Game changer? - 2.8 L Duramax Diesel

[srileo]

Here is the Duramax... I have one too...with an Eagle (formally a Taco owner). The diesel is amazing. great mpg and tons of torque. Needed air bags and I am putting on a sway bar. This photo is from FWCJH. on their Instagram site.

25 MPG !!! good lord, that is twice what i get now in my Titan.

 

[buckland]

After doing what needs to be done: Air bags, E rated tires (C at the least) sway bar, and if heavy on the gear like me ... an added leaf. This truck is indeed a Game Changer.... long life, lots of power, great mileage, comfortable with modern electronics (info-tainment) and easy to maintain.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Just fyi major money is being invested in diesel engine tech. Which is billions behind compared to gas engine design and development.
I have read in several places now that future diesel engines will have similar exhaust set up as standard gas engines in the near future. The DEF treatment is just a step in diesel engine evolution. But its not new anymore and the newer rigs rarely have issues with it.
Clean vehicles are fine by me. Diesel power is really amazing and ideal for FWC type rigs.

 

[buckland]

I am planning on a long haul trip to Alaska from New England in 2017. A bit daunting. I have driven across the US twice on motorcycles. That is a lot of work. I am hoping the comfort I have in the interior of the Duramax diesel Colorado will make the first leg out doable: Wife flies to WA. I drive the truck camper rig. It will be a great shakedown cruise. We get on the ferry and float on up to near Homer. take 4 weeks cruising the sites and take 2 more weeks to get back down to Montana.... wife on the plane.... me schelping cross country home. The diesel should do well on the long haul in mileage with cruise control. I figure 13,500 miles round trip max. 10 weeks... of which 7 K is done by me alone.
The diesel barely sounds like a diesel... no smell either at all. The DEF has worked perfectly so far at 4000 miles. I have been waiting for the shoe to drop but I can't find a thing that has not worked perfectly so far. No issues. (save I needed a seat cushion).
If all goes well this winter it will be a heck of a ride for sure.

 

[Desertratduo]

Our first trip in Sept. in our 2016 Colorado Diesel Longbed Z71 4WD was just shy of 5000 miles and averaged 28.1 mpg with mostly interstate driving. Accelerating uphill at 75 mph was amazing.....truck performed flawlessly. Using exhaust brake in steep descent from 10,000 ft peak was a revelation--no manual braking. Our FWC Fleet is due to be delivered in Dec.and we will be eager to see how it drives. We love the truck, so comfortable, such a pleasure to drive. I think we got the only one in AZ and we haven't seen another on the road. Stay tuned.

 

[kmcintyre]

I am planning on a long haul trip to Alaska from New England in 2017. A bit daunting. I have driven across the US twice on motorcycles. That is a lot of work. I am hoping the comfort I have in the interior of the Duramax diesel Colorado will make the first leg out doable: Wife flies to WA. I drive the truck camper rig. It will be a great shakedown cruise. We get on the ferry and float on up to near Homer. take 4 weeks cruising the sites and take 2 more weeks to get back down to Montana.... wife on the plane.... me schelping cross country home. The diesel should do well on the long haul in mileage with cruise control. I figure 13,500 miles round trip max. 10 weeks... of which 7 K is done by me alone.
The diesel barely sounds like a diesel... no smell either at all. The DEF has worked perfectly so far at 4000 miles. I have been waiting for the shoe to drop but I can't find a thing that has not worked perfectly so far. No issues. (save I needed a seat cushion).
If all goes well this winter it will be a heck of a ride for sure.

That's my plan eventually. Take the ferry up to AK, spend time up there, drive back to Idaho. Be sure and post updates/trip reports. I know a lot of people on the forum have done that trip and not one didn't like it!

Great adventures!

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Had a chance to stop by the GMC dealer last week during some errands. Last time I looked was when the first Colorado on the lot had just arrived.

Canyon SLT interior is much nicer than the Colorado top model Z1 I test drove.

They had about 8 Canyons and three Diesels. I hadn't heard one start and run. WoW what a nice engine. Really quiet.

I stll think GM needs to step up its interior. The SLT fo leather was nice but I would'nt say its at the level of our Subaru which is disapointing for the price point. 40k life style truck should at least have interior seating covers on par with Subaru which isnt exactly high end or fancy.

After a yr with our cooled seats in the Fusion... A smart truck maker would offer it as a $350 option on every trim even the work truck. Nothing is more awesome than getting back to the rig after a hot hike, or packing up camp in hot temps and kicking on the cooled seat. Ohhhhhh its soooo much heaven.... Seriously...
Our Subaru replacement will have vented or cooled seats, seriously, I would consider brands I'm not a fan of to have cooled seats!

Come on GM!!!

 

[buckland]

I am a fan of "A Good Truck"... I have had Mazda (young) then Dodge (Mitsubishi).. then Toyota Tacoma (15 years) and now the Chevy Colorado Duramax diesel. I can't imagine a better pop up camper truck... small enough to get into the places needed, great inside cargo.... WAY more power to drive with camper and tow a trailer... comfort and tech amenities. (great mileage) I find excuses to drive it. If all y'all want a truck for camper w/o going the 12 mpg route (try 25 mgp).... this is it. I know it is a matter of needs/likes. but it really is a nice set of wheels.

 

[Billincamo]

For the full size trucks, plan on an extra $8,000 minimum for a diesel. You have to drive a lot of miles to get a return on your investment. My suspicion is the same math applies to the 1/2 ton trucks.

If I didn't pull a big travel trailer and boat, I would have purchased a gas rig instead of the diesel.

The Ram Ecodiesel upgrade is $4,200. Worth every nickel for the torque, mileage, and resale value!

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Buckland I'm awating your big trip blog to hear more about the little 2.8.

My career path has taken a big 90 degree turn in a whole new direction. Due to my Amazing wife landing her dream job. Its looking like a midsized pu will be a better fit for what I'm toying with regarding full time dad and part time one man buisness. So we shall see...

 

[buckland]

Good luck with the life direction change ... I had one of those 10 years ago... Tough at first...then things straighten out. I have a string on the "TRIP PLANNING" page... "Alaska or Bust" ... I am feverishly redoing interior mods that have been on the list as well as getting the truck ready. That and route planning!!!
I intend to do a string of the same name in TRIP REPORTS.
I feel like a kid with this truck...did not expect to enjoy it so much... I was never a fancy truck kind of guy ... just hauling stuff around and getting out in the woods. Now.... I do the same but a lot of umph!

 

[Desertratduo]

Since I last posted in October we have installed our Fleet camper and taken 3 small trips that included only minor off-road travel. The reality check has been that we have blown TWO sets of airbags. One bracket failed to hold position on the first airbag installation. In the second, the brackets held but both airbags failed. In hindsight, I wish we had Buckland's wisdom but glad he provided his info. We have now ordered an additional leaf in our springs to augment the suspension. Don't know if a sway bar would help with the payload problem but the handling seems ok. Airlift has honored their warranty and sent replacements (again) and a new installer wondered if the first ones were over inflated at installation. If the additional leaf (which seems to be the only remedy available for the Chevy Colorado) doesn't solve our problem, don't know what we'll do. The Colorado is a great truck with great mileage, but I wish we had studied up on payload.....

 

[buckland]

I answered this at the other link below
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/12057-chevy-colorado-2016-and-a-2011-eagle/

 

[farmtablemouthbutt]

Howdy buckland, hand foot maneuver from colo/canyon forums!

Next week should be my time to get my order in at All Terrain, getting a Bobcat. Got held up with some bedroom flooding issues over the last few weeks....

To echo buckland there, I could not be happier with my diesel Colo. I lucked out and got mine for the price of the gas model, $4k off sticker, so that $42k sticker shock got toned down a lot. Basically got the $4k diesel package (which includes a lot) for free. Highly optioned with the bose, nav, and the whole enchilada. Interior is excellent.

Couldnt be more pleased with the diesel. I get great mpg here at 6300ft elevation Im still getting 25-28mpg. 32 mpg on the fwy at sea level last trip. No issues at 15k miles. the DEF is cheap and only needs refill every 7-8000 miles so far. $12 bucks a gallon at wallymart, takes 1.7 to fill it. Sheeps urine.

I have 2 other friends here in town with the baby duramax, a duplicate of my truck in shortbed who pulls a larger Rpod and another with a Canyon with a lumber rack and topper, pulls a tent trailer. Both report barely remembering that theres a trailer back there and neither report any issues except a spontaneously bursting rear window on the Canyon....I dont trust his report, I bet he was doing something dumb if I know him at all All 3 of us are in the 14k-22k mile range.

Ill be ordering that Bobcat next week after I move back in to my dry condo. Then will come the ride-rites, the bilstiens, the E rated tires, and the hellwig rear sway (thanks for the tip buckland). Hoping that better options for upgraded replacement parts for brake pads and rotors come in by the time the build is complete. Very little options at the moment. The bilstiens just hit the market I guess.

 

[buckland]

Glad you like the ride. I think people are shocked the midsize truck has a diesel and one so capable and comfortable. My camper goes on again this week. I believe after the next two months trip I'll be able to give a good report of any mods the still need tweaking. It's as ready as it can be. I too just got 31 mpg on a drive that was mixed HYW and town. The best was a trip all interstate and I got 33! (without the camper). I think "Max" and I will do a lot of traveling.

 

[farmtablemouthbutt]

Yeah, it seems like you ride a little heavier than I do. Im not opting for the sink and water tank and such, so on those occasions when I need to carry water, Ill just use blue 5 gal camping containers. Here in the sierras youre never far from amenities like water, crappers, and sushi for that matter Death Valley/Saline Valley is about as remote as Ill get around here.

The mileage and torque make it well worth it. Stoked for your big trip! Definitely curious to hear how the extra leaf and such treat you.

 

[buckland]

Thought I'd throw this blog link in for the AK-YK trip with the Eagle on a diesel. btw the sway bar is very nice on corners with the camper on. The extra leaf does make the ride a bit harsher but better than the Tacoma with the extra leaf. The camper is on and it handle great. My mistake was at first putting too much air in the bags ...don't need more than 20 -25 max to level. I had it at 40 and was real bouncy. The leaf is taking all the load now. I will have a lot to report as I go, I am carrying weight for sure but not excessive. I plan to have the truck weighed on route fully loaded and will post that too (with and without camper).

Here is the blog http://alaskan-yukon-roadtrip.blogspot.com