Just ordered an LML and am extremely excited. This will be my first diesel and I have alot to learn. My family and I do alot of camping and tow a 35' travel trailer that's in the 10,000 lb. range when loaded. I'm over on the numbers with the truck i'm towing with now. Want a truck that I don't have to stare at the guages and worry about overheating and other problems associated with towing. This new truck will also be my everyday driver and driving to work round trip is no more than 10 miles. It was brought to my attention on a different forum that this is not good on a diesel?? Not sure why? Maybe not enough miles traveled at one time? I'm in need of some reassurance to put my mind at ease. Hoping this info is not valid. Thanks.

5 mile trips are hard on any engine, diesel or gas. Driving like that you will probably see lots of regen cycles which uses more fuel. The problem is it can't properly do a regen in a 5 mile trip. Hot exhaust coming thru a cold exhaust pipe condenses until the pipe warms up, you may have mufflers and exhaust pipes rusting our sooner with all the short trips. The DIC will probably indicate relatively short oil change intervals with all the cold starts. You probably won't get the same life from the engine as someone who puts on more "highway" miles but it will still last a long time and tow you trailer with ease.

Where do you live? I wouldn't short trip a diesel in cold climates.

First congrats and welcome to the D-Max site. Second other than the Regen crap you'll be just fine. The older Diesel Motors needed alot more time to warm up and get moving unlike the Duramax. I think on a 10 mile trip your truck will see a few more Regen and thats it.

If you ordered the remote start,you could just start it about 5 minutes before you go out to go to work and let it warm up.I have longer now but for over 5 years,I had 10 miles each way and never had a problem,but I guess I can't say that it didn't shorten it's life at all,but it wasn't enough to notice anything.I put a remote start on it and did let it warm up in the winter.

If it in the 30's or colder at night, plug in the heater. All Dmaxes have a plug so you can plug the heater into an outlet when it's cold outside. If you park in a garage, that will usually be fine unless you have COLD winter nights. Yeah, you'll probably have more frequent regens, but I wouldn't worry about it. Diesel trucks are built with daily driving in mind. Way too many people use their truck for everyday use. Like any other vehicle, do your regular oil and filter changes, along with the fuel filter. The fuel filter life monitor always did well for me. Diesels will go for a long time, but most never push it that far. I use my truck everyday, whether it be a load in the bed or a 48' trailer behind it. However, I trade too often to make use of the high mileage potential of a diesel. My '08 had 70k on it when I sold it.

Give it a few to warm up on cold mornings, do your regular maintenance, and you'll be fine. My LML will be my fifth Duramax, and all of the trucks have been my daily driver.

Thanks for the replys i'm feeling better already. I do live in a cold weather climate (NW Indiana) but the truck will be parked in a heated garage overnight. To tell you the truth I don't even know what regen means:confused:. It will have the remote start and I will use it during cold temps at work. Trevor, you must not have taken delivery yet. I know it's any day for you now. It's gonna be a long wait for me. Just hope to have it by bow season;).

Just try to work the truck hard when you get the chance. I daily driver mine and often have lots of short little drives but I dont have DPF/regen. Be nice to it while its cold and work it hard when its warmed up.

Thanks for the replys i'm feeling better already. I do live in a cold weather climate (NW Indiana) but the truck will be parked in a heated garage overnight. To tell you the truth I don't even know what regen means:confused:. It will have the remote start and I will use it during cold temps at work. Trevor, you must not have taken delivery yet. I know it's any day for you now. It's gonna be a long wait for me. Just hope to have it by bow season;).

Yeah, I was hoping that it would arrive yesterday, but i wasn't that lucky. No call today either, so I'm just going to quit worrying about it. I took the road trip to NM yesterday in my '09 CTS-V, so I'm managing. LOL I'm anxious to get the truck so I can get all of the little things done. My wait wouldn't be near as bad if I still had my '08, but when you don't have the replacement vehicle there to immediately replace you quickly realize how much you rely on it! I'm borrowing my dad's LMM work truck when I need something moved/carried, so I'm not left completely truckless. ;)

I thought that the new urea injection is replacing the regeneration in which the injectors would put fuel into the cylinder during the exhaust stroke.

"regen" means regeneration of the diesel particulate filter (DPF).
This DPF filters out the soot from the exhaust gas.
After a certain time this DPF is full with soot and the ECM (Engine Control Module) starts a "regen" by in increasing the exhaust temperature significantly to burn away the soot in the DPF.



Other topic:
This is your first diesel. You are used to fuel gasoline!
Hence take extra care everytime when fueling to fuel DIESEL.
If you have fueled gasoline by mistake shut off the engine as soon you note it.
The high pressure injection system can / will be damaged by gasoline
Train your wife to fuel only diesel.

I thought that the new urea injection is replacing the regeneration in which the injectors would put fuel into the cylinder during the exhaust stroke.

The urea injection will reduce the number of regens of the DPF, but it will not eliminate it. There is now an injector in the exhaust for the regens, so it won't dump extra fuel into the cylinders during the process.

Effect of the new SCR system by UREA injection is that fuel efficiency of the engine can be increased by combustions with more air. Effect of more air is less soot (=> number of regen cycles reduced) but more NOx (the NOx will be converted to N2 and H2O by the SCR system in the end).

I have wondered about the same thing. I have an 06 LBZ and my morning commute is a little over 1 mile. I live in the upper midwest where winter temps can range from the 30's to -30's. The truck handles the cold just fine. I do a fuel filter once a year and oil changes twice a year.

I think the thing that helps my truck is the fact that we also use it for shopping runs on weekends and those average 40-60 miles on the highway and interstate to other towns. My overall average speed is a hair over 30 mph even with my small daily commute.

I am hoping an LML would perform equally well. I am not looking for a new one yet (maybe another year or so) but will be watching for other's experiences.