chevy duramax disel

[merwood]

would to hear from owners of these as far towing and mileage thanks in advance for your replies

[MorMJS]

Tequila wrote:
I actually liked the front end of it. My new dodge feels like it wanders. I am gettign the steering box reinforcment mod done. There is also the death wobble issue which I hope this will avoid. Dodge ball joints are usually only good for about 40,000 miles according to my mechanic.

Only complaint I ever had with my Chev was injectors, and that is a biggie.

AS jkmaotto points out lubrication is an issue. the LB7 uses common rail injectors, the only lubrication they get is from the fuel.

http://www.hotshotsecret.com/diagnose/chevygmc-pickup/66-duramax-issues/66-duramax-white-smoke/

My 09 Dodge only has 28,000 miles on it and I have already had to replace my ball joints. I replaced with Dynatrac ball joints, and my tie rod ends and steering stabilizer were replaced under a recall. What a HUGE difference the ball joints made, to correct the wandering and wobble.

[ktmrfs]

I had an 04.5LLY got about 17 on the highway empty, and 10-12 towing. 10ish with my 10K TT, 12-13 pulling my 7x14 cargo trailer. Had 125K troublefree miles, and now our son has it.

Now have a 2015 GMC sierra Denali, same config, CC/SB/4x4. mileage towing is about the same. Highway mileage has gone up. Got 21.5 between Portland OR and San Dieago going down to visit our daughter. Trips to central montana where the LLY got around 17, the 15 is getting around 18.5-19.

Overall, the new body 2015 is a dramatic improvement over the 04.5 except for the 2" increase in body height and step in height.

DEF lasts about 7K miles when running empty, will see how that changes now that towing season has started.

[Tequila]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
2015 Duramax. Averages around 11 mpg towing. As low as 6.5 in a strong headwind. Just about exactly the same as my 2010 Dodge Cummins I replaced it with. Anthing much higher is generally considered by me as BS.

B.O.

The mileage on mine shot up after about 75K.

[wrenchbender]

I now have a 15 Denali and get 16. My 01 Duramax got 14,the only down side with my new truck is watching the Def because I do long trips, 1-2k a run.Get about 1300 miles to a gal of Def.

[kaydeejay]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
............... Anthing much higher is generally considered by me as BS.

B.O.

My numbers for my 2005 are hand calculated and NOT BS. Ran almost 1000 miles on one 52 gallon tankful one time.
You do the math!

[Bessie-Hunter]

2012 3500HD CC dually, just finished a 4800 mile trip from Ohio to Yellowstone pulling a 9000 lb 36 foot travel trailer and mileage averaged from 10.4 to 12.6 MPG's with an overall average at 12.4 MPG. Towing miles was 3450, the rest running solo.

[B_O__Plenty]

2015 Duramax. Averages around 11 mpg towing. As low as 6.5 in a strong headwind. Just about exactly the same as my 2010 Dodge Cummins I replaced it with. Anthing much higher is generally considered by me as BS.

B.O.

[RVcrazy]

We have a 2015 3500 & love it. So far, we have 29k miles on it including a trip across the country that covered the Tetons & the Smokies... Towing, we get about 12.5 most of the time. Over the last year, we average 12.8mp by our calculations & the dash readout says 13.4. Running empty, we have seen 24 on the freeway without the fiver, but that is rare because we are full timing. We are towing a 34' Hitchhiker.

Beyond mileage,other pluses are the tow haul mode and built in exhaust brake. We also notice the good view from the rear backup camera. And like the 36 gallon fuel tank (standard) on our short box SRW.

[Jframpey]

2008 Silverado 2500hd towing 11 - 12,000lbs 11 mpg. Empty 15.5 mpg. I removed the emissions equipment before 10,000 miles! And I run 60 mph towing.

It has not seen the inside of the dealership since I bought it. I change the fluids and filters on schedule and grease the front end every 10,000.

I Love this truck! The duramax engine is a towing dream, but teamed with the Allison transmission - makes it even better! I only have 80,000 on the truck now - I plan to keep it forever!

[kaydeejay]

Rig in sig - 12 to 13 mpg towing at 62-65mph, 19mpg empty.

[Robbies_grandpa]

I didn't put my year, but it is a 2013

[rvsixer]

Tequila wrote:
I actually liked the front end of it.

Agree when its not wearing out prematurely its a GREAT front end. Spending a couple of thousand to rebuild it every 60-70K miles not so great. I replaced everything with Timken wheel bearings, Moog/Spicer arms/balls, and a Cognito pitman/idler brace kit this last time around. Hopefully I will get at least 100K out of this setup!

And no I am not hard on front ends (I am the guy that NEVER turns the wheel at a standstill). The entire GMT800/900 HD truck line has a very well established history of weak front ends/wheel bearings.

BOT....

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

There is no lubrication issues with the LB7 injectors. The LLY and LBZ had the same "type" of fuel system and they didn't have rampant injector problems.

The problem the LB7 injectors had was they were JUNK directly from Bosch AND had poor filtering. Bosch admitted that and came out with a new injector design which worked as good as the LBZ design.

The problem people had with multiple injector problems was old stock got into the supply line and they were sold as second gen injectors. Or people bought "rebuilt" injectors on Flebay. It was reported that even dealers were getting old stock and using it as new or they knew about it and did it on purpose.

[Tequila]

I actually liked the front end of it. My new dodge feels like it wanders. I am gettign the steering box reinforcment mod done. There is also the death wobble issue which I hope this will avoid. Dodge ball joints are usually only good for about 40,000 miles according to my mechanic.

Only complaint I ever had with my Chev was injectors, and that is a biggie.

AS jkmaotto points out lubrication is an issue. the LB7 uses common rail injectors, the only lubrication they get is from the fuel.

http://www.hotshotsecret.com/diagnose/chevygmc-pickup/66-duramax-issues/66-duramax-white-smoke/