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Demon Trucker v. Holley Truck Avenger

noahrob

noahrob

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First of all, I want you to know that I read a lot of posts and used the serach feature extensively before I posted anything. I found a lot of info about the Q-Jet v. the Holley, but wasn't able to get enough info to really make a decision. Here is waht I think I have learned.

1) General consensus is that a rebuild Q-Jet is pretty darn good.

2) The Holley is difficult to tune and requires a fair amount of attention. However, this appears to be true mostly of the "-1" variety and automatic choke version.

3) I found very little suggesting the Demon was worth the money, but also very little about it at all.

So here are my questions.
1) Anybody run the Demon Trucker? What do you think in terms of tunability, staying tuned, and of course performance?

2) What about the newer "-2" version of the Truck Avenger with a manual choke? Does it still require a lot of attention?

I am running a 383 roller. Any and all (constructive) input would be greatly appreciated.
 
Alright...no input...fine. I read some more and a lot of folks talked about Sean Murphy Induction and how a Q-Jet is cheaper and better that the Truck Avenger. The quote I got for the Q-Jet is $360...I get a brand new Holley TA 670 for $320...what gives?

Has anybody gotten a carb from SMI? If so, what was the experience like? Did you receive it, bolt it up and then smile?
 
Well, here's one reply at least.
I run an old 3310-1 Holley 780 CFM caburetor that I've retrofitted for offroad use. Basically it has spring loaded needles, slosh tubes, extended vent bowl tubes. Other than that all holley carbs require some tuning of the accelerator pump circuit and jets for any individual engine/vehicle combination.
 
Thanks man...I know a lot of guys have hyped up the rebuild Q-Jet angle...maybe that is a route to consider...I've got an old carter with springs, but it is still not flowing enough fuel...adn needs to be rebuild so I was thinking now is the time to upgrade.
 
I am running a JET Qjet stage 2. It kicks ass. Runs a little fat(rich) but nothing I can't live with. What is a Demon Trucker?
 
A stage 2 from SMI. Was it dialed in as soon asyou got it or did you have to mess with it? What is your opinion of it performance wise?
 
slider said:
I am running a JET Qjet stage 2. It kicks ass. Runs a little fat(rich) but nothing I can't live with. What is a Demon Trucker?
Click to expand...

I'm running the same carb on my 383. I pulled it out of the box, looked it over and bolted it on. Aside from the basic idle mixture adjustment, the air/fuel ratio meter says it's right on at cruise RPM. It's the first time I've had a carb come out of the box that didn't need any real tweaking to get it right. I've been running it for over a year without any problems. I like the Holleys and the BG carbs for street use but have never even heard of the "Demon Trucker".
 
Thanks for the feedback. I think that given th einfo I have received thus far that I am inclined to go with SMI as opposed to the Holley Truck Avenger...
 
What is a Demon Trucker?
Click to expand...

This is a:Demon Trucker


I dont have any experience with the Trucker. But I really like Barry Grants Speed Demon and Road demon Carbs.
If the trucker is anything like their other carbs it should work very well.
BG builds very good carbs. I would much rather buy a Demon any day over a Holley
 
Thunder said:
If the trucker is anything like their other carbs it should work very well.
BG builds very good carbs. I would much rather buy a Demon any day over a Holley
Click to expand...

No kidding, BG has been doing the best carbs out since the Gold Claw like 15 years ago.

I didn't know they did a truck carb. I haven't bought the Holley truck carb cause I've been waiting for BG to come out with one.

I'll get one with in a few months and let you guys know what I think of it.
 
I have been researchign and researching and here is what I have come up with...

As you guys mentioned, the BG rocks, and is probably the "best of the best", but is also $500+. The Holley seems to me to be a good carb (I have used Holley's in street applciations very successfully), but is fundamentally flawed in that the Truck Avenger just tries to address the things that make Holley's less than ideal for offroad...so, this brigns us back to the Q-jet with the float bowls located int eh middle of the carb is a pretty darn good design for offroading. Throw that bad boy on backwards and you can climb just about anything without starving for fuel...

After all this, I think I will go back to SMI and ask Sean to build be a stage 2 Q-Jet...unless $500 falls on my lap.
 
Well, I've run qjets, Holley TAs and Demon carbs. So I'll give you my .02

I've had a Speed Demon carb in my cuda and Road Demon carb in my K5. You can tell as soon as you lay hands on the carb, the Demon is just simply a well made piece. Running the Road Demon on my K5, I only had issues with uphill rough climbs that I believe was due to fuel slosh out of the primary float.

After doing much reading here on CK5, I decided I would be better off selling the Road Demon and getting a qjet. Well through a series of bad luck I went through 2 junk qjets. In the past I've had qjets that worked great, though.

So I ended up with a used Holley TA for $250. It was the -1 series. I sent it in to Holley and they sent me the new -2 series. Good deal, new carb for $250 plus some shipping to get my old carb to Holley.

The -2 has required some tuning; I think it is foolish to think that any carb will not require tuning. That is my biggest complaint with Holley, that they try to assert that you can just bolt the TA on and go. Which I suppose is technically true, but not if you want it to run stumble-free.

What I've done to the Holley TA -2:
-jetted down for 6,000ft elevation
-had to adjust the float level up into spec (apparently came from Holley too low)
-upped the squirter to .032 or .035 (can't remember for sure which at this moment, factory is .028)
-installed a blue accelerator pump cam on the #2 hole

Now it runs awesome.

Two weeks ago I got to put the TA to the test inadvertently.
DSCF1820.jpg


Once we had it tipped back over with the wheels sitting on that bank, I reached in turned the key and it fired right up and idled; it had been on its side for at least an hour. I was impressed. With the help of a winch I climbed up over that bank.

All that being said, I think if I were to buy a new carb today I would also go SMI. It would be a hard choice for me between a Holley or Demon, even despite the price. I would probably say TA since I know how well it works, how to tune it, and lower price.

But man Demon carbs are awesome. Definitely my first choice for street cars.

All the tech info I got on tuning the Holley came from searching the forums on a site called thirdgen.org; that's where I picked up the info on the blue pump cam and squirter upsizing. Also a lot of qjet info over there.
 
I really appreciate the input, very helpful. I think I will go with the SMI Q-Jet for the simple fact that it appears to be the best of breed. Glad to hear no one got hurt in the role over...
 
noahrob said:
I really appreciate the input, very helpful. I think I will go with the SMI Q-Jet for the simple fact that it appears to be the best of breed. Glad to hear no one got hurt in the role over...
Click to expand...
The only reason I would possibly choose the TA over an SMI qjet is because I've learned so much about Holley carbs now I'm comfortable tuning them.

I think you are making the right choice, as time goes on I find myself liking to to keep motor stuff pretty much factory equipment.
 
So, I just got my SMI Stage 2 Qjet and will install it this weekend. I need a new fuel line as the qjet is fitted and my Carter is slip on with a clamp...I think the only other thing I need is a return spring, to figure out how to adjust the idle speed and mixtures and bam!! I should be good to go. I will post a follow up after the carb is on for anybody who is looking for a new carb...
 
Nice. I'm really interested in seeing how it does for you.
 
noahrob said:
So, I just got my SMI Stage 2 Qjet and will install it this weekend. I need a new fuel line as the qjet is fitted and my Carter is slip on with a clamp...I think the only other thing I need is a return spring, to figure out how to adjust the idle speed and mixtures and bam!! I should be good to go. I will post a follow up after the carb is on for anybody who is looking for a new carb...
Click to expand...

I think you'll be happy with this carb. These things work great when they're set up right.:D Let us know what you think about it once you have run it for a bit.
 
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