what year duramax?

[nwminnesota]

I think I made my decision on what truck to get. Thinking about a 3/4 ton duramax. My question is what year to buy? I've heard mixed reviews on the fuel economy. Some people are saying the 2007 to 2010 are better than the 2011 to current on fuel but other people are telling me the 2011 to current get about 11 % better in fuel economy. Maybe their scared about the urea injection in the exhaust to cut down on the NOx.

[Seann45]

Just avoid the 2000-2004 LB7. they have injector issues.. at $5000.00 a set installed ... I am on my 3rd set now...

[jal0710]

I had a 2003 Duramax and did have to get the injectors replaced, but it was done under extended GMC warranty. Didn't have any more problems after the replacement. I now have a 2012 D/A combo and get a little over 12 mpg pulling my FW, 2012 Eagle HT 26.5 RLS and a 19' Crestling Superhawk 1900. As good as my old D/A combo with a heavier trailer and boat.

[clubhouse]

If you can find an LBZ in good shape that is what I would get. Pretty sure that they are only available in classic body style 2006-2007.5. I have the next release, LMM, and I really like it but LBZ has less emission junk and gets a but better fuel economy both towing and regular driving.

If you are really sold on the new body style, then I agree with what you have heard about not getting the current engine. As I said I have an LMM and it's great but there is still the issue with having to let it regen which burns fuel.

[Bassdogs]

Our TV is a 2010 LMM D/A and we've driven it about 7k miles in the 1+ that we've owned it. Does great w/ 10 - 13 mpg pullin our Whawk and stuff and 18 to 21 with no tow.

Can you tell when your Lmm is going thru a regen?

[J&CTron]

We have an 08 Duramax and like it very well. We have a 31.5 RLTS that we have not pulled that many miles, but when we do pull it performs really good and we are getting around the 10mpg range driving 65-70.

[DMRGMC]

Ours is a 2005 Duramax LLY that we bought in 2007 with 80,000 kilometers, 49,709 miles. Total Km's to date is 218694, so we put 138694 km. In 2011 there was an issue with injector #7. There was a hesitation at 60 kph. It was diagnosed as electrical but you can't buy just the electronics, so the complete injector was replaced. After that the injector continued to stay open a few seconds longer than the others. The end result was the metal clamp holding the wiring harness had rubbed through the wire insulation for #7 injector and was affecting the operation.
We just completed a 13,327 km trip over 7 weeks and spent 2659.5 litres of diesel and it ran like a top. I also use an additive with a cetane boost. We tried to keep it at 90 kph. Heading west we got between 7.5 mpg driving through headwind, the floods and storm in Saskatchewan to Alberta, 11.5 to 12.5 through B.C. Heading home we got as high as 14.3 mpg on the flat roads of Saskatchewan with no headwind.
Love the truck!

[mamasmax]

Is it going to be used as a tow vehicle? If so it's a no brainer IMHO. 2011-up LML. Why? It has all the latest improvements like strongest frame, trailer sway control, best brakes, integrated trailer brakes. It has the highest gross weight ratings and tow ratings. It makes the most HP and torque by a wide margin. It has that incredibly effective engine exhaust brake which is the best thing to happen to pickups since, well, the diesel engine! I just bought a 5th wheel that weighs over 11,000 lbs. loaded and on fairly level terrain get 10-12 mpg. I have descended many 5%-6% grades and hardly touched the brakes. It has to be experienced to understand how awesome that one feature is. I can go up those same hills, allowing for corners of course,at 65 mph in 4th gear and if I do need to slow there is plenty of power to get back to speed while climbing the grade. On my daily commute I get upwards of 20 mpg. You wouldn't likely get any better mileage out of a gas rig. Yes, you have regens and DEF to deal with. Welcome to the modern world. I don't even notice when the regens happen unless I've just recently reset the mpg monitor and it usually drops the average about a half mpg for a short time. DEF is less than $3.00/gallon at truck stops or $11.99/ box for a 2 (2.5?) gallon container at Walmart. 5 gallons lasts me 5000-7000 miles. 27,000 trouble free, VERY HAPPY miles. My opinion is buy the best tool for the job you can afford and for me it was a 2013 GMC 2500HD crew cab 4X4.

[edatlanta]

My 2006 LBZ is great. I bought it new and plan on keeping it forever. I hope it outlasts me! 12 mpg towing my 5'er and 18-20 empty. Love it.

[FPM III]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

Our TV is a 2010 LMM D/A and we've driven it about 7k miles in the 1+ that we've owned it. Does great w/ 10 - 13 mpg pullin our Whawk and stuff and 18 to 21 with no tow.

Can you tell when your Lmm is going thru a regen?

No, I can't. Although, I wish there was an indicator light when it's in regen because based on my experience with the engine, it appears that if you shut down the engine before the cycle completes, the cycle restarts again the next time you fire it up.

When I bought the truck, for the first three years I made a daily weekday trip of about seven miles each way. Fuel mileage during that time was a consistent 11-13 mpg. After that, I began making a less than two mile trip with the same frequency. About a month after driving the shorter distance, the "CLEAN PARTICULATE FILTER" appeared in the DIC. I almost fell out of my seat. The next day, I drove the truck around until the warning message disappeared. Fuel mileage dropped to a horrible 8-9 MPG for an empty truck.

I have to think the cause of this was due to the regen never completing. Some indicator that a regen was occurring would have been helpful because then I'd know I need to run the truck for a long enough time to get the cycle to complete. Without it, my only solution was to drive the truck for about an an hour once a week to ensure a complete cycle. Once I started doing this, fuel mileage improved considerably, back to 10-12 mpg. BTW- once I implemented this procedure, I never saw another "CLEAN PARTICULATE FILTER" message again.

[Sledgehammer]

Originally Posted by clubhouse

If you can find an LBZ in good shape that is what I would get. Pretty sure that they are only available in classic body style 2006-2007.5. I have the next release, LMM, and I really like it but LBZ has less emission junk and gets a but better fuel economy both towing and regular driving.

If you are really sold on the new body style, then I agree with what you have heard about not getting the current engine. As I said I have an LMM and it's great but there is still the issue with having to let it regen which burns fuel.

I agree. I'm not a real big fan of the body style of the Chevys, but the LBZ was the best years of the duramax imo. I like the look of the GMCs with the LBZ, but they are few and far out there compared to the Fords.

[skijlw]

We have a 2013 GMC 4x4 CC Duramax that we have not had the chance to pull our new Jayco 361REQS with yet but we did pull our 11K Montana on a recent 3500 mile trip and averaged 12.1 MPG at a mostly 65 MPH.

[Bobx2]

Can't really go wrong with any of them. I had zero issues with my '03, although it had already had the injectors replaced before I bought it. My current '09 LMM is a step up in overall refinement, but I wish it had the exhaust brake that the LML has. Ample HP and torque in all of them, and the Allison transmission is just a work of art and a real pleasure to tow with.

[nwminnesota]

So doing some more research. Looks like stay away from the 2011 model. 1st year for the lml and the urea injection. Sounds like maybe go with a 2012 or newer. I'll have to wait another year or so before picking one up. Thanks for your guy's input. Feel free to throw out more advise. I haven't owned a diesel before but I did drive one for work for 5 years which was a take home truck.

[taviking22]

Love my '06 LBZ. Aside from maintenance costs, I've had to replace 3 glow plugs. The first my stealer did for $200! I then bought my own scan tool ($80)and a 12mm deep socket ($4) and replace them myself. Amazon sells AC Delco glow plugs for $19 each. It's like changing a spark plug.

I currently have nearly 90k on the ticker and get 11-13 mpg pulling my Pinnacle at 60-65 mph.

If I were in the market for a Duramax, I'd join the Diesel Place forum at http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/index.php and poke around looking at some the problems the various models of Duramaxes are experiencing. However, don't let the negative posts scare you. All of the big three diesel manufacturers have similar forums that are used for problem-solving sites.

[UPCamper]

2006-2007.5 LBZ. This from many GM mechanics and a brother in law who is a plant manager at the GM/Chevy HD factory. Also, you may notice they are the hardest to find. Coincidence?

[Crabman]

My FIL has one, somewhere around a 2000 model he bought new and used it for towing a 5er. Just past 100K miles he needed a $4200 injector job. Ouch. I`m sure they have addressed that issue since then.

[dg1971]

2005 Duramax with 128,000 miles and zero mechanical problems. Can't say that for the batteries, though. Original set lasted 80,000 miles and have installed my 3rd set of Interstate batteries since then. When one goes bad, it drags the second one down. Good news is there has always been a reasonable adjustment towards the next set. That's the only reason I haven't switched to another brand. 11-12 MPG towing (60MPH) and 18 not towing (65MPH). I'm happy with it and hope it lasts another 128K.

[SouthCo]

I've been very happy with my 2007 GMC Sierra Classic LBZ. But just so there is no confusion the 2007.5 duramax is not a LBZ. It's the LMM. I saw two posts saying that they were....

[UPCamper]

Yeah, I guess I should have said 2006 up to mid model year 2007. The "older" body style. Also beware there is at least 2 different transmissions in that range as well and different gear ratios. But they all are good.