Shaun41178(2) wrote:Go buy a Smart car and throw your 454 in that. Same damn thing.
or better yet, finish one of your 18 fiero swap projects.
18?
Try 3. The LS '84, the 383 '86, then the L67 in place of the 383.
I don't like the smart, and it doesn't fit tires as wide as what's in the pics above.
Wide tires aren't everything. They're the only thing. Pirelli makes some P355/25R19s I'd like to figure out how to fit under every car I have, front and rear.
The Dark Side of Will wrote:Duramaxes are junk? Everything I've heard about them says otherwise (including Banks).
Agreed. And I've spent some serious seat time in a late Duramax. The first year model that came rated at 660 ft-lbs. Torque forever, and that was showroom stock.
I'm coming from the diesel forums now so the humor is a bit different. The key is identifying something you don't like and referring to it as junk regardless of whether or not you'd buy it, like how people say the 6.0 powerstroke was junk then buy it.
The newer D-maxes are better but they have had a history or glowplug problems, injector problems, and belt issues. I've had Ford Chevy and Dodge gas trucks but spent a lot of time in all three versions of the diesels. The cummins is a factory built pulling truck. The Ford is the better looking of the three and feels the best built. I'm on the fence about the new 6.7, never been in a 6.4, but I've been around the 6.0s, definately no 7.3 but hardly the anti-christ some people make them out to be. The 7.3 PSD was a brick house, especially compared to the similar era Chevy 6.5. I've had friends with all three and when you're using the trucks for what they are built for, pulling, the powerstroke and cummins seem to last longer and be more reliable. The fastest drag trucks seem to be D-maxes. That doesn't matter to me, I use my F250 to tow, not to race. My friends 7.3 just rolled 300k on the original turbo, injection pump, everything. Hell the glowplugs were still good at 290k it was just starting to start slow so we changed them.
Careful in declaring any of them the best looking. That can't be quantified with hard numbers, it's subjective only, not objective. Or in plain English, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Glow plug issues are nothing. I'd prefer to change them every month, with my own hands, at my own expense, rather than have to drive the Ford. The Chevy is the best performing, partially because it's the least overweight. It's the Lotus Elise. It has the best front suspension geometry. It can fit the biggest front rotors and calipers. Chevy and GMC combined damn near outsell Ford and Dodge combined, every year.
Liking the underdog is okay, but being in denial about it worries me.
A friend I know that owns a repair shop had nothing but (vehement) curses for the Ford 6.0 (he owns a diesel F350, obviously not with that engine)... He showed me some billing records belonging to this poor dude who came in, almost monthly, for several ~3000 dollar repairs. It was brutal. The factory service manual apparently details cutting up the fan shroud to change a belt, for instance. He had a pretty strong case, little of which I remember in detail, but yeah I'll never own one.
Also, I actually saw Gale Banks speak at WyoTech in Sacremento, CA for a friends graduation from the program. Amongst other things, he promoted diesel performance, and gave high praise to the GM Duramax (and also claimed that more than a few people were blowing up Powerstrokes trying to keep up).
They should stop competing. The reason these engines come from the factory with 660 ft-lbs is so that you don't have to do any mods. 660 is way more than enough to get the maximum rated trailer over any paved mountain on earth.
The 6BT is the best of the 3, that's hardly denial. The 6.0 has a lot of issues, one of which being the the cab has to be removed for some services.
You want to change glowplugs monthly? For my Mercedes they are $12 each. And if they are like the ford 7.3 you have to replace the valve cover gaskets to replace the glowplugs at $150 for the pair. That's a $1000-$2500 a year for a part that I've replaced once in 23 years on my Benz and once every 295,000 in the 7.3.
$23,000-$60,000 to keep the truck cold starting...
Maybe I should restate: Mercedes Diesels are the best the OM series are brick houses. Sadly we only got the Unimog in low numbers but MB Heavy Diesels live on Freightliners.
I ride around Baghdad in armored Excursions driven by security contractors. The guys claim the trucks weigh 7 tons. The Powerstrokes move them out pretty darn good. I don't know if they're 7.3's or 6.0's, though.
The security guys absolutely refuse to use Suburbans, as they are only available with gas power. When you're hit by an IED, small arms fire, etc. a gas tank can turn into a bomb itself. A diesel tank just leaks.
The 6.0L Maxxforce V8 came out in '03 but I don't think F250+es got it until '04. People walk on my dads lot all day long look at 04s+ and go "this got that JUNK 6.0 in it?" then proceed to buy it, people are funny.
I think you have always been able to special order the diesel suburbans but they are very rare. As Ford killed the Excursion and the ExpeditionXL does not have a diesel variant I wonder what the contractors are buying now? International-Harvester has a line of heavy RTVs but they are much bigger, more expensive, and heavier duty than an armored Excursion.
6.2 and 6.5 Suburbans were available, but I've *never* heard of a Duramax Suburban. Because the Allison is such a large transmission, the pickups have factory body lifts. GM doesn't want to tool up new fascias for a body-lift Suburban for what they feel would be a very limited market.
The contractors like the new F-350 crew cabs, but until the fleet of Excursions is worn the F@#$ out, they won't get many of those.
However, it doesn't take long to wear and armored truck out. The door frames and doors crack around the hinges and latch because the doors weigh 350 lbs or so. Many of the trucks in the fleet have been rewelded more than once.
I didn't think of the Alison thing, yeah you're right there are not new Duramax 'burbans.
Got any pics of Iraq Equipped Fords? Do they have to do anything in terms of uprated cooling? Its pretty fucking hot there and adding 3-4 extra tons of weight could bring engine temps up a hair.