"...my experience has been Dodge and Ford do better with diesels than GM, anybody recall the 6.2L fiasco?..."
Not to start a debate but it wasn't GM's 6.2 diesel that created the bad rap for GM. It was the converted 5.7 gas motor that wasn't designed to be a diesel. These tended to explode! The 6.2/6.5 was designed by Detroit Diesel for GM from the ground up more for economy and not so much for power. When properly maintained and not "overtuned for power", these engines are cheap and very easy to work on and will last many miles. My '83 Sub 6.2 has 340k and '86 K5 6.2 has 300k on the original engines. Had them for near 20 years now so I'm a little partial to them.
A couple of forums out there dedicated to these old engines. Plus, don't forget, this is what was run in the ALL of the military Hummers!! Don't think the military would have chosen something that was that bad to help protect its folks. They do have issues but they are fairly dependable......just sayin.......