Hey all. Im a current cummins owner and am looking into my next truck. I've read and experienced a TON with this truck and will probably never go back to a gasser. I love my truck but have had nothing but front end problems. Duramax has always been in the back of my head. I love the allison. I good friend just bought a new cummins the other night and i took a chance to drive the 08 6.7 cumming and the 08 6.6 duramax.

I have little knowledge on this engine so i would like some pointers here.
Im looking for a 2002 to a 2005. I love the older body style of the chevy before they went to the square look. Hope not to offend anyone :) and i love the looks of all the gm trucks.

What should i look for? What should i steer clear of?
Thanks a ton in advanced. If this site is anywhere near compairable to the cummins forums, i'm excited to take on this new experience!

josh

love my 02 and would never sell it but if I were going to bye today it would be at least an 06 lbz or never. 6 speed tranny and that lbz is bad ass. but I do like my 02 look.

Get an 06 or 07 classic with the LBZ. All of the bugs are worked out of it and it is pre-2008 emission b.s. I have an '07 classic and LOVE this truck. Pulls my 32' 5th wheel like a dream.

[quote=glamisorbust;2821623]Get an 06 or 07 classic with the LBZ. :)

Get an 06 or 07 classic with the LBZ. All of the bugs are worked out of it and it is pre-2008 emission b.s. I have an '07 classic and LOVE this truck. Pulls my 32' 5th wheel like a dream.

Agree ... I have a new 08 LMM and wish I would have saved the $$ and went with an LBZ. I had an 05 gasser and liked that front end a lot more plus no emissions crap in regards to the DPF that really blows. I think the LBZ will go down as the best HD yet.

I had an '03 dually with the LB7 and 6 speed manual. I loved that truck-but I crashed it.:mad: Now have an '06 LBZ with 6 speed Allison and love it even more.:D

LBZ gets my vote... I love mine and all off the things you can do to them

I have a 03 lb7 but i would get the lbz dont get me wrong i love my lb7 but the lbz has a 6 speed tranny plus no injector problems.I have a buddy that bought the new dodge and he gets about 11 miles per gallon he wish he had his 04 dodge back.

06 or 07 might just be the ticket. You get a "factory warranteed" 60HP tune, a 6-speed and you don't have the emissions crap. Kind of like Strike1, Strike 2, Strike3-- buy it.

I have a 06 LBZ in my Sig. I helped a local farmer haul round bales on day i spent 8 hours in the truck hauling from field to farm with 20K on a bumper pull house trailer and I never had a lack of power She would pull hills like I only had 5K on the trailer. The truck never got hot it was a high of 93*F that day and I had the A/C on. I love the power and the 6 speed ally. My old man had an 03 and a 06 LLY both of them felt like a factory 6.2 (not to ofend anyone I owned a 6.2).

Oh yeah, I vote LBZ

I love my truck but have had nothing but front end problems.


Why don't you save your money and just upgrade your front end? $1,800 for a Dynatrac Free-Spin kit is a good start...

06 or 07 LBZ for sure....you will not be disapointed. good looks, great power and no DPF bull sh*t

I love my truck but have had nothing but front end problems

Its good to hear someone else that thinks the dodge front ends are junk :D, you can only change so many ball joints and hubs before it drives you nuts!!!!

As you can see, I agree that the older body style is the best, but if I were you I would go with the LBZ, the 01 to 04 LB7's have been known to have injector issues (not all of them, but a few)

yeah ive had ball joints on both sideds replaced countless times. so many i started doing it myself. Pretty much every time i would find a track bar end bad here or there. Other day i had one on order and the day before i got it the drag link fell to the ground after a right turn. THATS a funny feeling. Luckly i had already come back from the boating trip and qasnt crusing 75 down the highway with the $40,000 ski boat on the back!!!!!!

Then again a couple weeks later the safty pin in the castle nut holding the front hub csme out snd the nut made its way off trashing the whole front hub, caliper, roter, and a number of other things.

Dont get me wrong this is the best truck ive ever had, and the first diesel, and if it didnt have alomst 300,000 miles on the ticker i'de keep it forever. But they saying nickel and diming you to death is becoming a sad reality right about now! talk about fatal attraction :)

So whats the differance in the lb7 and lbz engines?!?! i knoe model years obiviously but what else?
Ive noticed most dont have a "lift pump" installed. Pre 03 dodges have to have em and if they go out, you can count on a $1500 injection pump to soon follow. How does the Duramax get its fuel? strickly from the injection pump?

And hows the front end on these trucks? Ha Ha i just had to ask. What are the most common problems in each generation?
Thanks again guys.

I have a '05 lly with 98K and have had no front end issues at all. Granted the front torsion bars are cranked up and I only have 265-16 tires on it. If you plan on doing hard launches you'll want to get the stronger tie rods so you don't end up with the front tires looking at each other.:eek: I pull regularly with it and have had it all over our ranch and love this truck.

i have a 03 lb7 and i love my truck but if i were to upgrade/buy another truck it would definately be a 06 lbz because it has the 6 speed allison and a few other things

I guess it's eact to his own but my balljoints and what not made about 140K before they took a dump along with every other front end component :rolleyes:. I do ubuse it a bit though.
My vote would be a 01-04 LB7 but I'm kinda biased to them :D. LLY's and LBZ's are great too I'm sure.
This is strictly my openion but my LB7 with no more than a tune and exhaust will hold pretty much dead even with my buddys LBZ with a PPE Hot 425,FASS 150,TTS pickup,5" exhaust,porrted fuel rail and fitting,ect. Mine is a manual too. I have a lift pump now so I'd guarantee different results ):h

Dont know why everyones against the DPF. Its not that hard to remove and lean in the corner of the garge. I have had no complaints againt this LMM.

What exactly is DPF?!

I had an LB7 with AFE intake, 4" straight pipe and bullydog programer, and I honestly think my LBZ has more nuts stock than my LB7 did. I loved my 03 but would definately recommend an LBZ.

What exactly is DPF?!
Diesel PArticulate Filter

Something else to plug up the exhaust. Supposed to Clean the exhaust. They get hot! You can smell them getting hot and the exhuast has a wierd odor too. Dad is wishing he hadn't traded his 05 lly for his new LMM. He's told me that numerous times. HE wants to trade me for my LBZ and I Laugh and say NO!:D

What exactly is DPF?!

It's a diesel particulate filter - it goes into regen mode to burn all the unburned fuel particles that come out of your tailpipe. 1400 f to cut down on pollution.

I had an 03 LB7 with all the goodies (bully dog crazy larry program, 5" exhaust, cold air intake) and found it fast untell I drove my 07 LBZ stock, and it would have spanked my old truck! Now I have all the goodies on my new one with 38" tires and I can keep up with mustangs! LBZ is a far better truck than my old LB7. Not one problem and have over 110,000 kms. Haven't even touched the front end yet, drive in oilfield, have a big lift and tires, and idler arm - pitman arm, and tie rods are all origanal stock equipement from when I got er new. And yes I do drive the shit out of it, and she just begs for more.;)

I like my '01. It's simple (for being fully loaded) no fancy steering wheel controls or dash monitor crap like the new ones. It's got its creaks but thats cause I need to give her a good time with the grease gun. I suppose if I had the opportunity I might go for an LBZ in the future, but right now im contempt. It runs, it drives, it rattles, its loud, its a diesel...and the best part is when peoples jaws drop and go WTF when you haul ass past em. Love it. Anyways, if your lookin at a Duramax, go for it and don't look back.

Dont know why everyones against the DPF. Its not that hard to remove and lean in the corner of the garge. I have had no complaints againt this LMM.

I would but I paid for the extra "bumper to bumper" warranty to 75k and don't want to lose it.

the lmm's are actually still really good trucks if u dont want to buy it because of the dpf crap, you could get it straight piped and tuned for about 500$ I did it to mine and never looked back. It is so fast even in stock form tuner, exhuast only.

LB7's can be just as fast as any LBZ, I have an 01 and a friend of mine has an 07 classic with similar mods and tuning we are about neck and neck, both very nice trucks, hell all the Dmaxes are awesome! Buy anyone and never look back!! I guarantee you will say "Cummins?????....what Cummins."

Yeppers LBZ is the way to go, I love mine it is one badass dude.

This is strictly my openion but my LB7 with no more than a tune and exhaust will hold pretty much dead even with my buddys LBZ with a PPE Hot 425,FASS 150,TTS pickup,5" exhaust,porrted fuel rail and fitting,ect.

:eek:

that LBZ is probably a mid 13 second truck, thats impressive a ZF stock clutch will hold that much power. :)

Hmmm.. yes indeedy it is kinda doutful a stock ZF is holding anywhere near that kinda power. But if you are you are a badass noless.

get a 07 lbz, they are good on fuel, lots of power, and very reliable.

They're all good. Nothing wrong with LB7's and '01-'02 are in my opinion the best looking. The LLY's are terrific and I wouldn't sell mine for anything. But I also think the 06-07LBZ's are the best they've ever made.

Get an 06 or 07 classic with the LBZ. All of the bugs are worked out of it and it is pre-2008 emission b.s. I have an '07 classic and LOVE this truck.

Well I have one of the above 06 lbz's.
All in all the best vehicle I have ever owned. Like all, they need TLC and regular maint.
Only issues were the commons ones:

Leaking front end tranny hoses - cheap chinese made hoses with aluminum crimps - am in process of changing to proper hydraulic hoses/comp. fittings.

Intermediate steering shaft. It was an issue while this unit was under warranty, got it done at the stealer and has been good ever since. (newly designed part installed)

Other than that, just the normal stuff: rear seal, front left wheel bearing assy and a fuel sending unit sensor. NO issues with motor/tranny. None Zippo - period. (but block your egr). Great paint - awesome interior for cloth (had an 05 Dak and it just sucked for interior). Super sound system with the Bose speakers. I agree with the comments on the 08 NBS. Too much emissions crap and I never did like the body style although I will allow it is looking better every time I see it.!

Love my truck, am over 100k and fully expect to get 4-500,000 miles.

You will love it too.!

Cheers,

Stk

I went LBZ by accident...didn't know at the time the pros/cons of years before/after. Boy, am I glad it worked out that way. I think the 07 classics are the end result of GM polishing thier first real attempts at diesel trucks....and since going clean slate in '08, they've had to start over with the polishing, imo.

I have always been a cummins man myself, I have owned a 99,04,05,and now a 2006 mega cab.I decided to bite the bullet and buy a 2005 lly and now dad has the dodge and I won,t ever look back at a cummins again! Nothing against them but you can tune the duramax much better in so many ways compared to the dodge and after driving with a allison good buy to the 48re good luck in hunting for a truck:)

[quote=jmlcolorado;2822311]
So whats the differance in the lb7 and lbz engines?!?! i knoe model years obiviously but what else?



LB7 and early LLY is the same block and components. '06 started w/LLY w/5 speed Ally and went to LBZ w/6 speed Ally. I'm not sure about the '06 LLY but the LBZ and the LMM block and other components are beefed up to handle the extra HP and torque.
I had an '02 with about 92,000 miles w/no front end issues. Don't know if Dodge has grease fittings but the GM's have 11.
I've loved both of them.

[quote=jmlcolorado;2822311]
So whats the differance in the lb7 and lbz engines?!?! i knoe model years obiviously but what else?



LB7 and early LLY is the same block and components. '06 started w/LLY w/5 speed Ally and went to LBZ w/6 speed Ally. I'm not sure about the '06 LLY but the LBZ and the LMM block and other components are beefed up to handle the extra HP and torque.
I had an '02 with about 92,000 miles w/no front end issues. Don't know if Dodge has grease fittings but the GM's have 11.
I've loved both of them.


11 fittings!?!?!?!?!:eek: hope the mechanic catches em all...does anybody have a diagraor picture or where theese might be?? im gonna start doin the oil changes myself now that i have the space i know of the upper and lower ball joints and the 4 on the steering system. anybody know where the other ones are??

Upper and lower balljoints=4
outer tie rods at the hub=2
inner tie rods the flex point by the frame=2
Idler arm RH side infront of the axle on the cross member/tie rod=2
pitman arm LH side infront of the axle on the cross member/tie rod=1

There actualy easy to find when your under the truck.

There are pictures out there somewhere. I think maybe the DIY section.