My truck is stock except for a 4 inch Gibson muffler.I have towed my trailer (7,500lbs)with my Vortec Max Chevy 6.0 HO and my last trailer slightly lighter with my Chevy 8.1 Alison and they all seem close in power up the same 6-7% grades.Once I got down to 65 mph I hit 5th gear and would hold 65 matted except for one spoy where it dropped to around 63 and I was kind of suprised that it didn't have more.
Am I expecting too much?

 

My last truck was a Ford V-10 (6.8 liter) gasser and there is no comparison to my current truck. Much more power with the Cummins. It will accelerate up grades that the V-10 would bog down on and have to downshift.

 

ive driven 2 GMC's with both both the 6.0 and 8.1 gassers and they're great when loaded about 60%...they accelerate great and feel like sports cars but they cant hold gear when u give them more weight and downshift to 2nd almost every hill to get the rpms over 4000...i put the same load in the back of my "12 year old" truck and my revs dont change and the truck never downshifts...those are the differences ive noticed

 

I really like my Dodge but Stock I'm not sure if it would out pull my 8.1 with a 4.10 gear.Do you think the Cummins will get stronger with more miles since I only have 4,500 miles or so on her.
Now the 8.1 would be at 4,000 where as the Dodge is at 2,400 but it is also making some noise.
Thanks for your responses.

 

It will definetly get stronger. A couple of other bonuses you will notice. You'll be able to pass a gas station and you won't have to add oil every 8-1200 miles like with the 8.1.

P.S. Welcome to DTR!

 

Thanks for the wellcoming I do apreciate it.The Dodge is alot more relaxed when towing and you are right on the mileage.I couldn't make 200 miles on a tank when towing and only around 250 when empty with the 8.1.I only got 10 miles to the gal towing with the Dodge but thats still over 300 to a tank and that was mountain towing.I got around 550 on my last tank empty so I do enjoy the mileage and I will do some sort of a programer one of these days.
I do really like my Dodge and am planing on keeping it a long time.
I think I'll try just cruising on my next trip (will be going to Ca next month)and see how it goes.
Thanks again all

Phil

 

Go to USER CP in the menu above and fill in your signature. That way, we can see what you have, and can better compare your truck to ours during discussions. Did your last trucks have the same gearing and tire size as your current truck? Like mentioned above, as the engine lossens a bit, you should see better performance. I see you are already experiencing the mileage increase over gas hauling! Enjoy your new truck, and watch your wallet -- the threads on here make your money fly away for new parts and upgrades!!

 

They all had around the same size tire,265 on the HD and 285 on the vortec max.Both gassers had 4:10 gears.
I'll put some miles on her and see how it goes.
I guess pulling 7,500 up 6-7% grades at 65 mph really isn't too too bad.
Thanks for the replies and I set my signature.

Phil

 

try a quad XZT box. itll give it a little more power and add some gauges

brett

 

your truck should have 3:73 and that does make a difference compared to 4:10's

 

My previous truck was an '01 SuperDuty Crewcab 4x4 V10 gasser, same gearing and tire size as my current ride. (3.73's, 35 in tires) No comparison in power, the Ford couldn't hold O/D empty as well as the Dodge will while pulling a trailer. And don't even get me started on the difference in fuel mileage, the diesel burns less fuel fully loaded than the V10 did empty!

 

It will get better as your truck breaks in. My last truck was 01 chevy 2500HD with a 8.1/allison and this truck will definitely outpull it. I loved my last truck, it get after it when it was empty but when I put 12K on the trailer, it was a different story. Don't get me wrong it would pull it but it had a tendency to ship down to third on some big hills and sit screaming almost at the redline. That and like others have said it never met a gas station it didn't like and every thousand miles it needed a qt. of oil, sometimes more . The only time this truck has struggled was the other day when I had to move backhoe to town. I was grossing around 30K and she would hold 65 on the hills but that was about all she had without downshifting. not bad at all

 

I would think you should do a bit better than 65 with 7500#.

I can maintain 73-77 with a 7500# trailer on a 6-7%.

 

So what gear would you be in? Looks like we have the same truck.How many miles do you have on yours.
It does seem like mine is a little faster every time I drive it.So maybe its still breaking in since I only have 4,300 miles on it.
Pulled good but as I said I dont think it would have run away from my 8.1.

Phil

 

My son has a GMC Sierra 3500 Dually w/8.1L/Allison. We often pull the same Weekend Warrior Toy Hauler which weighs in a over 12K loaded. The 8100 does a good job, pulls strong and hard; on grades it is taching up to 4500 RPMs and doesn't lose much road speed. My CTD will run right with it, but will only be pulling at 2400 RPMs. As many have said, the fuel mileage is a real positive with the diesel, especially now that gas is close to $3.50 per gallon. He gets maybe 6.5 MPG when pulling while I get 10.5 MPG over the same road. He stops for fuel twice to my once. And diesel fuel around here is still under $3.00 per gallon. I can't say anything bad about the GMC 8100; you just need a fat wallet to feed the beast!!