Debating between a duramax and a gas and the major selling point for me is the mileage when towing. I was planning on putting a chip in it but have heard that chips cause a lot of issues with head gaskets and such. Any one have any experience with that?? Is it reasonable to say that an 05 Chevy diesel with a chip will get 20 on the highway? Thanks
I don’t know about 20 but I have a couple of buddies with the duramax and banks setups that get 19 on the highway all day!
I have one of each, my 01 Dodge diesel truck will pull the boat nearly as cheap as the gas truck runs without towing anything. Needless to say, 
I COULD be prouder of my new gas truck. jerr
I’ve been driving an ’05 Duramax for 3 years. If you are looking for better tow mileage and are sick of all that down-
shifting on the hills, get the Duramax. Granted, all I tow is
a 620 Ranger, but I wouldn’t put a chip in it if they were
free! lol I rarely check my mileage but I did get 20 once going into the Twin Cities and back (non towing and 300 all
hi-way miles). I have checked it towing the boat to Mille
Lacs and back, about 300 miles round trip, and it got 14.8.
So for me, the selling point is decent mileage and a motor/
transmission that tows a boat with little effort.
Regardless of the brand, a friend of mine that works in a dealership told me while I was looking at replacing one of my diesels that due to EPA regs on emissions, not to buy anything newer than an ’06. He was telling me they have a particulate filter that’s suposed to work like a catallytic converter. These aren’t yet perfected and are super expensive should they fail and need to be brought to the dealer to repair. Just a FYI jerr
Just get some nuts and buy it 
I have an 05 Duramax and consistently get better than 20 mpg when traveling in Iowa running about 3 over on your 55 mph roads. Running 65 to 70 mph I get around 18.5 to 20 mpg depending on the terrain. When I pull my WX2100 I get about 14.5 mpg but usually about 13.5mpg in Nebraska and South Dakota running up to Pierre average speed about 70. I live in NE. and my boat and trailer with full gear and fuel wieghs approx. 5500lbs. Go with a Duramax with the Allison and you won’t be disappointed just get an 05 or an 06. No need to chip it, I considered it also but the horror stories I have heard about repairs turned me away. If you chip it you will have more power than you need and the tranny and the truck weren’t engineered for it.
I have an 01′ GMC Ext cab short bed with about 250K miles. Before the feds made the change in sulfur to 15 pppm I was getting 22 to 24 mpg with no load and 21+ with a load. Now, I’m 18 or so regardless of what I pull. I had this truck through Yellowstone, Tetons, and all over the mountains in Colorado. Amazing the power it had at high altitudes!!
Our 04′ Chev crew cab/short bed gets better milage – 19/20ish. Both trucks have more than enough power to easily pull any bass or walleye rig anywhere.
With both trucks, I have run the Gunk sulfur attatives. I gained a couple MPGs, but it was about a wash in cost with buying a couple more gallons of fuel.
As for gas trucks, hopefully I never own another one….unless its a ’40’s to mid ’50s chevy. Then its all show!
I have a 07 with lbz motor and have hade it chiped sence new 120000 miles zero problems. get 20 plus pulling 620 70mph and 22-24 at 60mph. Make sure you have 4″ or 5″ exaust(more hp need biger exaust to keep egt temps down) and a egt gage and watch it when towing. if you are careful watch your temps (egt) you will have no problems the ones that do have problems just chip them and beat on them then its not hard to wreck them. good luck pm me if you have any questions ive done a few.
While I am no expert, my good buddy runs duramaxtuner.com. He has a tune library and writes custom as well. Check out his site and he may give you some good advise, as he works on these every day. 
RR
Quote:
Regardless of the brand, a friend of mine that works in a dealership told me while I was looking at replacing one of my diesels that due to EPA regs on emissions, not to buy anything newer than an ’06. He was telling me they have a particulate filter that’s suposed to work like a catallytic converter. These aren’t yet perfected and are super expensive should they fail and need to be brought to the dealer to repair. Just a FYI jerr
Jerr or anyone else who may know. When looking at a used diesel, what are high miles? Should you use the standard 15k per year like a gasser?
Quote:
I’ve been driving an ’05 Duramax for 3 years. If you are looking for better tow mileage and are sick of all that down-
shifting on the hills, get the Duramax. Granted, all I tow is
a 620 Ranger, but I wouldn’t put a chip in it if they were
free! lol I rarely check my mileage but I did get 20 once going into the Twin Cities and back (non towing and 300 all
hi-way miles). I have checked it towing the boat to Mille
Lacs and back, about 300 miles round trip, and it got 14.8.
So for me, the selling point is decent mileage and a motor/
transmission that tows a boat with little effort.
I also have a 05 duramax with 155k on it and I drive from Rogers mn to downtown MPLS everyday for work. I use the math vs computer to calculate my mileage. I am constantly at 17.5-18mpg, never more never less, that is all freeway driving with starts and stops with rush hour traffic. However when it comes to pulling I drop to the 14.3-14.6 mpg. Its not chipped its stock with only add is a K&N air filter. I tried the chip I also wouldn’t put one in…Not worth the money in my opinion.
I have a hard time understanding how people can get greater than 20mpg on a diesel vehicle with the duramax 6.6 turbo not chipped. I don’t think its possible unless you drive 55mph everywhere…..
I have an 05 durmax and get a consistent 16.5 interstate and 20 highway. I notice the drop in mileage when I get over the 2000rpm range. Milege was quite a bit better before they changed the sulfur levels of the fuel. I have been on the fence about selling my truck and going back to gas for a few weeks but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Once you go diesel, you never go back.
Good luck on your decision
Quote:
I have an 05 durmax and get a consistent 16.5 interstate and 20 highway. I notice the drop in mileage when I get over the 2000rpm range. Milege was quite a bit better before they changed the sulfur levels of the fuel. I have been on the fence about selling my truck and going back to gas for a few weeks but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Once you go diesel, you never go back.
Good luck on your decision
I’d be curious to know what you guys use to justify going to or staying with diesel. For me, I tow the boat an easy 1000 – 2000 miles per month plus all the other traveling I do. I think that makes a good argument for diesel.
Ruger…your definetly a prime canadite for a diesel. Even running to the hunting shack is worth it.
100k miles is just getting broke in for a diesel.
I had a non chiped 06 durmax for a work truck until recently. I put around 30k miles on it last year. Was a good truck I would get around 18mpg with no trailer and 13-14 with a 4,000 lb trailer according to the trucks MPG info center. Thats an all around average of all driving situations summer and winter. Great truck unless towing extremely heavy loads 8,000lb+. I heard that the particulate filter on the newer trucks is what is causing some of the mpg issues. I also noticed that the new Ford diesel has an exhaust fluid? The salesman said that the fluid cleans the filter instead of using diesel to obtain better milage. Anyone else hear anything about this? I now have a Dodge diesel truck sucks except for the motor, the turbo brake is sweet. I wish it was a new power stroke.
I tow a 5th wheel RV trailer or an 18 1/2 fiberglass boat. Sometimes I triple tow the boat behind the trailer. I would own a diesel, if I lived in Texas, Arkansas etc. But this is Minnesota. I need to know that when I go to Lake of the Woods in January it’s not going to cost me $500+ to have it towed to Baudette, put inside overnight to thaw out, new fuel filters etc. Between the winter cold and the mandated fuel requirements I believe this is the wrong state to own a diesel.
I also doubt that the higher purchase price will likely be recaptured with fuel savings. Higher price for diesel over gas plus the higher cost to maintain will make that dificult. Add to all that that awfull stink and that irritating noise the diesels make and it’s an easy decision.
Huntfish, its called urea injection. Its already in some diesels and will be coming to more of them soon. The new fords will have it, not sure when Chev or Dodge will be putting it on.
Thank God my 05 doesn’t have that particulate filter or urea injection….. Have to keep her humming along for many years.
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