Help: New guy with big ambition and limited knowledge

[Danimal]

Hey guys,
Not only am I new to the whole forum thing but it was only a few months ago that i started looking in to what i can do to my duramax. Ive got an 07 gmc classic and im terrible when it comes to being technical but i figure theres gotta be some people on here a hell of a lot smarter than myself. my plans for my truck are as follows:

EFI Live programmer
Air Dog dual fueler kit
ATS Lift pump
EGR delete
EPR triple turbo kit
SoCal stage 2 performance engine rebuild
Transmission i am stuck on... dont know what the best road to go is...
Currently have 4" dual exhaust, not sure if i need to upgrade to 5" or not..
Cognito 4" lift
Then of course ill be doing cosmetics, guages, etc as well

I know this is going to be an insanely expensive project but that i can manage, its doing it right that i need help with. I have a buddy i work with who knows a ton of stuff but i figured the more guys ive got helping me out the better.

Any suggestions, questions, or criticisms would be much appreciated guys.
Thanks

 

[MadMaxx61]

Hey guys,
Not only am I new to the whole forum thing but it was only a few months ago that i started looking in to what i can do to my Duramax. Ive got an 07 GMC classic and I'm terrible when it comes to being technical but i figure there's gotta be some people on here a hell of a lot smarter than myself. my plans for my truck are as follows:

EFI Live programmer
Air Dog Lift pump <----Fixed
ATS dual fueler kit <----Fixed
EGR delete Trent will just make the Trip kit with out it
EPR triple turbo kit
SoCal stage 2 performance engine rebuild
Transmission i am stuck on... don't know what the best road to go is...
Talk to Mike L. he will set up up
Currently have 4" dual exhaust, not sure if i need to upgrade to 5" or not..
Cognito 4" lift
Then of course ill be doing cosmetics, gauges, etc as well

I know this is going to be an insanely expensive project but that i can manage, its doing it right that i need help with. I have a buddy i work with who knows a ton of stuff but i figured the more guys I've got helping me out the better.

Any suggestions, questions, or criticisms would be much appreciated guys.
Thanks

In Red

If you are ready to spend the $$$ this list too:
-CastFlow manifolds or Castflow Extreme 2 1/4 manifolds
-ExtremeFlow LBZ Bridge
-PCV Re-Route (cheap and should be done)
-SuperDiesel Center Link and Sleeves even more so with the lift.

I am sure there is more but cant remember

 

[Danimal]

Thanks! I appreciate the help.

 

[Evan@InglewoodTrans]

If your already looking to do Trents triples you should give him a call he can get your truck were you want it be.

 

[blk smoke lb7]

Thats quite the grocery list you got there good luck and keep us up to date on the installs :thumb:

 

[adeso]

Most of the guys that are active vendors are really good people and won’t sell you crap you don't need (every now and then there’s that one that will) but find one of the big name guys on here and they will take good care of you-read around for a while, there are a lot of really smart guys on here!

 

[Danimal]

If your already looking to do Trents triples you should give him a call he can get your truck were you want it be.

Ya I sent him an email,... im kinda hoping he might be up to doing the majority of the work if not all if he's got the time and resources.

 

[Danimal]

Thats quite the grocery list you got there good luck and keep us up to date on the installs :thumb:

Ya thanks, you bet I will. being from up in Canada here im hoping to figure out exactly how to go about this and then get it all done in one trip so to speak in about six months here hopefully.

 

[Danimal]

In Red

If you are ready to spend the $$$ this list too:
-CastFlow manifolds or Castflow Extreme 2 1/4 manifolds
-ExtremeFlow LBZ Bridge
-PCV Re-Route (cheap and should be done)
-SuperDiesel Center Link and Sleeves even more so with the lift.

I am sure there is more but cant remember

Thanks, I will definitely look into this. I appreciate the input.

 

[Subman]

Think you are getting way ahead of yourself. What exactly are you trying to accomplish with your truck? Racing, sled pulling, towing, what? Once you figure that out then you can approach the mods with some sense of what you actually need to accomplish those goals. You list reads like a kid in a candy store without any real knowledge of where you are going.

 

[Kspen90]

Think you are getting way ahead of yourself. What exactly are you trying to accomplish with your truck? Racing, sled pulling, towing, what? Once you figure that out then you can approach the mods with some sense of what you actually need to accomplish those goals. You list reads like a kid in a candy store without any real knowledge of where you are going.

X2...... I was doing the same thing for a while until i really sat down and put a pen to it. Figuring out what you need the truck for is the first step, then you can figure out what mods and in what order to do them. A good foundation for any type of use is lift pump, exhaust, cai, gauges, trans and convertor, efi live and in that order unless you plan on running smaller efi tunes until you get the trans done then you can swap the last two. Just a little f.y.i. 550rwhp can be made with the mods i just listed.

 

[Danimal]

My main goal is just to juice the truck up. I spoke with Trent at EPR and he was able to go over my list and adjust it to what he feels I'll need to achieve my goals. looking at being able to take it up to 1200rwhp but wanting to be able to drive it reliably at around 800rwhp. I'd like to take this thing on the track when it's done but I'm not planning on being fast enough to expect to win many races; especially if I were to put a lift on it. The "kid in a candy store" comment pretty much sums it up, It'll be the only truck of it's kind within 500km of where I live.

 

[Dirtymaxx03]

**** it. Of you can afford it more power to you. I'd do the same thing but probably build it myself. Sounds like its gonna be a wicked bitch

 

[LWATSON]

If your wealthy and just want what you want, go for it. If you just want strong running reliable truck that will kill almost anything on the street I would keep my HP around 650-800. My truck is probably in the 600+ range and its an animal. I would think 800hp is about the highest for good driveability. Also above that level and a well built trans is still going to catch hell. I personally think you'll have just as much fun on the street and at the track with 650-800hp.

 

[Danimal]

If your wealthy and just want what you want, go for it. If you just want strong running reliable truck that will kill almost anything on the street I would keep my HP around 650-800. My truck is probably in the 600+ range and its an animal. I would think 800hp is about the highest for good driveability. Also above that level and a well built trans is still going to catch hell. I personally think you'll have just as much fun on the street and at the track with 650-800hp.

Ya Trent and I were talking and he said the way he would set up the DSP5 is with the mid setting probably being the 800hp set point so I will more than likely have a lower setting for around 650hp... Trent made it sound like I can overbuild basically and run at that lower horsepower without any issues.

 

[Subman]

Trent is right, 1200 hp is not realistic at all for the street or an allison. My truck is built to the hilt and my little tune pushes it 11.90 at 112 or so on the track. It's tons of hp for the street and will light up the tires easy. The big tune is around a 1000, really don't know what it will run on the track, the 10.70 pass was with a sick tranny flairing shifts badly. Have torched 3 trannies since then trying to race the big tune and just got it back in the truck yesterday. If you lift your truck don't try and run real big tunes in it, all you are going to do is spend all your time and money fixing it.

 

[Danimal]

Trent is right, 1200 hp is not realistic at all for the street or an allison. My truck is built to the hilt and my little tune pushes it 11.90 at 112 or so on the track. It's tons of hp for the street and will light up the tires easy. The big tune is around a 1000, really don't know what it will run on the track, the 10.70 pass was with a sick tranny flairing shifts badly. Have torched 3 trannies since then trying to race the big tune and just got it back in the truck yesterday. If you lift your truck don't try and run real big tunes in it, all you are going to do is spend all your time and money fixing it.

Is there a way around that? I mean is there any tranny set up out there that would handle the power with a 4" lift? I wouldnt plan on using the big tune on the street ever but if I do race it I would like to try it out and see what it will do... If there is something out there I can put into it to handle it effectively then that'll be the next thing to consider after everything else is done. I don't mind having the capabilities of the power and not using them if I know that down the road I can throw something in that will be able to handle it. Thanks for the advice.

 

[BlkMax]

I have a couple of comments...

Don't worry about the LBZ Y-bridge. You can get that with the triple kit.

Another thing to think about is the power. I see you are from Saskatchewan, does it get cold there? Are you going to drive your truck in the winter? I live in Alaska, and I have to turn down my tunes for winter running. If I am not careful, I get a lot of timing rattle when it gets cold, and these are tunes that run GREAT in the summer. There is also the traction issue with the snow/ice. With my truck in 4WD all winter, I do not like to run more than my hot tow tune on bad roads.

There is nothing scarier than realizing you have a hot tune selected while pulling an icy on-ramp and then the turbo lights....& mine is fairly easy to control with a LBCC...nice long wheelbase.

Just some things to think about.

 

[Danimal]

I have a couple of comments...

Don't worry about the LBZ Y-bridge. You can get that with the triple kit.

Another thing to think about is the power. I see you are from Saskatchewan, does it get cold there? Are you going to drive your truck in the winter? I live in Alaska, and I have to turn down my tunes for winter running. If I am not careful, I get a lot of timing rattle when it gets cold, and these are tunes that run GREAT in the summer. There is also the traction issue with the snow/ice. With my truck in 4WD all winter, I do not like to run more than my hot tow tune on bad roads.

There is nothing scarier than realizing you have a hot tune selected while pulling an icy on-ramp and then the turbo lights....& mine is fairly easy to control with a LBCC...nice long wheelbase.

Just some things to think about.

Thanks for the comments. Ya I've been putting a lot of thought into the winter months and what I'm going to do with the truck. It definitely does get cold here (-40 to -50C at times) but Im planning to keep the truck in the garage for the majority of the winter if possible. how low do you tune down your truck when you drive it in the winter? As for traction, I wont be driving the truck on pavement at all in the winter most likely; all gravel roads going from my farm to the main farm and stuff, i've got a 2011 VW Jetta for town runs and highway running and its got a good insurance and warranty package on it so I'll beat the shit out of it :thumb:

 

[TrentNell]

Trent is right, 1200 hp is not realistic at all for the street or an allison. My truck is built to the hilt and my little tune pushes it 11.90 at 112 or so on the track. It's tons of hp for the street and will light up the tires easy. The big tune is around a 1000, really don't know what it will run on the track, the 10.70 pass was with a sick tranny flairing shifts badly. Have torched 3 trannies since then trying to race the big tune and just got it back in the truck yesterday. If you lift your truck don't try and run real big tunes in it, all you are going to do is spend all your time and money fixing it.

Ken I wouldn't put the problems you've had with your truck in the category of "normal" results , yes at over 1k HP any trans out the can have problems , but we have had pretty decent luck with our trucks so far , I have yet to loose a trans in my truck , and Matt and a few others have been doing pretty good as well , annual refresh has been the norm for us though so maybe that has helped .