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Difficulty level for Duramax in a '96 Burb?

4xcrazy

4xcrazy

3/4 ton status
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I am picking up a '96 4wd 3/4 ton Suburban in a few months, fairly cheap, the only thing missing out of the truck is the FI454 and the trans which i believed was a 4L80e.

Just pondering ideas on what to put back in it. I'm looking to have this running and hopefully be alittle more reliable than the '89 is currently being with me, plus it's pretty beat up from all the rock crawling i did with it back in Phoenix.

Not planning on any lift, no major add-ons, just a nice, comfy clean ride.

I realize the Duramax's are alittle pricey of a motor, but damn they sure are nice, and would have plenty of power for towing, which i do from time to time.

Any thoughts on this type of project, or do we think it would just be too much work for a '96.

The other thing i liked about the Duramax is their fuel mileage over the 454, wouldn't mind having both the horsepower/torque along with better MPG while driving.

Throw some thoughts this way if you don't mind, any experiences, which letter code D-Max's are better for what.

Thanks for any info/insight to this new project :D

The only half way decent pic i have of it, it's an Arizona truck, so no rust, and i have known the people that owned it for awhile.
imagejpeg_2_4.jpg
 
Hate to say it but a cummins would be far easier. The duramax requires extensive rewiring. Other than that I think the allison might require some tunnel mods
 
I love duramax's but I would never consider swapping one in. Your talking 2 to 3 times the cost of a cummins easily. Plus you'll have to make everything yourself.
 
and at year 1996 this is obd II system computer and most states that do emissions testing require plug in of 96-newer vehicles to pass emissions test.
 
no emissions here :D

and a Cummins, i really didn't want that loud of a Diesel, another reason i liked the D-max.
 
The diesel page or place has a book outlining how to swap a duramax into that bodystyle of truck. Costs around 10k all in though
 
4xcrazy said:
no emissions here :D

and a Cummins, i really didn't want that loud of a Diesel, another reason i liked the D-max.
Click to expand...


From experience... Cummins can sound how you like it (my 06' was too quite, now it has a nice deep throaty roar - 5" Magnaflow system). Also very dependent on what year you choose for a Cummins, 12 vs. 24 valves have very different sounds. Others choose the 4bt... different sound there too. Lots of diffrent flavors out there.

I'm a diehard chevy fan, yet i bought a brand new Cummins instead of a new duramax and plan to someday implant a 12 valve into my K30.

Either direction you choose, it sounds like a good project :waytogo:
 
It's a do able project, but most conversions like this with either a Cummins or Duramax end up costing about 10k on the low end of things. I wouldn't be scared to swap in a duramax but I highly recommend getting a full donor truck so you have all the little pieces and be ready to spend some serious time working on the wiring. To fit the allison trans will require some mods to the trans tunnel and/or a 1' bodylift.

That being said it would be a very cool truck when done. I know I've considered either a duramax or HPCR cummins for my chevy oneday, but that's a very expensive dream :whistle:.
 
I've done a 12v cummins swap in a '95 K2500 Suburban. Was fairly easy, but does require quite a bit of mechanical know-how, and some ingenuity.

I wouldn't consider it without having a whole donor truck to rob parts from, though...


As far as price, here is how mine went:


K2500 Suburban with 454 and slipping trans - $1000 (gas prices were over $4 at the time and no one wanted a gas hog)

Rolled over dodge truck with 109k miles on it - $600

Sold my 454 for $500, and made over $800 selling parts off the dodge and scrapping it.

Motor mounts were $350 from autoworld.

Drivelines cost around $300 to have them custom made.

Then the little things, like fuel line, fittings, fluids...ect.


Ended up having around $2000 in the whole rig. Thats including the lift, wheels/tires, winch/bumper, ect...
Drove it for a year, loved it, and sold it for $6000. Made money, but I still regret selling it.


It was a good reliable swap, and it got very good fuel mileage. Just shows that you don't HAVE to spend 10k doing a swap like that. I did all the work myself, and made a lot of parts that were needed, so I saved quite a bit there.


I still don't think I would attempt a duramax swap though!
 
With the amount of money your thinking of spending on a diesel conversion, A healthy sized LS with some cam and Dyno work could be a better alternative.
The engines are far more available and can produce a lot of torque with decent mileage.
 
The Dmax would be sweet, but looks and sounds like a ton amount of work/time/money.I looked at the link with the writeup on that guys. Whoa all that wiring would scare me. He is re-wiring the entire truck with the dash gone and all.
 
Yeah, the Dmax idea is really kinda fading away now with what i am seeing as far as money and work involved.

Maybe just do it the easy way, drop in a replacement 454/4L80e and sell it off, use the sale money as a down payment for a newer truck with a Dmax already installed.. :D

I say a replacement 454/4L80e because the truck was originally equipped with that combo, and all the wiring is still intact.

We'll see i guess..

appreciate all the info, comments and ideas though.:waytogo:
 
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