It has an 8.1/Allison tranny

I've searched and found a lot of threads about oil consumption, piston slap and fuel mileage.

A qt every 1K miles I can live with ... piston slap is annoying for some ... I get 10mpg with my F250 460 ... so ...

So what else is a dog about these drive trains ...

 

Tiny cam, inefficient heads, brick manifolds, way detuned, ... would ya like me to continue?

If it's making you that crazy, consider a Duramax. As Wayne said about the Sugar Pucks at Stan M.'s Donuts... "They're excellent"

I've driven an LB7 and LLY and the latter of the two is a much more responsive motor. I'm plotting to order mine here in about 8 weeks or less, I can't wait! Insane power, great economy, and power!

 

LB7 and LLY are .... ????

Now realize, this is a work truck and not a sleeper ...

I've been down the deisel route ... never to go back. Maintenance is just as frequent and twice as expensive. Anything made up in fuel is chewed up in operating costs.

 

LB7 and LLY are the Dmax motors. LLY is the newest one. Yes diesel vehicles are usually work trucks...

When did you do the diesel thing? During the non turbo 80s? Diesel tech has taken a HUGE jump even since the mid 90s. They are totally different and with the common rail injection much quieter and less smelly too.

With quality fuel and syn oil, your maintainence is less often as the oil can lost longer. Besides that you aren't adding a quart every 1000 miles. You've got to change the fuel filter slightly more often on a diesel motor like every 10-15K but that's damn near what the gas motors need. The diesel fuel filter is like $20 vs $8-10 for a gas one. Slight difference. They also have a 100K mi warranty on the motor and trans.

Besides a new diesel will hold value better than a comparable gas motor, get 50-60% better fuel economy, tow more, and be quicker. There's not much to think about to me...

 

Agreed they seem to hold their value. But you pay a premium to get it. So where is the value?

I had a Cummins in a Dodge in the early 90s. I know there have been a multitude of strides in the techology.

But 16 quarts of motor oil every 5K miles is more than any 8.1 can consume. Fuel is an issue when travelling. You just never know where is a decent place to buy it. I prefer not to blow black smoke in the open window of the guy next to me ... call me considerate of others ...

I really didn't want this thread to be a debate on the merits of a diesel or how much of an idiot I am for even considering an 8.1 ...

I just want to know what other people have experienced with the 8.1 and the Allison tranny.

 

talk to tom at tbyrne he has 2 of them

 

The value is in it's longetivity (sp?). That motor will run 200-300K mi easily if you keep up with the maintainence (basically fuel filters is the biggest factor) that's where it really shines. Diesel's are built for durabiliy and work.

Hardly anyone drives an 8.1, Tbyrne has a few of them and that's about it that I've seen. I considered one pretty hard but then saw far more potential of the D-max than $5-8K into an 8.1 would be. When it comes down to it, I see no reason to get 8-12mpg in a 7000lbs truck when you can get upper teens with ease. That's why almost no one replies to your questions. Fuel is never going to get cheaper and 50-60% better economy makes sense on top of more power.

I'm about 90% sure the D-max doesn't use 16 qts of oil. I think it's about 6 or 7. Go on GM's website and it'll tell you for sure. Ford's 7.3 Powerstroke uses 4 gal of oil.

The old Cummins were durable but SLOW and LOUD. There is no black smoke pouring from the tailpipe on these new trucks. Now with a fueling box on the HO levels there is some. But it's not choking like days of yore. Diesel fuel is easy to find around here in the South on trips...hell all big rigs are diesel powered...

You came off as you were tired of your truck and wanted to trade it in...that's why I recommended the diesel route. Your initial post never asked about other people and their experiences...only what sucks about the 8.1 so I told you why they suck and the route I'd chose for a work truck.

 

Fair enough ...

The Power Stroke does require 16 qts ... the DMax uses 9.8L w/ a filter

Everyone I've talked with suggests changing the oil and filter every 5K miles if you are towing.

 

Buy the 8.1, slap a few bolt ons on it and Viola!! You have a beast. All you have to do to wake the 8.1 up is a intake and a custom tune. With those two things you will get 50+rwhp.

 

Mitch, how much towing do you plan on doing? How much weight? How often? If you are just pulling your car around on an open trailer, I'd get a 6.0L over the 8.1L engine. I know quite a few guys with 6.0L HD2500 trucks and they typically get about 15 mpg unloaded (2wd) and about 13 mpg (4wd). Towing a car, typically about 10-11 mpg.

The 8.1L is just a gas hog, and you shouldn't really need that sized engine if you aren't towing some massive weight. I'd probably only go with that gas engine if you plan on towing more than 50% of the time with your truck.

I'd still get a diesel, sure the costs are higher initially, but figure you are also buying a power adder at the same time. When you sell it, you will easily recover over half of the price difference. You could also run it up to 150K miles, and it would still sell quickly, while most gas engines start to be questionable at 75K for most people.

I'm probably going to end up buying a used 2003 truck for my next one. Seems like they depreciate alot in the first year, just like a car. Then trucks seem to hold their value well at that after-depreciated price range.

Tony