Is the Allison transmission worth the extra $?

[Bushman]

GM had a bunch of transmission problems back in the 80's and some of us still remember those days. Say that you were looking at a trip truck with a diesel engine. Would you pay the extra for the Allison heavy duty transmission?

[ncboman]

How much extra?

and how much is an extended warrantee on the stock xmission?

I have a friend in the used car business. He buys cars at the sales, mostly from certain large dealerships. First thing he does is buy a warantee on the motor and drive train on every car he buys. He claims it's the best insurance there is.

ncboman

[Hi Ball]

Bushman, with the problems GM had some years ago and the reports on that Allison Tranny, I myself would go that route just as an added insurance policy. My friend just had his 2004 1 ton truck tranny go out and he had no warranty! It cost him over $3,000 dollars to get it fixed and that is NOT a new out the box tranny either, rebuilt and labor cost.

[Smokey]

The Allison transmission has a 100,000 mile warranty on it from the factory.

[Bushman]

The way I see it, they only put those Allison's in the 3/4 and over trucks with the largest engines. What I've got in the back of my mind for retirement is having enough truck to pull a 5th wheel or trailer up to and out of my land up north and go where ever west and south of here during the winter. While I have not priced them head to head, I think that there would be a couple thousand dollar up charge for that stronger Allison transmission.

I've only had two transmission problems and those were both on cars. Torque converter and an aluminum clutch piston, but there were a hassle both times.

[Just a Hunter]

Im not trying to be a smart arse, but with everything thats been going on with Goverment Motors (I mean GM) you may wish to look at what Ford has to offer.

GM stock dropped below $1 a share, and Bankruptcy may be announced as early as the first half of next week.

[Hi Ball]

Bushman just get yourself a FORD F-350 or even the F-450 (my next truck) I have the V-10 gas engine that has 362 hp and 480lbs torque factory. Now that has been changed or upped about 38 hp and 22-lbs more torque. My gas mileage running at 70 mph empty is 13mph, pulling 5000lbs, it drops to around 11.5 mph, pulling 10,000lbs it gets 9.5 mph. It is quiet as a church mouse too. MAX towing is 12,000 lbs. It will handle a fifth wheel and if you don't think so, then go the Diesel route. However, you will have one heck of a truck to ride down the road and pull your house behind you.;):)

[Bushman]

I don't have anything that heavy to pull yet. It is just going down the highway when you see a big load being pulled, when you pull along side the truck pulling it there is usually Duramax, Cummins or Powerstroke on the side of the truck. We went to CO. elk hunting in a Powerstroke and were getting 13 mpg pulling a horse trailer. Running over the same road was my buddy with a V-10 Dodge and he was getting 8 mpg pulling his horse trailer. That Powerstroke had bags of power even at high altitude.

The best cars that I have ever owned have been GM and the best trucks Ford, but I'm not too enamored with the Ford's body style since around 2004 when they changed them.

I've got to decide what I want to do with my winters and my property up north. The tax guy is killing me for the 300' of lake frontage.

[Hi Ball]

Bushman when the Diesel Rigs were getting (Cummins 5.9) (Ford 7.3) were getting anywhere from 18 to 22 mpg it was a big advantage to go Diesel provided you were pulling a lot and running down the highway a bunch. I have no information on that Duramax Diesel Engine!

I am lucky to put a 125 miles a week on my V-10 Ford F-350 4x4 and pulling does go down to 8 to 9 mpg when things get hilly and heavy on trailer end. Gas is cheaper than Diesel fuel nowdays and it is NOT hard to find in far out of the way places like diesel fuel can be sometimes.

My highschool buddy, purchased a new 2008 DODGE 1-ton dually with the new Blue Technology Diesel and he never gets more than 14.6 mph on the highway empty. Pulling he gets around 11.5 to 12.5 mpg. A far cry from his 21mpg on his old 5.9 Cummins Diesel engine. He pulled a 5th wheel 32 ft trailer down to Florida at least 2 dozen times down & back and always got around 17.5 mpg. Twice he came back without the trailer and was just about empty in the truck beside hand luggage. His miles per gallon was 20.5 coming back to Missouri. Those days are over for the Diesel Engines in trucks!

[Bushman]

Those kind of mileage numbers makes a guy think about the used truck market with a 5.9 Cummins. Those are those noisy ones I think. My buddy has one that he pulls a 5th wheel to Florida with and he says he gets good mileage too. But then he also tells the story about taking it out to Steamboat Springs, CO. elk hunting and it not starting in the cold weather. He needed to fire up a generator to warm up the engine for a while and when it did start he filled up the whole valley with diesel smoke. I was talking to a farmer a while back that had the Duramax in a 3/4 ton and he said that he treats it just like a gas engine and that it starts all the time in the cold weather.

[Hi Ball]

Bushman I have a friend who owns a feedstore and he purchased on of the last new Cummins in 5.9 and likes it a lot. I asked him the other day what kind of fuel mileage he go and is reply was 19.7-mpg driving 72 miles per hour on the interstate and 16 pulling a 26 ft trailer with a tractor on it over hilly state blacktop highway.

He says the excelleration is not as fast as the 2008 or 2009 models but he stated he didn't need to get away from a stop light that fast anyway. The other fellow who I have known since highschool, has improved his fuel mileage by 1-mpg (14 to 15) and now gets 15 mpg with his 2008 1-ton dually DODGE with Blue Technology etc. running empty at 70mph on the interstate.
He gets 12.5 to 13mpg pulling trailers etc.

Right now gas is running 15 cents more per gallon in my neck of the woods!
However, if you factor in the cost of that "diesel engine" plus the $900 dollars for the Blue Tecnology they charge you along with that engine, your spending a lot of extra cash $7,500 dollars. They figure the oil changes and air, fuel filters are twice as much money. One has to do a lot of driving with a Diesel Rig to come out ahead of the gave verses a Gas Rig.

Now did you ever try to trade a diesel truck into a dealership with 200,000 miles on the truck? Hell, they won't give you squat for that truck compared to a clean gas truck with 125,000 miles on the vehicle. So the longivity of the diesel works both ways in miles of service and then it backfires and bits you in the rump come time to trade the truck or sell the truck.

[Bushman]

Your high school buddy gets the same kind of mileage numbers that I get with my old 5.0 and it does not have enough power to pull anything large. If the resale on a diesel is that poor, but they outlast a gas engine, why wouldn't a used one be a good alternative?

Diesel is running $.35 cheaper around here and $.50 cheaper up north than regular gasoline.

We pulled an open trailer with four motorcycles out to South Dakota with a diesel in a Suburban some years back and I couldn't believe the soot that was all over those bikes when we got there. I would hope that they run cleaner now.

[LRImport]

New, old poster here. Not even sure what handle I went by, it's been a long time back.

As to your question about the Allison, it's a fine tranny. My father has a 2001 Duramax with over 400K and the tranny has never been apart. He's had to replace the electronic box on top of it a couple of times when it has failed, but the tranny has outlasted by nearly 4 times, any other GM tranny he's had behind a diesel, from 6.2's to 6.5TD's.

The Duramax is a fine motor as well. The economics of owning a diesel are an entirely valid question. If you don't pull a lot, drive around unloaded, etc. then you need to own the truck for 200K to start to break even. And that is only valid if the price of diesel stays close to that of gas.

Another reason for the decline of diesel milage is the new emissions regulations that have forced the manufacturers to install controls to make these new trucks meet more stringent requirements. Fuel and air make horsepower and torque in diesels. The results of too much fuel is usually soot. That black smoke you see bellowing out of older diesels and "chipped" newer ones, is unburnt fuel. It is also harmful (according to the EPA) emissions, which the new pollution controls, engine tuning and low sulfur fuels are designed to reduce or eliminate.

Me, I drive a gas hog 1/2 ton CC gasser, (Ford Supercrew). It suits my needs, but if I were in the market today, I'd probably spring for a GM 1/2 or 3/4 ton gasser with the 6.0L. Better gas milage than the Ford, plus more towing/hauling capacity.

[Bushman]

What Ford engine in a Super Crew gets worse gas mileage than the GM 6.0L? I was right on the edge of buying a 3/4 ton GMC four door 6.5' box that had the 6.0L until I called the previous owner. A great towing truck with lots of power he told me, but 13 mpg even on a good day with nitrogen in the tires is why he traded it in.

I was talking to a guy next to me at the gas station yesterday who had a 5.4 in a four door F150 and he said 17-18 mpg. Another guy at lunch pulled in with a Dodge diesel and he said 18 mpg with the bigger 6.3L. I expected to hear him say that it was the 5.9L.

[LRImport]

The 5.4L. My truck is a 2001 vintage. 11-12 mpg around town, 16 mpg on the highway if I behave myself. Towing and/or 4wd drives it down even further.

A 6.0L would be an improvement, trust me. I have friends with them in 3/4 ton CC short boxes that regularly boast 2 to 3 mpg better than I usually get. I've see the gas reciepts and they are not lying. :(

[Hi Ball]

Bushman I don't know of anybody around me who gets 18mpg with a 6.3 Cummins engine (Blue Technology is why) NO SULFUR FUEL and Govn't crack downs on emmissions etc. has caused the diesel's to go South in fuel mileage you betcha.:(:eek:

Now the feedstore owner friend of mine, who's truck has a 5.9 under the hood, is now getting 21.6 mpg going down the highway empty and that is very good in my eyes.

The other friend of mine from highschool days is still getting 15 mpg on the highway empty and around 11.5 when pulling his trailer and atv's down to the farm 150 miles South.

[Phil T]

Bushman, the things you say you're going to use the truck for call for a powerful engine and strong transmission. Buy according to load, not fuel economy. Avoiding repair bills will buy a lot of fuel.

[happycamper]

I build off-road vehicles in my spare time.If you can afford the allison and the warranty thats what i would do/buy.If you cant.Then buy an aftermarket trans cooler.All of this is depending on what you tow.But also what you may plan to tow in the future,because a diesal will run "forever" if maintained.My daily driver is a ford super-duty so i may be the wrong person to reply to this post.However my "beater" is a Chevy and the stock th400 has been running strong since i got it off my cousin in 91.Yea its not an allison but my good friend has a gmhd with the stock trans and pulls a trailer daily,and it has had no problems in 5 years.