Attn: PowerStroke Diesel owners..

[Blue Thunder]

Any of you diesel guys looking for more power from the big Fords? I watched TrucksTV a while back and they had a big 4door PowerStroke on there and were doing upgrades..these included a new high flow intake, upgraded stainless steel exhaust and a computer chip change out.
The dyno run netted stock rwhp at 182 and 372ft/lbs of torque. The mods were installed and the numbers went to 385 rwhp and 774ft/lbs of torque at the rear wheels. To me, that is incredible, they noted these mods could make that big truck take passenger cars at stop lights! Cost was not mentioned and the computer chip had different settings for towing/city/mega power. I don't own one of these but figured some the guys here that do might find this stuff useful. The website is TrucksTV.com, don't know if the stuff is listed there or not.

 

[Highbeam]

The best part is your mpg is probably not changed for your normal driving, and that mpg is better than a half ton gas truck. The bad part is, you're running 774ft-lbs of torque through a drive train that was designed to handle 372. It's like running a bicycle chain on an xr600.

It's still cool though, and I wish I had the need (excuse) for a truck like that.

 

[Patman]

The bad part is, you're running 774ft-lbs of torque through a drive train that was designed to handle 372.

Actually the stock rating is 520 ft/lbs. Since they like to budget in some fluff so that parts don't start popping out all over I would guess 650ft/lbs is a more reasonable limit. The really cool thing about diesels is if you open up the exhaust and dump more fuel and air in they just keep making more power way past what is possible with a gas engine using the same tricks plus your mileage stays pretty good to boot. The Cummins ISB is a pretty potent hot rod diesel with 1200ft/lbs pretty easily obtainable :eek: Something they may not have covered is the torque curve is flat and wide which can make limited traction situations a bit more problimatic. Had BOTH back wheels break loose while going 70 up a very slight grade with the cruise on! :scream: I can recreate that any time at the same spot so I pay a little more attention these days.

Can ya' tell next to dirt bikes I like my oil burner? Maybe we'll luck out and get GasGasMan in to this one, I think he knows one or two things about Powerstrokes.:)

 

[bwalker]

For the money you cant beat the price of hopping up a diesel. I plan to put a edge EZ and some dd2 injectores in my Cummins when its broke in a bit more.Should get 350+ rear whell hp with this combo.

 

[94ruck]

I have installed a superchip which added 70 horsepower. I actually put it on my 2000 powerstroke and then when I traded it in for a 2001 4 door, I sent my chip in and they reprogrammed it for the new truck. I pulled a 26 foot tail gator trailer with 2 4 wheelers and 3 dirt bikes plus camping gear, water and graoceries into a headwind at 70 miles per hour and still got 10 miles to the gallon.:cool:

 

[smb_racing]

That's all fine and dandy, but looking for some serious horsepower?
Check out the review of the Gale Banks Engineering Power Stroke Diesel Powerpack :)

 

[bwalker]

Check out the review of the Gale Banks Engineering Power Stroke Diesel Powerpack

IMO Banks stuff is way overpriced vs. the benifit.

 

[WoodsRider]

Originally posted by Patman
The really cool thing about diesels is if you open up the exhaust and dump more fuel and air in they just keep making more power way past what is possible with a gas engine using the same tricks plus your mileage stays pretty good to boot.

Whoa Pat, be careful with statements like that. While it is true that additional air, fuel and less backpressure will increase the horsepower in a diesel engine, eventually you'll reach the structural design limits of the reciprocating components and the crankcase. Nothing will ruin your day more than a connecting rod through the block or a broken crankshaft. Remember the first generation diesel engines GM put in their cars and trucks in the late 70's and early 80's. A 350 small block with high compression pistons, modified cylinder heads and glow plugs. The thing was a total dog that's best use was as a boat anchor. Any attempt made to increase horsepower led to broken crankshafts, broken connecting rods, cracked cylinder heads and blocks.

I'm more familiar with the diesels used in locomotive service, but I can tell you that GM (EMD) has de-rated the original horsepower rating for some of their engines. Design problems with the crankcase have kept them in the 4,000 hp range for the past decade while their main competition, GE, produces 6,000 hp units. Of course these are engines originally designed back in the 1930's. Keep in mind locomotive engines are not direct-drive units. They drive a generator which then delivers electricity to electric motors in the trucks.

I love the smell of diesel in the morning... it smells like money! ;)

 

[Offroadr]

Originally posted by WoodsRider
I love the smell of diesel in the morning... it smells like money! ;)

That depends what part of the cyclical wave you are riding :think

 

[bwalker]

While it is true that additional air, fuel and less backpressure will increase the horsepower in a diesel engine, eventually you'll reach the structural design limits of the reciprocating components and the crankcase. Nothing will ruin your day more than a

From what I understand the Cummins 6bt in my truck is so detuned its not even funny. Cummins makes a300 hp version of the same motor and there are guys that have them turned up to 400hp and still have good reliability and mileage.

 

[WoodsRider]

Originally posted by Offroadr
That depends what part of the cyclical wave you are riding :think

... and who you're working for. Even in a bad economy someone is making $$$'s. :D

bwalker - The Cummins T/D used in the Dodge pickups is basically the same engine found in many over-the-road tractors (semi-trucks). It's fairly easy to modify by making minor changes to the turbocharger, fuel injectors and injection pump. It does have a limit though.

When modifying a diesel engine, one problem to avoid is dumping too much fuel (too rich of an air/fuel mixture) into a turbocharged engine. This will always result in a turbocharger failure through an overheat/overspeed condition.

 

[WoodsRider]

Originally posted by Offroadr
That depends what part of the cyclical wave you are riding :think

... and who you're working for. Even in a bad economy someone is making $$$'s. :D

bwalker - The Cummins T/D used in the Dodge pickups is basically the same engine found in many over-the-road tractors (semi-trucks). It's fairly easy to modify by making minor changes to the turbocharger, fuel injectors and injection pump. It does have a limit though.

When modifying a diesel engine, one problem to avoid is dumping too much fuel (too rich of an air/fuel mixture) into a turbocharged engine. This will always result in a turbocharger failure through an overheat/overspeed condition.

 

[MX-727]

A friend just bought a Diesel Excursion. Before he even took delivery, he put in a new chip, four inch exhaust and all the gauges. It looks sweet, but I question his thinking. He isn't going to pull anything heavier than a small, open snowmobile trailer with two sleds.

I have a the F-350, 4x4, crew cab with the power-stroke. I've pulled my trailer (7x14 enclosed) with five bikes and the trailer packed with gear and tools. The truck simply never has a problem maintaining 75+ through any of the mountain passes out here.

I can understand wanting to make mods, but I worry about the transmission and the need to add EGT and turbo boost gauges. These trucks are great, but they aren't sports cars and aren't meant to be driven as such.

One thing I am considering though is a bigger fuel tank. Nothing like being able to put 60 gallons in a vehicle and drive all day. :)

 

[bwalker]

I can understand wanting to make mods, but I worry about the transmission and the need to add EGT and turbo boost gauges. These trucks are great, but they aren't sports cars and aren't meant to be driven as

The stock auto tranny on the ford and Dodge diesels is the weak link. I dont know what effect a chip has on the egt's off a powerstroke but many times on a cummins you can get away with a mild chip. Its still smart to have gauges though as these motors arent exactly cheap.

One thing I am considering though is a bigger fuel tank. Nothing like being able to put 60 gallons in a vehicle and drive all day.

Have you seen the tollbox aux tank combos for sale in Northern tool. I am thinking about adding one to my truck that has a extra 45 gallons of capacity which would bring me up 80 gallons total.

 

[MX-727]

No, I've seen some others though. Someone else makes one that replaces the stock tank. I need to go back and check my files to find out who makes it. I looked into it when I first got the truck. The downside was that the miles to empty feature on the truck would be wrong. Well, I've found out that it isn't all that accurate anyway, so really no big deal. Seems the tank was around $600. Maybe that was the real downside. :D

 

[bwalker]

kx727, I think the company you are talking abou is transferflow. They have a website. For less money though you could get the toolbox combo and have more capacity to boot.

 

[bsmith]

Have you seen the tollbox aux tank combos for sale in Northern tool. I am thinking about adding one to my truck that has a extra 45 gallons of capacity which would bring me up 80 gallons total.

A perfect place to hide my "red" diesel:scream:

 

[MX-727]

What's the deal on that. I've heard that if they catch you with the red stuff you'll pay a big fine. How do they check though? Wouldn't they have to have a reason to suspect you?

 

[bsmith]

I think that they are more after th trucknig outfits, I don't do it because I have fuel tanks at home and don't want to risk not beeing able to buy it.

 

[MitchPeters]

I have heard of a few farmers around me using "offroad" fuel and ruining the seals in the fuel pump. They are designed for that to happen. Ford will not fix it under warranty either.

 

[KDX220rm]

That's weird on ruining the o-rings, because before they went to low-sulphur fuel, the only difference was the dye color being red. We run dyed and undyed fuel in our farm tractors and have not had any problems.

Our diesel farm truck that we use just around the farm, not for road use, we run dyed fuel through it for the last 10 years and haven't had problems.

I hear you can buy undyed farm diesel from the distributors.

 

[MitchPeters]

It may just be the newer Powerstrokes etc. The seals went out in less than 10K miles. Not sure what caused it other than the fuel and it was not covered under warranty because of using offroad fuel. I will try to get more info and post next week.

 

[bwalker]

In my neck of the woods on road diesel and off road are the same albeit the offroad has a dye added. I believe that all diesel is mandated by the EPA to have a 500ppm max of sulfur. I think the only high sulfur fuel you can get now would be bunker fuel for ships or locamative fuel. I believe both of these fuel types have high amounts of residuals which makes them not suitable for truack use.There is no way offroad diesel would cause seal problems in a powerstroke. My guess is that the pump was defective to begin with.

 

[MitchPeters]

One of these trucks was a Ford and one was a Dodge. Both had fuel pump failures below 20,000 miles and both were denied warranty replacement due to the filters containing dye from off-road fuel.

 

[SPD]

When they switched a few years ago the new fuel did eat the o-rings . They have since fixed that problem. The only diff is the taxes.