bill12690

iTrader: (4)

Been wanting a truck for a while, and it's time for a new DD so work on the Camaro can begin. Looking into an 03+ Silverado, kinda want a 4WD crew cab. Anyway I was thinking of going 5.3 but after putting some thought into it, the price of diesel really isn't much worse than supreme I'm paying for now. Just wondering what kinda gas mileage you guys are getting, with or without a tune. If I pick one up, I may get a fuel saver tune, just wondering what you guys are getting and if a tune would be worth it.

20_LS1_02

I have a 2011 with the duramax, no mods at all and I average between 17-20 calculating it myself. If buying used I would look at the 06 and up, the LBZ and LMM duramaxs run strong and both get good mileage with a tune/ programmer.

ExclusivePerformance

iTrader: (1)

The duramax's pull the best mileage, but working on some of them can be a pita depending on year.
I bought a new dodge over a new duramax because of price, comfort, interior, and ease of modding/maintenance. fwiw I have a 2010 and get 18mpg highway with 37's

cambirdracing

iTrader: (4)

I have a 04 Kodiak with a Duramax. I have a Bully Dog programmer and 4" exhaust also. Pulls great, mileage is about 13 unloaded, but the truck weighs 11,500 lbs with me in it. 11,300 without me. Of course this isn't the truck you are probably wanting to know about, but it is for sale.

JUSTINSWS6

Not my ttuck but my works truck i drive its a 4wd crew cab 2011 6.6. Get a tuner for sure ive tuned a powerstroke with efi live and woke it up alot. Made 3 tunes for it racing, fuel saver, and smoke lol and it can smoke everycar on the road out

08-4door

iTrader: (5)

I have own a 04,05,06,07 classic.duramax....and have gotten no better than 16mpg.tuner never helps mileage cause ur foot is always in to.lol

Randy_S

iTrader: (1)

My '09 averages right at 15 with the 6" lift and 35's. I have EFILive, exhaust, CAI, DPF delete, PCV delete and B.S. delete.

My old '07 averaged right at 15 also with only a handheld programmer and muffler/cat delete. It was factory suspension with Hummer wheels and tires.

KWIKKAR

iTrader: (15)

Mine runs like a champ... Only gets about 15-16 MPGs.. I'd sell it too, want to move to a Raptor truck.. 4 door, all white, 101,000 miles. Prob ask around $26K for it. mods in sig.

ZFSix

iTrader: (14)

My dad had an 06 with a programmer and got around 18 combined. He now has an '11 that is stock and gets about 18-19 combined.

LeadfootDuramax

iTrader: (6)

I have a 06 CCSB LBZ. I have a turbo back exhaust, high flow up pipes & manifolds, AFE Stage 2 intake (not necessary, but got it for nearly free), and a fingerstick for the EGR codes. No tuner. I have 265 70 17's on H2's. A little bigger and heavier than stock, but not much.

I ordered this truck before all the diesel emmission crap got carried away.

I get about 16-17 around town and 19-20 on the highway. I have gotten just a hari under 21 once, but that is not typical. Highway can drop if I am rolling 80.

Before the mods I prob got 1 mpg less or so, but the motor was new and not broke in at all. Most of guys I know with similar trucks saw their mileage increase around 25k - 30k and it is typically attributed to the motor "being broke in". I am not sure how true it is, but I don't know if all mileage improvements are from the mods.

Powerhouse

iTrader: (4)

The fuel price might be the same, but when it breaks, expect to call your loan officer. For a DD, a duramax doesn't make much sense.

-Ross-

iTrader: (2)

On the other side of that, a diesel truck holds it's value way better than a gas truck.

I bought my last truck (08 Cummins) with 10k miles on it in the summer of 08. I sold it a month ago with 54k miles on it for $1k less than what I bought it for 4 years ago.

ZFSix

iTrader: (14)

Fixed

My dad traded his '06 in with 148k miles. He bought it new and never had a single issue with it. His '11 has 40k on it already and no issues there either.

I don't really know many people with them but I'd get one in a heartbeat for a DD if I had the scratch.

Powerhouse

iTrader: (4)

That IS true. I'm just saying, if something does go wrong and you don't have a warranty, $$$

I understand that. But if it does break, it won't be cheap. Although, I can say from experience, the Duramax is a solid motor. I'm driving a 11' cummins right now for work, pulling a trailer every day. We'll see how it holds up. Ford was just trash when we had them.

jeremyfrank14

iTrader: (19)

I just sold my 05 with 165,3xx on the clock. It was a one ton dually and I had an exhaust, egr blocked and a PPE HOT +2. Got 21mpg highway on level 4 and only thing I ever did to it was water pump, fpr and u joints. If I was you, I wouldn't buy anything earlier than an 04.5 because of the injector problems. The lly"s and up don't have them. Do it! You won't regret it! But as stated above they are expensive to fix!

goober35

iTrader: (1)

I have 5 duramaxs

1 2004 2500 the worst truck by fair. Has 100k on it and the head gaskets need to be replaced. AC/heat is eather hot or cold nothing in the middle. The tuner helps with performance but the truck is basically the suspension is a rattle trap at 100k.
1 2009 2500 The brakes are worthless i think they are the same as on a 1500 and once again the suspension is worn out at 75k
2 2011 2500 and 3500 we have had 2 recalls for the EGR valve and it still dose not work. Check engine light is on in both. A/C in the 3500 shut down today. (guess it will be nice in the winter). 60k and 40k on them
1 2012 2500 that just got out of the shop do to the shrouding coming loose and the fan pulling it in and distorting the every think in front of the motor including the wiring other plastic parts and the radiator. This one has 20k on it.

pjmayher

iTrader: (5)

I have a 2001 2500HD, crew cab, long bed, 4x4, with 241,xxx. I love the truck, pulling anything under 9000lbs and you can't even tell that you have something there.

I really like the LB7, I wanted to get a pre 2007 because of the inspection pricing and the upkeep needed to stay emission legal. With a pre 2007 you only have to get a safety inspection, lights, horn, blinkers, etc.

I will agree that the LB7's have their fair share of injector problems. If you do some research you will find a good couple things to do to fix that problem for over 100,000 miles. I.E. I have a set of Bosch 80+hp injectors that I will be installing soon. And I have ordered the Cat Filtration system through Undergrounddiesel.com to get rid of the possibility of air and debris getting all the way to the injector, filtrates down to 2 micron.

I have deleted the muffler, added a cheapassdieselchips.com 6 position tuner, and a PPE Boost increase valve. I have 285/75/16 M/T with a leveling torsion key, and I have 2 fully loaded toolboxes in the bed. I am doing pretty much nothing over 20 miles at a time and leave the truck running a lot. Because my wife is pregnant and she doesn't want to do a bunch of walking, and the heat just makes her sick. So I average 2 hours of idle a week. With all of that I have averaged 16.2 miles per gallon over the last 10,000 miles.

Just as with most of our cars these trucks can take on a whole project feel. And you will always find something to make it better. Some things for me is a full 5" exhaust, and do a compound turbo, with some Meth injection.

bill12690

iTrader: (4)

All kinds of info here... just what I was looking for. Thanks guys!

Reject

iTrader: (24)

Same here, I'm in the market for a 2500 and need it to be the daily / tow truck for the race cars.

-Ross-

iTrader: (2)

True story.

I believe a transmission rebuild (6spd auto behind an 07+ Cummins) will run you about $5k. I'm sure the other newer trucks are about the same and the auto transmission is the first thing to go once you start modding.

Most newer diesel trucks should last a very long time without many problems as long as they are kept near stock and aren't overworked every day.