Just another great tow........

[01_Duramax_Dually]

Just thought I would drop another note in the forum here since there seems to be alot of people maybe developing doubt about the DMAX and reliability...

Had another drag race event in Las Vegas. Due to the Labor Day weekend I was forced to leave early to avoid traffic which put me in the desert around 1PM. It was 104 degrees when I started the climb up the Tehachapi pass. Temp was 92 at the summit...As I plugged along through Mojave past Barstow then out through the desert, the temps were over 103 all the time. I had my wife and 2 little girls with me so the AC was on 3 the entire time. I had my 10K lb+ trailer in tow. The truck never missed a beat and both the temp gauge and tranny gauge never registered over 200. The boost was in the 15-18lb area on the climbs and EGT was hovering around 1050-1100. I managed 60 MPH 90% of the time except when stuck behind some Big rig that pulled out figuring they could pass another Big rig(Man I hate that when they do that)
COming back was worse and we hit hotter temps and more traffic. Was over 100 degrees the entire trip back from Stateline to San Jose.

I averaged 11.7 MPG for the entire trip.

I have made this trip 5 times now in 6 months and this truck is really a fine vehicle. My wife likes the comfort.

On a funnier note, when I was in Bakersfield filling up, This guy pulled up at the next pump with a brand new CC F350 SRW truck. He asked how I liked my Dmax...Then he went on to say they appear to be OK. He said the Aluminum head deal is a bad idea but then if you only keep the truck for a couple of years then it does not matter... He also said he was getting 17mpg towing and 24mpg daily driving...I just laughed under my breath...Boy some people sure are
S-T-R-A-N-G-E....My wife heard this conversation and when we got back out on the road, she said "Boy I guess we better sell soon....I would always take advice from a guy that has virtually no teeth and smokes like a chimney around gas pumps"

Carry On .....This truck just keeps on rollin.. :D

[ChevysRus]

Never mind all that DMAX stuff LOL

How'd ya do there at the races?

My son was in Vegas this weekend for a softball tournament, started to fire up the old DMAX and head on over, but didn't want to cramp his style with his team buddies by having his Dad tagging along. He spent a lot of time and money at the Coyote Ugly bar at NYNY ha ha ha

If I had know you were racing might have been a good excuse to go on over to watch his games and then watch your games so to speak. LOL

Hope you didn't break anything and where are you racing next. By the way didn't see ya at Goodguys couple of weekends ago, guess you were doing other stuff.

next show is NHRA in sacramento Oct, 4, 5, 6. then goodguys November. That will be it for another year. Is SuperChevy back in Vegas in November??? Are you going??? Maybe I will make the trek in the DMAX again. It was fun last year.

best regards,

[01_Duramax_Dually]

ChevysRus,

Well lets just say......Thank goodness I have another means to make some money other than racing.

Was only able to make 1 and 3/4 passes...The first was a shake down run 8.70 @ 157, the second the blower seized at about 1000 ft mark....The sad part was my incrementals times showed us at 133 in the 1/8 mile....car 60 ft'd 1.29...we were on a good run..

Anyway the blower going away ended our weekend..So I gambled with my wife, saw some shows and went to some amusements parks....

I have not been to any shows..toooooo busy.

But to keep the DMAX crowd in focus I thought I would post another tow so people see these trucks are for real. I am right at 40K miles now.

chat soon

[glamisboy]

You know I've always noticed it's the people you don't know that all have really awesome MPG stats. I wonder why that is, hmmmm.........The guys I am really tight with that have the competition don't seem to have anything more or less impressive than my d/max when it comes to MPG.

We've towed our 5er all over CA in the last year, It still feel's like I'm dreaming sometimes. Is this really for real ??? This truck is awesome, I'll pull my 15,000 lbs. across Mohave any summer afternoon, with the climate control set at a comfy 76 degrees.

I'm sure as with everything my baby will someday be obsolete. But GM has raised the bar this time, & I really enjoy watching everbody else trying to catch up. And they will, as they always do, but as for now, this is it !!!!

Does it always really matter what's under the hood ???? If you don't know how to drive it, what good is it !!!!!

[SoCalDMAX]

glamisboy,

I agree with you, all of my PSD friends are getting around 14mpg empty, so they tell me. We could all get 24mpg. Fill up at the top of the grade, let the trailer push you all the way down the grade and fill up at the bottom. Pretty easy.

Yup, you're right about how great these things drive. I'm having a hard time imagining what could come out in the future that would make it obsolete. DVD, Bose, XM, these are all things I can add if I want, but the powertrain and overall comfort is something that has to be engineered in, and that's what I paid for.

Regards, Steve

[01_Duramax_Dually]

Yeah I have to agree. I am not sure why people need to embellish their numbers. Its not like you are going to want to be there friends or anything...
I have to believe the guy thought I had no clue about what any of these truck get for mileage.

I post my info for people to see if they are in the ballpark or what they might expect if they are recent purchasers. I like to see what owners are getting mileage wise as they get up into some miles. Mine has been consistent between 11-12.5 depending on where I tow. Empty I am a flat 15.5-16 tank in and tank out with alot of stop and go. Open road at 60 I average about 17...
No matter what, it sure beats my 7.4 liter Vortec Dually. I rountinely got 3-4 MPG towing and 9.5-10 MPG daily driving...

[FirstDiesel]

I only have 5k on the truck so it might not be broken in yet.

I get 15.5-16 MPG.

I haven't towed much yet but towing the trailer empty from the dealer the mileage was 14.5.

I can live with the 14 towing but was hoping for a little more when not towing.

Either way my previous rig was a 5.7 Suburban and the best it ever got was 14 and it got 9-10 towing and that was a VERY small trailer.

[glamisboy]

I must admit I did once (1 time, only) get 26 :eek: MPG's with my baby. My truck was empty, I filled at the local diesel stop, did a round trip of 130 miles of fwy. driving w/ the cruise set at 70. Topped her off at the station I started the day at, did my calculations 2x and sure enough 26 was the number. But that scenario is so unrealistic of my driving I don't get dissappointed w/ my far less numbers.

SoCalDMAX, My dad said the same thing 20 years ago about his Lincoln Town Car, that you're saying now.

Unfortunately that's the way it goes. GM at some point will have to "out-do" what we all have and enjoy now. I hate to even think about it. Plus, if they start changing things every couple of years like they are doing now it's going to be even less time.

If someone would have told me a yr. ago my wife could of had her side of the truck as hot as death valley and my side could have been the comfy 76 degrees in 2003. We would have waited, would have saved a-lot of arguing.

We luv her anyway !!!! (the bow tie I mean)

[ 09-06-2002: Message edited by: glamisboy ]</p>

[SoCalDMAX]

Yeah, you're right, they'll come up with something new, I'm just scratching my head trying to imagine what could possibly be better. :D

I hear ya on the Death Valley scene, my wife's the same way, why do women run so cold? Glad to hear you love the truck. ;) LOL

Someday I'm gonna get my Banshee, rail and toybox. Hopefully before I'm too old to pound my kidneys out.

Hope to see ya on the dunes, Steve

[01_Duramax_Dually]

First Diesel,
Yeah a few more miles on it and it should settle in to what you will see for the long term. I saw some big numbers in the beginning then it settled down. I had towed my boat from Lake Almanor when I first got the truck and put on the cruise control at 55. I saw almost 18MPG....But this was not practical as no one goes 55 in these things...As a matter of fact I get my 11-12 going 70-80 mph towing. The truck likes that speed.

Bottomline, all of these trucks are good and technology gets better and better.

Carry On........ :D

[glamisboy]

01_Duramax_Dually,
I hate to say it but I think my MAX runs better at 70 mph w/ the 5er loaded down w/ toys. Finally a truck that wants to get there as badly as I do !! tongue.gif

I know it ain't right but on an open stretch of I15 w/ out a chippy in sight, who couldn't resist.

Does anyone else feel like there MAX is laughing every time you hook something up too it ??? My wifey say's I'm crazy but I really do hear some chuckles every time we hit the Grapevine & it always gets louder at the top !!!! :D

[Jeffrey Shaffer]

Is there anything out there that can compare to the GMC/Chevy I dont think so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I always love when people tell me what they get MPG I always take it with a grain of salt a large grain. It seems to me that way back in grade school they never learned how to add subtract,multiply,divide because they always have to say they are driving for possibly nothing. I have to laugh because we all now better. What a Joke Does anyone ever say they are getting worse fuel/gas mileage then you are NOT.