Goodbye dmax world

Kartmnn

New member
Oct 27, 2011
244
0
0
East Providence RI
Dude in the vette should never race again! Van would have won with a 4.3 with that guy driving the vette. I bought a 8.1 as a back up to my Dmax. If the Dmax breaks at the wrong time of year I cannt be down or afford to fix it.
 

PAT

EASY DAY
Aug 21, 2011
1,100
0
0
your back yard
This is no diff than me Blowing up 2 engines on my Harley @ 7,500.00 an engine it gets expensive... even in that world it is ( Speed Cost- How fast do you want to go ?) 1 of the first things we harley people have to do is take engine apart and have the crank welded/trued and balanced 2,500 or so... then the cases have to have timkin bearings installed.... and a few other things, like cams,case cleared for cams, rocker box cleared for high lift cams and a good exhaust... then when it is put all back together we have to have a programer 400/500.00 then have it dyno tuned 400.00

So anyone wanting to go fast with a diesel or harley for cheep are lying to their self and family... Speed Cost....

Speed does cost. I agree with that fully. But now that I've wised up a bit (my dmax is my first fast vehicle) I have realized that if you are smart and do a lot of research, you can start on a platform that is strong and can get you going faster than most other platforms.

I'm all about a motor that can take a truck into the 10's while being stock and not breaking. That is awesome.
 

adrenaholc1

New member
Apr 5, 2011
294
0
0
Butler Co. OHIO
I too knew the cost of duramax perf. Coming into the game. Just wish I could have spent my first big chunk of cash on a tranny instead of a charger. Got too addicted to the pulse width I recon. That stgIV sun coast keeps getting farther outta reach. Just got engaged. Getting married in Aug. Got honeymoon. Next thing you know there'll be a minime. Holy shit where's that bottle at?:eek:
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,664
5,812
113
Phoenix Az
That $5500 got you what? Rods, cut stock pistons?thats about it. That's pathetic in my book.

No that was all normal machine work done by guy trippin plus key the crank and cam, magging the crank, pressure testing heads, headstuds, mainstuds, cut pistons, rods, all new clevite h bearings and gaskets. Everything i needed to make the motor run again and be stronger than before
 

FrankenMax

New member
Mar 30, 2011
265
0
0
Round mountain NV
No that was all normal machine work done by guy trippin plus key the crank and cam, magging the crank, pressure testing heads, headstuds, mainstuds, cut pistons, rods, all new clevite h bearings and gaskets. Everything i needed to make the motor run again and be stronger than before


Thats not bad. Everyone out this way wants 2500 -3k just for machine work and assembly no hard parts. I walked in to Borowskie's race shop in Rockdale IL couple of door from my office they want 4 to 5gs for basic head work. :mad:
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,664
5,812
113
Phoenix Az
Thats not bad. Everyone out this way wants 2500 -3k just for machine work and assembly no hard parts. I walked in to Borowskie's race shop in Rockdale IL couple of door from my office they want 4 to 5gs for basic head work. :mad:

Somethin aint right then. Guy was the most expensive of everyone i talked to but was still less than what you were quoted. He worked with me on what i really needed and didnt need to help with price. I wanted to go with him as i didnt know what i should look for in a shop. I know hes been around the block hundreds of times on these motors :D. I assembled the block myself as well to keep price down. Its not hard, its like assembling any other gasser with a few minor differences that are clear to see lol
 

2006 LBZ

New member
Feb 8, 2011
195
0
0
Calgary, Ab.
What really did me in on going further with my truck is two customer`s trucks I`m re building right now. One is a procharged duramax that will be on its 4th motor now (yes i know its a bad idea but its what the customer wants) and second is the truck that is featured in diesel power aug. 2012 (black lmm) customer spent huge dollars down in the states for "the best bulit truck" he got it back after 11 months of work and it was running like ass the day he picked it up, ended up washing down the cylinders, hurt the heads bad, wrecked a cam ect ect ect. From the bills I have seen and what he spent on it across the border it had all the best parts put in it and its still a cluster **** of a motor thats has been far from reliable since day 1 with it. Some of these guys are spending $100,000 plus by the time the rebuilds happen, and even after that they still aren`t that reliable at the end of the day.

I still enjoy the work since its what I do for a living, but I`ve gotta draw the line on my own truck since there isnt enough time in the day too work on my own truck without staying up from friday to sunday to do anything serious. I think i was spoiled with drag racing at a early age and I`ve worked on everything from a jr.dragster to Nitro funny cars and top fuel dragsters, so for me anyway the satisfaction for the racing side of the diesel game just isnt there. Just my own opinion though :beer
 

FrankenMax

New member
Mar 30, 2011
265
0
0
Round mountain NV
Somethin aint right then. Guy was the most expensive of everyone i talked to but was still less than what you were quoted. He worked with me on what i really needed and didnt need to help with price. I wanted to go with him as i didnt know what i should look for in a shop. I know hes been around the block hundreds of times on these motors :D. I assembled the block myself as well to keep price down. Its not hard, its like assembling any other gasser with a few minor differences that are clear to see lol


I wont be working with them that's for sure. I walked in to there office with an open mind but it snapped shut when I asked if they built a hot rod Duramax motor before and the response was no. Then I got to taking to him about head work because they have a slick new countered cylinder head machine. Due to the rates ya no dice.
I can do the assembly but my problem is time. I'm fairly certain I know where I will be taking my businesses since I'm moving to Nevada.
 

BLKLMM

<<< Slow Mamba
Jan 31, 2010
2,142
0
36
Oceanside
That $5500 got you what? Rods, cut stock pistons?thats about it. That's pathetic in my book.

:rolleyes: seems like your truck frustration is getting the best of you:thumb: Your first mistake was buying Jordan's truck;) second was the II pump...looks to me you never did your homework:hug:
 

hondarider552

Getting faster
May 28, 2008
10,627
2
36
34
Arizona
My buddy has a 05 rx/sb 4wd sierra that had a 4.8 in it... put a S480 on it ran, 13.50 @ 113.... blew up that junkyard 4.8 bought stock 6.0 LQ4 in it. Same trubo he just ran 11.58 @ 119 tonight... He has 6k into the truck, 4k of it was a built 4L80 trans...
 

straightpiperoar

New member
Jul 20, 2009
146
0
0
Last Friday night was a perfect example of why I spent a ton of money on this truck...Pulled into the track got some "what the Hell is that truck going to do" looks....Unloaded it off the trailer,went to tech, made a 10 sec pass...Just about everyone in the pits and crowd was at the tow rig when I got back to see what that truuck was.....Thats why I did it!!!!!! Everyone knows its not cheap but it sure is different than anything else you will see.
 

ArizonaCoal

New member
Jun 23, 2012
31
0
0
If my Duramax gets running. I was thinking on turning it in to a Dodge. Just out of past experiances with dodge.
 

GMC_2002_Dmax

The Still Master
While I have no dog in this fight I have been around this since the first Dmax's came out.

If you are a consumer only, never run a business, never gone through the R&D to develop new products then you really are not qualified to complain about how much stuff costs or should cost.

I run two business's, and if you buy equipment, have employees, rent or own space/pay insurance, property taxes, deal with paperwork etc then maybe your view of what things should cost will change.

I have been to SoCal Diesel, I have seen what Guy has invested in machinery alone, I don't know if any of the members here know how much he has invested in just CNC machines, he probably has almost 100% of his motors machine work completed in house.......try making machine payments on upwards of $1.5 million in equipment, try finding qualified machinists/engine assemblers for $10/hour, try opening a business in California and see how much you have to make to break even.

Then throw in deadbeats that don't pay, other companies that steal your ideas ( Super Diesel, BT Diesel Works have had their ideas copied/stolen ) the enormous costs to recoup your investment before all the scumbag/bottom feeders ruin for you.

Don't take this personal, if you can't afford to play, don't want to pay then move on, but don't complain that you can't afford an expensive habit and then expect prices to be where you want them, gasser market is 10,000 times larger then the diesel market is.

Supply and Demand works everytime......:thumb:

Good Luck with your gasser, hope it turns out to be what you want, I think you are going to miss 1000+ RWTQ, I know I could never go back to a 6000-8000 rpm gasser.
 

duramaxdiesel

Dmax Nut
Oct 23, 2008
1,378
0
36
47
Montreal, Canada
Last Friday night was a perfect example of why I spent a ton of money on this truck...Pulled into the track got some "what the Hell is that truck going to do" looks....Unloaded it off the trailer,went to tech, made a 10 sec pass...Just about everyone in the pits and crowd was at the tow rig when I got back to see what that truuck was.....Thats why I did it!!!!!! Everyone knows its not cheap but it sure is different than anything else you will see.

I think this is the perfect answer and the one I say to people all the time. Yeah I complain about the prices too, but I like being different and realize that being different costs money in the high performance diesel world. It took me 3 years to buy all my parts and have the motor built. But I bought just about everything you could think of. Was it all really necessary? Probably not looking back now but I like the peace of mind. I just won't ever calculate what I spent on the truck again lol!

Nick
 

BLKLMM

<<< Slow Mamba
Jan 31, 2010
2,142
0
36
Oceanside
While I have no dog in this fight I have been around this since the first Dmax's came out.

If you are a consumer only, never run a business, never gone through the R&D to develop new products then you really are not qualified to complain about how much stuff costs or should cost.

I run two business's, and if you buy equipment, have employees, rent or own space/pay insurance, property taxes, deal with paperwork etc then maybe your view of what things should cost will change.

I have been to SoCal Diesel, I have seen what Guy has invested in machinery alone, I don't know if any of the members here know how much he has invested in just CNC machines, he probably has almost 100% of his motors machine work completed in house.......try making machine payments on upwards of $1.5 million in equipment, try finding qualified machinists/engine assemblers for $10/hour, try opening a business in California and see how much you have to make to break even.

Then throw in deadbeats that don't pay, other companies that steal your ideas ( Super Diesel, BT Diesel Works have had their ideas copied/stolen ) the enormous costs to recoup your investment before all the scumbag/bottom feeders ruin for you.

Don't take this personal, if you can't afford to play, don't want to pay then move on, but don't complain that you can't afford an expensive habit and then expect prices to be where you want them, gasser market is 10,000 times larger then the diesel market is.

Supply and Demand works everytime......:thumb:

Good Luck with your gasser, hope it turns out to be what you want, I think you are going to miss 1000+ RWTQ, I know I could never go back to a 6000-8000 rpm gasser.
:thumb:
 

Slammed2007Lbz

Super Spicy Tunaz
Feb 1, 2009
1,118
0
36
NE Ohio
While I have no dog in this fight I have been around this since the first Dmax's came out.

If you are a consumer only, never run a business, never gone through the R&D to develop new products then you really are not qualified to complain about how much stuff costs or should cost.

I run two business's, and if you buy equipment, have employees, rent or own space/pay insurance, property taxes, deal with paperwork etc then maybe your view of what things should cost will change.

I have been to SoCal Diesel, I have seen what Guy has invested in machinery alone, I don't know if any of the members here know how much he has invested in just CNC machines, he probably has almost 100% of his motors machine work completed in house.......try making machine payments on upwards of $1.5 million in equipment, try finding qualified machinists/engine assemblers for $10/hour, try opening a business in California and see how much you have to make to break even.

Then throw in deadbeats that don't pay, other companies that steal your ideas ( Super Diesel, BT Diesel Works have had their ideas copied/stolen ) the enormous costs to recoup your investment before all the scumbag/bottom feeders ruin for you.

Don't take this personal, if you can't afford to play, don't want to pay then move on, but don't complain that you can't afford an expensive habit and then expect prices to be where you want them, gasser market is 10,000 times larger then the diesel market is.

Supply and Demand works everytime......:thumb:

Good Luck with your gasser, hope it turns out to be what you want, I think you are going to miss 1000+ RWTQ, I know I could never go back to a 6000-8000 rpm gasser.

You are absolutely right but the problem is supply and demand has went through the roof for diesels in the last 10 years and yet the prices keep getting higher.
 

RKTMech

Idiot with a wrench
Aug 18, 2008
936
0
16
The Norco's
Why goodbye? You still will need a great tow vehicle! Tone it back a notch or two and never touch it again. :thumb: Have fun with the gen III's.