I currently own a 2004.5 GMC with the Duramax/Allison and I am in the market for a new Truck. My GMC has been very good to me over the past Six years, I have 140k hard miles put on it and the truck has never let me down. I test drove the new GMC Denali great truck again, I cannot knock the powertrain, however, I feel like the rest of the quality in the truck is not there cheap interior and plastics not to mention the backseat of the crew cab is tight.

I have also driven the new Ford f350, Great Truck and Better Features for the $$$ (the Sync System is Great!). I have concerns of the engine and tranny being first generation. I know it takes time to work things out but over the past 8 years this is engine number 4 for the Superdutys.

Any advice would be great!!!
Also owned a 1997 f250cc ps.

Thanks,
Ted

 

I had an 04' Chev 3500 (dually) with the duramax....had all kinds of problems with the injectors....the interior was cheap and falling apart in no time....my current vehicle (see sig) is by far a better product.

 

I went from an '05 duramax to an '08 6.4 powerstroke and now have the 6.7. My problems with the GM platform were mainly suspension and chassis though our duramax did lose multiple injectors which was the last straw.

For what I do, the Ford outperforms the GM solidly, which is towing average size and weight trailers all over the Southern US from KS through to Miami. The Allison was a treat but the Torqueshift will grow on you. The turning radius will make you smile, the front axle will give you huge confidence, the solid feel of the truck is not "smoke and mirrors", the SuperDuty really is the bomb diggity. The SD is heavier, cab is very nice. Trailering is pure joy. Tow Command system is great. The leaf springs on the '11 F250 are a little different and allow more rear end sag with a load even though the rating is still high. You may want to have the "camper package" or be prepared to beef up with airbags. I think the 350's are still ok.

 

Although there are still some other brand detractors out there, the new 6.7 Ford diesel has been as close to bullet proof as any engine ever introduced. There are easily 125000 or more 2011 Fords on the road. If they averaged 10000 miles each to date, 18 million miles or more. The 2011 Duramax is 60% new as well.

Regards

 

I had a 04 dm and it never let me down, never failed to start in any temp, never had any problems with injectors,the motor or transmission. Did put brakes, shocks, front wheel bearings which was for normal wear. I put 160k on this truck and it still was a great running truck and I would travel anywhere in it still with total confidence.

My new ride is a F250 2011 Lariat with all but a few of the available options.So far 13.5k on the truck. Cab comfort is way better. Premium sound system and info dash are best I have ever seen.

The straight axle in the front does handle bumps differently than a independent suspension. The Ford pulls trailers better. Feels solid on the road with any size load.

The new engine starts instantly. -17 f here this morning and it fired up with no problem and was with no wait time. I used the keyless to start it and was seconds and it was running. I let it run about 10 min and had the heater set to come on with the heated seats. It also has the supplemental electric heater. A "must have" if your in a cold climate.

Pure heaven!

 

I've got an 05 Duramax and plan to make the switch next year. The GM truck has been fine but I just like the Ford a little better than the GM trucks. Plus, I don't like buying the last model year of a vehicle; '12 is the last year for the current body style GM trucks... they will be all new for the '13 model year (well, the 1/2 tons will be all new, the HDs will have the new body work and interiors on the new chassis that was introduced this year).

 

Had an 08 Duramax and recently got a 2011 F-250. If I knew then what I know now I would have gone with an F-350 or possibly another Duramax, but probably the Ford cause I was just bored with the Chevy although it was a good truck. I drove a new Chevy before I bought the Ford and didn't find the Chevy different enough from the one I had to warrant getting a new one. The build quality/fit and finish etc. of the Chevrolet was much better than the Ford and I'm basing that on 2 different Ford vehicles I own currently plus the loaner car I have become very accustomed to and have driven more than the new truck I am paying for. Very expensive little focus but hey I get 35 mpg vs 16.5 and am glad to have a loaner car. The Ford does ride better, seems to use higher quality interior materials, and has more and better features. It gets better fuel mileage and has more power, but the new Chevy does too vs that of the 08. The Ford was also a lot more expensive than the 08 Chevy eventhough they are/were similarly equipped, but seems to bring more to the table. An equally equipped 2011 Chevy will run about the same money as a 2011 Super Duty so that gap has narrowed. The Chevy seemed to be a better value and held it's value better than the Ford when I was buying an 08. The Allison Transmission in the Duramax is better and I feel is the best tranny out there in this class of vehicle. So far the dealer has had the Ford longer than I have fixing various mostly cosmetic issues that I noticed when I purchased it. Mechanically the truck has been as expected so far. Probably should have gotten a different one or ordered it, but it was the only one like it around at the time and I couldn't wait any longer as impatience got the best of me. Mine is an early build so maybe these issues are limited to those and hopefully everything will be resolved soon. I don't recall any of my GM vehicles staying in the shop this long but then again I didn't have the same issues with those. I have another Ford in another Ford dealer shop right now and it's been there almost 2 weeks and I don't think they've started on it yet. I was promised a window sticker for the truck and have been back and forth with the dealer and Ford Corporate trying to get one, but still nothing more than a copy which I already had, and I doubt I'll ever see a real one. This may not be a big deal to most people, but it is to me and the process and outcome has been utterly ridiculous. Nobody seems to do what they say they will anymore. Needless to say I love what little experience I've had with the truck itself, but am frustrated with the service and build quality.

 

I switched but I haven't fell out of love with my 6.0L yet. The new 6.7L is tempting.

Welcome to FTE Ted Enjoy the forum and a great bunch of guys.

 

Mom (yes, mom) has a 1 ton GMC/Duramax dually, '04 if I remember correctly. She has less than 50k miles on it.

Little brother has a '98 Dodge 1 ton dually, hasn't breached 100k yet.

Both trucks have had far more issues than mine at 195K, Mom is on her 4th set of front wheel bearings, among other things. Brother's Dodge's interior is literally falling apart. He finally went to an aftermarket tranny after blowing three stock ones. The 4wd system doesn't work any more, the door hinges are shot, and the dash has been on fire twice.

The quality of my truck compared to theirs is far superior. My interior looks almost new (if someone would clean it once in a while). I am still on my original tranny. The worst problems I have had were a oil fitting leak at the HPOP and a crapped out multifunction switch.

 

Back when the Powerstroke was the 7.3 Ford had 93% of the light-duty diesel market. So to say that Ford even has 50+% right now is a significant kick in the teeth. Granted back when the 7.3 was around there were few options for light duty diesel pick-ups. But seeing as how the Duramax has crept up over the last 10 years means that it’s not just a flash-in-the pan either. During that time frame there has been 3 renditions of the Powestroke 6.0, 6.4, and 6.7 vs. the Duramax 6.6 and yet the 6.6 seems to come out on top or close to it every year – that also says something. In my opinion that puts it up there with the 7.3 powerstroke and 5.9 cummins. I think it would be hard to say the 6.7 is ‘bullet-proof’ yet. Let’s look at this board in 3 years and see.

I can’t find many cons with the Duramax or Allison drivetrain other then what the government has mandated with emissions. Early on 2001-2004 there was some injector issues in which GM stepped up to the plate and warrantied those injectors for up to 100,000 miles. At that time the 6.0 powestroke was introduced with its many issues and Ford claimed there was nothing wrong – right.

The only issues I have are with the suspension – the front-end has been historically weak. I’ve experienced this myself and choose to beef mine up. I do some hauling of round bales in the fall and have driven on many rooted-up fields. Although I’d do better than my Ford or Dodge counterparts in terms of ground clearance the steering was noticeably weaker and ‘squishy’ feeling until I did work to the front-end. Having seen the new front-end on the 2011 it appears it’s nothing short of a medium duty IFS – the casting is massive so maybe that issue is resolved – time will tell. Also compared to Ford and Dodge the interior is what I would consider a bit ‘dated’.

Right now I’d have a hard time justifying a purchase of a diesel of any brand due to the thousands of extra dollars one has to pay to neater their truck to make it perform less efficiently due to government regulation. The buy in cost of a diesel is higher, the fuel is higher, urea costs money as does regeneration.

 

Get out of that thing before you blow EGR valve or have to go in for another 'reflash'.

 

No EGR valve to blow and I am well past the reflash point, I have a custom flash that works well.....

 

We all do. Glad your still up and runn'en

 

I guess when we get 300000 miles on all of our 6.7 Fords we will be close to enough miles for "reliability". I get the idea, but there is a big difference between the 6.0 introduction and the 6.7's debut. By this point in the game, the 6.0 was already in big trouble. Improperly torqued head bolts, the wrong coolant and tuners designed around successful 7.3 devices had caused big problems. The 6.0 has been maliciously attacked, some of it earned, ever since. The OB detractors drag this up continuously. It is not relevant. The reality is this is a Ford designed, from the ground up, 5 years or so in the making engine that was tested for 10 million miles before it ever saw a production run. According to production numbers, provided by someone here in the know, the Kentucky Truck Plant has been building about 26000 6.7 diesel Super Duty's a month. This months order bank shows no sign of shrinking. You do not see very many of these trucks sitting on Dealer's sales lots. Many dealers have none. 8 months of production at these rates puts more than 200000 trucks out there either available to purchase or have been sold and piling up the miles. Assuming 75% of the trucks have been sold, that makes 150000 new trucks out there running the roads. If the average miles are 10000 per truck, reasonable as I have 18000 on mine, that makes 150 million miles on the fleet(if I counted the zeros right). To date, there have been no statistically significant problems reported on any components on the engine. Sure, there have been warranty repairs made on these engines. I had a fan clutch failure 15000 miles ago. There were a few turbo's that were assembled wrong and some shipping issues. All these fall within, and likely, below accepted failure rates for any machine, especially one as technically advanced as these engines. Judging by comments from respected techs like Cheezit and others here, they would starve to death trying to buy groceries with 6.7 engine repair money. The victory flag may not be flying yet but it has been unfolded and it is attached to the flag pole.

Merry Christmas

 

What victory? That Ford has found a reliable platform of which to compete against its competitors. Some would say that’s just catching up. It would appear the current offering is stable - I hear what your say’en but only time will tell. I wouldn’t place the term ‘bullet-proof’ on any motor from any company until after a few years in real world use and assembly production.

I do find it a bit humorous that when the Duramax first came out how the idea of aluminum heads was laughable to the powerstroke community. And now look who followed suit