I almost endorsed GM Diesels


DL Rupper

Senior Member
It's Offical: The new 6.7 litre 2007 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel will have 350 horsepower/650 torque and a new 68REF 6spd aoto transmission. And to think my faith was wavering and I almost endorsed the GM Duramax/Allison. Good things come for those who wait. :laugh: Now if I only had a spare $50K in my pocket. :bleh:
 

rlmurraysr59

New Member
Re: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Well, at least it's Made in the USA. To bad it only has 350hp though. Duramax has 360hp. Hope it doesn't rattle as bad as the old ones. Now if they could just make a starter that didn't sound like it was made out of tin cans.

Good luck, Rupper, save those nickles and dimes. You will get your new Dodge, I have faith.
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
RE: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

My goodness, Daimler engineers had to give GM Duramax diesels a chance to keep up. A 10hp advantage probably isn't enough. I'm sure the Dodge Cummins Turbo will still blow their doors off. Hard to beat that bad boy 6 cylinder Cummins.
 

rlmurraysr59

New Member
Re: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

No it's not! But you have to be deaf not to hear them Cummins coming. To be honest, I am just glad General Motors got back in the RV game big time. It use to twist my shorts to go to a campground and see all those Power Strokes and Cummins pulling 5th wheels and travel trailers. Things are starting to even out cause fan loyalty is the only thing that really divides the trucks. Ford will work out their problem too. They been in the game to long to lose to many fans.

At least they are made in the good old USA. (I know, some are assembled in Canada and some in Mexico, but you can at least check the sticker!)
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
RE: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Ron, I don't know where you been, but the 2003 and newer Dodge Diesels are the quietest diesels on the road. Maybe your hearing aid is busted. :laugh: Are we about to have more fun now. :evil:
 

Shadow

Senior Member
RE: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Great news DL. Hate to think what would of happen if you would of crossed over. Like to pick your brains for a minute. We had all but given up on a new truck this year. I'm going to retire in a couple of years, and our thinking was wait and get a new truck then. Brand new, no miles and ready to travel. But with all the changes thinking now would be better. My Ford has 150,000 miles on it and no problems. If I buy now when I retire we will have say thirty or forty thousand miles on it. Not a lot, but want it to be our last truck. Maybe in a couple of years the dust will settle and it won't matter.
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
RE: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Shadow, In all honesty, if I was going to buy a new diesel truck right now, I would probably go with the 2006 GM diesels. They seem to be the best of the lot right now. High horespower, high torque and the 6spd auto trans is a respected and tested brand. They seem to get good milage.

Currently the Dodge (2006) is a good product with plenty of power 325hp/610 torque and a good 4spd auto transmission. It probably can tow about anything within reason. I tow 12K lbs without any problem and my 2003 is only rated at 305hp/555torque. It has never been back for warranty work and is quiet and rattle free. The Dodge is probably less expensive than the GM, but has the above mentioned power/transmission drawbacks.

I would not purchase any of the 2007 model diesels. I would wait 1-2 years for them to get the bugs out. They will all have some sort of problem since it looks like the EPA mandated emission controls will cause all of them to go to a bigger engine in order to maintain or increase their horsepower/torque ratings. All of the 2007 diesel engines are going to add $$$s to the price of the truck.

I don't think the thirty or forty thousands miles you mention putting on in the next 2 years will matter on either of the Dodge or GM diesels if you bought one now, as both of the engines can easily make 300k miles. The rest of the truck may need some work now and then. The best argument for buying now is that by the time you retire it will be either paid for or you will owe less than a new one would cost.

Now if you are a Ford man, the new 2007 Ford diesels may be better than the present 6.0 L Powerstrokes and you may want to "let the dust settle" and see how they work out. They may pan out to be the next best diesel. The only problem with waiting is the price will continue to go up.

Hope that helps a little.
 

Shadow

Senior Member
RE: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Thank's DL, some very good points to ponder. Now if Dodge could figure out how to get some leg room in the crew cab, and have a long bed! Thank's again.
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
RE: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Shadow, one point I didn't address in my last post was the reliability of the diesel engine. I still believe the Cummins diesel is the most reliable engine currently on the road. We all know the Ford 6.0L is having problems and the Duramax engine was originally designed and produced by Isuzu. Not sure at this point if the Isuzu design is good or bad point. They seem to be holding their own and the Japanese have been producing diesel engines for a long time, so that might be a plus. I do know that the Cummins 6 cyl engine has 40% fewer parts than the Ford or GM V-8, so as far as longivity/reliability that should be a positive factor.

Bottom line: I believe value for the dollar (lower initial price) and engine reliability the edge goes to the 2006 Dodge CTD. Power and transmission wise the GM Duramax diesels are on top this year.

I definately would wait a year or two on the 2007 /2008 diesels to see what happens with the new emission control systems and their impact on the newer bigger diesel engines and fuel economy.

I'm short so didn't know there is a leg room problem with the Dodge CTD. :clown:
 

Shadow

Senior Member
RE: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Went to a show the first year GMC came out with the Duramax Diesel. They had a Cummings and a Duramax side by side. They were cut in half so you could see how they were built. Most of the guys didn't think the Duramax would hold up. Didn't think they were solid enough to hold up to the demand of towing. Well they seem to disprove that theory. As far as longevity, would like to hear from somebody with one with 200,000 miles or more. That may be why Ford and Dodge still dominate the hot shot crowd.
 

Grandview Trailer Sa

Senior Member
Re: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Butch, I had a trailer delivered about a month ago and the driver had a 2004 GMC Duramax/Allison. He had 196,000 miles on it. He said he had not touched the engine except for maintaince.
 

Shadow

Senior Member
Re: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Sure making it hard on me GTS. Did you catch GM's announcement today? GM is going to offer Five year 100,000 mile warranty on their vehicles. I believe it is across the board. Really wasn't ready for a new truck......but
 

Grandview Trailer Sa

Senior Member
Re: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Yea, I saw it. I just bought 2 new trucks too. Just my luck. Hopefully they will be as good as the ones I traded off.
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
RE: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Come on guys this is really a Dodge thread. What are you doing. You will ruin my reputation. I took my wife to look at a new Chev Duramax and she said it wasn't as pretty as ours and ours was almost paid off. I took that to mean unless we hit the lotto we would be crusin along in our beautiful, reliable, fuel efficient, cadillac of diesels, Dodge CTD for the next 10 years.
 

Grandview Trailer Sa

Senior Member
Re: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

Meant to add that you should have taken your wife for a ride, would have been the first time in years she heard the radio.... ;)
 

rlmurraysr59

New Member
Re: I almost endorsed GM Diesels

This is the body of the e-mail I received today from GM.

GM Announces Industry's Best Warranty Coverage

Today, GM announced the nest important step in our North American turnaround: The best warranty of any full-line manufacturer. The new Powertrain Warranty features expanded coverage across all eight divisional brands to five years or 100,000 miles, beginning with the entire 2007 model year lineup of passenger cars and trucks. The Warranty is completely transferable, with no deductible. We have also extended the 24/7 Roadside Assistance and Courtesy Transportation Programs to five years or 100,000 miles.

For non-powertrain components, GM's Bumper-to-Bumper New Vehicle Limited Warranty remains in effect: four years/50,000 miles for Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, and Saab vehicles; and three years/36,000 miles for Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, and Saturn Vehicles.

There were a couple other paragraphs but they dealt more with the commitment of the employees, suppliers, and dealerships dramatically improving the quality of GM built cars and trucks.

Hope this helps everyone and as a GM Retiree: Thanks for buying Made in the USA and buying GM. (I know that they are made in other countries too.)
 
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