[scottsdale1955]

I just got mine a little over a month ago so I can't really comment on reliability, etc, and this is my first diesel as well. But from what I learned from other people was the LB7 motors (01-04.5) had injector issues. Causes vary by opinion, I guess. the LLY's (04.5-06, I believe?) had heat issues where some people would end up w/ cracked blocks, I think that was less common then the injectors thing. And the LBZ's (2006+) had a lot of restrictions emmission wise. I may have the LBZ's confused w/ the new one, the LMM, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong :) Sorry this isn't really vast information heh. If you want to find out more, go to dieselplace.com IT's dedicated to GM diesels. Other than that, you can decide if you want the allison auto or the 6 spd. manual tranny. That's toatlly an opinon based thing, so I think.

Talk to Foreman, he ought to have some decent input.

Good luck!