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I'm back! In a different forum this time.

Detroit Dan

Detroit Dan

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Location
Epping NH
Was a regular in the 6.5 section for years, built up a lifted 97 K3500 dually with A-Team turbo, kojo tune, etc. finally sold it and been playing with an 82 K30 454 for the last few years. Wifes been prodding me to upgrade to a newer, more reliable truck for quite some time. In fact last year she convinced me to take some money out of savings and buy a 2500hd; went out truck shopping but I came home with a 70 Z/28, but that's a story for another day, lol. So the time came (again) to look for a newer rig, and I've always been partial to early 2000s 2500hds. Weeks of hunting and scouring the internet with no luck, but finally got lucky and pounced on a 2002 GMC crewcab shortbed 4x4 Duramax with just 70,000 miles on it. Happy with the price, and thrilled with the low miles! Saw paperwork that injectors were done (apparently defective) at only 27k.
Truck appears to be bone stock, been thinking about all the things I'll need to do to make it what I want. Mild lift, probably just a leveling kit and 285s. For starters I think I'll just swap out the muffler for something straight through. Of course a remote starter will be necessary. I've been reading tons about tunes and have no clue where to even start. I know for now I'll want to stay in transmission-safe range, which is I guess under 100 hp. I have a friend who does efilive tuning at his shop, guess I can talk to him to see what he could do for me.
Anyway, just wanted to re-introduce myself and get reacquainted. Looking forward to learning all I can about the LB7.

Dan
 
Glad to see you back around Dan. Congrats on the DMax! :thumbsup: Check out Leroy (link in my sig) for that exhaust your looking for. Worked out well for me.
 
246591_10151378188747157_1556961999_n.jpgthis is what she's replacing. I will miss the sheer badassness, and the lift, and the thunder of the exhaust...won't likely miss the almost-non-existent mpgs. That's the 11kgvwr camper the D-max is going to have to pull. I don't anticipate any problems.
 
Your going to want a bigger trailer now, the DURAMAX is gonna sling that one around like a toy. It's an LB7, so go ahead and plan on setting the money aside to put injectors in it one day. If they were done before 09, then chances are they will start to haze around 70-100K miles. DON'T cheap out on fuel filters, run the AC DELCO or RACOR metal housing filters on it. To many problems with the plastic WIX filters for my taste, and it's a single stage 2 micron filter VS teh AC/RACOR dual stage coalescing filter that stops water from getting through. With it's age I would reccomend rebuilding the filter head and putting a metal or brass bleeder screw in it while your doing it(MERCHANT auto is the only place I have found that sells a filter head rebuild kit).

Keep the power down under 90HP for daily driving, and 60HP when towing. Both of these amounts are if using your head with a proper built tune. BEWARE of some of the tuners out there as EFILIVE has allowed alot of guys to become tuners wo have no business tuning a diesel. A stock tune with a few tweaks to the torque limiting and other limiters can destroy the ALLISON, or you can run a 125HP tune and have it live. If you need a tune for it, I have a couple different stock trans safe tunes I can send you for a tuner to flash in.

For the ALLISON, I change the spin on every oil change(10K miles). I would only use ALLISON filters as they can be bought for under $10 from an ALLISON store, and they will not give problems with the magnet. When you change the spin on there should be a round magnet that goes on the filter stud for catching debris. It is VERY common for this magnet to be missing as most people take the filter off and don't bother to put it back onto the stud. If you plan on keeping the trans stock, do a HOOT flush with TRANSYND fluid. it is a little expensive(about $32 a gallon), but has a rating on it for 150K miles before it needs changed out(VS the 45K miles that DEX 3 is rated at).

The biggest thing to watch for is the pump rub on the transfer case. If it isn't leaking now, I HIGHLY suggest dropping the case out and put a wear plate in it. This is a common issue on the GM's in general, and it's not an issue of if but more or less when it will happen. Kennedy diesel has a nice kit with a new seal, gasket, wear plate, and sealer for the case halves.
 
Not trying to scare you as the DURAMAX really is a good truck without alot of issues. The LB7's are known for the injector issues, but this was greatly reduced with the improved injectors that came out August of 08. The transfer case pump rub was an issue on all the new transfer cases from about 99-early 07, and is costly if you let it go until theres a hole in it(the kit with everything used to be less than $150, but a rear case halve can cost $350 EASILY and a transfer case will set you back close to $800 for a used one).
 
Alternate to the HOOT trans flush is the double drain and refill that require 5 gal with a drain, refill, start and run for 5 min, drain, refill. As for the pump rub, there are thousands of us that haven't had the problem in the '05-'07 trucks but it sure wouldn't hurt to do the kit on the earlier one. The 3 qt 5W30 Mobil1 fill in the transfer case is a good idea too. Change your differentials with 75W90 full synthetic (4 qts rear & 2 front). We have lots more Dan ;)
 
Oh yeah! Excellent information provided guys. :D Ferm and Mike, you guys are the best! :thumbsup:

Nice looking truck there Dan. Good luck with it.
 
Glad to see you're back! Nice looking truck. We just crossed 100k on our 05, and have had no issues with it. Gonna pull that camper like a toy. I've pulled a similar one with our Duramax a couple times, and if you thought the 454 pulled it well, just wait till you hook it on and forget it's back there. :)
 
Well, I replaced the factory junk rear bumper, washed and waxed and polished and took out some scratches and touched up a couple spots, got her looking real pretty. Put a couple hundred miles on it this weekend and all I can say is wow, what an amazing truck. It rides like a dream, yet you still have the feeling of actual weight, you wouldn't mistake it for a half-ton. Very impressed with everything about it so far, I like how it shifts, the power is more than adequate (for now) but I honestly havent put the spurs to it yet, want to ride it for a while first make sure everythings tight.
I know, I know, I'm late to the party..
 
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