That would keep it from tipping over, no doubt. The lift isn't even mine in the first place. It's always avaliable so I use it. It's about at it's limit with a 6.5 anyway, so I'm looking for a high quality used OTC or some such. In the background to the right you can see a super heavy homebuilt unit that dad picked up a sale. I've used it before, but not for some years. It uses a hydraulic cylinder and was coupled to a Kubota tractor we don't own any more. I may have to make some modifications and find it 'drafted' into my service!
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HIGH mile 6.5L build thread...
- Thread starter restoguy
- Start date
GM Guy
Manual Trans. 2WD Enthusiast
I passed up a heavy OTC (not good for an 855 cummmins, but might have handled at DT466 or 8.3L cummins for 125 bucks. it had sat outside for some time, the storage tray was pitting with rust from water sitting in it, so I was worried about the ram's condition.
anyways, that was down at scott auctions 3 day auction at garden city two or three years back. I made up for my pain by buying at least 1 6.5L for the past two years.
anyways, that was down at scott auctions 3 day auction at garden city two or three years back. I made up for my pain by buying at least 1 6.5L for the past two years.
Dang rita! I'd have given it a shot for that price. Even if you've got to buy some parts it's still worth that. But then again the reason I didn't go to that auction...I didn't have any money! I watched 2 or 3 HEAVY otc engine stands sell on purplewave a couple years ago too. Ya know the ones with the gearbox on the back side? Put 2 together and hold a big diesel? Yeah, those. They were brand new in the crates and brought around $300ea if my memory serves. Again, no money at the time...
Well, I got some money now, but not for long. This weekend I'm doing some front end work and getting new wheels and tires! Oh well, it's never too much for my beloved 6.5...
Well, I got some money now, but not for long. This weekend I'm doing some front end work and getting new wheels and tires! Oh well, it's never too much for my beloved 6.5...
GM Guy
Manual Trans. 2WD Enthusiast
why the wheels! 
money better spent elsewhere.
aftermarket wheels are one of my pet peeves.
money better spent elsewhere. aftermarket wheels are one of my pet peeves.
tanman_2006
Just a farm kid...
why the wheels!
aftermarket wheels are one of my pet peeves.
I love aftermarket wheels when done in good taste. There are not any good tire options with stock narrow POS steel wheels and PYO's are fine on a truck that you WANT to look boring and stock. JMHO Steel wheels can also be bent, ask me how i know... Alluminum can crack but I havent had it happen yet.
Well I'll throw this out there and see what you think.
Before
After
Up close
I'm not into the aftermarket wheels either. I think the quality/strength suffers on many and a lot of them are just plain ugly. But something tasteful and moderate is always cool. I used to have a lifted chevy with big tires and I hated it. I got tons of compliments, but working out of it was a pain, tires were expensive (at a time when I had less money than I do now), and the fuel mileage suffered too much. It was cool, but I grew out of it pretty fast. These wheels aren't exactly 'aftermarket'. I'm sure you've noticed they are H2's with '07-'10 center caps. The tires are 265/70R17. I debated going with 285s but I was afraid the mileage would suffer more than I wanted.(plus 265 is a really common OEM size so avaliablility is really good) I love getting 17-18mpg and look forward to 20 with the other parts I'm planning to put on. Now the pickup looks like something I'm proud to drive, not just something I'm driving because I can't afford anything else...
Before
After
Up close
I'm not into the aftermarket wheels either. I think the quality/strength suffers on many and a lot of them are just plain ugly. But something tasteful and moderate is always cool. I used to have a lifted chevy with big tires and I hated it. I got tons of compliments, but working out of it was a pain, tires were expensive (at a time when I had less money than I do now), and the fuel mileage suffered too much. It was cool, but I grew out of it pretty fast. These wheels aren't exactly 'aftermarket'. I'm sure you've noticed they are H2's with '07-'10 center caps. The tires are 265/70R17. I debated going with 285s but I was afraid the mileage would suffer more than I wanted.(plus 265 is a really common OEM size so avaliablility is really good) I love getting 17-18mpg and look forward to 20 with the other parts I'm planning to put on. Now the pickup looks like something I'm proud to drive, not just something I'm driving because I can't afford anything else...
And it got a new set of Bilstein's too. Man, it needed those. I don't get sea sick now! Turns out the front end parts are replacements and are all tight. The looseness must be in the rag joint or the steering box. That means more money for POWER GOODIES!
BBB82
Member
Those wheels make a big difference, and look great like what you did with the center caps most people dont bother.
3500GMC
What T F, over
I like the H2 wheel with truck caps. Looks good.
tanman_2006
Just a farm kid...
Looks like a new truck!
GM Guy
Manual Trans. 2WD Enthusiast
well, that does look pretty good! what is the load rating on those? H2 rims with truck caps has allways looked pretty cool to me. great stock quality, with a new appearance.
265s do look good on these, I will continue to run 245s on the 2wds, but IMO if it is 4wd it kinda needs 265s. big plus with 265 is that they have a better load rating than 245/75 and 235/85.
my biggest pet peeve is mostly GMT400 4wd half ton chevys that have good looking stockers, or can run any 6 lug rims from a newer gm, and the owner gets those chrome steel with a steel cap, and it is rusty as heck in a few years. better than OEM my ass. I also dont care for those black ones with a star in the middle (rockstar IIRC) I want to see some lugs, and those rims look bad after a saltbath and 5 years time.
so basically, you did it very tastefully, and it should be safe while towing, and long lasting. :thumbsup: to you!
265s do look good on these, I will continue to run 245s on the 2wds, but IMO if it is 4wd it kinda needs 265s. big plus with 265 is that they have a better load rating than 245/75 and 235/85.
my biggest pet peeve is mostly GMT400 4wd half ton chevys that have good looking stockers, or can run any 6 lug rims from a newer gm, and the owner gets those chrome steel with a steel cap, and it is rusty as heck in a few years. better than OEM my ass. I also dont care for those black ones with a star in the middle (rockstar IIRC) I want to see some lugs, and those rims look bad after a saltbath and 5 years time.
so basically, you did it very tastefully, and it should be safe while towing, and long lasting. :thumbsup: to you!
Not much new yet. Just been driving it and loving every minute! But I had an opportunity today that I couldn't pass up. Craigslist ad turned up for brand new Heath H/O injectors, install kit, and socket. I jumped on it, but paid about 3X what a set is listed for in the classifieds! Although those are slightly used and aren't from the same vendor. Says they are delphi. What's the difference between that and bosch injectors?
tanman_2006
Just a farm kid...
Not much new yet. Just been driving it and loving every minute! But I had an opportunity today that I couldn't pass up. Craigslist ad turned up for brand new Heath H/O injectors, install kit, and socket. I jumped on it, but paid about 3X what a set is listed for in the classifieds! Although those are slightly used and aren't from the same vendor. Says they are delphi. What's the difference between that and bosch injectors?
my last set of remains had 2 Delphi in them and they tested better that the Delco remans. I put then both on the front driver side incase they might go bad and with 60k of pretty hard miles they are staring to smoke on start up but not sure that it is even from those 2.
Good quality injector bodies Imo, it all depends on the rebuild and pressure setting.
Well, here's a little update for anyone who's watching.
I went home this weekend to find quite a large collection of boxes. When I say 'large collection', I mean "filled the bed of my long-box pickup" large! I should have got a pic, but I was too excited! Included was a Diamond Eye exhaust system w/tip and a resonator, a stainless 2.25" crossover, a Heath towing tune and Turbo Master, PMD cooler and boost bolt, a brand new Borg Warner center cartridge for GM8 turbo, new Bosch (Germany) 304 nozzles, a set of injector shims for setting pop pressure, 2 Kent Moore pop testers(see classifieds), header wrap w/paint and ties, a set of Isspro gauges, a used 5521S injection pump, aluminum trans pan, a GTech Fanatic SS preformance meter, some parts for my Typhoon, and what all else I don't remember! So here's some pics of my progress...
Looks purty!
This is the only 2-1/4" stainless crossover I could find. Manufactured by Heartthrob, sold by S*******l. It's two piece but I took care of that!
Nice to have friends with expensive tools! Used a new Miller TIG for this. Not my best work, but I was trying out a new finger wheel amperage control!
I went home this weekend to find quite a large collection of boxes. When I say 'large collection', I mean "filled the bed of my long-box pickup" large! I should have got a pic, but I was too excited! Included was a Diamond Eye exhaust system w/tip and a resonator, a stainless 2.25" crossover, a Heath towing tune and Turbo Master, PMD cooler and boost bolt, a brand new Borg Warner center cartridge for GM8 turbo, new Bosch (Germany) 304 nozzles, a set of injector shims for setting pop pressure, 2 Kent Moore pop testers(see classifieds), header wrap w/paint and ties, a set of Isspro gauges, a used 5521S injection pump, aluminum trans pan, a GTech Fanatic SS preformance meter, some parts for my Typhoon, and what all else I don't remember! So here's some pics of my progress...
Looks purty!
This is the only 2-1/4" stainless crossover I could find. Manufactured by Heartthrob, sold by S*******l. It's two piece but I took care of that!
Nice to have friends with expensive tools! Used a new Miller TIG for this. Not my best work, but I was trying out a new finger wheel amperage control!
This is why I wanted stainless. Header wrap! Did the crossover and down pipe. Had a little left over so I did a crappy job on the turbo too! Don't know if it's worth the time/money but it's on there now!
Here's the resonator installed. I was afraid it would be too loud. Glad I spent the money, but I might still be shopping for a new muffler. This is as close as I could get it to the engine. Don't know if placement makes a difference or not but the Dmax systems have it in the DP. TIG'ed it too...still not very pretty.
Pic of crossover installed
This tip was more money, but I like the rolled edge better. Kinda like the embossing too.
Here's the resonator installed. I was afraid it would be too loud. Glad I spent the money, but I might still be shopping for a new muffler. This is as close as I could get it to the engine. Don't know if placement makes a difference or not but the Dmax systems have it in the DP. TIG'ed it too...still not very pretty.
Pic of crossover installed
This tip was more money, but I like the rolled edge better. Kinda like the embossing too.
Here's the factory pipe for a comparison. It took all day and then some to install the exhaust, for several reasons. First I HAD to take the OEM stuff apart and save it... Then I added the welding, using new equipment that required some playing/practice to get comfortable. And my first time with header wrap on top of it all!
And lastly, my new gauges.
Don't have a pic of it, but I liked the Gtech meter so I can see the gains without making 'seat of the pants' guesses.
My advice is, if you don't have an exhaust system GET ONE! That made a whole new pickup out of this thing!
My average in stock condition was 19.22s @ 69.9mph. With just the exhaust installed it averaged 18.64s @ 73.4mph. Then I put the tune/TM on and it went down to 17.96s @ 76.1mph, with a best pass of 17.6s @ 77.6mph. I would have told you that the tune didn't make any difference had it not been for the Gtech. It didn't really feel faster, except at the higher RPM it just kept climbing where the stock ECM seemed to give up. The trans shifted much firmer with the Heath ECM as well.
The GTech HP/TQ measurements are very dependent on the correct imputs, so I don't know how accurate they are. Because of that, I'm not going to post them here. I couldn't find decent info about the drag coeficent and frontal area of this rig. Drivetrain loss was hard to come by too. The only thing I know for sure is that it weighed 6920lbs with me in it and a full tank of fuel (-5 gal I suppose).
And lastly, my new gauges.
Don't have a pic of it, but I liked the Gtech meter so I can see the gains without making 'seat of the pants' guesses.
My advice is, if you don't have an exhaust system GET ONE! That made a whole new pickup out of this thing!
My average in stock condition was 19.22s @ 69.9mph. With just the exhaust installed it averaged 18.64s @ 73.4mph. Then I put the tune/TM on and it went down to 17.96s @ 76.1mph, with a best pass of 17.6s @ 77.6mph. I would have told you that the tune didn't make any difference had it not been for the Gtech. It didn't really feel faster, except at the higher RPM it just kept climbing where the stock ECM seemed to give up. The trans shifted much firmer with the Heath ECM as well.
The GTech HP/TQ measurements are very dependent on the correct imputs, so I don't know how accurate they are. Because of that, I'm not going to post them here. I couldn't find decent info about the drag coeficent and frontal area of this rig. Drivetrain loss was hard to come by too. The only thing I know for sure is that it weighed 6920lbs with me in it and a full tank of fuel (-5 gal I suppose).
I did not have time for the new turbo cartridge or the injectors, so that'll have to wait. Honestly I was expecting more from the tune. I was excited to try it, but quite dissapointed when I did. I called Heath today and we talked about it. I will most likely be sending my ECM back to WA for an upgrade to the performance tune... First I'm going to adjust my timing to see what results that will produce. Right now it's set at -.53 with an average advance of 3.0-3.2 A new cam may be in the future as well. I've got a couple studs leaking water :incazzato: and a confusing oil leak, so the engine may come out later anyway.
Next is to try out my turbo collection!
Next is to try out my turbo collection!
Looks really good, you did a good job. One tip for your tip is to tack weld in on. The clamp can vibrate loose.
BTW where did you get that awesome exhaust and PMD kit?:rolleyes5:
BTW where did you get that awesome exhaust and PMD kit?:rolleyes5:
Good advice on the tack weld. Didn't think about it, but I'd be wicked pissed to find it missing some day! Very happy with how it came out. No drone at any RPM, a little rumbly, but not loud. As the muffler breaks in it may get louder and I might look for something quieter, but it's alright now.
Oops, I forgot to 'plug my sponsors' on the exhaust parts, PMD cooler, and boost bolt! Thanks, Leroy at PMDcable.com!
The 'other place' that sold me the crossover sent a nice big sitcker... But they don't have a very good rep around here so I'll refrain from mentioning who it was!
Oops, I forgot to 'plug my sponsors' on the exhaust parts, PMD cooler, and boost bolt! Thanks, Leroy at PMDcable.com!
The 'other place' that sold me the crossover sent a nice big sitcker... But they don't have a very good rep around here so I'll refrain from mentioning who it was!