Lifted Ford Owner

[getstuk]

I'm considering buying a 6.4L Lariat or Harley due to the power potential, but I thought I'd drop by and talk to you guys about the Duramax's. I am about 4 months away to have the money saved to buy the truck outright with cash.

While I love the Dodge front ends and i6, I can't get over that ugly interior. That brings me to a Chevy forum. I love the newer body style, but I am worried about the IFS holding up.

My question is what are your thoughts on the new body style 07-09 duramax's. I will be pushing the bar with this one, the truck will be lifted but first I'm going to set out to hit around 750rwhp. With the Ford 6.4L I can get away with this at about $12k in mods. Intake, tune, exhaust and deletes puts you at around 580rwhp. Aftermarket twins get you to about 700, and then you'll hit the limits of the stock fuel system.

I'll post this in another forum here on duramaxdiesels if I don't receive the answer. Thanks for your time!

Old truck:

http://www.youtube.com/getstuk

 

[MAXX IT OUT]

Both will not last a long time at high power, the duramax will lose the tranny first, but the ford tranny will last at more power a little longer. The IFS fronts end needs a center link and braces along with tie rods. The duramax is lighter so you can go faster and I hate working on 6.4, under the hood there is very little room. How high are you planning on lifting it?

 

[arneson]

U wont be hitting the 650+hp mark at all with any dmax if you want reliability. It will need rods. After that there hard to beat. The dmax family is a great truck, easy power makers, but rods are needed to be reliable and dd at levels above 500-600hp.
How high is the lift goin to be?

Fords are heavy, a 600hp dmax will make a 700hp ford look slow.

 

[ltr450ryder]

U wont be hitting the 650+hp mark at all with any dmax if you want reliability. It will need rods. After that there hard to beat. The dmax family is a great truck, easy power makers, but rods are needed to be reliable and dd at levels above 500-600hp.
How high is the lift goin to be?

Fords are heavy, a 600hp dmax will make a 700hp ford look slow.

X2

 

[02greysixer]

Do your research, the 6.4 is not without its faults. They can be big powerhouses no doubt, but we've had a couple in the shop for front cover failures. One of which took out the motor. They were both not much over 100k miles. When maintained right and deleted they are supposed to be pretty good. But I'd take ifs over a high maintenance engine any day. I doubt you find much Ford support on here. But have you considered saving a little bit more and getting a 6.7 Powerstroke? A lot of people feel Ford did a 180 with it. I'm a Duramax guy for sure, but those new Fords are something. They have the best interior hands down I think

sent from a galaxy far far away

 

[Big Block 88]

Nothing against the 6.4 really needs a delete for sure and it is still missing a few head bolt per side but studs and fire ring cures it to an extent.

500-550 I feel u are safe with stock rods in a dd, but after that u are on barrowed time. The ifs is NOT a week point, tie rods or sleeves will make it strong enough for some serious abuse, center link and braces I would venture to say stronger than the sfa trucks. I have had a lot of issues in the past with hub breakage and shit ride in the fords

What year max are I looking at? Lbz lmm have piston issues at higher power levels not sure on the lml yet, though the support for the lml is lacking.

One thing ford doesn't have that dodge and gm have is EFI live, while ford has spartan EFI is so much more versatile. That said no matter what u drive unhave to pay to play

 

[Skidoo88]

we have 4 6.4's at work and have had alot of problems with all of them. exhuast header leaks, injection pumps going out, turbos, and taking off the cab to do any of it sucks!

 

[getstuk]

2008 CC 2500 = 7200~ lbs wet @ 600hp (12hp/lb) vs 6.4L CC 8300 lbs wet at 700hp (11.8hp/lb). It won't make it look slow per se, but I agree that it takes less to make a duramax quick. What mods are you looking at to hit 650rwhp and what kind of ET's are you guys seeing? The 6.4L is a high 12 second truck with basic mods (intake, exhaust, tune, delete) and you're only $2500~ into it.

I have considered the 6.7, very nice truck but the aftermarket is just not there yet for the engine. It doesn't seem to be putting anything crazy down like it's 6.4 counterpart, at least not as easily. However, it does have a 6 speed :thumb: The interior is also nothing to shake a stick at, I just cannot stand the ugly front end of the 6.7L.

Externally, the chevy is hands down the most attractive. And yes, cab removal for a lot of repairs on the 6.4L really pisses me off...

The lift will be around 8" on 35/37's. I will also be towing pretty heavy a few times a year with this setup, so the power adders must be tow rpm friendly or have a way to tune accordingly. I'm going to look into center link, tie rod and bracing costs.

Thanks for the discussion guys, it's nice to pick the brains of you guys. I have been researching my plans for months and I've had some second thoughts about how dated the exterior of the 6.4 is starting to feel. I may still go that route but I've very seriously considered the new body style chevy's as well.

Anymore advice you can provide is a huge help!

 

[dmaxman06]

i know this is the expensive route but why dont you consider this buy whatever nice truck u want lift it with lots of ponies under the hood ect

then buy a cheap diesel to tow with then u dont have to have a high hp truck with towing in mind POWER IS HARD ON PARTS not saying u cant have a do it all truck but this is just my opnion

also i can show u lots of cheap dmax for under 10k here in az on cl yeah they got some miles but for just a cheap dd tow pig who cares plus u can load it down with tools and whatever else u wanna carry and not care about weight

 

[getstuk]

i know this is the expensive route but why dont you consider this buy whatever nice truck u want lift it with lots of ponies under the hood ect

then buy a cheap diesel to tow with then u dont have to have a high hp truck with towing in mind POWER IS HARD ON PARTS not saying u cant have a do it all truck but this is just my opnion

also i can show u lots of cheap dmax for under 10k here in az on cl yeah they got some miles but for just a cheap dd tow pig who cares plus u can load it down with tools and whatever else u wanna carry and not care about weight

The problem is I play with the truck offroad too as you can see in my videos above. I have to get the toys and the truck to my destination, I don't want to trailer the truck around. But great idea otherwise. If I could tow a fifth wheel and my truck I'd consider it, but that's Class A territory, not to mention the additional $$.

 

[Dirtymaxx03]

If hauling ass is what you want to do. Buy a nice DD car and a $5000 12v dodge. Put $10,000 into the 12v and smack the Chevy and ford in the mouth as you go by.

 

[arneson]

Take a look around. How many fords in the 11s? How many in the 10s. How many in the 9s. Not sayin you wanna drag race, but fords are not known to be quick. Hell the rarly do well in sled pulls around here.
Now look how many dmaxs are in those.

I agree tho, they look very nice, even better lifted.

 

[arneson]

Everything has its flaws. More often then not its the owner and how they drive. Regardless of its make. I own a few fords, mainly 550s thats why i say this, but not anything newer then 02 now.

 

[dbev24]

Take a look around. How many fords in the 11s? How many in the 10s. How many in the 9s. Not sayin you wanna drag race, but fords are not known to be quick. Hell the rarly do well in sled pulls around here.
Now look how many dmaxs are in those.

I agree tho, they look very nice, even better lifted.

Not bragging ford up but check out maryland diesel performances 6.4 "king kong". Its nasty!

 

[blk smoke lb7]

If you are installing a lift, tie rod sleeves would be the only thing you would need for the front end. With an exhaust air box mod,lift pump, an exhaust dsp5 with efi live you will run a 13.0 roughly or better depending on elevation and other things.Put a lift and big tires on and your times at the strip get effected alot and so does your towing. If your going to tow heavy even a few times a year I would do twins with the stocker to keep your egts in check.The ifs front suspension isnt bad and is the best riding in my opinion.

 

[arneson]

Not bragging ford up but check out maryland diesel performances 6.4 "king kong". Its nasty!

Oh i know. Its sick. But theres very few compared to dodge or gm. Thats all im sayin. Id buy a ford hands down before a dodge. They just dont do it for me.

 

[Big Block 88]

King Kong counter part would dmitri truck. Wonder who is more reliable and has had more passes


10.80 to me is huge, it's a big accomplishment no doubt but there's a handful here who have done it and much more I would like to see a cost break down comparison

 

[getstuk]

King Kong counter part would dmitri truck. Wonder who is more reliable and has had more passes


10.80 to me is huge, it's a big accomplishment no doubt but there's a handful here who have done it and much more I would like to see a cost break down comparison

6.4L Powerstroke Upgrades

Spartan Phalanx Custom Tuner (310 tunes) $2500~ w/ EGR delete + Intake
ARP HeadStuds ($565)
Elite Compounds (High Powers $8000)
OUO or PMF traction bars ($950)
Valve spring kit ($500)
Built Transmission ($5500)
After 700hp~, you have to upgrade to duel fuelers ($3700)

Power seems a bit more expensive on the 6.4L in contrast to my limited research on the Duramax (here is a price breakdown on most of our options for compounds). The above setup is NOT the most expensive parts, and was my attempt to get to 700-750rwhp relatively cheap, but reliably. The stock bottom end on the 6.4 is ridiculously strong, some are pushing around 1000rwhp on the stock bottom end! The 6.4's also love nitrous. The exhaust, tune, intake and deletes typically puts you in the high 12's, but your tranny won't last long at that 580rwhp~. Beyond 600hp, it starts to get real expensive really quick.

Here is a list of the top Powerstroke powered Ford's. Note: it's from 10/27/2012.

Can someone give me a price breakdown for the Duramax?

 

[ikeG]

Fords are heavy, a 600hp dmax will make a 700hp ford look slow.

What he said^. If you tune a 6.4 up to close to 600rwhp, yea they run great. But the trans acts terrible and will not lock up early enough. I'm a fan of the 6.4 when it runs because of the power potential, but everything else around it(including trans) leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[arneson]

Here is a list of the top Powerstroke powered Ford's. Note: it's from 10/27/2012.

Can someone give me a price breakdown for the Duramax?[/QUOTE]

Any track times or trap speeds to go along with thise dyno numbers to confirm hp numbers?

And price break downs are goin to be tough. Seems its more who you know, prices are all over the board. In order to get your hp goal in a gm, its goin to need a built motor to live. Built motors range from 7ish depending on build, all the way up to 20ish. Like i said it depends on parts used. Rods and a basic short block can be done for under 8k.