Anyone!? Thoughts on a 2021+ I/2 ton Duramax

[Russell]

Oh I know. I still follow them and all my friends and family have 2014-2018 Chevy//ford//dodges. Just fun to dream a bit.

Honestly, a half ton gasser serves my needs to tow a sxs. Just despise the 9mpg and 3-5k rpm depending on the hill I’m climbing and hate how they feel while towing. Although I do have my eye on the 7.3 ford. See how that shakes out over the next few years.

I traded my 2014 LML Sierra Denali HD in on a 2020 Ford XLT F-250 7.3L / 10 speed truck after I cracked two pistons in the LML. I had to replace the DEF tank more or less annually. Similar option load, no DEF to deal with. I've only got 45k miles on it so far and it's needed nothing but many, many tanks of fuel. Running empty I get around 14 mpg on average. I get absolutely horrendous fuel economy with it when towing less than 10,000 lbs. Like 5 or 6 mpg bad. With a 30 gallon tank I don't get a whole lot of range out of it (sub 200 miles) which is super annoying. Transfer Flow makes a 65 gallon tank for it, but it would cost me more than $5000 to get one here.

I'm in the middle of LMM swapping my 2010 Yukon XL 2500 to haul the camper around with. It'll be deleted and should be a little bit better on fuel than the F-250 when pulling our little single axle 3500lb camper around.

 

[centexk5]

I get 13 unloaded with my tundra and 9 towing my sxs. Thankfully I’ve got the 38gal tank but damn. My previous Chevy half tons (14 and 20 with 5.3) got double that.

I know for a fact all of the family and friends trucks I mentioned get double what I get mileage wise. Hell I can drive from Houston to Pensacola in my folks dmax on a tank of fuel with a full bed and cab and 4 people.

Modern gas half ton engines should be treated like modern diesel engines. Delete the bs active lifters, tune them and the transmissions so they act normal, and you’ll have no issues.

 

[CyberSniper]

One of the things people forget about is how many LS engines are out there when they have "seen problems". There are more V8 LS engines made each year than there are Duramax ever made.

I've never been nice to any of mine. I mean rude. I remember when I took my truck in complaining about the whine of the reaction shell and the trans guy couldn't hear it. I told him to drive it like his wife would if he told her she was fat. He came back five minutes later and said "it's a reaction shell". He had it tore down and put back in same day.

My cousin has a new 6.6L Gasser 2500HD and his parents have a 2500HD with a Duramax. We all pull 7000lb trailers to the same places glamping. The difference is that fuel cost wise mine is the cheapest and I travel 10+mph faster than they do. But I put shocks on my trailer, bags on my truck, and have a 38mm front sway bar and 28mm rear sway bar so it's pretty comfortable to pull. Their trucks are a solid 8" taller than mine... but I lowered mine. And I'm not afraid to let my 6.2L sing. Does it sound funny driving around in 7th & 8th gear in 4 banger mode at 55mph? Yeap. But it's a 5500lb truck instead of a 7500lb truck with more area under the horsepower curve. My Uncle's Duramax literally weighs a Smart Fortwo more than my truck.

If I towed for a living I'd definitely have a bigly truck and probably a diesel. But recreational pulling ~10k or less... without high elevation... big engine half ton gas.

 

[centexk5]

I’d still rather a diesel for towing then half ton gas crap but you are right. Mathematically, a half ton diesel getting double the mileage I get, with current diesel prices, saves me $500/yr. Not exactly worth the hassle.

 

[CyberSniper]

Yeah, the numbers don't work out.

I get 18mpg at 85 in my 9 year old 420hp/460ftlb truck on 89 octane. If I slow down to 63mph it's 27mpg because it'll go in 4 banger mode. Around town it gets ~18mpg because it is turning 1200rpm with 4 cylinders. The worst I have ever gotten with my truck is 23 gallons to go 204 miles. I was traveling at speeds in excess of the Goodyear Endurance trailer tires rating trying to beat a storm into a 20mph headwind. I was on fumes the next day trying to get to town to put gas in the tank.

It used to get better gas mileage before I put Duratracs on it, but car tires suck. Best I ever got with the car tires (Goodyear LS2) was 31mpg across the UP of Michigan (flat, speed limit used to be 55 so you could only really go about 63mph).

At the end of the day, I don't care that much about gas mileage. Ever since it ran out of warranty (due to time, not miles) I have had a tune on it. Gets even better gas mileage now on 93 octane, but it's not a fair comparison.

 

[centexk5]

I get 13mpg but I do maybe 8k miles a year since I’m full remote. But that’s why I’m working on my 4Runner to get it street ready for a daily driver.

 

[JoshHefnerX]

I've watched this guy for a bit. And he just happened to just release his 1yr thoughts. His channel is mostly about towing and trailers and accessories. So from that perspective...

He did address something recently in another vid about the roof problems in these trucks.. Which honestly, if I were mother GM I'd be embarrassed.

 

[cheavyk10]

Food for thought:

 

[Fastereddie]

Food for thought:

That engine is phucked!

 

[eodcoduto]

With diesel being almost a dollar a gallon more than gas, the gas is going to be cheaper to own and fix when the time comes. Plus a cheaper intitial purchase price. Most diesels on the road are bought to impress other dudes and not to tow real loads, its expensive to impress other guys!

There are two of the new 1/2 ton diesels here at work and I haven’t heard any complaints, they owners love them and they ride very nice.

 

[82355]

My wife ordered a Suburban with one. Hope it doesn't suck!

Martin

 

[max 02]

My wife ordered a Suburban with one. Hope it doesn't suck!

Martin

Sweet! Let us know!

 

[arcansawdave]

They also have a rear timing belt that requires the cab lifted to change.

I think someone else already addressed it, but the belt is actually the oil pump drive belt.

 

[Chickntrk]

One of those videos I watched had a guy from GM saying that even if the belt does break not to worry because you’ll notice the engine running warmer, plus a check engine light….

News flash buddy, by the time the light comes on the damage will be done

 

[Big Ray]

A turbo 6.5 Optiimizer without the emissions crap in a 1/2 ton would sell like hotcakes...
Just dreaming...

 

[centexk5]

Not unless it actually had the balls to get out of its own way.

 

[eodcoduto]

Americans don’t get that light duty diesels are for mpg and not towing. Thats one of the few things I’ll give European’s credit for is having small engines that get great fuel mileage and they are used for that.

 

[82355]

The horsepower is crap, but the torque is higher than the 5.3.

Martin

 

[eodcoduto]

An

The horsepower is crap, but the torque is higher than the 5.3.

Martin

And diesel is more expensive so I don’t get the tradeoff. Thats why I sold my TDI passat, at 39mpg it still cost more than a gasser at 25mpg.

 

[centexk5]

I think if a lot of people would sit down and actually calculate their monthly or annual fuel costs out they’d realize that buying a vehicle that only gets 5-10mpg better doesn’t really pan out unless gas prices are extremely high or you drive 20k+ annually.