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Stand alone engine and tranny controls/wiring harness

Missy Good Wench

Missy Good Wench

Wild Blonde from Cloud Mt
Messages
1,683
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65
Location
Newberg Oregon
OK here it is.

I am considering a Dmax (LB7 or LBZ) swap into my K5 Blazer project.

I do not (read can't afford) want to buy a complete truck to scrounge all the wiring and such.

I want to set this up with a 4L80E and run the engine at the lower HP setting that was used in the Vans.


I dont need the extra crap for the ABS, heater/HVAC controls and all the other stuff that the new trucks have.

It is my intent to run the entire original dash and HVAC controls.

I want a Stand alone engine/Tranny controler and wiring harness that will plug into the Dmax and the 4L80 and use a PPS setup.

No extra frills.

300 HP will suffice to make that K5 scoot quite nicely and still get good mileage.

Who makes a wiring harness and controller. Seems that somebody in the aftermarket does this by now.

I have looked into getting a donor truck but the COST is tooooooooooooooooo Damned high.
I dont want the Allison either.

Any input here is very welcome.

Missy
 
I think PPE makes a harness for the duramax swaps. I don't know if they can integrate 4l80e control as well.

Leroy sells a stand alone 4l80e controller, not sure how that would work with PPE stuff.

There's always the option of finding a 4l80e/duramax van a swap 'em around, although you've indicated that's not really an option.

you're also going to run into issues with the BCM, guage cluster, etc....

I can't see the standalone stuff comming in much under a couple thou "all in" either.

I'm thinking that's a pretty big wish list you've got there........
 
Not sure what teh PPS setup is, but for a 4L80E you need to keep it down to 250HP and 485lbs of torque which is what the 06-08 vans had. PPE will modify your wiring harness for $1200, but this does require you to supply them a harness. Then you still either need a PPE, EFILIVE, HP tuners, or tunercat to disable the VATS. For a 4L80E setup, the easiest will be to find a van DMAX engine and associated harness's, pedal, and ECM and TCM from it(the van harness is pinned differently from the trucks). Why are you so dead set against an ALLISON? The 4L80E will be marginal at best behind even the detuned DMAX engine from the van in a truck application.
 
Just snooping at this time to see whats out there to work with.

It should not be a really tough thing to get a stand alone me thinks, just finding out who has it.

The early Dmax's ran the 4L80 so this should be quite viable.

The relatively light weight of the K5 should be no sweat for the 4l80 to handle with the Dmax.

I will keep digging and send PPE an email and ask them.


Thanks Missy
 
In the trucks, the Allison has ALWAYS been the auto behind the Duramax. As Ferm said, the Vans had the 4L80E. And a few trucks had the ZF6 through early 06 and then GM stopped making the manual trans truck behind the Duramax.
 
Missy Good Wench said:
Just snooping at this time to see whats out there to work with.

It should not be a really tough thing to get a stand alone me thinks, just finding out who has it.

The early Dmax's ran the 4L80 so this should be quite viable.

The relatively light weight of the K5 should be no sweat for the 4l80 to handle with the Dmax.

I will keep digging and send PPE an email and ask them.


Thanks Missy
Click to expand...

Rumors were the first test mule GMT-400's wit hthe DMAX had teh 4L80E since the ALLISON 1000 wasn't out yet, but that was it for trucks with one. NO GMT-800 truck ever came with a 4L80E with a DMAX in front of it, and only the 06-08(it may have been up to 09 or 10 before they went to the new 6L90E 6 speed) vans got it. The K5 is lighter than a truck, but not by as much as you think. A standard cab 2500HD truck can weigh in under 6,000 pounds easily, so they aren't as heavy as people think. A bone stock LB7 at 300HP and 520 foot pounds of torque can DESTROY a 4L80E if you aren't careful driving it, ESPESCIALLY in a stand alone type TCm without torque management on the shifts. The van uses the T42 TCM and it is wired into the ECM and has ALOT od defuel on the shifts to help the 4L80E live, but even that isn't enough for many vans that have trashed the trans. The 4L80E in built form will do ok, but you MUST watch it in 4th gear as that is the weak point of them. Personally I would go with an ALLISON if it was me as it won't cost you that much more money, and it will work with stock wiring and modules WITHOUT custom tuning. And it is the same basic length as the 4L80E as well.
 
Why don't you just look for a donar from a van (rare I know)? Then you save the outlay for a controller and it should work seamlessly
 
Donors out here in the Nw are very spendy as we dont have Salt and unless the thing is a total trash heap or Burned to a crisp, they go for big money.

Now If I can get a aftermarket controller and harness to run the engine and the allison I can probably scare up an engine and tranny from an early truck.

The issue is still the cost of the stuff.

Soke with a wrecker last week and they wanted a metric buttload for a Dmax truck complete.

Just a lot of things to think through before getting going.

There is still the 6.2 Option but I would like to avoid going there if I can.

Loads of guys around here have the 4BT cummins stuffed into their Chevy rigs.

The most popular setup is to use the Mopar 47 RH trannny with the T case that has the RH front drop.

One fellow has a 93 Burb with the 4 BT in it and the Mopar tranny and does not even have a FAN on the thing. He has run all the way to Wyoming and back and still has not installed a fan.

That may certainly be a possible choice to look at.

The power is far and away better than the 6.2 ever thought of being.

Missy
 
There is NO aftermarket controllers(that are priced within normal budgets) for teh DURAMAX engine, and there is NOTHING out there for the ALLISON. PPE modifies factory harness's to use the factory ECM and TCm to work in a stand-alone app, but it isn't that hard to do your own. Watch the forums as engines and such do turn up from guys junking out trucks they are building for race trucks and such. The DURAMAX is NOT a cheap option, and I can almost 100% guarantee you that no matter what a donor costs it WILL be cheaper than piecing it together. Piecing one together will EASILY cost you $10K if your not careful as it is all the little parts that cost a fortune to get em running. The 4BT swap will most likely be the easiest engine swap, and a 6.2/6.5 set-up would be the most economical easy to drop in swap.
 
Duramax/Allison would be great in the Blazer but having followed Ferm's swap thread all the way through and judging from all the big $ that went into it, I know I'd be thinking Cummins is a much more reasonable swap.
 
I was thinking why do you need a Duralax in a Blazzer? The "cool factor" I understand.
I,m doing an Isuzu 4BD2 swap in my Suburban with 4L80E. This little motor is capable of 500HP and 850# tq with the stock long block, but larger turbo, injector and IP. It has a more usefull tq curve than the 4BT also. The 4BD is about 3" shorter than a 4BT also. Ive got a post going in the projects section on my 94 Burb about it. (just started on it)
Im going to use a OptiShift controller for the trans, very nice controller. They will be on the web site soon.
You can also get a 6BD1 its a 6 cylinder.
 
Burning oil said:
................You can also get a 6BD1 its a 6 cylinder.
Click to expand...
i was going to suggest the same thing.
Bore X Stroke: 4.02" X 4.65" 102X118mm
Displacement: 353cid 5.75L
Compression ratio: 17.5:1
Dimenions: LXWXH 44.1"X25.5"X30.5"
Weight: 992 lbs
Oil sump capacity: 14 QT
Injection pump: In-line Bosch A Type
Injector: multi hole Direct inject
Pop pressure: 2630 psi
Compression pressure : 441 psi
HP: N/A 130@3200 10BTDC 150@3200 20BTDC 52.7mm/ stroke
Torque: N/A 253lbs@1900 275@1900,
turbo w/ fuel turned up expect at least 200 hp.
there are enough parts left over to sell and help offset the cost.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-79854.html
http://www.arsco.com/
 
Burning oil said:
I was thinking why do you need a Duralax in a Blazzer? The "cool factor" I understand.
I,m doing an Isuzu 4BD2 swap in my Suburban with 4L80E. This little motor is capable of 500HP and 850# tq with the stock long block, but larger turbo, injector and IP. It has a more usefull tq curve than the 4BT also. The 4BD is about 3" shorter than a 4BT also. Ive got a post going in the projects section on my 94 Burb about it. (just started on it)
Im going to use a OptiShift controller for the trans, very nice controller. They will be on the web site soon.
You can also get a 6BD1 its a 6 cylinder.
Click to expand...

Somebody over at DP did one of these a few years back into an early 709's truck, and lets just say his results were IMPRESSIVE to say the least. He was pushing just over 500HP(he knew he was on borrowed time at those levels though), and breaking 30MPG out of the truck to boot. Plus he said it didn't shake like a 4BT does and was quite a bit cheaper than a 4BT with a P pump.
 
Whats a 709?
The guy I reffered to was getting 28MPG with that motor!!
I'm not going for those #s and plan on 30MPG (I hope)

Anyone want to buy a strong 6.5?
 
Burning oil said:
Whats a 709?
Click to expand...
think he meant 70's.
here's some info i found out about the 6 cylinders: (don't know what is the best year to get)
specs:
6HE1 200 hp, Isuzu FRR, FTR and GMC W5500, W6500, W7500 95-98.
6BG1, N/A, DI, 1030 lbs dry, 130 hp, 309 tq, GMC W5500 W6500 Chevy W6 W7 92-94.
6BG1T, turbo, DI, 1070 lbs dry, 176 hp, 442 tq.
automatic five-speed transmission or a manual six-speed transmission.
http://www.convertunits.com/from/ft+lb/to/N+m
http://calculator-converter.com/converter_metric_horsepower_to_kilowatt_hp_to_kw_calculator.php
http://www.isuzu.co.jp/world/product/industrial/b_spe02.html
 
Burning oil said:
Whats a 709?
The guy I reffered to was getting 28MPG with that motor!!
I'm not going for those #s and plan on 30MPG (I hope)

Anyone want to buy a strong 6.5?
Click to expand...

Meant to type 70's truck. I could have swore he put in one of his posts over at McRats i think that he touched 32 with it before he twinned it.
 
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