What's your fuel mileage

[MChalkley]

Re: What\'s your fuel mileage

RobertN,

I have indeed "pumped up" my Cummins a bit, but you've pumped it up more! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

When I had it dyno'ed, the highest hp we measured was 235. But, that was using a rear wheel dyno, so it was measured at the road, with 3.07 ratio gears, and we had to quit testing before we'd run it full throttle because we blew a rear tire from the heat generated by the friction against the steel roller. So, I don't really know exactly how much hp I'm really getting out of it, but I don't think it's 400... /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

MarkC

 

[JOR_EL]

Re: What\'s your fuel mileage

CowboyDoc,

Sounds like you have some background on this stuff.
[[[ That's why Chevy discontinued that engine and went with the Isuzu diesel to try and catch some of the market that Dodge and Ford have run away with with regard to diesel pickups.]]]

I'm planning on a new 4x4 1-ton dually in '02, or '03, and have been leaning toward the Ram diesel, but was wondering how good the new Chevy will be!?

What do you think?

(Anyone have experience/opinions on the Banks Engineering hop-ups?)

Thanks,

Larry

 

[RobS]

Re: What\'s your fuel mileage

<font color=blue>Anyone have experience/opinions on the Banks Engineering hop-ups?</font color=blue>

First rate outfit. I'm dying to put a system on my Ford 460 but gotta build a new house first /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

I've been "following" Gale Banks since my college days. I was tempted to try to get a job with them out of school but didn't want to go out west. Their systems are no-nonsense, well engineered and maintain appropriate harmony between performance and durability. There was an interview and a chat with Gale on Ford-Diesel recently. Here's the Banks site Banks

 

[cowboydoc]

Re: What\'s your fuel mileage

Larry,
The horizon is changing here in the next couple years. Dodge is a great truck for the motor but problems with the rest of it. To meet emission and mileage standards Ford is also coming out with a new 6 cylinder diesel to replace the 8 cylinder powerstroke.

How good is the Chevy? Difficult to tell. You're talking about a brand new design and the aluminum heads have yet to be tested for longevity in the general public use. If I was going to buy in the next year and it was either Dodge or Chevy I'd go with Dodge. That Cummins is pure and simply bulletproof! All you have to do is change the fluids and you are pretty much guaranteed a minimum of 300k on the motor. I personally know guys with 500k on them.

On any of the diesels that you get though I would go with a manual transmission. The only one right now that can even come close to handling the torque and hp of the diesel is the Allison and that's a new design so we'll see how it holds up in the Chevy. Last year Dodge had the heavy duty Allison as an option and now they don't. I don't know what happened there but the current Dodge auto is not that good and neither is Fords. Ford is coming out with a new transmission as well that is supposed to be better but I'd stick with manual if you can.

All in all with Dodge or Ford you're going to get a great truck. Chevy may very well prove to be a great truck as well but I'm not putting any bets on it until it has been out for a few years. The Powerstroke and Cummins are proven producers.

You also mentioned Banks add-ons. I had alot of experience with Banks back before Ford put turbos on. We'd put aftermarket Banks turbos on all of our Ford diesels and they ran really well. With the new trucks though they are already making close to 300hp and over 500 lbs. of torque. If you need more power than that then something is wrong. Now if you just want the power for the fun then Banks makes a good system, pricey but good. On my last diesel I put propane injection on it and that was great! Talk about putting you back in the seat. The only place where I needed power was on the hills. I hated slowing down. I didn't want to chip it because I would have had to redo all the exhaust and put in an intercooler. With the propane no mods were necessary, except boost and pyro gauge, and you actually ran cooler because of the combustion of the propane. On the new truck I've got all the power that I need so it wasn't necessary.

That's all I can think of for now. Let me know if you ahve more questions.

 

[RobertN]

Re: What\'s your fuel mileage

Hey Mark,
For some reason, I remembered 400hp, 800ft/lb, at the engine. Heck, sounds good /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

If you were 235 at the tire, you must be in the 300+ range at the crank?

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[MChalkley]

Re: What\'s your fuel mileage

RobernN,

I don't know how much loss there is between the crank and the wheels, but I expect it's on the order of 25%, especially with the 3.07 gears. So, your estimate is probably pretty close.

As for the torque, your memory is very close. At the RPM we were tach'ing, the chart on the dyno said it was measuring 880 ft-lbs of torque "on the ground", so at the crank it's seriously crowding 4 digits, I think. I know the CenterForce clutch I put in when I swapped the old toasted 5-speed Getrag for a new NV-5600 6-speed was rated for 1,000 ft-lbs of torque - it lasted less than 6 months. I could make it slip just by punching the accelerator pedal in 5th gear (direct) on level ground grossing only 8,500 lbs (the truck weighs 7,200 lbs empty). The one in it now is rated for 1,200 and is carbon fiber. It seems to be doing fine so far. I pulled 27,000 (gross) up Afton mountain (I-64, western VA, 2.5 miles of 6 to 7.5% grade) a couple weeks ago - never got below 54 mph in 4th gear. I think I could've held 60 the whole way except that I got pinned in the right lane behind an 18-wheeler long enough to have to get off it a bit. I wouldn't have been able to hold that power output level too much longer than I did, though - by the time I got to the top, the engine temp was within a needle width of the top of the normal range. The weak link now is the cooling system, but that's ok - I don't want any more out of it that I'm getting. I already have to replace the u-joints every 50k miles...



MarkC