What is the weak link for Chevy max tow ratings?

THe Duramax cooling issues were resolved for the most part with the intro of the LBZ motor in 2006. Really hasn't been an issue for over a decade.
Really not an issue for the modern Duramax's of today's era

larry barnhart wrote:

ib516 wrote:
I wonder if the cooling ability (heat rejection) of the previous Duramax was the limiting factor? GM seems to have done a number of improvements in that area with this newest generation Duramax, and they have to be sensitive to the issue since they screwed up the engineering of the 2004.5 and 2005 LLY overheaters....

ib516 You must have nightmares about the early duramax's so let it go and enjoy the new trucks. If our 05 was an overheater it would not be towing our alpenlite. If it was a truck with years of poor front end suspensions it would not be doing it either.

102000 miles and runs awesome.

chevman

No nightmares here, though I did drive one my dad owned and I towed his 26' TT with it. Any little hill and the cooling fan was screaming. I have no doubt on a steep grade with a heavier load it would have had the temp gauge climbing to the red zone.

Speaking of which, why do you have the aftermarket oil cooler in your signature on your truck? What is it, the TD-EOC ...that was marketed as a cure for the LLY overheating woes?

Come on Larry - There's only about 1000 threads on the Duramax forums about those trucks overheating :B

I will say the new trucks look pretty awesome and with the exception of the early injector issues (2001 to 2004), then the overheaters of 04 and 05, the Duramax has proven itself as a great powerplant.

ib516 wrote:
I wonder if the cooling ability (heat rejection) of the previous Duramax was the limiting factor? GM seems to have done a number of improvements in that area with this newest generation Duramax, and they have to be sensitive to the issue since they screwed up the engineering of the 2004.5 and 2005 LLY overheaters....

ib516 You must have nightmares about the early duramax's so let it go and enjoy the new trucks. If our 05 was an overheater it would not be towing our alpenlite. If it was a truck with years of poor front end suspensions it would not be doing it either.

102000 miles and runs awesome.

chevman

I wonder if the cooling ability (heat rejection) of the previous Duramax was the limiting factor? GM seems to have done a number of improvements in that area with this newest generation Duramax, and they have to be sensitive to the issue since they screwed up the engineering of the 2004.5 and 2005 LLY overheaters....

Cummins12V98 wrote:

ExxWhy wrote:
It could be argued that by increasing the tow rating to a number most customers will never use actually increases the reliability of the truck while towing at the lesser numbers that most people do need. If you think about how to make something more reliable, the first thing that comes to my mind is make it stronger.

HMMMMM, sounds like common sense. How dare you!!!

Okay. Then can either of you explain how increasing the tow ratings fixes the water pump recall, the steering linkage recall, the SCR recall, and all the other recalls on these trucks?

Also, how does going from a 30k tow rated frame to a 35k tow rated frame make it more reliable for those that tow less than 20k?

Cummins12V98 wrote:
FISH, why replace the shocks "TWICE" ?

Because I decided to try the adjustable Rancho shocks and after about ~20k miles they were junk.

Lantley wrote:

ExxWhy wrote:
It could be argued that by increasing the tow rating to a number most customers will never use actually increases the reliability of the truck while towing at the lesser numbers that most people do need. If you think about how to make something more reliable, the first thing that comes to my mind is make it stronger.

My last truck was a pre Emissions 2007 Duramax. My new truck is a 2019 Duramax with DEF emissions. The tow ratings have increased. I believe the frame is more substantial as well.
However the complexity has also increased. There are more electronics
than my prior truck.
While I have lots of faith in my new truck, it is more complicated than the old one. In short there is more to go wrong with it
While my new truck is more capable I don't know that it is more reliable.
Increased ability does not automatically equate to increased reliability. I purchased my 2007 because it was a pre emissions truck.


I deliberately avoided the DPF era trucks that had higher ratings, but suffered from poor MPG's and other issues. The DPF era is a good example of more capability but less reliability.
Fast forward now to the DEF era and the trucks are reliable and more capable. But the big 3 went through a learning curve to get there.
Will this next era of 10 speed trannies and insane power come with a learning curve?
Only time will tell but increased tow ratings is not a magical cure all for reliability issues.

The emissions requirements are a separate issue from increased capabilities. Even if they didn’t increase the tow ratings at all, Uncle Sam drove the new emissions.

ExxWhy wrote:
It could be argued that by increasing the tow rating to a number most customers will never use actually increases the reliability of the truck while towing at the lesser numbers that most people do need. If you think about how to make something more reliable, the first thing that comes to my mind is make it stronger.

My last truck was a pre Emissions 2007 Duramax. My new truck is a 2019 Duramax with DEF emissions. The tow ratings have increased. I believe the frame is more substantial as well.
However the complexity has also increased. There are more electronics
than my prior truck.
While I have lots of faith in my new truck, it is more complicated than the old one. In short there is more to go wrong with it
While my new truck is more capable I don't know that it is more reliable.
Increased ability does not automatically equate to increased reliability. I purchased my 2007 because it was a pre emissions truck.
I deliberately avoided the DPF era trucks that had higher ratings, but suffered from poor MPG's and other issues. The DPF era is a good example of more capability but less reliability.
Fast forward now to the DEF era and the trucks are reliable and more capable. But the big 3 went through a learning curve to get there.
Will this next era of 10 speed trannies and insane power come with a learning curve?
Only time will tell but increased tow ratings is not a magical cure all for reliability issues.

ExxWhy wrote:
It could be argued that by increasing the tow rating to a number most customers will never use actually increases the reliability of the truck while towing at the lesser numbers that most people do need. If you think about how to make something more reliable, the first thing that comes to my mind is make it stronger.

HMMMMM, sounds like common sense. How dare you!!!

FISH, why replace the shocks "TWICE" ?