8.1 to dmax 3500 HD GMT-400 body
- Thread starter malibu795
- Start date
Adam's been around these forums and working his trucks hard through plenty of ups and downs for quite a few years and many of us have been along with him for the ride - in spirit at least. He probably has alot of fans and cheerleaders he doesn't even know about.
I had been reading this for a long time and made me appreciate where I came from. My dad and I working on my 51 chevy 2 door and the 65 cj5 with a 350 and t10 setup in it. He has never owned a new vehicle, while my last 5 were new but not used for work. I got lucky and catch the bus to work to prevent more wear on my truck and save 800 on parking. The duramax denali I bought will be the most expensive vehicle I ever buy. I love it but can't justify it again or the money. In 15 years I will be looking for something more affordable and turn it into a spare toy and it should still have under 100k on the odo.
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i would love to have some heated/cooled seats... it seams no amount of ac can save you from swamp ass when you sit for 6 hours
while the goal wasnt to get a "fan base" it kinda turned out that way..
met alot of good people usually its when i break
they have taken me to dinner, loaned me tools/shop space, answer the phone when i came across a WTF moments, gotten me parts as reduced rates even though i never asked or expected them to.. some are truckers just like me.. and call me up just to BS for a couple hours..
all in all been blessed
while the goal wasnt to get a "fan base" it kinda turned out that way..
met alot of good people usually its when i break
they have taken me to dinner, loaned me tools/shop space, answer the phone when i came across a WTF moments, gotten me parts as reduced rates even though i never asked or expected them to.. some are truckers just like me.. and call me up just to BS for a couple hours..all in all been blessed
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going from a ~1500 stall(stock) to a ~2000 stall TC.... big difference... before TCC lockup with stock part throttle shifts where 1800-2200 with an empty trailer (14,000lb gross)... now the part throttle shifts are ~300rpm higher... 2200-2500rpm.. i'll have a load tomorrw... ~11,000lb. see how it does with it... expecting higher unlocked rpm shift points at same throttle %... stocker when the TCC locked in 2nd at 30mph (about 2500rpm) there was a 100-200rpm drop.....
guess this thread has basicly come to a close..
http://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52510
following option i have..
sell it out right.. 95% complete for a dmax swap in any GMT400 platform truck..
part it out..
or stick the engine in one of these
http://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52510
following option i have..
sell it out right.. 95% complete for a dmax swap in any GMT400 platform truck..
part it out..
or stick the engine in one of these
I love wagons. Always a jaw dropper when a wagon pulls up and lopes.
there wont be much "loping" if i put a dmax in it
Well I just didn't know if it would be worth the effort to try and put a duramax in place of an 8.1 in an 01' 2500hd?
first thing you looking for mpg? towing more than 12k? 500hp sleeper?
if you are DD light towing IE Less then 10k towing keeping it under 400hp 4l85 will work.. if not need to swap the dmax/allison and tcase in as well..
couple ways to do it
buy a donor the sell/scrape what you dont use
buy engine harnesses, ecm/tcm/tcase etc have them/(russ at RPM motorsports has a guy that can) converted over for plug n play.. then its some fab work for the radiator core support maybe tweeking the CAC pipes...
mine was just an engine swap.. i kept the stock 4l85 that was in it. hind site being 20/20 two things i should have done to the tranny. upgrade the TC to a TC with a billet clutch for the TCC (OEM is cast aluminun and will eventualy break which failed on me) and up grade the intermediate sprag to 34 element and a shift kit..
my swap i have ~8-9k in it it.. ~6k being buying the 06 LLY(LBZ) van engine ecm/tcm harness.. 750.00 to have russ combined the 99 and the 06 harness to make it plug n play.. the rest was little stuff that adds up or you screwed up and cant return it lol.
i have a good 120-150 man hours in the conversion.. i would say im a solid C+ to B- level mechanic skills.
8.1 burbs had 85's excelt government armored burbs they had body lift to clear belly armor and allison
Here's a couple pics of what I have, I mainly use it as a work truck pulling mowers and skid steer's and to push snow, does great except its thirsty. I love the duramax engine, and grew accustomed to the power my ext cab has. I'm mainly wanting to up my MPG, throw a nice tune in it and enjoy it. I really like the truck and hate to get rid of it when a swap couldn't be ruled out for what it would cost to trade for a LBZ. Since I already have an allison in the truck (don't know if it is different than what came behind the duramax) I thought it might be worth looking into to doing
that would be a 8.1/allison. LB7 swapp would be the simplest.. then you would have to worry deal with injectors when the crack... LLY would be next easiest.. ECM are the same harness is similar.. LBZ ECM/TCM harnesses are different..
IDK if you can run a 5sp TCM behind a LBZ ECM.. i do know you can run a 6sp TCM behind a LB7/LLY ECM
i picked up my 07.5 3500HD RC dually for ~17k with 97,000 miles.. tack 10-15k on it for a CC version loaded the same
IDK if you can run a 5sp TCM behind a LBZ ECM.. i do know you can run a 6sp TCM behind a LB7/LLY ECM
i picked up my 07.5 3500HD RC dually for ~17k with 97,000 miles.. tack 10-15k on it for a CC version loaded the same
I'd say you got a pretty good buy, its tough to find a RC/LB around here, and if you do its usually ragged out. Maybe i'll give RPM a shout and see what they say