Any Diesel Performance Guys on here?

[MoparMotel]

Hey,

Just wondering if there are any diesel performance guys on here? I must say I didn't like diesel's at first but after watching them beat a Corvette and Mustang GT I had to try one out 

Right now I've got an '07 Duramax with the LBZ motor and so far I've got PPE programmer, 4" turbo back flo pro exhaust, Banks ram air kit, Autometer boost/egt gauges. PPE diff cover and a few more little things. If I had it to do over again I probably wouldn't have put the 6" lift with 35's on because I'm sure that is robbing some HP.

Hopefully sometime in the next year or so I plan to switch to EFI live, do a Stage 4 PPE transmission and also a Fass 150 lift pump.

A similar setup to mine made 453hp/866tq on the dyno without the banks ram air so I should be somewhere around there.

Since this is a Dodge forum I'm sure a lot of you guys have Cummins but what all do you have done to your diesel truck to make more HP/TQ?

[73rallye440magnum]

I've got a '98 Dodge with 12 valve Cummins. Quad cab long box 4x4. 5 speed trans.

I slid the fuel plate forward, and tweaked the AFC a little bit. It doesn't smoke much. 240k miles and it runs awesome.

I have a big honkin air filter, and I built a 6 inch stainless exhaust system. I averaged 22.25 mpg all winter. Not sure what it is now cuz I'm blending grease.

[MoparMotel]

I've got a '98 Dodge with 12 valve Cummins. Quad cab long box 4x4. 5 speed trans.

I slid the fuel plate forward, and tweaked the AFC a little bit. It doesn't smoke much. 240k miles and it runs awesome.

I have a big honkin air filter, and I built a 6 inch stainless exhaust system. I averaged 22.25 mpg all winter. Not sure what it is now cuz I'm blending grease.

I love the sound of a straight piped cummins. VERY loud. I've got a buddy here in town that's got an 03 Cummins with a bigger turbo, injectors, lift pump, built tranny and a Smarty stacked with an edge I believe... very fast and smokes like a freight train.

My duramax smoked quite a bit with the PPE turned all the way up but since I put the banks ram air kit on it cleaned up quite a bit of my smoke. Instead of dumping black smoke when flooring it I just get kind of a gray haze now.

[73rallye440magnum]

It's pretty dang loud from the outside, but the cab noise isn't too atrocious.

Your Duramax looks great. 

I try to keep the smoke to a minimum. It gives diesels a bad rep and leads to DPF and EGR, along with stern government regulations and law enforcement.

[charger_fan_4ever]

On my 2nd 12 valve. 1st was a 97 ECLB 5 speed 4x4 had the plate full forward and the afc slide ahead too. What a difference could do a burn out in 3rd gear and it religiously got over 20mpg summer/winter.

Current truck is a 97 Sport ECLB 4x4 with an auto
I bought it from the original owner with 250,000km. Had a 9 foot meyer plow that he used to plow the driveway at his 3 condos.

The slushbox really sucks untill you get it locked up in O/D and the mileage blows compared to the stick. Both trucks are geared 3.54. I plan on doing a 5 speed conversion once i'm done with the charger. I'll do the same as the old truck with the plate and afc its currently bone stock the screws are not broke off the pump cover yet. I don't dare add any HP or the auto will probably take a dump.

I have to say cheapest HP ever obtained with one of these 12V's. I have heard guys claim over 300hp with either a zero plate or no plate at all on a stock turbo/injectors. Egt's get a little hot though.

[Cooter]

Hmmmm, lemme see...$50K for a diesel truck new, off the lot..Diesel option, $6K ...

PLUS hop up parts..Nothanks.

[chargerboy69]

Since this is a Dodge forum I'm sure a lot of you guys have Cummins

You may be surprised how many don't.  Some guys on here are brand loyal and some are not.

I have a 7.3,  and I am have been looking at 5" exhaust with muffler deleted.   I am not sure how much I plan on doing to the truck as I use it for my business and not so much for fun.  I will be getting a programmed chip for it at some point.

I will say my wife loves the truck and is ready to dump her Jeep for a truck of her own.

Sweet looking Duramax by the way.  

[73rallye440magnum]

Hmmmm, lemme see...$50K for a diesel truck new, off the lot..Diesel option, $6K ...

PLUS hop up parts..Nothanks.

A decent used mechanical injection Dodge with Cummins Turbo diesel can be acquired for under $10k. Reliability and awesome fuel efficiency. If you put on miles, and need a truck, they are an option to consider.

If you want to quote MSRP, a new similarly equipped half ton is over $40k, and it can't tow 20k pounds. Diesels make a lot of sense for a lot of individuals that depend on their truck to help earn their paycheck.

[Troy]

Hmmmm, lemme see...$50K for a diesel truck new, off the lot..Diesel option, $6K ...

PLUS hop up parts..Nothanks.

A decent used mechanical injection Dodge with Cummins Turbo diesel can be acquired for under $10k. Reliability and awesome fuel efficiency. If you put on miles, and need a truck, they are an option to consider.

If you want to quote MSRP, a new similarly equipped half ton is over $40k, and it can't tow 20k pounds. Diesels make a lot of sense for a lot of individuals that depend on their truck to help earn their paycheck.

True! I was price checking the other day and saw an F150 with a sticker over $48,000.

I sold my 1999 Cummins Ram a couple years ago for $9k.

Troy

[Cooter]

Hmmmm, lemme see...$50K for a diesel truck new, off the lot..Diesel option, $6K ...

PLUS hop up parts..Nothanks.

Diesels make a lot of sense for a lot of individuals that depend on their truck to help earn their paycheck.

But then this thread isn't about earning a paycheck now is it? I coulda swore it read "Any Diesel Performance Guys on here?"....

[73rallye440magnum]

You're right.

I have about $12k into my '98 12 valve. I would guess it has 250 horse and 500 torque with the subtle mods I've done. The mods were free. I'm counting every nickel I have into the truck other than insurance, fuel, and oil. I've put 50k miles on it. 233k on the ticker now.

If I wanted to take a weekend and spend $200, it would be pretty easy to bump those numbers to an estimated 350 and 700, respectively.

Best bang for your buck power potential in any vehicle, in my opinion, is the '94-'98 p-pump Dodge Cummins. I think Diesel Power did all the free mods on a '96 Dodge and it made around 500 horse and 1000 foot pounds on the dyno. EGT was a bit dangerous though.

[Todd Wilson]

You're right.

I have about $12k into my '98 12 valve. I would guess it has 250 horse and 500 torque with the subtle mods I've done. The mods were free. I'm counting every nickel I have into the truck other than insurance, fuel, and oil. I've put 50k miles on it. 233k on the ticker now.

That old 12 valve will keep on pulling and putting power to the ground long after the rest of the diesels are long gone from all thier modifications!

Todd

[charger_fan_4ever]

Best bang for your buck power potential in any vehicle, in my opinion, is the '94-'98 p-pump Dodge Cummins.

Totally agree. After building two SBF HCI N/A engines in my previous Mustang I can say that getting power from a 6BT 12V is stupid cheap.

[Chryco Psycho]

The 6BT 12v is an awesome engine & easy to make a ton of power easily !!
I tweaked the pump on mine & removed the muffler ,no other mods & it dynoed with 310 hp / 930 ft lbs tq

[MoparMotel]

You're right.

I have about $12k into my '98 12 valve. I would guess it has 250 horse and 500 torque with the subtle mods I've done. The mods were free. I'm counting every nickel I have into the truck other than insurance, fuel, and oil. I've put 50k miles on it. 233k on the ticker now.

That old 12 valve will keep on pulling and putting power to the ground long after the rest of the diesels are long gone from all thier modifications!

Todd

That is true the 12V do last a long time. My truck has 70k on it right now and been chipped since 19k, Well see how long she lasts.

[GPULLER]

I have a '98 12v that I bought with 25,000miles.  Shortly after I got it I changed out the cam plate, when from 180hp/420tq to 230hp/610tq for a couple hundred bucks.  Truck now has 203,000 miles, and still has the stock trans.
Now it lives the life of leisure, gets parked in the winter and gets to pull my tractors to some pulls in the summer.  Slowly collecting body panels, some day it will be like new again.

[charger_fan_4ever]

I have a '98 12v that I bought with 25,000miles.  Shortly after I got it I changed out the cam plate, when from 180hp/420tq to 230hp/610tq for a couple hundred bucks.  Truck now has 203,000 miles, and still has the stock trans.
Now it lives the life of leisure, gets parked in the winter and gets to pull my tractors to some pulls in the summer.  Slowly collecting body panels, some day it will be like new again.

What # plate did you go with a #10 maybe ?
So the stock auto has gone almost 200k and never took a dump with a different plate wow. Stock convertor too ? Did you turn the starwheel a few cranks too of just the plate ? I assume a boost elbow for the turbo ?

[GPULLER]

What # plate did you go with a #10 maybe ?
So the stock auto has gone almost 200k and never took a dump with a different plate wow. Stock convertor too ? Did you turn the starwheel a few cranks too of just the plate ? I assume a boost elbow for the turbo ?

Plate is a #8?  Its been 10+ years since I did it, hard to remember back that far! ha ha ha
Yeah truck has over 200,000 miles on it, same trans and converter too.  When I put the plate in I also bumped the line pressure a little and raised the shift points.  Never messed with the star wheel, always was but never have.  Boost elbow came with the plate, along with a K&N that dropped in the factory air box.
Truck has 3:55 gears plus 285/74/16 rubber.  I always haul with the O/D off.  If you don't drive it like you hate it when they're loaded the trans seems to be happy.

[BlaineKaiser450]

This is my 93, its mostly stock just because I dont have the money to work on it. Im selling my dirtbike as we speak, and I'm going to build the tranny, and rebuild the differentials, u joints, transfer case, and all the front end joints and knuckles so it will support more power. It has 93k on it right now

[charger_fan_4ever]

Plate is a #8?  Its been 10+ years since I did it, hard to remember back that far! ha ha ha
Yeah truck has over 200,000 miles on it, same trans and converter too.  When I put the plate in I also bumped the line pressure a little and raised the shift points.  Never messed with the star wheel, always was but never have.  Boost elbow came with the plate, along with a K&N that dropped in the factory air box.
Truck has 3:55 gears plus 285/74/16 rubber.  I always haul with the O/D off.  If you don't drive it like you hate it when they're loaded the trans seems to be happy.

Well now maybe I will just have to slide that stock plate ahead on this truck and see how the auto likes it. I never hotrod around in it. I'm the guy doing 50mph on a 55mph highway people swear at lol.

I couldn't believe the added power in my old 5 speed truck with the plate ahead and a few cranks on the starwheel. It still had the stock govnor so it defuled around 2300. With just a 1/4 pedal it was a chore rowing the gears fast enough before it hit the defuel zone. Empty of course.

I find the power is ok in stock form once its locked in o/d. But the acceleration from a stop up to 50 mph is a killer comming from the last truck.
I like the duramax trucks, but love the simplicty of the 12v dinosaur. Owned a 7.3 powerstroke and never again. Live wires running in oil under the valve covers ? give me a break.

[MoparMotel]

Well I knew it was only a matter of time, I'm running a PPE tune that makes roughly 455rwhp/866TQ @ wheels on 35" tires and my torque converter started to give up last night. Truck still drives fine but if you get on it the TQ converter starts slipping and shuttering a little bit in the higher RPM's. I'm not complaining I knew running a hot tune in it was just a matter of time on a stock Allison transmission. Time to start saving my pennies for a Stage 4 Suncoast transmission with triple disk converter. I'm surprised it lasted this long, I bought this truck new in June of 2007 and started modifying it right away. It now has 77k and just starting to slip a little but and I have not been nice to it.

[rebby]

I love the old 12v Cummins. I'd love to swap on into my wife's Excursion. I drove an 2003 CR Cummins from the day that I picked it up (special order, my name was even on the window sticker) until the end of May when I swapped it for a 2012. It's stupid easy to make a ton of power with the Cummins engine. With the new ones though, the first thing that you have to do is get rid of all that emissions garbage. My 2012 was a dog that burned a ton of fuel until I deleted it. Now that it's deleted, I love the truck! Even more so than my 2003.

[MoparMotel]

The cummins are definitely nice, I had a couple friends that bought them. One bought an 07 5.9 mega cab and the other a new 2011 6.7 fully loaded laramie. They are both nice trucks I've just always had GM trucks and wanted to try the Duramax. I do not care for the Fords at all, everybody I know that has a 6.0L has blown head gaskets, EGR coolers, high pressure oil pumps, one blew the turbo, ETC. One friend sold there 03 6.0 and bought an 08 6.4 and is already having problems with it, couple injectors went out and something with the wiring

No complains on my Duramax, did the usual PPE programmer, 4" turbo back with front pipe/down pipe, Banks ram air kit, and a few other go fast goodies. Switching it to EFI live once the transmission is done. It is a very very fast truck and pulled our 13,500# 5th wheel toy hauler easy.

[jb666]

The Cummins is awesome.... I'll have one some day...

For now I'm happy with my 03 7.0 SuperDuty.. Tuned, open exhaust, lifted and a few other goodies.. It's only got 40k on it, so I don't want to kill the warranty (another 5 years)....  But I LOVE my truck...

This is my favorite view...

[DC_1]

Each van weighted about 5500 lbs plus the trailer itself was 4500

I wish I took a pic when I drove through the Wendy's drive thru with this 

[marshallfry01]

MoparMotel, I love that duramax! Beautiful truck! I have a half ton extended cab 5.3 z71 2003 model. I wish that vortec had half the power of a duramax! Nice wheel, tire, and lift combo too! You did a good job on it.

[Todd Wilson]

I just got me a very nice 2005 Dodge 2500 2wd Cummins 24valve with 67200miles.  I am going for mpg and longevity. Have no desire to hop it up any. It already moves down the road very well. Its plain jane.  Has AC,Cruise and a radio with cd player and thats it.    Hand crank windows, push button locks....no power seats or mirrors. 3.73 rear gear.
Daily driver/family truckster and will use it to pull when I get a bigger trailer.






Todd

[MoparMotel]

There are some very nice trucks on here, cummins seems to be the favorite choice by far. I really do like cummins I just chose Duramax cause I have always driven gm trucks plus when I was doing my research before buying in 2007 the cummins got the best mpg the 6.0 powerstroke everyone said was a piece of shit which proved true watching all my friends 6.0's blow head gaskets hpop turbo egr cool etc. and Duramax seemed to have the best performance by far but had IFS which I've had to beef up with stronger parts. All of them had there pluses and minuses. Being young I went for the Duramax after watching quite a few guys break 500rwhp with just basic intake exhaust and efi live or ppe tune.

[MoparMotel]

MoparMotel, I love that duramax! Beautiful truck! I have a half ton extended cab 5.3 z71 2003 model. I wish that vortec had half the power of a duramax! Nice wheel, tire, and lift combo too! You did a good job on it.

Thanks I appreciate the nice words. It's a 6" procomp with 20x10 Ultra Predator 8's with 35/12.50/20 Toyo M/T tires. I also put Firestone airbags and an extra add a leaf in the rear for towing. I just bought the dual shock hop kit with 4 Fox 2.0 resivor shocks I'm excited to see how it looks with the foxes on there.

[charger_fan_4ever]

I since have bought a 2001 HO quad cab short box 4x4 witht he 6 speed hand shaker.

I'm kind of baffled the 01 has 220k miles and my 97 2 owner has 160k miles on it.

The 01 rides so much smoother than the extended cab long box. Does not make sense they both have the same leafspring packs. I would have thought the shorter wheelbase short box would have rode worse if anything. It rides better than a lot of cars do.

Dunno

[MoparMotel]

I since have bought a 2001 HO quad cab short box 4x4 witht he 6 speed hand shaker.

I'm kind of baffled the 01 has 220k miles and my 97 2 owner has 160k miles on it.

The 01 rides so much smoother than the extended cab long box. Does not make sense they both have the same leafspring packs. I would have thought the shorter wheelbase short box would have rode worse if anything. It rides better than a lot of cars do.

Dunno

A lot of it is shocks. When I put the Firestone air bags and add a leaf my truck rode very stiff and bounced a lot. Tried Procomp MX6 shocks and they were a little better but not much. I've got Bilstein 5100's on the truck right now and they ride way better, very smooth they soak up a lot of the bounce. Well see how the Fox's ride next week when I get them put on.