Kendall

I am keeping my LBZ Duramax Dually forever or at least as long as I own a trailerable boat. The 2007 vehicle with EFI Live pulls my Freeman 42LR just fine and has less than 60,000 miles on it. The modern diesels with all their emissions crap and DEF and DPF may have nicer interiors with bluetooth connectivity but I don't want an $80,000 headache. I change the oil in mine and it pulls and pulls the Freeman. Once I had to change out the leaking transmission cooler lines which was the only flaw in these vehicles, but that is it in the 10 years I have owned my truck. I bought it to pull a Contender 35ST ten years ago with 23,000 miles on it for $40,000, and it graduated to pulling a Freeman 37VH and now a Freeman 42LR. Diesel trucks were good until the government and the tree huggers put restrictions on everything. Anyone know of any new truck which can compete for reliability and function?

LBZ Duramax Dually pulling Freeman 42LR

Big_Luke

Plenty of newer EPA compliant 1 tons are as reliable and more functional as your 13 year old Lbz.

Just as my $80k 12 year old 29ft twin vee will catch fish just like your $500k freeman. And my 20 year old 7.3 pulls it fine as well.

People buy what they think will function the best for them.

Codycat

I agree with you.. i have a 2006 LBZ dually. It pulls my heavy equipment better than my 19 L5P.

Just keep an eye on your antifreeze levels. I recently had to do new heads. From there is was one of those "might as well change that too while its apart" jobs. But I am happy. I feel like I have a new truck now

chainsaw42

The new trucks and motors are oh so much nicer and more capable. Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself otherwise to keep some $$ in your pocket which is totally understandable. If it’s not broken don’t fix it. Whatever you do, don’t go test drive a newer truck...and keep telling yourself the new ones are garbage.

avalonandl

Keep driving the LBZ....one heck of a motor and your classic bodystyle is one of the most comfortable vehicles around.

PremierPOWER

Except you're way over the 13,000lb tow rating of the truck.

My dad has that same truck at his Florida house, but every time he gets in my 450 Limited, he thinks about upgrading.

mikefloyd

If you're happy with your truck why not. I would rather have something newer for towing.

kernmw10

If you’re happy with your current truck then keep it! The LBZ is a great motor. But don’t kid yourself; the L5P is more powerful than the LBZ and will pull its guts out. The newer trucks are better and more refined in every single way. The only thing you have to put up with is DEF and you can always get rid of that

ParkRanger

There's nothing wrong with putting up with an older Duramax, I still own and drive an old LB7 with 300K (with a 2021 F350 on order). That said, I have some very unfortunate LBZ owning friends that now have well over $10k in repairs due to broken crankshafts and head gasket repairs. There's not a lot you can't fix on a newer, nicer, more capable modern truck for that kind of money. Luckily I've only been blessed with coolant blowing out of the reservoir, my crank is still the original one piece unit.

Your LBZ has lots of life left. If it were mine I'd probably hang onto it also. I wouldn't be laughing too hard at the newer trucks, though, your number could be coming up at any time.

Tobydexter

The LBZ duramaxs are nice trucks but the newer trucks are better by a long shot. I’ve had an 06 Cummins which is considered a great year diesel and an 06 Duramax lbz and now a newer F250 powerstroke. The Ford is so much nicer to drive, way more power, better transmission, better interior, aluminum body so no rust, sits taller, factory exhaust brake etc. I got it in July and have put 10k kms on it and it’s just telling me now to add def fluid. The emissions stuff is not a big deal anymore. It’s mostly sorted out and if you don’t like it, deletes aren’t too expensive. I’m not bashing your truck, they are great and worth keeping long term. But they are not better than a 2020 diesel.

Bob1957

Drive a new Ford 6.7 and get back to us .

Codycat

if your blowing coolant, u either need new head gaskets or heads. I literally just had mine done 2 months ago.

kimbo

One of the better humblebrags recently . . .

Wreckdiver13

As always these threads are enjoyable. I had 200k on my lml before I traded it in and still got 45k as a trade in for a new lp5. No problems on either except for a glow plug on the lml.

NickP

Out of curiosity, would you mind sharing what the cost was for headgaskets? I have an lbz with frozen glowplug which I may have to pull the head to replace.

Codycat

To do just the head gaskets the quoted in the 4500 range. They send the heads out.to have them checked. Mine came back bad. i ended up spending about 15k. I had them do a ton of other stuff since they had it all torn down, or cab removed I should say.

captain28570

or the new Ram with almost 1100 foot pounds of torque. Pure monster.

7.62Kolectr

‘Fishin Physician’?
anyone else wondering what kind of Doc the Op is?
Dang nice boat.

Flat 12

If I don't get 60k trouble free miles on my '20 6.7 F250, I will be pissed. Seems like a very low bar to be set for overall satisfaction and a barometer for long term truck quality. Very nice boat and hope to see it on the water one day.

sydngoose

My 1st thought is your a liability to yourself: You have exceeded the max towing from hitch receiver. As a "fishing physician" any ambulance chaser is going to come down hard on you when there is an accident, whether you are liable or not. One look at your wrap and your Freeman, and the land shark personal injury attorneys are going to eat you for breakfast. Hope your fishing gear is owned by your LLC.