I just bought a new used 2002 chevy with 8.1 and allison, wow am i ever happy. Yes the duramax has more torque, but the 8.1 is more gearhead friendly. This truck pulls like a horse. I will never go back to a 4L80E trans again.
I heard they only used the 8.1 for 4 years, others say 2 years for the 496Ho in a truck. can any one tell me how many years they used the 8.1. Thanks


B38

I have the same truck. 2002 Gmc 2500 hd crewcab 8.1 I love My truck. It loves gas. But it will pull anything. Artie

I believe 2007 was the last year for the 8.1L in the Chevrolet HD's. I have a 2001 that I bought new with the ZF 6-speed. Great truck, pulls everything I have and still gets 15-mpg on the highway with no load.

I had a 01 Crew long bed w the 8.1. Great truck. Put over 100k on it in about 5 yrs.
NO problems what so ever. Used 1qt of oil per 1500 miles always.
Got 10 miles per gal ALWAYS!! 8 towing the 29 outlaw I had at time.
Had larger tires on so maybe speedo off a little.
You go 250 miles you put in 25 gal. ALWAYS

Picked up a 02 3500 Express van w the 8.1 for fleet. LOTS of power.

I think Chevy Avalanche had the 8.1 in the 3/4 tons from 02 thru 06. I have a 2005 3/4 ton Avalanche with the 8.1 and it has a lot of power and yes it likes to drink gas. I try to stay around 2k Avalanche when taking off to try and get better gas milage but we didn't buy it for it's gas milage.

I bought one in 01, and it was a horse.... Same setup 8.1 and allison, non 4x4. Loved that truck, put 70,000 miles on it and still think I shoulda kept it to this day.

Thats a great truck, I just sold a 2003 crew cab 4 wd with that same setup. I could have sold 6 of them if I had them, I also had 2 duramax's before the 8.1 gaser, the allison is awsome.

I Had an 01 Dually CC, it didn't have the allison, It had a "New Hyatt" 6 sp Manual, 1st gear could pull your house off the foundation. I got tired of looking out for fenders so now I have an 04 Silverado CC with a SuperCharged 6.0, Thats how they should come from the factory (over 150 mph )

I was looking at this setup but the mileage scares me off, but its only 1/2 mpg diff over the 6.0 so go for the power

I have the exact same truck and I love it!! It does love to drink gas but it rides awesome and it definitely pulls like a horse!