Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Any 2500HD Duramax/Allison owners out there?

Just curious if any of my fellow Axiomites own one of these bad a$$ trucks. I'm thinking about upgrading my 1500 Z71 to one in the next 3-4 months.

I have many friends who own them. They are very popular in Alaska because just about everyone here hauls something around. Anything in particular you need / want to know?

I believe Adrian has one.

Oh I don't know Mike, I guess I was just curious if anyone on here had one. We will be upgrading to a 5th wheel in the next few years so I will need something different anyway. I know the 6.0 is capable, but many people on the Chevy and/or Diesel forums are saying they would never go back to a gasser based on all the benefits of the Diesel longevity/mileage/abilities.

My friends tell me the same thing. They love them. I do know that many are pissed off at all the new ones (dodge, ford, GM) because they have a slew of emissions crap on them that is creating reliability issues. I think 2007 is about as new as you can get without the new headaches. I would stay clear of Ford. I know more folks who have moved from Ford than any other brand. My sister had two of them that gave her nothing but problems. She now has a Dodge Mega-cab and so far, she likes it. But GM does have the Alison and from what I gather, that's the tranny to beat. The new Cummings paired up with the Alison would be a heck of a drive train. I have an 08 Sierra Denali with AWD. I love the truck, it has plenty of power (with the help of some bolt on's), but if I were to tow on a frequent basis, I'd swap it out for the new Sierra Denali 3/4 ton with Duromax. That truck looks pretty sweet..

Randy, I have a Z71 1-ton with the Duramax/Allison 6spd. Like yourself I went from a 5.3L Z71(2001) to this one which is a 2010 model yr(365hp/660lb ft). I'll be using it this year to pull some equip't I've got on order(about 10,000lbs) but so far I've just been using it as my driver. Compared to the old truck, obviously I've got crap loads more power, on top of which I'm getting much better mileage(highway, city not much diff). The 2011's will give you even more power and better economy over the '10s, btw. Having driven the truck for 7-8 mos, I prefer it over my gasser...actually seems quieter on the highway due to the lower rev's combined with the 6 spds and actually goes pretty quick when you want it to. Can't give you any thoughts on towing just yet, but I'm thinking this truck won't break a sweat with a few tons behind it. I've had no more than 1400-1500 lbs of stone in the back so far, not even noticeable except it settles the chassis down and rides smoother with the added weight. The 11's require urea(same w. Ford), but the 10's and earlier don't require it so take that into consideration reg fuel mileage....11s get better mileage than 10s but you also pay for the urea which evens it out somewhat.

Yep, thanks Mike and Adrian, I've been reading up on the 2011 improvements. Sounds like you get about 5,000 miles before the DEF (urea) tank empties then your computer screen tells you it is getting low. I talked to a guy on a diesel forum and he says he gets around 21 hwy and got 16 pulling his 9,000+ fifth wheel recently on a 500 mile trip. My 2000 Z71 gets about 9mpg pulling our 5,600lbs (empty weight) travel trailer, and higher teens highway pulling nothing.

The air brake on these new duramax engines sounds like it works great as well. Speaking of Ford, I know prior to 2011 they always outsourced their diesels, however, this year they developed their own engines in house. I have heard about previous year problems, only time will tell if their in-house superduty can live up to its name, so far looks good though.

Adrian, how does your Duramax start up north in the winter? What color is yours?

The guys that own the business next to ours switched from Ford '04-'05 Diesels and went to Dodge with the Cummins '06-'07 and then switched back to Ford except for a couple of them who switched to the Duramax/Allison. They had engine issues with their Fords and everything but engine issues with the Dodges, the newer Fords they bought have been trouble free so far. Our business has a couple of the problematic years Ford F-450s ('06-'07) that get the dickens worked out of and thus far they have been trouble free and also I personally have an '06 F250 with the 6.0 diesel that has been trouble free for the 92k miles I've put on it since new.

I've owned nothing but diesels since '96 (Cummins, a couple of 7.3 Powerstrokes and my current 6.0) but I'm not so sure I'd go back to another diesel ... our current gas price is $3.07 compared to $3.48 for diesel, you'll probably pay about $5k (guess) for the initial cost of the diesel engine and now they're using that urea crap for emissions. If the price of diesel gets as high as it was a couple of years back plan on spending about $150 or more for every tank full (25 gal tank), whatever the cost of that urea crap is and over $100 for oil changes.

Randy, if the price of fuel goes up like they say it is I'd probably hold off and wait to buy your truck whenever there's a shit ton of those things lined up on every street corner with for sale signs on 'em ... those guys won't be able to give 'em away then.

Randy, I haven't had any prob's starting it at all, in fact the owner's manual only suggests you use the block heater if the temps are consistantly -18C. I haven't bothered to use the block heater or use the supplied front grill cover and had no problems.

I got over 27mpg(imp) on the 400hwy(Axiom road trip!!) while I was breaking the motor in...might improve this year(fingers crossed). I will say, the diesel gets decent economy....when it's warmed up good. Short trips around town in the middle of January are not economical since the motor doesn't have time to heat up.

My truck is silver, reg cab...if you look up the Axiom party thread, there's a shot of it in the background in front of Axiom's plant.