LS, 4x4, 160,000mi....for towing my 29 F or maybe bigger some day and the car and trailer combo....wont be a daily driver, just sits there for weeks at a time..... dont know a whole lot about this era of trucks....mileage not a huge deal but how are they compared to a 6.0 and I hear they will way out tow the 6.0.....that is the first year Allison trans? are they ok in those yrs?.....guy wants $8500, was going to offer $7500.

Have had the Suburbans in the past and loved them but now with the race car trailer if I had a truck with a box I could get rid of my box trailer and have less junk lying around the property. D

The 8.1 is a great motor, will tow anything you can put behind it. However it does like the 87 octane when pulling.

My son in law has my 01 with the allison and pulls a 38 ft. toyhauler with no effort.

When we bought a new 2003 3/4 ton I wanted the 6.0....big mistake. The 8.1 only made about 25 more hp but 95 ft/lbs more tq (about 450). It only lost about 1 mpg at the most to the 6.0. Our 6.0 has been a good motor, haven't heard anything bad about the 8.1.

I put over 100K miles on an 01 8.1. Long bed crew cab. Great truck. Pulled my 29 Outlaw with NO problem.
transfer case started leaking around 75K. and used 1 qt oil per 1000 miles.
10 MPG period! 8 towing. Still had factory brakes when I sold it.
I also have on 02 van with the 8.1 in the fleet and same thing 1 qt per 1000 miles. Go figure. Great motor tho.

I heard the same thing. Burns a little from an early age but there is nothing wrong.

That transfer case leaking thing could be the problem with the oil circulating pump wearing out its housing then wearing out the case. My work vehicle is an 04 w/ 6.0L with 162000 miles, just wore out the case. they were able to save half so it wasn't to crazy. Get it taken care of before it blows up. JMHO.

I agree, my dually is 8.1 and allison, runs 87 octane and has towed my Tiger all over the US. now has 150K miles on it

Bought this a couple of weeks ago and towed it across Michigan with no problems.....except a ticket and at times using 2 lanes using my 2001 3500 dually crew with 8.1 and Allison trans.I got 11 MPG empty and 6 MPG towing back.

8.1L could be described as a 454 stroker built to modern technology.

A 7.4L stroked .250 and bored .060 over is a 496 cid. The 8.1L is MORE stroke as .387 and is also 496 cid. The longer stroke is perfect for building torque and this engine does very well at it too. Very few issues all things considered and the 8.1L used in Marine is very dependable.


I was looking hard between the 8.1L gasser and the 6.6L diesel. I went the diesel route for some other reasons.


8.1L is a good set up. Go for it.

They are good trucks. I put over a 110k on my 2001 chevy 8.1 allison. I traded it in with 140k on it. I liked the combo so much that I traded it in on an 2007 Classic 2500HD with the 8.1 allison.

I got $6500 on my trade in after we agreed on a cash price on the 07. I had some light hail damage on my 01 also, so I'd say you are in the ball park at $7500.

Mileage does suck 11-13 empty and 7-8 towing 10k.

Only thing that is a known problem on these trucks is the crank position sensor, and a lot of them use some oil.

For 2001, I believe these actually had more torque than the D-max, and the same tow rating. Should pull anything you'd pull with a diesel of the same vintage.

Only thing I don't like about mine is the mileage.

It's lifted, same miles, loaded Sierra SLT and I'd probably sell for 8500 with stock wheels. So I'd figure $7500 wouldn't be bad for that truck. However, if you aren't picky on the truck and patient, these go for less if you expand your search base to the whole country.