Diesel News 11-18-19

Truck of the Week

Half-A-Million Mile Duramax

How many miles do you expect to get out of your Duramax? For Skip Brown, his ’06 GMC recently turned over 500,000 miles. The key to all of his LBZ’s trouble-free high miles has been regular maintenance and everyday use. Skip says he’s driven his workhorse virtually every single day over the past 10 years. How much further the engine in his classic body Sierra will go is anyone’s guess, but we’ve seen loads of Duramax-powered trucks go well beyond 500K, all while requiring nothing more than brakes, U-joints, a fresh water pump, and a few other small items.

Highlights

New 68RFE HP/TQ Record

Red Horse Motorsports’ Dallas Penn took his War Horse 68RFE automatic to new heights over the weekend. His standard cab Ram, which is propelled via a Shredder series 6.7L Cummins from Industrial Injection, cleared 1,443 hp and 2,331 lb-ft aboard the dyno at Hardway Performance. Then, during the pursuit for more power, more nitrous was brought into the mix, and the violent hit on the rollers broke two of the six straps holding the truck in place on the dyno. The truck, trans, and engine survived the drift off of the dyno, more straps were introduced on subsequent pulls, and the 68RFE eventually allowed an insane 1,606 hp and 2,596 lb-ft to pass through it.

Source: https://redhorsemotorsports.com/

Source: https://hardwayperformance.com/

Blasts from the Past

Flashback: From Mud Bogger to Pro Mod

It may be hard to believe, but you’re looking at what the Gray’s Diesel Performance Pro Mod drag truck used to look like. Back before it was making 4-second eighth-mile passes, the OBS F-250 sat on 10-inches of lift, sported 46-inch Michelins, and even had a 351 ci Windsor under the hood. Only after swapping the 7.3L Power Stroke into place and realizing the big, lifted ’96 was ‘kind of fast’ did owner, Brian Gray, set out on the path toward building a two-wheel drive drag racer. Now, nine years later, he’s made the ’96 ¾-ton the quickest 7.3L-powered truck in existence.

Source: https://graysdiesel.com/

Killer S10 Cummins Swap

Anyone remember this Cummins-swapped S10? It made the rounds years ago then seemingly went into hiding for the better part of a decade. Believed to be the brainchild of Todd Reardon, the little Chevy packed a P-pumped 12-valve with compound turbos and the sound backing of an NV4500 five-speed manual. But how did he squeeze the 5.9L into the engine bay? It called for cutting out a sizeable section of the firewall and, believe it or not, two valve covers actually had to protrude into the cab. The S10 looks a little different today, the bed stack having since been replaced with a hood stack for one, but it’s still in the care of the original owner in Indiana.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HardcoreS10/

Total Transmission Carnage

Sam Wyse Auto Repair recently took in a failed 5R110W TorqShift automatic that had lost the radiator cooler, and this is what the internals looked like. During this type of failure, the clutch material acts as a sponge in soaking up the water. Because of this sponge-effect, the system cannot simply be flushed clean. Another major issue caused by the failure is the de-bonding that occurs on the molded pistons. This is one of the key reasons why bypassing the radiator side of the transmission cooler is so common in the aftermarket.

Source: https://wyseauto.repair/

OEM News

2020 Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel

Billed as the most capable SUV ever, the 2020 Jeep Wrangler will likely add best-in-class fuel economy to its list of accolades thanks to the inclusion of the EcoDiesel V-6 engine option. In Wrangler trim, the 3.0L EcoDiesel will build 260 hp and turn out 442 lb-ft of torque. The EcoDiesel will be bolted to a TorqueFlite 8HP75 eight-speed automatic transmission offering more than 40 individual shift maps in order to optimize fuel economy, performance, or 4×4 capability. All diesel-equipped Wrangler models (Sport, Sahara, and Rubicon) will feature heavy-duty Dana 44 axles front and rear and 3.73 gears. The Rock-Trac transfer case will be available on Rubicon models, while the Command-Trac part-time transfer case will come on Sport and Sahara models.

Source: https://media.fcanorthamerica.com/

Parts Rack

Goerend Billet 48RE Pump Gears

When OEM parts are impossible to source and existing aftermarket versions don’t live up to your standards what do you do? If you’re Goerend Transmission you manufacture your own. Machined from billet steel chomoly core, Goerend’s 10-lobe billet pump gears for the Chrysler 48RE are perfect for your high-powered automatic. In testing, these high volume gears have proven capable of maintaining higher pressure at any ATF operating temperature. Goerend’s billet 48RE pump gears will hit the market in early December, with pricing yet to be set.

Source: https://goerend.com/