Well guys, I'm going to be selling my Cummins sometime within the next 6 months. I am starting to think about my next purchase and leaning towards a Duramax. I dont haul or race or beat or off road, its just a daily driver that i like to have fun with. However I do not know much about the Duramax line. Which years to avoid or which years had wich problems. Also what was the last year for a manual transmission? Pros and cons of all the different years would be great. Thanks guys!

 

I have never owned a Duramax but I have worked on a few. The Duramax is a nice looking truck but I am always surprised at how thin the metal of the body of the truck is. Literally, I have had to pay for body work on a Duramax because of damage caused to the front fender by merely leaning on it while working inside the hood. It has been my experience that the Cummins is a better built truck and personally I would not buy a Duramax for that reason alone. However, there are many people that seem pleased with their Duramax.

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What year of Duramax are looking to buy?

 

TROLL, I call BS on the body metal being too thin, I have an 06 that the metal is quite fine thanks

If it were me and it was me a while ago I would look at an 06-07 classic body style LBZ, they have most of the bugs worked out without having all the emissions equipment like the DPF

I have a link to a pretty good source of info on ALL the duramax's except the LML, PM if you want the link

 

I am not against the Duramax, in fact I think it is a great truck. Other than my dodge cummins I woud rather a Chevy over a Dodge, I have mostly owned Chevys. I think that the Duramax comes with a superior transmission and probably looks better than the Cummis. However, the newer Chevy trucks use are built with thinner sheet metal than the Dodge trucks. On my suburban this does not matter to me, but because I use my truck for different purposes than my suburban, I personally have choosen the Dodge cummins. Once again this is simply my humble opinion based on my experience and situation. I could care less which type of truck 01cummins13 decides to buy, I was merely offering my opinion.

 

That's the way I would go. All the bugs worked out and no DPF.

Oh, and get the Allison. Manual transmissions are only for those who can't build a good auto transmission.

As far as the sheetmetal: I guess I'm not a big enough of a fat *** to bend a fender just by leaning on it. I have worked on these trucks since '94 and have yet to damage a fender.

 

Rttoys, prove you're not that fat, I want photos. J/k
Sounds like your an experienced duramax man, do you prefer the LBZ to the LMM?
What are you driving these days? Done anything cool to your Duramax lately?

 

Personally just picked up a low mileage 06 (lbz) and I can honestly say I love it, i'm chevy loyal so there's a slight bias but I have owned ford and dodge diesels,

but for me with hauling the kids.. the drone of a 12v just got old.. I like the smoothness of the duramax's

as for transmissions i'm pretty sure i'm in love with this allison 6 speed, it just seems to know right where it should be and anticipating my next move.

 

The Allison is so smooth and smart shifting its just a nice transmission, and the LBZ is like a gorrilla in stock form, even nastier when tuned

 

yeah, no crap! this truck MOVES

the tow haul mode is impressive, especially how it uses the turbo as an exhaust brake.. i played with it on a steep downhill road in the park, about a mile long and in tow haul i started down at 40mph and tapped the brake lightly for a few seconds then let it do its thing and i was rolling at 15mph at the bottom of the hill with no interraction from me to slow it down.

 

I've been test driving duramax's and I love them. I have an 03 cummins now(biggest pos i've ever had in my life). I love the 12v, which I'm putting in my 03 now. But the ride and the drone cannot compare to the duramax's quiet inside and ride. I'm impressed enough to get a dmax instead of a cummins next time I buy.