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Best mods for the money

big block 88

big block 88

Big Block 88
Messages
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Location
Kansas Topeka
Hey guys whats up? I just bought an 03 LB7 Arrival Bue Ex SB 4X4. I picked her up for about 20K it had a few more miles than I wanted but I have been ryin to find an arrival blue D-max since they came out, not many of them in KS. But I will be home on Leave at the end of this month or next, and I was wantin to ask the pros what are the best performance mods for the money? If I could stay under 30K for the first part of the build I would be thrilled. The truck has a PPE Tuner not sure which one, but I would like to make a fairly quik truck will it be feesable to build her up with 9,000k in after market? And make a fairly mean truck. Let me know what you think.
 
well swiss cheesing the airbox is a super cheap mod. get yourself some a nice 4 or 5 inch turbo back exhaust and go from there.
 
You could definately build a good street truck for under 9K. The stock airbox is good for up to 500hp, swiss cheese it like busdriver said, get a good set of 4" ss duals (equal smoke)$800, EFI Live $750 (sell the PPE tuner), sc IV trans $4k, lift pump $700. Your at $6250 there and with the remainder you could go with a turbo ($2200) and still be under $9k. Wow, I wish I had that kind of change to put in my truck. Good luck.
 
unless your doin all the installs yourself you might see what it cost to have some of those mods put on.a turbo and tranny cost a bit to install
 
EFI LIVE 750, a cheap SS turbo back exhaust 300, PPE lift pump 250, and a Suncoast stage 4 trans 3000. That is if you do the work yourself. You will also want a turbo down the road 2500 to 3000. Hope this helps. Get EFI live and a cheap 4 inch turbo back exhaust for sure first.
 
Like dentpusha said, I figured the cost as doing the installs yourself. I also figured an Airdog or FASS system w/lift pump. PPE with an auxillary filter setup that you can do yourself is a cheaper way to go as Psycho stated.
 
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Thanks for the info fellas, I just set myself a budget for about 30k which I thought was resonable, I am going to MBRP SS 4 inch exhaust, a stage 4 ally is a must to or should I just invest the extra in a stage 5. EFI live V-2 is what you are talkin about I assume. Doing the wqork myself is not really an option, I am in the midle east as of now and I onle get to see my babies for 12-14 days at a time every 3 or 4 months. I do want to upgrade the turbo but I don't know which is the best unit, for now I will just get a boost builder of some kind weather through PPE or just a big head waste gate. Is the PPE just obsolete to the EFI live. And what do you think the truck will make at the wheels with these mods?
 
Yes imo the PPE is definately second to EFI live. EFI has unlimited tuning capabilities and you can tune the tcm. The SC stage 4 should work for your setup, my buddy has it on his LLY and he has run some big tunes through it without trouble. If I had to venture a guess as far as RWHP I would say 450-500 with the right tune.
BTW Thank you for serving our country.
 
big block 88 said:
Thanks for the info fellas, I just set myself a budget for about 30k which I thought was resonable, I am going to MBRP SS 4 inch exhaust, a stage 4 ally is a must to or should I just invest the extra in a stage 5. EFI live V-2 is what you are talkin about I assume. Doing the wqork myself is not really an option, I am in the midle east as of now and I onle get to see my babies for 12-14 days at a time every 3 or 4 months. I do want to upgrade the turbo but I don't know which is the best unit, for now I will just get a boost builder of some kind weather through PPE or just a big head waste gate. Is the PPE just obsolete to the EFI live. And what do you think the truck will make at the wheels with these mods?
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get fleece to do the SC4 and it will be on par with a sc5

SC3 is a nother one too look at.. havent heard of anyone honextly limping a SC3 yet.. and people have ran low 12s with them

Question is how much power you want 500, 600, 700,??? sc3 will take you to rod bending power and not flinch and then some

PPE vs efi live.. it like saying a cresent wrench(PPE) is obsolete which it aint. when EFI live is compared to a well equiped shop ust need a learning curve to get use to all the tools

on avg stock LB7 turbo is good for 500-520rwhp

bottom end (short block) can be done for under 5,000 in parts mainly rod, bearings, rings, cut pisotns, balancing, studs, gaskets, and replacing one time use bolts and be good for ~700rwhp i know i am doign it here shortly :)
 
Basicaly I am not sure of what I want power wise I will most likely build it the first time fairly mild 500-600 RWHP would be awsome. Then I will kick it's ass until the stock enternals say no more then I will build a bulit proof rig. Hopefully I can keep my right foo tin check until I am done in Iraq then I will be buy my daily driver An LMM Big Dooley or what ever D-max is the meanest at the time. I am just tryin to figure out what parts are worth the most consideration.
 
big block 88 said:
Basicaly I am not sure of what I want power wise I will most likely build it the first time fairly mild 500-600 RWHP would be awsome. Then I will kick it's ass until the stock enternals say no more then I will build a bulit proof rig. Hopefully I can keep my right foo tin check until I am done in Iraq then I will be buy my daily driver An LMM Big Dooley or what ever D-max is the meanest at the time. I am just tryin to figure out what parts are worth the most consideration.
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first things first, get your tranny done! whatever kit you decide you will be glad you did first! From there I would go with a set of gauges and a 5" turbo back exhaust(since you will be in the 500hp range anyway or more) along with the bd manifold. you also will need to either get hd tierods or sleeves if its 4x4(I didnt even look). EFI would be my choice since it will last the life of the truck with infinate tuning capabilities. you have a few options for turbos, me, I would go with a set of twins if I were you..... this all may put you over the 30k mark but will be one bad ass rig. bottom end will hold a LOT of power and the dmax will handle 50psi of boost, factory turbo 30-35 prolonged use will prematurely fail. good luck, be safe, THANKYOU for serving! might run into you on my next tour...
 
I will do the trans first I don;t know of anyone in the midwest who builds a bad ass allison. We have a really good local tranny shop but I don't know if they would be capable of installing the kit and makeing sure it will handle the abuse. Twin turbo is a little out there for now maybe in the future and I will do the 427 stroker kit on the engines second life but as for now I would just like a good dependable single turbo. Which is the best after market turbo anyway.
 
I take it for granted that gauges are a must. I just assume most know that because of the diesel performance crowd I run with. Gauges are a must 0-60 boost, 2000 degre pyro, IMO.
As far as turbos check out HTT, PPE, or ATS. Turbonetics might be worth checking too.
BTW I looked at Guy's site for the 7.1 kit, it is listed for $11,800. Very expensive mod, but it would make a bad a$$ DMax.
 
Well I dropped about 20,000 in the truck with buying it now I have set a budget of 9,000-10,000 for mods, I will do the tranny, I can save some money and go with a stage IV instead of a stage V but I don't ever want to have to worry about smokein the alli. I don't want to mess with my displacement until I cook the first build, BUt a good single turbo built tranny, gauges are a give, pyro, boost, and fuel press. If I could 500 or more horse power I would be pumped.
 
I am a little late getting in here but, the mods you describe, will make a kickass ride!!!

I sell almost everything you are looking for, and I am certain you can find a set of gauges you will like on my site. If you are already working with a vendor, thats fine, but I would like to earn your business. And at least have you take a look around my site.

-Mike
 
Hey Kansan Buddie !!! Far as tranny shops in our state go, plenty of good shops but none i know of mess with ally's. Mike L. is an exelent choice and i'll be giving him one more to do when the time comes! Get all the basic stuff, gauges, exhaust, intake(if desired, i have an S&B on my LB7 and love it). For sure do the tranny, and my train of thought... overbuild it a little, keep your self safe there! Since its a 4x4, all the braces, tie-rods, tranny, etc. Prolly a good idea to get a pump-rub plate. EFILive, just get used to foolin with a laptop! Airdog or Fass or some other lift pump. I'm a big fan of M/W injection too, love the Coolingmist stage II i have! Modded CP3 and FCA, you can do this for free, few hours and a few beers and you have more fuel! Unless you are gonna tear into the engine's internals soon, prolly wouldn't do dual fuelers unless pistons and rods, etc. are in the near future! A turbo will be realy benifical too! That ouught to have you making real good power! I'm pretty happy with mine and what i have in it, although i'm baddly lacking tranny work! I would like to think, with a healthy EFI tune, my lift pump awating and a tranny that hooks that i'd be in the 600hp+- area,
flirtin with disaster? possibly. I'm pushin the stock turbo to 32psi and the internals are right at the edge, some have held lots more, some broke stock, its all luck of the draw!
Let us know what you decide! I'd hafta take an hour or two and go up there and kill a beer or 10 with ya!
 
You are really going to pass ATS in Colorado to get your tranny out to Mike L.? While I agree Mike is one of the Great Gods of the Allison...ATS is nothing to sneeze at either.
 
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