Marc S tow rig build

[808muscle]

Very cool build thread! Keep the pics coming.

 

[tjm73]

Now, I'm toying with the idea of buying a second truck bed and cutting 24" off of the front of it. Then add it to the front of my dually bed. Basically, making my bed 10' long.

Here is a photoshop pic.

I like the idea, but you need to stretch the wheel well so it covers the rear wheel/tire. It doesn't look like it's wide enough.

Also since the cab is angular, I wonder if the 87-96 dually box and fenders would look more right on the truck?

 

[Wes06]

Will you be using the bed for anything or just looks?
You could just get a nice big sleeper on the back and save hotel bills

 

[quiksilver15]

I like the look of the extended bed personally..

 

[1andonlywhitie]

I like the idea, but you need to stretch the wheel well so it covers the rear wheel/tire. It doesn't look like it's wide enough

That could work, cut the bed right at the peak of the arch in the wheel well and stretch it there.

 

[tjm73]

That could work, cut the bed right at the peak of the arch in the wheel well and stretch it there.

I wasn't sure if I explained my thoughts very well. The radius of the fender is different than the radius of the rear tires.

 

[Marc s]

I wasn't sure if I explained my thoughts very well. The radius of the fender is different than the radius of the rear tires.

LOL. I understood. I looked for a 80-96 box first but couldn't find one that wasn't trashed. I looked at the truck again this morning. I might radius the front wheel opening so it's round. I will have to do it with my photo editor so I can see what it looks like.

 

[lethe]

I look forward to seeing this at the shop when I'm down there monday. It looks like a cool build.

 

[1andonlywhitie]

I wasn't sure if I explained my thoughts very well. The radius of the fender is different than the radius of the rear tires.

Got ya, I'm thinkin' stretching it at the peak of the arc though will tie it in with that front wheel arch.

 

[Marc s]

I'm going to put it on the dyno tonight and do a baseline. Then, I'm going to bump the timing, tweak the pump, and dyno it again.

 

[Mike K]

That's what I like to hear Marc. I love me some diesel power!

 

[Marc s]

The stock HP/TQ for this model is 210/605. It will be interesting to see what it makes after some mods. Instead of working on the engine tonight, I sanding the cab and put it in primer. I couldn't stand the orange for one more day!

 

[Marc s]

Ok, I got bored so I stayed late. These engines run best with the timing bumped to 19 degrees, It was already at 18 so I left it. However, the fuel screw was all the way in. I backed the fuel screw out 5 full turns and turned the star wheel in a few clicks.

In stock form, there was zero smoke and zero turbo noise. Now, you can hear the turbo spool and you can see that it's getting fuel. I better get my EGT gauge in before I tow anything.

 

[Mr. WHO]

Oh yeah! Nothing like black smoke.

 

[Marc s]

The smoke mostly clears out after the turbo spools. After the pump mods, I picked up 40% more hp and tq. I spent some time trying to figure out the drivetrain loss for medium and heavy duty trucks. Every shop that I talked to said it's 30%. Using that number, the truck is now making 305hp and 714 ft lbs at the flywheel. I just finished installing the boost and EGT gauge. Empty, the highest I could get the EGT was 800 degrees and it now makes 26lbs of boost. Oh ya, I adjusted the governor so it now revs to 3100 RPMs.

 

[Marc s]

This week, I bought a second bed, cut 24" off of the front of it and welding it the the dually box. I finished it off with a little body work and paint. Next week, it's going to get dual 6" stacks and an aluminum Protech headache guard.

 

[555]

That truck is BAAAAAADDDDAAAASSSSSS

 

[Mike K]

Hell yeah!

 

[tjm73]

Can you drive such a truck as an everyday vehicle?

 

[skwerl]

Can you drive such a truck as an everyday vehicle?

Sure, although the operating costs are a bit higher than a car or pickup. Fuel will cost double of what you would spend even with a pickup, and every single maintenance and repair item is more expensive than your average car. My C8500 with a Cat 3126 takes 20 quarts of oil and the air filters are $60 and $30 (yes, it has two air filters). Tires are about $500 each and last about 20K miles.