, More than enough low end torque, 12-14 mpg. When i am pulling i always have tow/haul switched on, and no overdrive pulling steep hills. My egts never go above 1295. I have not had the truck floored for any hill and no other trucks can hang.
You can Dodge it, Ram it, or Stroke it, But you cant catch it.
Joe

thanks to all who have posted some insight. However i NEVER SAID it was 12k i said no more than 12k. i never weighed but know the trailer to 8-9k depending on tank levels trying to figure out why floored cant go faster than 60 the hill coming west on I84 coming out of pendleton, or. so if no help then why post going something like "uhhh ya right, or this one time at band camp.."

Ok no more Band Camp stories guys but once time at the dealership.....lol

thanks to all who have posted some insight. However i NEVER SAID it was 12k i said no more than 12k. i never weighed but know the trailer to 8-9k depending on tank levels trying to figure out why floored cant go faster than 60 the hill coming west on I84 coming out of pendleton, or. so if no help then why post going something like "uhhh ya right, or this one time at band camp.."

This is the "smart ass" diesel site. You'll get a good dose of humor with some sound technical advice. Enjoy the ride! Oppsss... That's a damn ricer slogan.

:ro)

Let me know if the >2000 RPM trick works for you. And you'll be truly stunned how fast the truck will pull a load uphill once you hit 2500rpm.

One time on the way to Band Camp (actually drag races in Las Vegas) we were towing an enclosed 24' car trailer with car, spares, tires, etc. As we were going up a very high, steep mountain pass, a Nissan V6 Pickup with 3 young guys in it started to pass us as we were going 75 in the right lane. My kids said, "he's beating you dad!!", so I put the hammer down and picked it up to 85 mph. The kids were squealing in delight, as we started to take the Nissan down. The teens in the truck were banging their fists on the dash and yelling, and as I pulled away the driver and passengers gave us the thumbs up. I saluted them as I pulled away.

Nothing is more satifying that beating an unladen light truck going uphill when you are towing. :D

I ran the hill country last summer running a GCW of 14,000 lbs. I was running 65 on I10, never slowed down and never downshifted except one hill where I had to punch it to pass a slow-moving car. Had 1,500 miles on the truck at the time. Even ran it up to 75 for a short while when I got a little further West. I would have the dealer look at it. My old 454 1 ton wouldn't even come close.

"Let me know if the >2000 RPM trick works for you. And you'll be truly stunned how fast the truck will pull a load uphill once you hit 2500rpm."

Help me understand. If I'm floored going 60, my truck will down shift out of OD. I CAN't hold OD if I wanted to.

Sometimes my truck will stay in 5th at 60mph when going uphill towing. When it does that, I press the OD lockout button and continue to accelerate. There is not that much power in these motors below 2000.

Fellows
I don't understand how anybody could have a problem towing with a Dmax...
I just got back from a 1300 mile round trip pulling a 34 ft. TT with 2 slides..Not only pulling around 11k I have a very tall trailor ( wind res.)I hit the interstate set cruise on 68 set tow haul and away I went. Only twice in the 1300 mile did it down shift and only then to 4th.This truck is bone stock why and how could you use more power???

thanks to all who have posted some insight. However i NEVER SAID it was 12k i said no more than 12k. i never weighed but know the trailer to 8-9k depending on tank levels trying to figure out why floored cant go faster than 60 the hill coming west on I84 coming out of pendleton, or. so if no help then why post going something like "uhhh ya right, or this one time at band camp.." Going west from Pendleton? Should be East you're talking about. West (I-84) out of LeGrande is a much easier pull. I-84 West out of Pendleton is quite the long 6% grade. I pulled that grade 12 times over the last year. With a bone stock truck, scaled at 20200#, I maintained 55. That is roughly 13000 of trailer. Were it a straight shot, probably could do 60 but it is not worth rolling the trailer to show how much power the truck has. That is an outright long grade.

I pulled the same trailer loaded heavier (no scale but add 6 120# bales alfalfa, more water and lots of other junk) to Tulsa. A friend was with us pulling roughly 7000# (3 horse aluminum gooseneck with 2 horses, way too much crap and an extended dressing room to hold it all) with a 1500/5.3 and we absolutely smoked them. They would roll 80-90 down the hills and be lucky to maintain 35 by the top. We just cruised a comfortable 65-70 the whole way.

I've since bumped up to 265 tires and can tell a difference. That grade I get about 5mph less. It will be interesting to see how it goes with the predator this year though.

Man, I love to read the stories on this site! I find out so much about my truck!

I spend hours going through each subject (lly eng., artermarket stuff, etc.) there is nothing you can't ask and get good answers about!!!!

JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS!! :cool2:

RONDE

nope im talking the hill traveling west heading to portland or. possibly tranny slippage???? someone mentioned i should check it.......

we have pulled over 10k on a goose and never had any problems but we weren't pulling big hills and we could run 78 and hold it.

and when we went out to washington dc with the 6.0 gass we never lost speed through the hills of penn and we love passing the old dodge smoking diesels ....we made a sign that said get a chevy. that was more fun than ever cause we could atleast hold 65 and they had their 4 ways on

Fellows
I don't understand how anybody could have a problem towing with a Dmax...
I just got back from a 1300 mile round trip pulling a 34 ft. TT with 2 slides..Not only pulling around 11k I have a very tall trailor ( wind res.)I hit the interstate set cruise on 68 set tow haul and away I went. Only twice in the 1300 mile did it down shift and only then to 4th.This truck is bone stock why and how could you use more power???1. Burnouts
2. Dragracing
3. Truck Pulls
4. Beating the pants off the "rice" kids:ro)
I'm sure there are more

ahhhh, making some rice crispies.:lol:

Dunno, I'm less than impressed with the Dmax coming from a '99 ISB with an Edge Comp box. If this thing is supposed to have 600+ ft/tq., I don't exactly know where it is. :rolleyes:

I never towed above Comp level 1, and never ran anything above level 3 for daily street use, but I swear that Cummins had a tad more power at that setting than this '05 does stock, and as I remember Edge claimed somewhere south of 600 ft/lbs. on level 5 on the '99. Hoot help me out here...

This past weekend I took my 8k dry Desert Fox TH from Phoenix up to Lake Roosevelt. About 90 miles, but grades above 7% one way, over 9% via a different route. Took one way going, another way coming home. (Steeper home, but without any fresh water aboard). 90 gallons of fresh water and 30 gallons of gas on trailer going, plus other gear, no toys. 9.5 mpg avg. for trip per the DIC, so in reality probably around 9. :( Can't say that the Ram would have done much better as the DFox is like draggin a parachute. Still, it was a tad dissapointing.

Allison grade braking was impressive however. If only it would have been in the Dodge instead of the 47re.:mad:

wow thats pretty funny, you may want to make sure you didnt have e brake on.

OK..........it did it again....at bottom of hill 65 and at top 60 floored in third or fourth. I did weigh truck was 9600 trailer 6400. am i just expecting too much here or what?

i think you should spend about $1500 on a programmer gauges and a exahust. then if you still got a problem then run and run fast from that truck because my truck with the 315's will out run a stock d-max like its standing still

i strongly recomend a power programmer.
and take it to the dealer. maybe you got a bad injector. whats your fuel milage? does it run rough?

Going west from Pendleton? Should be East you're talking about. West (I-84) out of LeGrande is a much easier pull. I-84 West out of Pendleton is quite the long 6% grade. I pulled that grade 12 times over the last year. With a bone stock truck, scaled at 20200#, I maintained 55. That is roughly 13000 of trailer. Were it a straight shot, probably could do 60 but it is not worth rolling the trailer to show how much power the truck has. That is an outright long grade.

I pulled the same trailer loaded heavier (no scale but add 6 120# bales alfalfa, more water and lots of other junk) to Tulsa. A friend was with us pulling roughly 7000# (3 horse aluminum gooseneck with 2 horses, way too much crap and an extended dressing room to hold it all) with a 1500/5.3 and we absolutely smoked them. They would roll 80-90 down the hills and be lucky to maintain 35 by the top. We just cruised a comfortable 65-70 the whole way.

I've since bumped up to 265 tires and can tell a difference. That grade I get about 5mph less. It will be interesting to see how it goes with the predator this year though.
So with my lite 5,000# 20' camp trailer, I should be able to go over that grade on the way to the coast at about any speed I want, I suppose......
Can't wait to try it, but that trip isn't until September. I'll have plenty of other "more local" trips with grades involved this summer, though!

This one time ......in Band Camp, I pulled my cabin with my 6.0 and a row boat and did 100 mph. Come on now...... 5.3 with 12K load at 65 up a hill. Ya, I wear flip flops in the snow and it is not cold. Now....if you were to tell me that you just rolled through the scales with a load of Oak logs being pulled by your 2005 DORF F350 CC dually 6.0 six speed tipping the 37,600 lb mark I would say no way.......but I was in the passenger seat. Now, It did pull it and we did manage to go the back roads but stopping might have been a problem :)
I think he summed it all up, end of conversation!

again, thanks for another useless post!
thanks to all who have tried to help. i will buy an edge and see if it helps

Well, I think we all agree that the 5.3 was giving it's all and doing a good job at it. Me thinks that the Dmax was encumbered by a light foot and the wrong gear selections (tow haul....5th lockout, etc).....I'm willing to bet that the next time he posts re: this subject it will be an entirely different story.

Now this Band Camp thing has got me interested...:lol:

I have only pulled a 5% grade with a 7500lbs. TT loaded with gear once with my stock D/A. The Duramax pulled great I maintained 75mph all the way! A friend was right behind me with a 03' 6.0 with a 7800lbs. TT loaded with gear and I had to slow down to 60mph going down hill before he could even catch up. He wants a Duramax now and his wife is mad at me. I pulled the same trailer up the same hill with an 02 5.3 and it was screaming when we reached the top and had slowed to 45 mph. I would have the truck checked out.

So with my lite 5,000# 20' camp trailer, I should be able to go over that grade on the way to the coast at about any speed I want, I suppose......
Can't wait to try it, but that trip isn't until September. I'll have plenty of other "more local" trips with grades involved this summer, though! I would expect no problems, especially on the easy side of the grade with #5000.

Going west, we slow down to about 65 but it is nothing like the other direction. And, that is usually because of traffic causing us to slow to get around trucks without blocking the passing lane.

Altitude and temperatures will play a big factor when towing, and we have both here in the west.................

But I agree, something doesn't sound right with his D-max.

OK..........it did it again....at bottom of hill 65 and at top 60 floored in third or fourth. I did weigh truck was 9600 trailer 6400. am i just expecting too much here or what?
That sounds like a lot of tongue weight, or did you have a lot of weight in the bed?

lots of stuff in bed like generator, HUGE logs, chainsaw, etc.........

That is too little weight for your truck to struggle with.

How is your mileage??? A problem that might cause power loss might also cause bad mileage too. Did you track your mileage loaded? what about empty?
A Temp gauge might help you to locate any troubles, such as air flow. I know I used to read about people complaining about their MAP sensors being covered by a sticker from the factory (or something like that) restricking their air flow. Check your exhaust and make sure you don't have any crushed spots too that might restrict the flow of exaust.
An Edge chip will help with power and has a built-in Exhaust temp gauge, but if you have engine or computer troubles that are causing power loss, a chip will only cover it up and could make the problem worse over time (restricted air flow causing real high exhaust temps, the Edge will make that worse.)
H*ll, maybe you got a bad batch of Diesel!
Good luck