2011 Silverado/Sierra

[brain55]

Well, I'm going to bite the bullet in the next week or so and buy a new truck. I have been fighting my 2001 GMC Sierra K3500 with the 8.1L and Allison for the last 2 years. It was a great truck and was nearly flawless for the first 165K miles.

I decided to have the engine and transmission gone through even though they hadn't shown signs of failure because I was going to start towing heavily everyday again and wanted to avoid buying a new truck for a few years.

I had both done at reputable shops, that I had done plenty of business with over the years. Unfortunately, my plan backfired. The engine almost immediately doubled its oil consumption and eventually had to come out and be rebuilt again. I think the transmission has been out 6 times now in the last 45K miles. I think it actually went 25-30K one stint but is acting up again right now. My workhorse has become unreliable and is costing me business. It is hard to go out and sell work when I am not sure if I will be able to make it to the job.

I avoided buying the Duramax the last time because it was the first year and I wasn't sure how they would hold up. Now that they have proven themselves I wouldn't have anything else. I'm pretty gun shy about looking at a Ford after their 6.0 fiasco. I have never been a Dodge/Cummins fan and I still don't think they have a transmission that will hold up. When I bought my GMC the transmission was the deciding factor. I was confident that the Allison would hold up to daily towing and I was right (at least until I "fixed" it).

The salesman is thinking I will need to order a truck. I am hoping to find one with most of the options I would like, mostly because I need a truck sooner than later. It has to be a dually with the Duramax/Allison, 4wd and cloth interior. The rest is negotiable. There is about a $10K price swing between what I have to have, and what I would like to have. I would prefer power windows and door locks, bluetooth and navigation would be nice. The factory navigation requires an extended cab which sucks, I only need a regular cab. Power seats would be a plus also.

He is telling me that I can order one with the 4.10:1 gears, but everything I have seen shows only the 3.73:1 ratio being available with the diesel. If I can actually order one with the 4.10's that might be nice with all of the towing I do.

Brian

 

[Topkicker]

The lowest ratio with the D-Max is 3:73. Plenty low enough ratio w the 6 speed Allison. The exhaust brake is nice also. It's great to have the extra stopping power along with all that towing power. You can get optional locking rear diff.:thumbsup: I work for GM at Ft. Wayne assembly where these trucks are built. If you have any questions PM me.

 

[TheGoose]

Good Choice.

 

[tcartwri]

It's always nice to have pwr locks and windows in a crew cab.

 

[Diamondpilot]

While I am not a GM fan they have a good combo finally and I will admit that. The Dmax has been a good motor since 2006 and like you said the Allison is a good tranny. The chassis was always the weak point but now that new one on the 2011's is on par.

I would get the factory brake controller. You will love it and wonder how you ever did without it towing as much as you have.

As for the gear ratio's I though the 3.73 was the only option on the SRW trucks but on the dually you could get 4.10's?

I know you are a GM guy but I would really take a look at the Ford and Dodge also. I know I would if I were getting ready to drop nearly 60K I would try the others out also. It may change my mind or cement what I already know.

Chris

 

[brain55]

I've been using a buddy's F350 SRW King Ranch with the integrated brake controller and it is nice. But, I'm still not confident about the engine. He just had the engine out with 55K miles to replace the high pressure oil pump and all of the roller lifters.

Brian

 

[TheGoose]

I would say that the Dmax has been the king of the diesels since ford shelved their 7.3 in 2003. My family has been using Dmax engines to do heavy duty hauling and we've owned all of the Big 3. We had to get rid of the 6.0 and now we have to ditch the 6.4. Very, very poor reliability. I personally own a 6.0 for work purposes and I'm scared to death that the thing is gonna crap out on me any day until I can get the EGR and associated coolers either deleted or upgraded.

Our Dmax trucks have proven to be the most reliable over the course of time and we haul very heavy equipment like Case 580 backhoes and water tanks with 2,000+ gallons. As for Ford I would stay away until the new engine has been proven. I would think that the Dmax has been proven enough in 10+ years of service. BTW, our original 2001 (or is it '02) Dmax is still running strong hauling equipment to and from the drill site with well over 200,000 miles and it has NOT been treated well in any manner. If anything it's been treated harshly. My dad just had to spend $4K + to replace the injectors in his '03....at 245,000 miles. I asked him how often he changed his oil and he said every 15K miles. WOW.....

 

[sksmsllc]

2002 f350 7.3 L Turbo Diesel with 150k miles or less will save you at least $20k and last at least at least 500k more miles.

 

[General Lee]

I do think Ford got it right with their new 6.7L Powerstroke. I have one but its to new to report on reliability. Their 6.0L was junk. I don't think you can go wrong with your GMC choice.

 

[WM75Guy]

Go with the dual alternator option available on the 1 tons. I have it on my 2003 3/4 ton. At idle with the AC running and a trailer with lights on the batteries are still charging. Mine has dual 105 amp alternators, puts out 100 amps at idle. The 2011 comes standard with a single 125 amp or the option of dual 125 amp alternators. The single will put out about 60 amps at idle, so double that for the duals.