Re: Will's Bug Out Rig: Duramax Van
Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 8:13 pm
As noted previously, in the vans, the V6 & small block powertrains are centered, while the big block and diesel powertrains are offset 2" to the right.
The diesel powertrains are centered in the pickup trucks.
I snagged a pickup truck engine mount and a van engine mount tower/bracket. The combo is shorter than the left van mount + van mount tower/bracket. However, a RIGHT van mount would be even shorter than that, as confirmed by photos on RockAuto and eBay. The van right mount can be used on the left as demonstrated by the fact that there's only one pickup truck mount. (Yes, GM's assembly is differentiated left from right, but that's because of the heat shield. All the aftermarket manufacturers list one mount and say to reuse the heat shield)
So I could use right van mount on both sides and raise the bottom surface of the van tower/bracket even further than if I used the pickup truck mount. Of course aftermarket suppliers have pickup truck mount from about $20, while GM is the only source for van mounts, and Rock has them for $77ish.
The 8100 and 5.7 (& 6.5 diesel) in the 2002 vans use the same engine mounts, so there must be different left/right mount towers/brackets for those engines.
The Duramax is bigger and bulkier than an LS, and has a bunch of junk associated with the oil filter and cooler low on the left. It probably needs to be shifted to the right to clear the diff at all.
My engineering effort required to design the frame mods to lift the engine mount pad up to the point that I can use a shorter mount, thus freeing up space under the mount for the diff, will *ONLY* be applicable to the Duramax vans. With the same engineered parts, more fab will be required to utilize the mount towers/brackets for an LS engine. Interdasting.
The diesel powertrains are centered in the pickup trucks.
I snagged a pickup truck engine mount and a van engine mount tower/bracket. The combo is shorter than the left van mount + van mount tower/bracket. However, a RIGHT van mount would be even shorter than that, as confirmed by photos on RockAuto and eBay. The van right mount can be used on the left as demonstrated by the fact that there's only one pickup truck mount. (Yes, GM's assembly is differentiated left from right, but that's because of the heat shield. All the aftermarket manufacturers list one mount and say to reuse the heat shield)
So I could use right van mount on both sides and raise the bottom surface of the van tower/bracket even further than if I used the pickup truck mount. Of course aftermarket suppliers have pickup truck mount from about $20, while GM is the only source for van mounts, and Rock has them for $77ish.
The 8100 and 5.7 (& 6.5 diesel) in the 2002 vans use the same engine mounts, so there must be different left/right mount towers/brackets for those engines.
The Duramax is bigger and bulkier than an LS, and has a bunch of junk associated with the oil filter and cooler low on the left. It probably needs to be shifted to the right to clear the diff at all.
My engineering effort required to design the frame mods to lift the engine mount pad up to the point that I can use a shorter mount, thus freeing up space under the mount for the diff, will *ONLY* be applicable to the Duramax vans. With the same engineered parts, more fab will be required to utilize the mount towers/brackets for an LS engine. Interdasting.