TBC
06-19-2002, 21:05
I just came off of a 3435 mile vacation trip pulling my 32 tongue pull travel trailer a 2001 2500HD ext cab short bed Allison equipped DMax. The trailer was about 8600 lbs and with all of my stuff in the truck I was easily at 16,500 GCWR (probably a little more).
I departed Ft Worth, TX and went to SW CO to northern AZ to Vegas, Tucson, AZ and back to Ft Worth. For any of you that have been in that country there are a lot of of 6 to 8 percent grades. I am very pleased to report that the Duramax/Allison leveled the grades. For those that know anything about Raton pass and LaVeta Pass in NM and CO this baby handled them like a dream. Raton pass is an easy 6 and 7 percent grade. I went up it at 70 MPH and still increasing speed without ever putting it on the floor. I went by a D*****, pulling a smaller trailer, like he was tied to a post. I went up La Veta, which is closer to 8% near to the top, and topped out at 65 mph and would you know it that there was a F*** struggling his way up and I just could not resist showing him my rear trailer lights. This pass used to put my Suburban with a 454 and 4.10 gears down to about 10 to 15 mph. No more of that stuff.
I used cruise control a big chunk of the way and it was so nice to put it on 65 or 70 where that or more was the speed limit and be able to hold the speed. It would only drop out of OD when the speed dropped 3-4 mph and then it would go to 4th and bring the speed right back to the set speed. I loved it. I have never seen a truck that could do that. The only time it went to 3rd gear was on about a 7 or 8 mile 7% or better grade coming out of Cottonwood, AZ. That was in cruise. I did get some raise temp on that one because it was holding 55mph and 3000 rpm. It got to 230 before I saw it and the trans was at 210. I immediately took it out of cruise and backed it down to 2500 rpm and the temp dropped immediately.
I had one SES light that was attributed to my error with the aux tank. I waited to long to switch tanks and apparently the altitude and foaming may have caused a gage error and I didn't switch it so the engine apparently ingested some air and turned the light on. It ran OK except on little burp until I stopped for construction work. When I started out the truck went into limp mode and would not get over 15 mph. Some folks behind me were upset but the truck pulled to the top of about a 1.5 mile long grade in 1st gear at 15 mph. When I neared the top I turned into a driveway at a church and I let off the accelerator to turn the corner and when I hit the accelerator it had full power again. I drove to the nearest dealer and had it checked and the code set was a major leak. The owners manual says that being low on fuel will turn the light on and it will take several trips (starting the engine and turning it off) to reset the light. By the time I got into the dealership the light was already off. No further problem and I switched tanks a little earlier from then on.
I averaged 9.6 MPG on the trip. Much better than the 454 would do (5.5 to 6 mpg). The nice thing was that fuel was much cheaper than gas. In AZ I pulled to the truck diesel pumps twice and got 8 cents a gal discount. I got 3 cent off in NM. Diesel was 10-20 cent a gal cheaper than gas.
I traded trailers in Tucson for a 30 ft but didn't loose any weight in the process. I gained 7in height which is considerable wind drag increase.
This truck is absolutely amazing. I would catch myself looking to see if the trailer was still there. It pulls so easily and handles exceptionally well. I have been over many of these roads before and this truck was a pure pleasure to tow a big trailer over them. We don't have to be ashamed of owning a GM diesel. The other guys will see the light before too long, espcially when we keep passing them and out running them like Brandy did the black F***.
Sorry for long post. Just thought some might be interested in the fantastic performance of this amazing machine called a DMax/Allison.
I departed Ft Worth, TX and went to SW CO to northern AZ to Vegas, Tucson, AZ and back to Ft Worth. For any of you that have been in that country there are a lot of of 6 to 8 percent grades. I am very pleased to report that the Duramax/Allison leveled the grades. For those that know anything about Raton pass and LaVeta Pass in NM and CO this baby handled them like a dream. Raton pass is an easy 6 and 7 percent grade. I went up it at 70 MPH and still increasing speed without ever putting it on the floor. I went by a D*****, pulling a smaller trailer, like he was tied to a post. I went up La Veta, which is closer to 8% near to the top, and topped out at 65 mph and would you know it that there was a F*** struggling his way up and I just could not resist showing him my rear trailer lights. This pass used to put my Suburban with a 454 and 4.10 gears down to about 10 to 15 mph. No more of that stuff.
I used cruise control a big chunk of the way and it was so nice to put it on 65 or 70 where that or more was the speed limit and be able to hold the speed. It would only drop out of OD when the speed dropped 3-4 mph and then it would go to 4th and bring the speed right back to the set speed. I loved it. I have never seen a truck that could do that. The only time it went to 3rd gear was on about a 7 or 8 mile 7% or better grade coming out of Cottonwood, AZ. That was in cruise. I did get some raise temp on that one because it was holding 55mph and 3000 rpm. It got to 230 before I saw it and the trans was at 210. I immediately took it out of cruise and backed it down to 2500 rpm and the temp dropped immediately.
I had one SES light that was attributed to my error with the aux tank. I waited to long to switch tanks and apparently the altitude and foaming may have caused a gage error and I didn't switch it so the engine apparently ingested some air and turned the light on. It ran OK except on little burp until I stopped for construction work. When I started out the truck went into limp mode and would not get over 15 mph. Some folks behind me were upset but the truck pulled to the top of about a 1.5 mile long grade in 1st gear at 15 mph. When I neared the top I turned into a driveway at a church and I let off the accelerator to turn the corner and when I hit the accelerator it had full power again. I drove to the nearest dealer and had it checked and the code set was a major leak. The owners manual says that being low on fuel will turn the light on and it will take several trips (starting the engine and turning it off) to reset the light. By the time I got into the dealership the light was already off. No further problem and I switched tanks a little earlier from then on.
I averaged 9.6 MPG on the trip. Much better than the 454 would do (5.5 to 6 mpg). The nice thing was that fuel was much cheaper than gas. In AZ I pulled to the truck diesel pumps twice and got 8 cents a gal discount. I got 3 cent off in NM. Diesel was 10-20 cent a gal cheaper than gas.
I traded trailers in Tucson for a 30 ft but didn't loose any weight in the process. I gained 7in height which is considerable wind drag increase.
This truck is absolutely amazing. I would catch myself looking to see if the trailer was still there. It pulls so easily and handles exceptionally well. I have been over many of these roads before and this truck was a pure pleasure to tow a big trailer over them. We don't have to be ashamed of owning a GM diesel. The other guys will see the light before too long, espcially when we keep passing them and out running them like Brandy did the black F***.
Sorry for long post. Just thought some might be interested in the fantastic performance of this amazing machine called a DMax/Allison.