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I deliver high profile ‘fire safety’ trailers. Traded the GMC Duramax/Allison I’ve used for over two years on a Dodge Cummins/6 speed. Just returned from my first tow with the new Cummins. The run was PA. to Texas and back. Five days and 3,200 miles later here’s my comparison of the trucks.
Both trucks are 2500 models, extended cab and crew with standard beds. The Dodge is a heavier truck. Its hitch receiver sits about 5 inches higher than the GMC and its suspension seems to have more heavy-duty spring assemblies. The Dodge also uses 17 inch 265/70 tires with more load capacity than the 16 inch 245’s used by GM.
It’s hard for me to compare two engines with different transmissions. The Allison automatic with the Duramax engine has pulled many trailers for me all over the country. This combination seemed more than adequate in power but always suffered the maddening ‘downshifts’ on hills and into headwinds. This immediately raises engine speeds into the 2,800-rpm range. Upon downshifting I usually slowed the truck down to the low 50 mph range to limit engine speed and noise. Much of my driving involved attention to throttle positions that would minimize these downshifts. With the hill and headwinds I experienced on this tow, my guess is there would have been hundreds of downshifts with lots of attention, fatigue and stress trying to avoid them.
After leaving Pennsylvania for West Virginia my astonishment with the Cummins was just getting under control. Pulling a hill out of Wheeling I did my first downshift to 5<SUP>th</SUP> gear. I’m not sure it was needed but the truck only had 300 miles on it and I didn’t want to lug the motor. All the way to Texas and I downshifted just one other time coming up a hill out of Cincinnati. Think about this. For the first time I could sit back, turn on the cruise control, hold my speed and just pull hard all the way. I am still in disbelief. Man, the Cummins just pulls the hills flat in 6<SUP>th</SUP> gear. There is almost no sound from the engine or turbo on even the longest hills and overall speed drops very little. I am guessing my average speeds all day are 5 to 10 mph faster while towing with the Cummins than with the Duramax.
Towing comfort and safety involve many issues. More power makes for easier towing but ride issues must also be considered. The GMC truck was easily moved around when big trucks passed. . You had to always be alert because the sway wanted to move you into the passing trucks. Not with this Dodge. There is almost no sway. At times I got scared seeing a big truck so close, not feeling the sway and not really hearing it as I used to. The higher speeds on hills also reduced the number of times a big rig was able to pass me. Chalk one major win up to the Dodge in the area of stability and this was also true in strong cross winds.
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Both trucks are 2500 models, extended cab and crew with standard beds. The Dodge is a heavier truck. Its hitch receiver sits about 5 inches higher than the GMC and its suspension seems to have more heavy-duty spring assemblies. The Dodge also uses 17 inch 265/70 tires with more load capacity than the 16 inch 245’s used by GM.
It’s hard for me to compare two engines with different transmissions. The Allison automatic with the Duramax engine has pulled many trailers for me all over the country. This combination seemed more than adequate in power but always suffered the maddening ‘downshifts’ on hills and into headwinds. This immediately raises engine speeds into the 2,800-rpm range. Upon downshifting I usually slowed the truck down to the low 50 mph range to limit engine speed and noise. Much of my driving involved attention to throttle positions that would minimize these downshifts. With the hill and headwinds I experienced on this tow, my guess is there would have been hundreds of downshifts with lots of attention, fatigue and stress trying to avoid them.
After leaving Pennsylvania for West Virginia my astonishment with the Cummins was just getting under control. Pulling a hill out of Wheeling I did my first downshift to 5<SUP>th</SUP> gear. I’m not sure it was needed but the truck only had 300 miles on it and I didn’t want to lug the motor. All the way to Texas and I downshifted just one other time coming up a hill out of Cincinnati. Think about this. For the first time I could sit back, turn on the cruise control, hold my speed and just pull hard all the way. I am still in disbelief. Man, the Cummins just pulls the hills flat in 6<SUP>th</SUP> gear. There is almost no sound from the engine or turbo on even the longest hills and overall speed drops very little. I am guessing my average speeds all day are 5 to 10 mph faster while towing with the Cummins than with the Duramax.
Towing comfort and safety involve many issues. More power makes for easier towing but ride issues must also be considered. The GMC truck was easily moved around when big trucks passed. . You had to always be alert because the sway wanted to move you into the passing trucks. Not with this Dodge. There is almost no sway. At times I got scared seeing a big truck so close, not feeling the sway and not really hearing it as I used to. The higher speeds on hills also reduced the number of times a big rig was able to pass me. Chalk one major win up to the Dodge in the area of stability and this was also true in strong cross winds.
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