Well its about time I create a thread for this truck. It's not an over the top build or anything like that, just a solid running reliable tow rig that I won't have to open the motor up for quite awhile even once I add compounds.
Some back story. I bought the truck in 2017 from the third owner with ~253k on the clock. It had borderline injectors and I knew that going into it. I drove it for about a week until my other vehicle was ready and then I parked it until Spring 2019 as it underwent a complete paint job and waited for funding for injectors as building my LLY was more important. In March 2019 I got it back on the road with new Bosch injectors and drove it for most of the summer. At that time I also tuned it and installed an exhaust/lift pump. Fast forward to October 2019 and it decided one morning to spin a main bearing on the highway. My assumption is either the guy I bought it from or the guy before him had filled the crankcase with fuel from bad injectors and partially damaged a main. I think the straw that broke the camels back persay was the trip to Diesel Power Challenge 2019 and back. The truck never overheated and we were loaded pretty heavy (~24k gross) but I do believe the factory oil cooler was not doing an adequate job of keeping oil temps in check allowing the oil to get thin and doing the rest of the damage to the bearing. Mind you this is all guessing.
I originally was just going to do a bone stock OE rebuild but then I started acquiring parts. It started with a 2020 oil cooler, then an LML oil pump/piston cooling nozzles, then a massive Derale external oil cooler and took of from there. The original plan was to use LBZ rods with delipped LB7 pistons but the cost difference from LB7 pistons to Mahle motorsport pistons isn't enough to justify LB7 pistons in my mind. I also managed to find a SCREAMING deal on these Howard's rods that also helped solidify the need for Motorsport pistons. As of now the plan is to build an LBZ based short block (I have a good known short block with a cracked piston that needs to be bored 0.010 ish to clear out).
Parts List:
1) Howard's X-Beam rods
2) Mahle Motorsport 16.8:1 pistons
3) Mahle bearings (HX mains, split set of H/HX rods, cam, thrust)
4) BD flexplate
5) Fluidampr
6) Screw-in injector cups
7) Billet injector hold downs
8) LML oil pump and piston cooling nozzles
9) 2020 L5P oil cooler and Derale external cooler
10) Wagler stage 1 std firing cam
11) LLY+ lifters
12) F1/Flux Diesel Hybrid SAC70%
13) Danville water pump
At this point I still need to purchase gaskets, Fluidampr, pistons, flexplate, thrust bearings, cam bearings, and some misc hardware plus then take everything to the machine shop to get balanced. I'll update this thread as parts come in/progress is made. Currently the truck is still together.
Some back story. I bought the truck in 2017 from the third owner with ~253k on the clock. It had borderline injectors and I knew that going into it. I drove it for about a week until my other vehicle was ready and then I parked it until Spring 2019 as it underwent a complete paint job and waited for funding for injectors as building my LLY was more important. In March 2019 I got it back on the road with new Bosch injectors and drove it for most of the summer. At that time I also tuned it and installed an exhaust/lift pump. Fast forward to October 2019 and it decided one morning to spin a main bearing on the highway. My assumption is either the guy I bought it from or the guy before him had filled the crankcase with fuel from bad injectors and partially damaged a main. I think the straw that broke the camels back persay was the trip to Diesel Power Challenge 2019 and back. The truck never overheated and we were loaded pretty heavy (~24k gross) but I do believe the factory oil cooler was not doing an adequate job of keeping oil temps in check allowing the oil to get thin and doing the rest of the damage to the bearing. Mind you this is all guessing.
I originally was just going to do a bone stock OE rebuild but then I started acquiring parts. It started with a 2020 oil cooler, then an LML oil pump/piston cooling nozzles, then a massive Derale external oil cooler and took of from there. The original plan was to use LBZ rods with delipped LB7 pistons but the cost difference from LB7 pistons to Mahle motorsport pistons isn't enough to justify LB7 pistons in my mind. I also managed to find a SCREAMING deal on these Howard's rods that also helped solidify the need for Motorsport pistons. As of now the plan is to build an LBZ based short block (I have a good known short block with a cracked piston that needs to be bored 0.010 ish to clear out).
Parts List:
1) Howard's X-Beam rods
2) Mahle Motorsport 16.8:1 pistons
3) Mahle bearings (HX mains, split set of H/HX rods, cam, thrust)
4) BD flexplate
5) Fluidampr
6) Screw-in injector cups
7) Billet injector hold downs
8) LML oil pump and piston cooling nozzles
9) 2020 L5P oil cooler and Derale external cooler
10) Wagler stage 1 std firing cam
11) LLY+ lifters
12) F1/Flux Diesel Hybrid SAC70%
13) Danville water pump
At this point I still need to purchase gaskets, Fluidampr, pistons, flexplate, thrust bearings, cam bearings, and some misc hardware plus then take everything to the machine shop to get balanced. I'll update this thread as parts come in/progress is made. Currently the truck is still together.
