I currently own a 3/4 ton Silverado with the Duramax that I drove off the lot new 8 years ago. It is coming up on 325k and I am thinking in the next 6 to 12 months about replacing it new.

Things have changed quite a bit with the oil burners since I bought that truck and even though it has been good to me I am not convinced that Duramax is the way to go these days.

I am thinking about a 3500 SRW as the extra payload will be useful and I don't want to bother with DRW.

A particular question I have is does anyone have feedback on the new Aisin tranny that Dodge is now using? The Allison on my Duramax has been very good to me and I have always been scared of the Dodge trannies. Any other feedback would also be appreciated.

My brother who is a tech and I were talking the other day about what I should get for my next truck as well. We both agreed that the prefect diesel would be a Cummins backed by an Allison trans in a Ford Chassis with a Chevy LTZ interior. Since that is not going to happen, I will say this.....Unless your truck is giving you a bunch of problems then I would keep what you have. The new diesels have more and more emissions junk on them and the first thing most people do is spend money to get the stuff deleted. Since the Duramax is typically a 300-400K motor if it has been worked hard, I would spend the money on an overhaul rather than buy a new 60-70K truck.

I can tell you if you chop the emissions junk and run a programmer on it and don't do any mods to the trany it will croak on you shortyly!

I think if you leave it stock, or just chop the emissions junk and leave it at stock performance you will be fine. I have never been a fan of the D-max, think a cummins pulls a lot better. Dad has a dmax and the cooling fan is off and on at the drop of a hat... pizzes me off when Im driving/riding in it and it plays HELL on the fuel mileage while towing during the summer.

The new Ford 6.7 is pretty sweet. I am still on my 7.3 but when it dies, I will be looking at them.

I lovey dura max with a Allison trans

My 6.7 powerstroke impresses me everyday.

I have a deleted 6.7 powerstroke and it is awesome. Pulling power is great and without the emissions junk milage is up 20% on average.

^

I think the aisin is going to prove to be every bit as good as the Allison and we all know cummins is better than the Isuzu.

Got a relative that just put a new aisin or however you spell it in with less than 90k miles on it... its not a pull truck or anything either. Its pulled 10k maybe once and a 5-6k tt 2-3 times. Only other towing he does is a boat and it aint a big one.

This would be awesome. I'll 4th the 6.7 PS. Mine hauls everything - including a$$ when it needs to. Iget 15-16 mpg city 19-20 hwy empty. Best vehicle I've ever owned.

With the HP and torque ratings of all the new light duty diesels, dodge should of went to one of the big rig companies and bought a proven solution. .. let hope the bugs aren't bad enough to ruin its rep before it's even proven. After all its still a revamped 2007 dodge tranny

I have an 08 3/4 chevy HD, 08 3/4 F250 6.4, and 08 1ton mega cab cummins.... all of them pull good.. the dodge being a one ton dull wheel stabilizes a load better but I don't see much difference in either the 6.4 or the cummins... the Ford by far... and I mean a long shot... is the better truck overall but that airbraking system dodge has makes that truck a dream to tow with... its just not an everyday truck though... it rides like a brick with wheels.. and stuff fades, falls off, etc. Been impressed with how the chevy engine pulls these tractors... its keeping it on the road with a good load on it is the problem.

Nav, is your cummins a manual or auto?

Auto. All three are.. wish standard was still as available as it use to be. Even dodge is pushing it out other than commercial vehicles now...

I ordered mine with the manual, but they did have a very select few on the lot.

My buddy has the same 08 in 4wd and manual shift.. he had to drive 300miles to the only dealer that had one.

Hope these new mechanics out of tech school know how to work on manual trucks... very scary thought to see how many actually do in ten years

He loves it though.

Stick with Chevy.
I've seen those Allison trans take a beating and still work.
I've seen a powerstroke blow up the turbo and sent it through the cylinders.
My buddy has a 06 6.6 duramax straight piped with EFI live tune.
Thing pulls

My 05 Duramax has been programmed for 95% of its life. Never had an issue with the transmission or the engine for that matter and I drive it like a 16 year old kid.

You mention your dad's cooling fan problem and that the cummins pulls much better, but you didn't even mention the years. Why would that info even be relevant to the current model the OP would be looking at? The GM HD was totally revamped for 2011 so any experiences previous to that year don't even make sense. BTW there has never been a given year model where the cummins has significantly out pulled the duramax. Sure if you compare a 2010 cummins to a 2005 duramax but you have to compare the same year model to make any sense of it. Actually most years the duramax out pulls the cummins in head to head testing. Despite the advertised hp/tq numbers even the current duramax that has been unchanged since 2011 will easily match the very latest cummins which has just been recently upgraded. Anyway not trying to be a prick, my point is if someone is asking about a new truck purchase you have to compare current model to current model, not experiences with previous models that are no longer applicable.

http://special-reports.pickuptrucks.com/2014-ultimate-one-ton-hd-challenge.html

I was referring to the transmission on the dodge, not the Allison.

I was comparing similar year models on the trucks. Far as I have read the overheating thing is something that plagued individual trucks not all of them, they didn't know what caused it and I didn't hear that it was ever fixed. Again never had a failure with the '04 as to overheating, but it sucks to have the cooling fan continually running. The other one in the family is an '05 and it has never had any of those issues. Not calling the d-max a piece, just saying I wouldn't buy one.

Good read, thanks for posting that.

Interesting that the big torque #'s that Dodge and Ford are posting don't really seem to give them an edge over the Duramax. Results are pretty much a wash and as such I'll probably stick with the devil I know as the Duramax/Allison has been good to me so far.

This would be awesome. I'll 4th the 6.7 PS. Mine hauls everything - including a$$ when it needs to. Iget 15-16 mpg city 19-20 hwy empty. Best vehicle I've ever owned.





This^^^^^^

I'm a tundra guy but work out of a '13 F250.... Crazy good to the point of personally purchasing one., In the near future.

I can't speak for the duramax, because I have no experience with them, but I hate the new fords I've known 2 people have problems with the 2012s and less than 30,000 miles within a year of getting them. One the exhaust sensor kept shutting down the truck when there wasn't any problem and the other had all kinds of electrical one was the king ranch f250 the other I'm not exactly sure what trim but it was a f250. The 2011 cummins on the other hand runs great,runs fast, and will pull anything you can connect it to and more and everybody I know with the cummins of any age loves them.