Toyota Tacoma or Chevy 2500 Duramax

if they still put the 7.3 I look at on but a guy I know works in the shop at the ford dealer and said stay away from the one with the 6.0. plus the gm has the bullet proof allison trans. my next choice would be 06 or older dodge with the 5.9 cummings with a 6 speed manual trans.

 

stick with your taco for sure man. We have duramaxes at work and I drive one of them everyday, well besides some weekends and when the chevy dealer's working on it. We have 2 in our county, an 03 and an 07. The 03 has had about 18k dollars of work done to it in its 180,000 miles. This includes several sets of injectors, cracked heads replaced twice, radiator, Allison tranny problems, and multiple wheel bearings. The 07 I drive has been fairly reliable other than small aggravating things. Just recently had an egr cooler replaced and tpms sensors x2. Needs a wheel bearing now. Allison 6 speed has always shifted terrible especially going from 3rd to 4th. Dealer says its normal. I really hate that when I need to pass, I step on the throttle and it actually throws your head forward trying to decide whether it wants to downshift or not. Duramax-Allison, definetly not the fullsize truck I would buy.

 

Jeesh. Looks like ill be keeping the taco for sure. Thanks for all the help!

 

College drop outs don't need college

 

Now go ask a Duramax forum and you'll get the exact opposite reaction

 

You are 100% correct on that.

 

If you get a Duramax, try to avoid the LB7, which was put in from 2001 -2004.5
(if you look at a 2004, check the VIN - 8th number = 1, it's an LB7, walk away or make sure you get a GREAT deal)
If 8th number (on a 2004) is a 2, it's the LLY and you're good.
The Early Duramax (LB7) had injector issues, and when they have to be replaced, it is VERY expensive, 3K - 5K at a dealer.
If you do the work (big job) injectors, plus incidentals like oil, filters, gaskets, etc., will run you around 1K - 1.5K
I traded a 2004 Duramax on the Taco, because the injector price and issues spooked me....
Dealer I bought the truck from paid 2600.00 to change 2 injectors when I bought it.
Looking for another Diesel now, but it's gonna be 2005 or newer.
Oh, and if you decide on a Dodge, 2007 with the 6.7 is the one to avoid, it was the first year for this engine, and there were
a lot of emission control issues. They can be solved with about a grands worth of delete kits and a tuner, so
a great deal on a 2007 6.7 would be worth checking out. Any year with the 5.9 is good though.

 

save the cash for hookers and blow...

...or college bar sluts and meth since you're still in school...

 

hahaha. hookers and blow huh?

 

Anyone charging that kind of cash for injectors on an LB7 should be shot! When I was at the dealership we replaced all 8 injectors, injector seals, and all the related gaskets, and it STILL only was $2k including the oil change. If you know anything about replacing injectors on a diesel you will see that this is actually a good deal.

The problem with the injectors on the LB7 was cracked seats. GM had a bulletin that addressed this, and as I mentioned before, most every one of these trucks were caught before the warranty on the bulletin expired (12ok miles +) Once they were replaced with the updated injectors you didn't have to worry about that problem again. Still, the newer VIN "2" or LLY were a big step ahead in performance and reliability though. Since the 6.6 came out there have been 6 different versions. In order they are LB7, LLY, LBZ, LMM, LGH & LML. My preference was the LMM, but it did have some problems with the DPF filter and cleaning procedures.

Of course this IS a Tacoma forum, so I'll leave it at that. lol

 

just thought I'd add some info on the 07 I drive at work. The transfer case just took a dump. My coworker was driving it to work a couple days ago and driving down the road the truck was popping real loud and he said it would slow him down a bit when it did it. He thought maybe the rear end had chipped a tooth and was getting bound up in its gear. After driving slow for a few miles he finally had to stop. He said it was constantly grinding. I pulled in behind him bringing a tow strap but my boss had already showed up to pull him in his Dodge. He put the truck in neutral, both tranny and transfer, to pull it but it wouldn't pull. He then left the transfer in neutral and put the truck in drive and could drive it around, although it would still grind. Anyway the mechanics just replaced it. By the way it never leaked oil like these transfers are prone to do hence the rubbing problem.

 

^This!

Can't be explained any better. I have seen many taco's break 200k with no issues. My '97 had 200k+ and ran like a champion...Do the Dmax's do the same? as often? with no issues?