diesel trucks

smith700 wrote:

wallers wrote:

got a new diesel saturday time for some goodies.
i have been researching for an intake i think i might get the banks with the scoop. It looks like it would really pull cold air instead of hot air from under the hood.

Also, it's not just about cool air, it's about getting pressurized air forced into the engine. When I installed the K&N, my air intake pressure actually dropped about 8%! Also, the intake temperature actually rose 11.8 degrees!!!
Like I said, Banks might make some meideocre (spelling) tuning programs, their Intake with super-scoop is the best on the market. Trust me, I have tried the K&N, the S&B, and the aFe.....and none of them have even came close to the Banks.
Trust me, I know how to get performance out of a Diesel truck, especially a Duramax!!

Heads up Cummins guys..EFI Live is coming soon for the Cummins motors!!

Not sure I buy the pressurized air thing. On a gasser....sure. It would be a ram air kind of a thing. But on a turbo diesel, your turbo is charging your air before it enters the engine. I would think that the charged air can only be limited or increased by the capabilities of your turbo(s).

Now if you put it on a dyno, and it shows an increase, I'm a believer. In this case, the dyno likely isn't going to do because you aren't moving. So 1/8th mile or 1/4 mile times would have to the be the standard.

I don't doubt the Banks intake is going to draw cooler air though which would be a good thing. A lot of the Duramax guys that race pull a headlight out and draw their air from behind the where the headlight bucket used to be.

Will be interesting to see what EFI Live can do on a Cummins. It's going to have to have some Wow factor to out do the Smarty though. It is the title holder currently for the Cummins.

wallers wrote:

What about exhaust? Any opinions?

You won't need it. Cummins have had a 4" turbo back since 2003.

Now you do have a DPF (diesel particulate filter) that restricts the exhaust. You can do a DPF delete and add a programmer to reprogram your ecm and you'll have better performance, cooler egt temps, a lot better fuel economy, and more reliable. The problem there again is that you'll void your factory warranty. Not worth it in my opinion. The warranty is piece of mind. Lots of folks do it.

Cummins is the only diesel that was compliant with the new exhaust standards with the dpf system. All the others had it to pass the 2007 standards. Cummins 2007 6.7l meets the new standards with that same engine but the others had to go with the urea tank to clean the exhaust. I think the jury is still out if that is a better system or now. My understanding is that it will be extremely expensive when you have to refill the urea tank. Now my brother is reporting 18-21 on his new Duramax with the urea tank so I say it has promise for that reason alone. Some think it will be cost prohibitive to fill the urea tank...in the range of $1000 every 12-20k miles. I don't know anyone that has had to do it yet so I'm just passing on guesses on that.

I've got 01 2500 6 speed 3:55 gear 4x4 short bed extra cab(suicide doors) cummings. Had to replace the cam sensor, injector pump, transfer pump, 160 thousand miles on it, oh and clutch. Everything replaced with better parts [ fast transfer, fast racing pump, double disc clutch. Pulls great, done other mods under the hood but that is my business. Once in awhile I think about a new truck but (was 42 thou new) to get that truck from the dealer the same options is now 58 thou , plus then the mods. I'll stick with this one I really enjoy driving it. Last weekend went to HRR's ran 80 to 99.5mph all the way, runs like a kitten. Since fuel content changed mileage has gone down and that ate my injector pump. Use additive now but have never had any real issuses. Don't believe in automatics for pulling.

Super Dave wrote:

I've got 01 2500 6 speed 3:55 gear 4x4 short bed extra cab(suicide doors) cummings. Had to replace the cam sensor, injector pump, transfer pump, 160 thousand miles on it, oh and clutch. Everything replaced with better parts [ fast transfer, fast racing pump, double disc clutch. Pulls great, done other mods under the hood but that is my business. Once in awhile I think about a new truck but (was 42 thou new) to get that truck from the dealer the same options is now 58 thou , plus then the mods. I'll stick with this one I really enjoy driving it. Last weekend went to HRR's ran 80 to 99.5mph all the way, runs like a kitten. Since fuel content changed mileage has gone down and that ate my injector pump. Use additive now but have never had any real issuses. Don't believe in automatics for pulling.

Sounds like my old truck. I'd still be driving it too except I wrecked it. I did buy it back from the insurance company. Will get it back on the road at some point.

Anyway, I bought a 6 speed for the same reason, but after putting one 500hp single disk clutch, and 2 double disk clutches in it, I decided to go automatic with the new truck.

Knowing what I know now, you can build the automatic to pull heavy and still be street friendly. I built this one to hold 650 hp but easily upgradeable if I decide to build serious hp/tq again. You can build a heavy duty auto for well under the price of 3 heavy duty performance clutches....heck, not much more than one heavy duty clutch. It's a lot faster (drag racing or on the street) with an auto too, but if you want to sled pull I think you're better of with a manual. I've seen plenty sled pull with a heavily built auto though, but I didn't like the way they looked when they slowed down and the tranny tried to down shift.

I never minded rowing the 6 speed, but I didn't drive it everyday. The auto is a whole lot easier on the street though and as I'm getting a little older....I'm liking the auto. Also the newer auto's hold up very well pulling. The Dodge 48RE really holds up well stock even with some mild performance upgrades. Neuromax has a lot of miles on his and pulls heavy up to WV often. His never misses a beat towing above stock hp even with. It is also pretty reasonable to upgrade. I know several 900-1000 plus hp Cummins trucks still running the 48RE. As I mentioned in a earlier post, the fastest Duramax in the world runs a Chrysler 47RE. Someone else also mentioned that the Allison 1000 is good to 450-500 or so hp. It can be build stouter too, but I don't think as reasonably and I think at about 700hp or so the computer becomes a problem and parts start breaking.

Straight pipe the thing!!! Can't beat the sound!!!!