2006 Chevy Crew LT Duramax

[GoBigParts]

Well, luck would have it the 2 trucks I am looking at that have all the options I want (fully loaded) must be early 2006 models because the have the LLY motor but do have the 6 speed tranny. I am told the 6 speed tranny makes a bigger difference of the LBZ motor. And if you add a tuner the motor is basically the same. Is this correct?

 

[hivoltagesledhead]

I have the 06 with the LBZ and some aftermarket GM tuning. No chip or programmer just some internal changes to the timing and computer done by a GM mechanic. It has 415hp with over 800lbs torque. I get 23mpg on the hwy empty and around 17-18 loaded. It has a cognito levelling kit with airbags in the rear and the truck is awesome. As mentioned,it the last year b4 GM went to the new diesel with all the environmental crap on it. The 6 speed tranny is a must with the manual tap shifting option. I wouldnt buy any other diesel.

 

[AndrettiDog]

big deal about the mouth piece. I put a lbz mouthpiece on my lly for around $70 and a couple hours labor.

I agree, but I'm just clarifying that this is a difference that leads to a difference in HP. I knew it wasn't hard to make a change. By the way, that is one reason why LLY's had better fuel economy.

I get 23mpg on the hwy empty and around 17-18 loaded

I'm not bashing but I find that hard to believe. I have the same truck with the Cognito level kit and I run 285's. I never see those numbers loaded. Pulling my enclosed (18' steel) I see around 15mpg and with my Lance camper I see 13 mpg.

 

[Clarke673]

I have the 06 with the LBZ and some aftermarket GM tuning. No chip or programmer just some internal changes to the timing and computer done by a GM mechanic. It has 415hp with over 800lbs torque. I get 23mpg on the hwy empty and around 17-18 loaded. It has a cognito levelling kit with airbags in the rear and the truck is awesome. As mentioned,it the last year b4 GM went to the new diesel with all the environmental crap on it. The 6 speed tranny is a must with the manual tap shifting option. I wouldnt buy any other diesel.

Your tuning is no doubt EFI live. It is an aftermarket power adder. Also, you can't belive what the dash says. They are usualy way wrong. I had some very good tuning done on my first 06 duramax and the best mpg i got was 24.2 (hand calculated) running on 2" of fresh snow doing 40 mph with the cruise set in a blizzard. My dash said i was getting 32 mpg.

06-07 duramax's are the best ones to get IMO, but the 05 1/2+
are the same truck with diferent tuning. the 07.5 trucks in the new body style are also about the same. The newer trucks all use the same frame and running gear as the 06-07, all the way up until 2010. The new 2011 trucks are bad to the bone, but having to deal with urea, DPF problems, and not being able to run EFI live is a big bummer.

I have had an 01 dodge cummins, a 03 duramax, my dad has an 04 duramax, and i have had 2 06 duramax's. Imo, you can't go wrong with the 06-07 OBS.

 

[chevnrev]

Well, luck would have it the 2 trucks I am looking at that have all the options I want (fully loaded) must be early 2006 models because the have the LLY motor but do have the 6 speed tranny. I am told the 6 speed tranny makes a bigger difference of the LBZ motor. And if you add a tuner the motor is basically the same. Is this correct?

If you choose EFI Live tuning, yes it is correct. I think it is also true with the other tuners but I'm not positive. I know mine had an Edge Juice w/Attitude on it when I bought it, and it said it was for the LBZ.....I guess Edge considered all 06-07.5 to be LBZ engines whether or not they were LLY or LBZ, because on their website LBZ was the only option for 06-07.5. The truck ran great with that tuner, too, I just wanted a little more so I went with EFI Live.

 

[Clarke673]

If you choose EFI Live tuning, yes it is correct. I think it is also true with the other tuners but I'm not positive. I know mine had an Edge Juice w/Attitude on it when I bought it, and it said it was for the LBZ.....I guess Edge considered all 06-07.5 to be LBZ engines whether or not they were LLY or LBZ, because on their website LBZ was the only option for 06-07.5. The truck ran great with that tuner, too, I just wanted a little more so I went with EFI Live.

If memery serves me right, the duramax went as following

01-04-LB7- had injector problems, pain in the *** to get the injectors out.
04.5-05.-lly- had rare over heating issues, less injector problems, new heads that allowed you to replace the injectors easily. They also went with garret variable vane turbo's. Ohh and added egr valves
06-06.5-lly2- same everything as LBZ minus tune
06.5-07.5 LBZ. NEW 6 speed trans with tapshift, 360 hp stock, changed the block a bit, maid less compression ( i think it's like 16.8-1 vs the older ones which were like 17.25-1... i think?) They also had a better designed turbo impeller, like 3000 psi more rail pressur,and they changed the tach and let the rev limiter go a bit a higher. (the old tach's said it redlined at 3300 rpm, but hte true redline is more like 4600-4800 rpm.

 

[hivoltagesledhead]

I dont know what EFI tuning is but the numbers are hand calculated and pretty consistent. This guy charged me a one time fee and I told him I wanted better fuel economy,the increase in hp and torque were just a bonus. I have many options and just call him if I want to do something different. He just plugs in his laptop and talks to the truck while we cruise.Before the programing I was at 18 mpg hwy and 11 loaded. Very impressed with the setup and have had it for 4 yrs now. I also run 285's. the 23 mpg is with cruise at speedlimit of 90-100kmh. Drops down to 21 if my foot is in it,but still respectable. I have been doing hand calculations on gas receipts for years and the dash is close but not right.

 

[Clarke673]

Haha you got efi live tuning bud. It is the most advanced tuning software that there is. It makes edge and bully dog tuning look like it was done by a 5 year old. Tell your tuner that you want a dsp-5. A dsp-5 is a knob with 5 diferent volts that is wired to your ecm. The good lads at gm left the availibilty to have 5 diferent tunes stored on the stock ecu. So! I had alight tow tune, a heavy tow tune, an economy tune, a hot tune that smoked like a mofo. And a max effort tune for racing. You can have your foot in it and change the tunes by turning the knob and feel the power diference. Its ****ing awsome!

 

[Coldfinger]

Conversions for the USA folks...

90-100kph = 55-62mph

 

[badass1000]

also isn't the canadian imperial gallon different then us gallons? and km a gallon or miles per gallon?
My truck seems to be getting a little worse mpg then it used to. Don't know if I want to try to presure test the system to see if I have a boost leak somewhere. I also havn't taken just a long freeway trip for a full tank of gas unloaded in well over a year. Hard to figure mpg when the mix of intown and freeway here and their is always different per tank.
Plus when I was thinking about what it got with stock tires (245's on the 05's) the speedometer read about 7% too fast. so it was saying it was getting 7% more miles then actual. so if I hand calculated 21.4mpg that was actually 20mpg. now I have 285's that show about 7% less miles then actual. i figure that in when figuring mpg. 265's should show correct miles and mph on my truck.

 

[Blk88GT]

Paul, look around the twin cities area. I picked up a loaded 06 LBZ crew cab, black on black for 23k last fall. The deals are out there.

Personally, I'd hold out for the LBZ.

22.5mpg unloaded, downhill with a tailwind is the best it ever got
19-21 typically
14-16 in the city
13-16 3 place sled trailer (3k)
15-16 Equipment trailer with tractor (6k)
15-16 21ft boat (6k)

All mileage claimed is @ 66-68mph and is hand calculated.

 

[Clarke673]

that is a sick truck...

 

[Blk88GT]

Thanks. It has a few upgrades. Exhaust, EGR delete, TransgoJr, EFI Live, 5" exhaust etc. Cognito front end with Bilsteins all around, the usual

It gets the job done! Lifted trucks aren't for me, I'm short and only use the truck for towing and hauling.

 

[Clarke673]

are you on the duramax forum?

 

[ippielb]

06' Duramax is everyone's favorite year. I personally have EFI as well, it is the best money can buy for tuning. The 06 duramax is the LBZ, have no emissions on exhaust unlike the NBS 07, the allison 6 speed transmission is strong stock(unless you get heavy tune intake exhaust ect.) You may want to look into getting a DSP5 switch and efilive, you can change the tune on the go, so if you're towing you can have a tow tune, if you're on the highway empty, have economy, then if you feel like being a speed racer, have 3 different levels of power tunes. And like everyone else has said, the economy on the LBZ engine is one of the best.

 

[Blk88GT]

are you on the duramax forum?

Yep, a few of em

 

[Clarke673]

06' Duramax is everyone's favorite year. I personally have EFI as well, it is the best money can buy for tuning. The 06 duramax is the LBZ, have no emissions on exhaust unlike the NBS 07, the allison 6 speed transmission is strong stock(unless you get heavy tune intake exhaust ect.) You may want to look into getting a DSP5 switch and efilive, you can change the tune on the go, so if you're towing you can have a tow tune, if you're on the highway empty, have economy, then if you feel like being a speed racer, have 3 different levels of power tunes. And like everyone else has said, the economy on the LBZ engine is one of the best.

it has a catylictic converter and an EGR. So it does have "emmissions" Both can easly be deleted.

 

[AndrettiDog]

it has a catylictic converter and an EGR. So it does have "emmissions" Both can easly be deleted.

Yep, my exhaust to the turbo got rid of the cat and an EGR blocker can be had for $20. However, I think you have to have a tuner (or sticks) to handle the codes from the EGR blocker.

 

[ippielb]

I'm talking about the DPF which is the pain in the butt, if he was wanting to keep it stock then 06 is best. The 02 was the last year with literally no emissions, but ha the injector problems.

 

[AndrettiDog]

No DPF on the 06 or 07 (Classic).