2004 Allison trans

[Javy]

I'm in the process of ordering a 2004 chevy 3500 crew cab,4wd,dually,8.1 liter gasoline V8,3:73 gears.from the dealer.
A 4 speed automatic trans is standard,For $1200.00 I can order an Allison 5 speed automatic trans.I live in Los Angeles CA and moving my business to Big Bear CA,which is 100 miles away and 7000 feet above.I won't be towing anything just hauling whatever
fits in bed.Should I spend the extra money ?
NO Duramax Diesel.
I welcome your opinions.
Thanks.

[O'skool 72GMC]

I have a 2002 with the duramax and the allison.
No problems at all, but there better not be any.
Allsison has a good reputation and i work around other Allison trans alot. The only tip i can give you is to buy the filters at the Allison shop instead of the chevy dealer, alot cheaper. I really like the downshifing the trans does to slow the vehicle. I think the 4L80 also does that in Tow or Haul mode.
Let me know if you got more questions

[griesel72]

I thought you had to go with the allison, if you ordered the 8.1 big block?? if you have a choice, i would order it. What's 1200 bucks when your spending 40000. Mine only has 7000 miles, but haven't had any problems with the tranny.

[djracer]

Javy
I have a 2003 2500hd duramax gmc with 25500 miles on it. No problems with motor or tranny. I'm up for a race with the 8100 if you get to alabama! I'd buy the diesel it has much better resale!

['70_402]

Go with the 8.1... plus the new duramax doesn't even sound like a diesel...if it were me and i was going to drive a diesel i would want it to sound like a freakin' peterbuilt comming down the road!!

[ckhd]

Personally, I'd pop the extra dough. The allison is almost bulletproof.

The only bad thing about the allison I've heard is that in some very specific slick conditions, going slow down a hill, then the transmission can get confused and use the wrong gear. It happened to my cousin a couple of times, but I don't think it's really different than most automatics.

[Javy]

With the 5 speeds,compared to 4L80,is 1st gear lower or 5th higher or both ?

[heldonss]

You better check with your dealer....If you order the 8.1...and want an auto....the allison is the only one you can get.(in the 2500 and 3500, the other is ava. in the Sub and Avalanche) Also you can not get 3.73 gears with the 8.1 in the dually...only 4.10. I had an 01' and now have an 03', and wanted the 3.73.

[hobby67stepside]

I have an '01 with the 8.1 gas engine and the Allison tranny. I pull extremely heavy loads (gross weight as high as 55,000 lbs) and I am not satifisfied at all with the tranny performance. I think it was designed to pull relatively heavy loads (like 5000 - 10000 lbs) at highway speeds. This past Fall my brother was hauling grain for me and noticed the tranny was leaking. It was still under warranty (good thing) cause 4 of the 6 bolts holding the flex plate to the crankshaft were out and the other 2 were loose. And actually this pickup had been used very little to tow those abusive loads. I've got two other older ones with close to 140000 miles that have held up just fine with lots of that heavy towing. I'm pretty sure I'm going to trade soon and I'll go with the next smaller size gas engine (I'm not sure what size it is) and the regular auto tranny.

[Javy]

You're right about the Allison being the only trans option with the
8.1(I rather refer to it as 496 cubic inch).As of today,3:73 gears are available.
But now you have me thinking(watch out!).
6 liter gas produces 300 hp/360 lbs of torque.
8.1 liter gas produces 330 hp/450 lbs of torque.
The 6 liter advertises 13 mpg city.
The 8.1 does not give this info on GMC web site.
With a few aftermarket upgrades such as air-intake,exhaust,chip,
on the 6 liter,I'm sure it would be close to the 8.1's 330 hp.
Now I'm more stressed !
I plan on this truck lasting the rest of my life(I'm 44)so even though money is not an issue,I want to spend wisely.
I'm stubbornly insisting on gasoline because I'm old school and
not wise enough to accept todays diesal,but I might have to reconsider.The Duramax/Allison package is around a $5-6000 option.On the bright side,Gale Banks(which is 5 miles from me)
offers some tremendous turbo goodies.
I don't plan on doing any towing,just hauling small loads.

Thanks for listening.

[djracer]

Javy
I have always bought older chevy's that I could work on but the 100,000 mile warranty and the resale on the diesel made me buy one. I just have a programmer and taller tires but I'm here to tell you it is strong as hell. My 307 that was in my 71 swb was not running well so I ran the diesel at Super Chevy and it went 9.78 in the eighth! This is my first diesel and my first 4X4! You owe it to yourself to compare resale!

[99-2door]

If you are not going to be doing any towing the 6.0L with the 4L80e would be fine. In fact, if you aren't going to be towing why are you going with the dually instead of a single wheel configuration??

[Javy]

The "Dually" desire is I guess a macho thing.Deep down I know I don't need it but the ignorance in me tells me 6-wheel drive will help me in very occasional SoCal snow.I'm talking 2 1/2 inches of it!I swear to GOD one of my friends just stopped by my shop with his 2500 4wd Duramax diesel and took me for a ride.I was definitely impressed.This is making my options more difficult.
This debate could go on and on and I still would be unsure!

[Joesjunk]

I had a 2001 8.1 liter in a crew cab, and have has 3 duramax's since. I liked both motors, but wouldn't go back to a gas motor. You can't even compare the gas mileage difference. Go with the Duramax, you will be happy.

['70_402]

The new "thing" in aftermarket performance is new generation diesels......every high performance publication and tv show is featuring a diesel as a project truck or just to show how much power can be gained by simply bolting on accessories or chips...for instance hypertech claims 96 hp and 163 ft.lbs. on thier stage 3 set up..check out the site http://www.hypertech-inc.com/jpegs/duramax0104.jpg

[breeh]

I have an '04 Duramax/Allison and so for I am very impressed. There have been some design changes in the most recent Duramax engines (Beginning January 04, I think). These changes have boosted the torque up near the 600 ft/lb range! I would definitely recommend the Duramax but I don't have but a couple of months experience with it.

[67chevemall]

Dam Do you guys give out loans!LOL

[O'skool 72GMC]

In the new OFFROAD magazine, they have an article on tranny upgrades and they talk about a couple upgrades for the Allison such as a new torque converter and flexplate and aprogrammer.
When i save up my pennies i plan on getn the banks sytem for my truck, but adding a Voliant air intake( like a KN hypercharger)
with it. Does anybody uot there have the banks system? I was going to drive up there and have them install it with the pod gauges.

[1969 GMC]

Originally posted by Javy
The "Dually" desire is I guess a macho thing.Deep down I know I don't need it but the ignorance in me tells me 6-wheel drive will help me in very occasional SoCal snow.I'm talking 2 1/2 inches of it!

Why??? Do you like to spend more money when replacing tires? Unless you tow a big trailer or are going to use a utility body, then you don't need duals. Save yourself some cash now & in the long run. Oh, and even though you have 6 wheels, the truck is still 4 wheel drive. Which is plenty enough.

I would just save some money and go for the 6.0/4l80e. If you want a diesel go Dodge/Cummins or Ford/Navistar. They just introduced a new Cummins engine for the Dodges, the 600...600+ tq. Weehaw!

[griesel72]

I would buy a dually if i were to buy another truck. The whole tire buying thing is actually equal, the rear tires help to add less were to each other, thus extending the life as much. And you have to remember that the tires on a dually are considerably smaller (214 vs 245) which are less expensive. As for the extra traction, my dad runs duallys on all his feed trucks, and the front wheel on a chevy exactly splits the rear two, which doesn't really help on the traction (the rear end is a little "slick" vs his dodge truck which the front wheel lines up with the rear inside dual)

But i would look into a diesel, i read where the fuel savings over 100k miles pretty much pay for the diesel, and we won't even get into the resale.

Good luck
David

[Javy]

check out this link for the kind of truck I'm looking for.
Isn't the seller on drugs or out of his mind ?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...or=&cardist=16

I drove out to look at it to see if it might be worth $70K.
Wheels were painted black(ugly).So called camper shell is a canvas tarp.It's powered by a "whipple supercharged 8.1 gasoline V8".Whipple retails for $4197(black).It had carbon fiber(looks) dash inserts.($300.00)
I test drove it for 20 miles and on-board computer said average
mpg was 8.1
They tried to tell me 2004 was the last year of "dually's"
Either they are lying or don't know.
I happen to know the cost of the options they claim to have and laugh at the what they say it cost.
That truck off the show room floor costs $45000 with your choice
of color.Add ons might cost $7000 at the most.(including supercharger).
Obviously we don't have to buy the truck but are they looking for a sucker?

I started this thread wanting a 8.1 gas engine,but I'm convinced
on a Duramax Diesel.Is it true Iszuso (spelling?)makes this diesel?
Dodge has their diesels made by CUMMINGS.Which is better?
Who makes ford's diesels?(No Capital Letters)

[dwaite72lnghrn]

GM and Isuzu made the diesel together, Isuzu has been in the diesel market for I think about a hundred years. International makes fords power stroke. The old 7.3 was straight out of medium duty trucks with a tuned down injector pump to keep you from ripping it out of the frame. The new ford 6.0 powerstroke was made for the light duty market. Dodge just signed a new agreement with cummins after Diamler Bentz president put his foot in his mouth condeming cummins engines saying they would use there own diesels in dodge. If you juice your duramax you blew the 100k warranty. http://forum.62-65-dieselpage.com/cg...ultimatebb.cgi try this page for more diesel info.

[djracer]

Javy
Actually Cat designed the fuel system for the duramax but would only sell it to Isuzu instead of Gm! I have heard lots of folks claiming to get 18 to 21 out of their duramax but I haven't had this experiance! I just got back from vacation and I got 16 to 17 on the highway! I get about 14 in town but I almost always pull a small enclosed trailer! I do love the duramax and I can smoke my buddy that has the 496!

[67ChevyC10Stepside]

what i think you should do is DEFINATELY go with the deisel especially since you said gale banks is right there and money isnt a problem. the diesel has awesome gas mileage and wtih the banks performance kit those things are ANIMALS!

[jorgensensc]

What is with this awesome mileage claim? I have been trying to do research and it seams the mileage is about equalling the gas engines. I could be wrong though. The Hemi and the cummins (both by dodge) get about the same gas mileage. Someone please explain the mileage difference please.