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Considering trading my 7.3 for a Duramax... thoughts?

GoSlowGetStuck

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Lafayette, IN
Right now I've got a 2001 F250 crew cab short bed. My biggest complaints are with the steering and ride quality. Granted, it's not going to ride like a dream, but sometimes it's just a little excessive. Even with brand new Bilsteins, I find myself cringing at expansion joints on the highway. The steering is tight and doesn't have any slop, but even after having the dealership replace the ball joints (which helped a little), the steering lacks return-to-center, which makes it a real pain to keep straight on the highway (constantly making small corrections), especially when it's windy.

Also it appears that I've got the "International doesn't know how to paint an oil pan" oil leak, which from what I've read will require the engine to be pulled. It's getting hard to justify dropping that kind of money on a truck that I'm already getting frustrated with.

So... I'm looking at 04-06 Duramaxes, similar to my truck (CC, SB). I'm looking for a mix of the higher output, more reliable motors but without all of the emissions equipment that the 07+ trucks will have. From my limited experience with the 2500HDs, it seems like steering and ride quality will not be a problem. I know that early models had injector issues, but those seem to be resolved by 04. Power output is decent, interior quality is good, and the drivetrain is reliable. And mileage seems to be mysteriously great.

What else do I need to know about them? I'm trying to think of any thing that my truck currently does better than a newer Duramax. Engine reliability and solid front axle are the only two that come to mind, but again the newer Duramaxes seems to be reliable, and I have no issues giving up that solid axle for IFS.
 
Do it, I sold my 2001 Dodge 5.9L Cummins and bought a 2007 Chevy 6.6L Duramax and love the hell out of it.

The DPF and more strict emissions didn't start until 2007.5 so if you can find a 2007 with an LBZ motor in it go for it. It is widely regaurded as the "truck to get" due to the fact that it is the last motor pre-dpf. But there are some trucks in 2006 that have the LBZ programming, you just have to check the VIN to be sure. Either way the 2006 is an LBZ/LLY engine but the only difference is the tuning applied.

The power that these trucks make is un-real. My truck is a 1-ton and I don't know if you plan on taking your truck to the dragstrip or not and this makes any sense to you, but with my truck only having a tuner and exhaust installed I ran a 14.2 1/4 in a 7600# truck. I just pulled a trailer with the GVW of truck and trailer at 18,860#'s down from North Dakota and averaged over 11.6 mpg. I have nothing bad to say about this truck and I'm sorry this turned into a ramble instead of a structured comment.
 
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Do it, I sold my 2001 Dodge 5.9L Cummins and bought a 2007 Chevy 6.6L Duramax and love the hell out of it. The DPF and more strict emissions didn't start until 2007.5 so if you can find a 2007 with an LBZ motor in it go for it. It is widely regaurded as the "truck to get" due to the fact that it is the last motor pre-dpf. The power that these trucks make is un-real. My truck is a 1-ton and I don't know if you plan on taking your truck to the dragstrip or not and this makes any sense to you but with my truck only having a tuner and exhaust installed I ran a 14.2 1/4 in a 7600# truck. I just pulled a trailer with the GVW of truck and trailer at 18,860#'s down from North Dakota and averaged over 11.6 mpg. I have nothing bad to say about this truck and I'm sorry this turned into a ramble instead of a structured comment.

Well, my biggest hold-up is the price. If I could have bought a Chevy for what I got my Ford for, that would have been my first choice. But, as long as I'm willing to pay for it for the next 3-5 years, it's not really a bad payment to make. Again, I am probably looking at an 04-06, so most likely an LLY, unless I get really lucky with a late model 06 LBZ. Even an LLY is a decent step up in power from the 7.3. And I absolutely do not want DPF; sure, I can delete it, but I'd rather not have to screw with it.

14.2 is pretty nuts... I'm thinking about some of the LSx cars I've had over the years and they'd only run 13-14ish 1/4s.

Basically, I am overall impressed with how the Duramaxes have turned out, and they seem to ride and drive great and pull down great mileage. The Internet seems to be telling me that 7.3s just "ride and steer like crap, get over it," "it's a truck not a car you pansy," etc.

I really don't want to drop 3k on some fancy coilover conversion for my 7.3, but the ride is pissing me off enough that I'm considering buying a coil sprung front end from a newer truck and having a shop swap that in. And then I may still have steering issues. Spending 2k to fix the oil pan and 2-3k on the front end will be cheaper than buying a new truck, but... I don't know.

If I knew what I was doing then I wouldn't be asking about it here. :D
 
My buddy Bill (RCMan) on here has an '06 and loves it. I've ridden it and it definitely has some sack to it and rides like a cloud.

I have an '01 CTD QC SWB 4x4 (NV4500 not an auto), and while mine isn't like a brand new truck it does everything I ask of it. I've had problems that aren't directly related to the truck itself (bent a spindle hitting a curb at 35 mph, and a different time the fan blade broke off and took out the radiator - not common) but overall I haven't done hardly any maintenance to it except the "notorious" front ends everyone complains about.

I slapped ball joints in it ($120 for all four brand new spicers), two new hub bearings ($220 a piece) and some new x806 u-joints ($100). Steering linkage is still fine, however I did upgrade the trackbar to the '03+ (about $700 there). The last thing left is to adjust the stock box as that's where the last of the play is.

I paid $13.5k for it with 87k on it. Like I said it's not a brand new truck, but its all I need and I didn't want to spend twice as much on something newer. The body/frame will rot away before the drivetrain dies.
 
03 cc/sb here. Only had it about three months but I LOVE it. The Duramax is so much quiter than the ford or Dodge. Ride is great, fuel mileage is great, Towing is great. I just dont think you can beat a Duramax.
cardboard
 
Flex does not approve! :D I would rather see everyone with a cummins but the tranny's(with the exception of the mercedes trans) do suck. Mike, I heard you got you one. I'll have to come by and check it. I'm not sold on duramax engines but they are quiet and the allison can take some serious abuse. My uncle had one and it really wasn't a bad truck at all. Plus, I know you wanna do a programmer and stuff to it Brad, so it sounds like the dirtymax is your ticket. Just don't get a champagne truck this time! :laugh3:
 
I understand the price sticking point they do cost a pretty penny. But if you plan on owning the truck for the next however many years then don't you want to drive the right one? I've put 24k miles on it since I bought mine in January and the only parts I've changed in it has been a front wheel hub ($180) it went bad because the PO bent a wheel and just tried to balance the hell out of it rather than replace the wheel. I drive mine hard; I've taken probably 22-25 passes at the drag strip, towed that 18k trailer over elevations over 7500' with the cruise control set over 65mph, towed a carhauler with my jeep on it at 80mph from ND to AL. I think the truck is built extremely well, and the interior is the only truck that makes you feel like a driver and not an operator. That is how I justified spending the money.
 
I understand the price sticking point they do cost a pretty penny. But if you plan on owning the truck for the next however many years then don't you want to drive the right one? I've put 24k miles on it since I bought mine in January and the only parts I've changed in it has been a front wheel hub ($180) it went bad because the PO bent a wheel and just tried to balance the hell out of it rather than replace the wheel. I drive mine hard; I've taken probably 22-25 passes at the drag strip, towed that 18k trailer over elevations over 7500' with the cruise control set over 65mph, towed a carhauler with my jeep on it at 80mph from ND to AL. I think the truck is built extremely well, and the interior is the only truck that makes you feel like a driver and not an operator. That is how I justified spending the money.

I plan on owning every vehicle for many years (*cue laughs from my friends*). But it usually doesn't happen. When I bought the Ford (6 months ago), I thought it would be the last truck I would ever need, and if it were just a thing or two here or there that I didn't like, then I'd just suck it up and keep it. Still, even if I get good money when I sell my truck, to get a lesser optioned bench seat / cloth interior CCSB is still going to cost me some money.

But it sounds like there isn't anything my truck does better or anything I would miss, and everything I read is painting a pretty good picture of the Chevy. So I do want one, it's just a matter of figuring out how.

I am considering putting my truck up for sale now while 4x4s are worth a little more (going into winter), and driving something else for the next few months while I save some money, and then picking up a new truck before Winterfest. Unfortunately I don't know if I have that kind of willpower...
 
Unfortunately I don't know if I have that kind of willpower...


Yeah ya do..................:D Just get a dirtymax since there aren't enough pro's to get you to buy a truck with a good engine! :D
 
Yeah ya do..................:D Just get a dirtymax since there aren't enough pro's to get you to buy a truck with a good engine! :D

I just don't care for Dodges. The most obvious reason being their less-than-stellar automatic transmissions. But even then, they just don't do much for me. I'd be buying a truck I don't really want just for an awesome motor.

I will go test drive one though if it will shut you up. :D
 
What year ranges are you looking at? The 2nd gen Dodge autos aren't that great, though with an $80 shift kit people have been known to get more life out of them before they need a rebuild.

My father has an '08 with the 68RFE and even though it only has 11k on it, I have to say it is a sweet auto. Shifts firm with no slipping and there's not "gear finding" on hills or anything. Haven't heard anything bad about those trans.

Rumors are Dodge has a contract with ZF now for a new 8 speed auto.
 
What year ranges are you looking at? The 2nd gen Dodge autos aren't that great, though with an $80 shift kit people have been known to get more life out of them before they need a rebuild.

My father has an '08 with the 68RFE and even though it only has 11k on it, I have to say it is a sweet auto. Shifts firm with no slipping and there's not "gear finding" on hills or anything. Haven't heard anything bad about those trans.

Rumors are Dodge has a contract with ZF now for a new 8 speed auto.

If I were to consider a Dodge, I'd be looking at a 3rd gen, 5.9 common rail. I think the crew cabs look a little small. A Chevy extended cab looks almost bigger than one of those. And they do seem really pricey. I mean a Duramax isn't cheap, but I'm seeing the 06 model year ones going for at least 30k. Then again I haven't really looked at them a whole lot.

I could probably get a Dodge that is better than my Ford, but I'd probably want to go megacab instead of crew cab, since I like having a short bed anyway. And then I've still got a solid axle up front, which brings with it the handling/steering problems, replacing ball joints, etc. And then the appearance of the truck... for a long time I've thought Dodge went a little overboard on that grill and it's kind of obnoxious. Granted Ford is doing the same thing now...

I wanted a Chevy the first time around, and I should have just spent the money then and got what I wanted. Although if I do decide to hold off on buying the next truck for a few months, I'll definitely have time to shop around and try out everything. It would be nice to end up with a vehicle without problems for once!
 
If you want more info on CTD and their Auto trans, talk to John X He has one good looking one and I believe has easily 300k? (dont quote me) on his auto trans.
 
for fit, finish, ride and just overall better creature comforts..go with the Chevy.....sounds like your wanting my exact truck but w/ the Duramax...I love my truck even w/ the 6.0 in it...pushing 180K and still runs like new and no problems other then put in some new ball joints for $400. I change the oil and drive it..and not easy miles either since I use it as a daily driver and a farm truck, and a long distance XJ hauler :D
 
for fit, finish, ride and just overall better creature comforts..go with the Chevy.....sounds like your wanting my exact truck but w/ the Duramax...I love my truck even w/ the 6.0 in it...pushing 180K and still runs like new and no problems other then put in some new ball joints for $400. I change the oil and drive it..and not easy miles either since I use it as a daily driver and a farm truck, and a long distance XJ hauler :D

You nailed it Tyler. If yours was a Duramax then you would probably be cleaning my drool off of it after every wheeling trip.

Found a 06 locally, not very cheap though. Going to test drive it this week just to see how much I'd like one.

Question for you, POSJ, since you seem hip on the engine types... I'm going to check the VIN to see if it's LLY or LBZ, but being a 2006 they are the same mechanically right? So even if it's an LLY, it's just a matter of getting a LBZ tune for it?
 
Kind of yeah, it all depends on the VIN. It is an easy upgrade though, so once you change the tune you should have an LBZ. Here: 8th vin #D-LBZ 360 hp tune, 8th Vin #3-06 LLY 310 hp tune. But get me the whole VIN and I'll check as much as I can.
 
Right now I've got a 2001 F250 crew cab short bed. My biggest complaints are with the steering and ride quality. Granted, it's not going to ride like a dream, but sometimes it's just a little excessive. Even with brand new Bilsteins, I find myself cringing at expansion joints on the highway. The steering is tight and doesn't have any slop, but even after having the dealership replace the ball joints (which helped a little), the steering lacks return-to-center, which makes it a real pain to keep straight on the highway (constantly making small corrections), especially when it's windy.

Also it appears that I've got the "International doesn't know how to paint an oil pan" oil leak, which from what I've read will require the engine to be pulled. It's getting hard to justify dropping that kind of money on a truck that I'm already getting frustrated with.

So... I'm looking at 04-06 Duramaxes, similar to my truck (CC, SB). I'm looking for a mix of the higher output, more reliable motors but without all of the emissions equipment that the 07+ trucks will have. From my limited experience with the 2500HDs, it seems like steering and ride quality will not be a problem. I know that early models had injector issues, but those seem to be resolved by 04. Power output is decent, interior quality is good, and the drivetrain is reliable. And mileage seems to be mysteriously great.

What else do I need to know about them? I'm trying to think of any thing that my truck currently does better than a newer Duramax. Engine reliability and solid front axle are the only two that come to mind, but again the newer Duramaxes seems to be reliable, and I have no issues giving up that solid axle for IFS.

what would you be looking to get out of your 7.3 ps?
 
let me know what you want out of it also and a couple pics, there is always somebody here looking for a 7.3 at the dealer i work at
 
let me know what you want out of it also and a couple pics, there is always somebody here looking for a 7.3 at the dealer i work at
That's because the 7.3 and the 5.9 is where it's at

GM didnt start making a quality product until like 3004..

yes.. i said 3:laugh:
 
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