New 2024 GMC duramax 2500 (first Diesel and bit terrified tbh)

[Dunn]

I went looking for 2024 gas truck, and wanted some features that were non negotiables and 3 sold out from under me as I delayed too long pulling the trigger....A dealer popped up with exact truck cept it had a diesel,  excellent trade value and enough money off the 2024 where Duramax was almost basically free...

 

I dont necessarily need the diesel but do plan on towing more in the not too distant future and do haul heavy at times, BUT, I do also make frequent short trips and most of my driving is city, my current job (contractor) is only few blocks away and my concern is what constitutes TOO many short trips and how often?.....TBH I am a bit terrified of screwing this thing up however I see tons of HD duramaxes everywhere I drive in the city (maybe not their only vehicle)....with the ratio they make these trucks vs gas I have to believe there are tons of em out there driving around and cant imagine everyone is only towing or driving long distances with them......nevertheless have been super nervous about running around town and do not want to mess the emisson system up, my lack of knowledge/experience makes me even more nervous....as far as maintenance I dont have an issue with but the regens and not knowing how short is too short and how many times a week, etc is whats stressing me out a bit.....going down the street to the store, groceries, 2-3 mile trips, etc

 

some say drive em like any other vehicle, others say once a week stretch its legs on highway.....maybe an Idash from Banks to monitor stuff the DIC doesnt?

 

any words of wisdom for a newbie would be helpful, god knows a ton of you guys been running these things for years

[lineman1234]

Check your manual on the warranty for the emissions parts. I know on my ram it depended on what state you were in per how many miles or time was given. That way if some part or sensor goes, you are armed with info incase needed to confront a dealer for it being under warranty. You are going to have to learn when and how long it needs to regen to keep the dpf cleanish, per your driving needs and style. 

 

 

[newdude]

To balance out the short trips, take it for a good 1 hour highway drive.  They need to get up to temp and have a nice run on them.    

[asilverblazer]

14 hours ago, Dunn said:

...I have to believe there are tons of em out there driving around and cant imagine everyone is only towing or driving long distances with them... some say drive em like any other vehicle, others say once a week stretch its legs on highway...

 

...maybe an Idash from Banks to monitor stuff the DIC doesnt?

Drive it like any other vehicle and chances are you'll end up with it on the highway often enough. The idea of getting them on the highway for an amount of time is to make sure all the fluids get up to temperature and particularly burn off any built up moisture. The only addition to this is the diesel exhaust particulate filter regen. My truck typically takes about 20-40 of continuous highway miles to do this.

 

Regarding the iDash, I have one, and use it to monitor when regens are taking place. I also watch the EGT's for the particulate filter, and filter soot load. 

 

A regen on my truck happens when the soot load reaches 100% and continues until it is under 5%. The EGT runs 1150 degrees at the filter.

 

Complete cycle of the regen is less consistent without the continuous highway driving, I've noticed that when driving around town during regen the EGTs fluctuate, such that the filter is staying hot enough to burn off the soot. I can't say that this is a problem, but I prefer to have the regen start and finish in one drive cycle. However, I also don't go out of my way to extend a drive cycle to complete the regen either. That might be because my drive habits are such that if a regen starts during one drive and doesn't complete, it will probably finish during my next drive.

 

I suppose that since I do monitor the regen cycle process, and if I noticed that after several short drives the truck is still entering a regen cycle because it hasn't had time to complete a full regen, and I didn't anticipate a long enough drive to complete it in the next few days I might go ahead and extend a drive down the highway to wrap it up. Again, my truck takes about 20-40 miles or 30+/- minutes of sustained high EGT to go from 100% down to 5% soot load - a full regen.

 

Lastly, DEF hasn't been any kind of problem for me. I'm not even monitoring how often I'm adding fluid. For conversation sake say once every 4-8 weeks the notification pops up, I buy 2 boxes and dump them in (basically filling the tank) and carry on. I've never had a problem finding DEF so when the light comes on, the next stop I make I buy the 2 boxes (Big box store, truck stop, gas station, auto parts store, etc.).

[Pryme]

So you’re going to drive the diesel like an around town step and fetch? I’d recommend a Toyota Corolla for your needs sir. Or maybe a ford maverick if you need to carry a few things?

[asilverblazer]

1 hour ago, Pryme said:

So you’re going to drive the diesel like an around town step and fetch? I’d recommend a Toyota Corolla for your needs sir. Or maybe a ford maverick if you need to carry a few things?

 

17 hours ago, Dunn said:

...do plan on towing more in the not too distant future and do haul heavy at times...

I don't think a Corolla or Maverick can tow and/or haul heavy. To buy one in addition to a truck would be unnecessarily expensive.

[Another JR]

Dunn - How heavy of a trailer do you think you will tow in the future?

[Dunn]

 am probably overthinking it too much but yeah Ive been running to Huntington Beach and back in the a.m a couple of times...20 miles on PCH.....drove home from Bakersfield on Saturday about 130 miles, truck ran so smooth thru grapevine.....Motor City GMC was best experience Ive had with a dealer so far and visited quite a few last few years

 

for now I just haul heavy enough where a 2500 makes sense and curent job is a stones throw from my house, I bike there if i dont need to get materials...

 

plan is to leave so cal for the mtns somewhere in next few years and am sure I will have a trailer,....kinda just thought there is pretty much nothing I couldnt do with this truck and obviously the price was huge factor.....

 

do I need the duramax, absolutely not......but I have it now, so just trying to care of it best I can while learning

 

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 02:28 AM by Dunn

[Dunn]

12 hours ago, lineman1234 said:

Check your manual on the warranty for the emissions parts. I know on my ram it depended on what state you were in per how many miles or time was given. That way if some part or sensor goes, you are armed with info incase needed to confront a dealer for it being under warranty. You are going to have to learn when and how long it needs to regen to keep the dpf cleanish, per your driving needs and style. 

 

 

I did read it a bit and did see there were some stipulations in the duramax pamphlet about that.

 

3 hours ago, Another JR said:

Dunn - How heavy of a trailer do you think you will tow in the future?

tbh not too sure at the moment, not quite that far ahead yet....

[Pryme]

10 hours ago, Dunn said:

 am probably overthinking it too much but yeah Ive been running to Huntington Beach and back in the a.m a couple of times...20 miles on PCH.....drove home from Bakersfield on Saturday about 130 miles, truck ran so smooth thru grapevine.....Motor City GMC was best experience Ive had with a dealer so far and visited quite a few last few years

 

for now I just haul heavy enough where a 2500 makes sense and curent job is a stones throw from my house, I bike there if i dont need to get materials...

 

plan is to leave so cal for the mtns somewhere in next few years and am sure I will have a trailer,....kinda just thought there is pretty much nothing I couldnt do with this truck and obviously the price was huge factor.....

 

do I need the duramax, absolutely not......but I have it now, so just trying to care of it best I can while learning

 

 

 

 

I used to live in HB. Very good memories there awesome city. What do you haul to and from HB? I used to rent 2 blocks from the beach there in my 20’s