i have a 2009 1500 for personal truck and have hated the coils in the back. dont like the ride and i have had complaints but nothing to be irate about. at work we have 2500 hemi's and 3500 cummins. never has our company had vehicles gone into the shops more then those two trucks. the rads are to close together and the things gunk up and overheat, they cant take the abuse off a paved road. the dashes are lit brighter then a christmas tree and like others said, they new diesel engines dont get anything for mpg. our chevy and ford gas jobs are gutless *** hell compaired to the hemi but not a single truck performs as well as the duramax's we have. ive been a dodge guy for years and my last few have been dodge. next one.... duramax.
(work conditions are that of open pit coal mining, carrying toppers or service bodies. deep potholes, mucky conditions, lots of rocky terrain, lots of up and downhill grades, dusty)

 

What issues did the 2500 hemi have that were so bad?

Wheel hubs, ball joints, and ujoints?

Or was it more serious like motor and tranny?

 

Wow. The ride with the 1500s is great. Hiuge selling point is ride and coil springs. Like my truck a lot. You never read anywhere about complaints about ride in a 1500. Duramax has not got a stellar rep. its ok. Much improved over previous years. But you got to pour urea in them. I learned long time ago you can keep a V8 diesel of anybodys. Old Dt466s were ok but not great. There is a reason that most all you see running 'hotshots' are Dodge trucks. Few older 7.3s out there doing that. Never see a Duramax. Wonder why?

 

----------well how about this for a wfirst post,,,,---------

well its because hotshot drivers loose money each time their duramax blows up in the middle of the job.


i have the dreaded 2008 6.7 4X4 1 ton dually QC, and yes it sucks fuel .but it also pulls like a train.
i just had the a CAI ,5" exhaust, and a H&S programmer installed.
the power gain is amazing off of the seat Dyno,but MPG's did not get much better from 14 to 18 in the city and 18 to 22 in the HWY (11 MPG with 10,000lbs 5th wheel behind it).
i have the 1500 '10 model and i gotta say, its about the same as my 3500 that has alot more power and torque, but also more of an initial investment.

 

My 2003 dually has never hit 20 mpg hwy. unloaded. Its gets 11 maybe,just maybe 12 in the right conditions pulling 12k to 13k at 68 or so mph. But it pulls so good that it takes a heck of a incline at 68 mph to have to drop from 6th to 5th gear. I pull a Merhow 3 horse 10 foot shortwall Living Qtr horse trailer.

 

My Brother has a 2010 Power Wagon and the rig is a tank! If you are highway driving you can get 14-15 if you are going 65. Tows awesome with a enclosed trailer with ladders and a full 250 gallon water tank in the bed. But again you are looking at 8MPG in that scenario as well. Taking into consideration the maxxed out payload and trailer on the back it tows very nice. He's owned it for 6 months and almost wished he bought a cummins, but when you compare the price of a fully loaded cummins CC to a load Power Wagon, well there's your answer right there! He paid $33 K for it with 1,800 miles on it, it has solid axle, winch, 4.56 gears, navigation, dvd player, and all the other cool stuff that a loaded cummins would have, just no leather or cummins. So for $17000 less than what a cummins would be he's fine with crap mileage while towing, and he has a cool rig that not too many people have!

 

That is one heck of a price on a 2010 power wagon.

I would love to have that truck. That is about what I paid for my 2009 with 16K miles on it 6 months ago. I paid $29K for my 2500.

 

When looking at ANY of the new diesels, two questions pop up, warranty and reliabilty. You do not get to have both.

If you want a warranty, you won't have reliability. If you want reliability, you won't have a warranty. Plain and simple. Any of the new diesels need to have DPF and EGR deletes to become reliable, and then your warranty is down the tank.

I'm in the market for a new truck, and reliability AND a warranty are tops on the list. I have an 03 on it's second engine sitting with a huge hole in the block, and my 07 is still kicking for now (after a rebuild of it's own). So, wanting both reliability and a warranty, the new 6.7 is, unfortunately, not on the list. Just drove a 1500, but the 2500 is likely the way to go.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a diesel fan all the way. I just can't shell out dough on making the 6.7 reliable and tanking my warranty at the same time.

 

And anyone that talks down on a Duramax has their head so firmly planted up their a$$ they are obviously lacking oxygen to think straight...

The Duramax is a bad mother, it's the best diesel on the market in 100% stock guise. I'm a Dodge/Cummins man all the way, but the Duramax is damn good. The truck it's in has it's issues though...

 

Most any diesel you see pulling for a living is Dodge/Cummins. In fact I've neer seen a Duramax being used for that. Some Ford. Dodge dominates that role. Wonder why?