Shopping for a Duramax

GTPpower

TCG Elite Member
Jun 5, 2012
6,294
9,609
Nebraska
I'm looking to get back into a diesel pickup. I had a 6.0 PSD a few years ago, and it ended up costing my tons of money in maintence...so I swore off them.

I looked at a few duramax's, and some 24v cummins.

Stock 24v is rated at 235hp and 460lb ft.
Stock LLY Duramax is 310hp and 520lb ft.

See if my thought process makes sense here.

Keep in mind that I tow 10k-15k through hills, so anything I get will be tuned.

I'm not going to consider a Cummins with an automatic transmission.

To make the 24v Cummins reliable, it looks like they need a $800 lift pump, then $700 for a tuner, probably $500 for engine monitoring, then about another $1k for a good clutch that'll hold it all. That all adds up to $3000.


I've been trying to find LLY and LBZ duramax's, but have looked at some LB7's as well. I haven't been able to find a LB7 with good balance rates across all injectors though, so I've steered away from those so far. LBZ's seem to bring stupid money, thus why I'm considering the LLY route.

Anyways, to make a LLY reliable, it looks like they need $120 for a CAT fuel filter, and possibly $150 for a intake tube, $500 for cooling if needed, $500 for engine monitoring, and $100 to unlock it with HPT. That's $720, or $1370 if I can't keep it cool in the summer.

Is there any reason for me to even consider a Cummins? I understand that they are pretty reliable, but it seems like there is a pretty decent price tag to get it there. I could almost bulletproof a 6.0 PSD for that. It is my opinion that the Ford body/chassis is quite a bit better than the Dodge. So that has me raising the question of whether a Dodge would actually be any better than a Ford.

Either way, the LLY Duramax seems to be a lot cheaper than the Ford or Dodge options.

Do my numbers seem reasonable? Any other input on this?
 

chris101

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Jun 25, 2009
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PMed you.

IMG_5382_zpstsbt6ybe.jpg
 

DEEZUZ

NO PUKESTERS
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Nov 20, 2008
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Break my heart, please!

I had injector problems, glow plug problems, wiring problems with the obd2 port, vvt issues, intercooler couplers ripping, and the nail in the coffin was when the hpop went out.

Ok so in reality there really is no heart breaking, I was just in it for the likes :s00ls:

Sounds like to me your only option is a Duramax. They are hands down by far the least thing we get in the shop. And when we do, it's injectors, egr coolers, turbos, etc. The easy shit. We do have the heads ripped off a LBZ right now, but it's been our first one in years.

Off the bat what's needed to be addrested with them stock is fuel filtration and feed. As we know, the DMAX doesn't have a lift pump. It actually sucks it's fuel from the tank. It's a very very flawed system and IMO the Achilles heel of the dmax. I in no way stand by the whole FASS systems, but on the duramax it works well.

Yes everything can benefit from a bigger radiator, but unlike the LB7, it's not needed in the later years. I'd pay more attention to coolant than anything. Fully flush the engine with distilled water(about 30 gallons of it) and refill with an ELC/Distilled mixture. No need for coolant filtration, these things don't benefit from them.

We used to maintain a set of dually dmaxs that traveled together across the country hot shotting 5th wheels full of cars. They were easily towing 15k+ on a daily basis. The one had 640k and other just reached 400k. They always just needed an injector here and there. They claimed that they never had any other issues with their trucks. They were not tuned though and the owner stressed it big time he wouldn't think of it. Those guys rarely changed their oil also. Those trucks are just a few that swayed my opinion on the reliability of that motor.

As for the trucks themselves, that's where my issue lies. Countless modules, everything talks to everything, everything is programmed to each other, alot of CAN network errors when you have something going out. And it's usually never easy to find nor cheap. Instrument clusters are notorious for crapping out, body control modules, trans modules, etc. I've seen them all go bad. This shouldn't sway your opinion, I'm just giving you some insight on what to expect. Interior panels rattling is just a tiny annoyance that I find in nearly every single one I've rode in, I don't get it.

The Allison is a decent trans, IMO nothing compared to what ford runs. I've seen small tunes cause them to slip and I don't think they hold up very well towing. Costs compared to ford/dodge trans is about 1.5x. So if your planning on tuning, find a really good trans tuner. I currently have no recommendations on tuners, I don't keep up with the dmax world much.

That's all I can think of right now.
 

chris101

TCG Elite Member
Jun 25, 2009
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^ great info to share, thanks!

We've had our duramax since 2007 and the most expensive thing we've done to date was replaced the injectors (did them all at the same time rather than 1 at a time as they went since 2 went at the same time to start)

Otherwise its been a few things here and there (2 power window switches, blown out factory speakers, and the cruise control stalk replaced).. and then the normal maintenance items of course like brakes, tires, etc. (but we do more frequent oil changes and change the fuel filter every 15k miles -- seems like cheap insurance anyway)
 

greasy

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jun 25, 2007
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Ok so in reality there really is no heart breaking, I was just in it for the likes :s00ls:

Sounds like to me your only option is a Duramax. They are hands down by far the least thing we get in the shop. And when we do, it's injectors, egr coolers, turbos, etc. The easy shit. We do have the heads ripped off a LBZ right now, but it's been our first one in years.

Off the bat what's needed to be addrested with them stock is fuel filtration and feed. As we know, the DMAX doesn't have a lift pump. It actually sucks it's fuel from the tank. It's a very very flawed system and IMO the Achilles heel of the dmax. I in no way stand by the whole FASS systems, but on the duramax it works well.

Yes everything can benefit from a bigger radiator, but unlike the LB7, it's not needed in the later years. I'd pay more attention to coolant than anything. Fully flush the engine with distilled water(about 30 gallons of it) and refill with an ELC/Distilled mixture. No need for coolant filtration, these things don't benefit from them.

We used to maintain a set of dually dmaxs that traveled together across the country hot shotting 5th wheels full of cars. They were easily towing 15k+ on a daily basis. The one had 640k and other just reached 400k. They always just needed an injector here and there. They claimed that they never had any other issues with their trucks. They were not tuned though and the owner stressed it big time he wouldn't think of it. Those guys rarely changed their oil also. Those trucks are just a few that swayed my opinion on the reliability of that motor.

As for the trucks themselves, that's where my issue lies. Countless modules, everything talks to everything, everything is programmed to each other, alot of CAN network errors when you have something going out. And it's usually never easy to find nor cheap. Instrument clusters are notorious for crapping out, body control modules, trans modules, etc. I've seen them all go bad. This shouldn't sway your opinion, I'm just giving you some insight on what to expect. Interior panels rattling is just a tiny annoyance that I find in nearly every single one I've rode in, I don't get it.

The Allison is a decent trans, IMO nothing compared to what ford runs. I've seen small tunes cause them to slip and I don't think they hold up very well towing. Costs compared to ford/dodge trans is about 1.5x. So if your planning on tuning, find a really good trans tuner. I currently have no recommendations on tuners, I don't keep up with the dmax world much.

That's all I can think of right now.

You sir, are what they mean by "Subject Matter Expert"!

BRAVO BRAVO!

clapping_renly.gif
 

GTPpower

TCG Elite Member
Jun 5, 2012
6,294
9,609
Nebraska
Ok so in reality there really is no heart breaking, I was just in it for the likes :s00ls:

Sounds like to me your only option is a Duramax. They are hands down by far the least thing we get in the shop. And when we do, it's injectors, egr coolers, turbos, etc. The easy shit. We do have the heads ripped off a LBZ right now, but it's been our first one in years.

Off the bat what's needed to be addrested with them stock is fuel filtration and feed. As we know, the DMAX doesn't have a lift pump. It actually sucks it's fuel from the tank. It's a very very flawed system and IMO the Achilles heel of the dmax. I in no way stand by the whole FASS systems, but on the duramax it works well.

Yes everything can benefit from a bigger radiator, but unlike the LB7, it's not needed in the later years. I'd pay more attention to coolant than anything. Fully flush the engine with distilled water(about 30 gallons of it) and refill with an ELC/Distilled mixture. No need for coolant filtration, these things don't benefit from them.

We used to maintain a set of dually dmaxs that traveled together across the country hot shotting 5th wheels full of cars. They were easily towing 15k+ on a daily basis. The one had 640k and other just reached 400k. They always just needed an injector here and there. They claimed that they never had any other issues with their trucks. They were not tuned though and the owner stressed it big time he wouldn't think of it. Those guys rarely changed their oil also. Those trucks are just a few that swayed my opinion on the reliability of that motor.

As for the trucks themselves, that's where my issue lies. Countless modules, everything talks to everything, everything is programmed to each other, alot of CAN network errors when you have something going out. And it's usually never easy to find nor cheap. Instrument clusters are notorious for crapping out, body control modules, trans modules, etc. I've seen them all go bad. This shouldn't sway your opinion, I'm just giving you some insight on what to expect. Interior panels rattling is just a tiny annoyance that I find in nearly every single one I've rode in, I don't get it.

The Allison is a decent trans, IMO nothing compared to what ford runs. I've seen small tunes cause them to slip and I don't think they hold up very well towing. Costs compared to ford/dodge trans is about 1.5x. So if your planning on tuning, find a really good trans tuner. I currently have no recommendations on tuners, I don't keep up with the dmax world much.

That's all I can think of right now.

Thank-you a ton. I understand that a diesel is going to cost me more maintence wise, but I'm hoping the fuel gains and ease of pulling will even it out.

The Allison is one thing that scares me, although they do have a good rep for the most part. I know it's probably going to eventually go out, and it's gonna be a kick in the balls.
 

GTPpower

TCG Elite Member
Jun 5, 2012
6,294
9,609
Nebraska
Ok so in reality there really is no heart breaking, I was just in it for the likes :s00ls:

Sounds like to me your only option is a Duramax. They are hands down by far the least thing we get in the shop. And when we do, it's injectors, egr coolers, turbos, etc. The easy shit. We do have the heads ripped off a LBZ right now, but it's been our first one in years.

Off the bat what's needed to be addrested with them stock is fuel filtration and feed. As we know, the DMAX doesn't have a lift pump. It actually sucks it's fuel from the tank. It's a very very flawed system and IMO the Achilles heel of the dmax. I in no way stand by the whole FASS systems, but on the duramax it works well.

Yes everything can benefit from a bigger radiator, but unlike the LB7, it's not needed in the later years. I'd pay more attention to coolant than anything. Fully flush the engine with distilled water(about 30 gallons of it) and refill with an ELC/Distilled mixture. No need for coolant filtration, these things don't benefit from them.

We used to maintain a set of dually dmaxs that traveled together across the country hot shotting 5th wheels full of cars. They were easily towing 15k+ on a daily basis. The one had 640k and other just reached 400k. They always just needed an injector here and there. They claimed that they never had any other issues with their trucks. They were not tuned though and the owner stressed it big time he wouldn't think of it. Those guys rarely changed their oil also. Those trucks are just a few that swayed my opinion on the reliability of that motor.

As for the trucks themselves, that's where my issue lies. Countless modules, everything talks to everything, everything is programmed to each other, alot of CAN network errors when you have something going out. And it's usually never easy to find nor cheap. Instrument clusters are notorious for crapping out, body control modules, trans modules, etc. I've seen them all go bad. This shouldn't sway your opinion, I'm just giving you some insight on what to expect. Interior panels rattling is just a tiny annoyance that I find in nearly every single one I've rode in, I don't get it.

The Allison is a decent trans, IMO nothing compared to what ford runs. I've seen small tunes cause them to slip and I don't think they hold up very well towing. Costs compared to ford/dodge trans is about 1.5x. So if your planning on tuning, find a really good trans tuner. I currently have no recommendations on tuners, I don't keep up with the dmax world much.

That's all I can think of right now.

I'm going to look at a 05 duramax this weekend. But, the electrical problems you mentioned, got me thinking.

I'm assuming that the 98-02 24v Cummins probably has less electrical problems?
 

Yaj Yak

Gladys
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May 24, 2007
122,170
87,691
Niche score of 2,363
one of the best things to do to aid in putting off rust in these trucks is mudflaps... for fucking sure.

Mud Flaps
An easy and inexpensive way to keep moisture from getting to your rocker panels in the first place is to install a set of mud flaps. There is a small hole inside of the seam that runs alongside the wheel wells in the rear where three body panels come together. Over time, water, dirt, and salt makes their way into this hole and eventually turn your rocker panels into a rusty mess. Mud Flaps cover the hole and prevent this from happening.

mudflas-70924.jpg
 

chris101

TCG Elite Member
Jun 25, 2009
1,516
4
Mt. Prospect, IL
Real Name
yes
I've had 2 dodge diesels in my past. LOVED the cummins.. BUT hated everything else.. the rust factor is the absolute worst (way worse than GM products in my experiences anyway)

I also hated how everything else fell apart on the Dodge... sure the engine was bullet proof but the automatic transmission was horrible (unless you got a manual trans of course) and I had all sorts of issues with the 4x4 system and differential on Dodge trucks.. go figure

Anyway, the rust factor alone where I live means I will never own a dodge again thanks
 
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