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Duramax Swap-tranny/tcase questions

Which one would you do?

  • 6.6 Turbo Diesel Duramax

    Votes: 15 44.1%

  • Cummins

    Votes: 9 26.5%

  • Other??????

    Votes: 3 8.8%

  • Run around nekkid with diesel fuel all over your body.

    Votes: 7 20.6%
  • Total voters
    34
lak2004

lak2004

1/2 ton status
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Well I have just been reading over on thedieselpage.com about 6.6 Duramax swaps and man does that sound like a sweet swap! Obviously the cost is not as effective as many other choices, but what are the big differences between say a 06 Duramax and a 24v cummins? What tranny/tcase would you run behind the Duramax? Just curious to everyones opinions.

Cost should not be a huge factor, more a functionality-MPG, HP, torque comparison. Thanks
 
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happen to have any links to the duramax swaps? I have been looking for information a lot.


Duramax baby keep it GM.
 
Thanks, I have been eyeballing just that same conversion documents. I have a few stuff on my computer but unfortunately the motherboard fried. I believe I have a few links and I have pictures of a swap. I'll see what I can do about pulling them off the hard drive.
 
Cool, I emailed the guy and asked if he could send me some more pics and such too.
 
I thought about purchasing that documents but for my swap all I would need is the under hood stuff like fabricating motor mounts and such.

If you get more pictures out of him could you post them?
 
Definately, what were you thinking about running? I have only just started to read about this swap and have no clue what all is involved? What tranny/tcase?
 
I planed on running the 6spd Allison and adapting a 205 to it. For my interior I planed on finding a rolled/salvage and gutting all the electronics and dashboard.
 
Babaganoosh said:
I planed on running the 6spd Allison and adapting a 205 to it. For my interior I planed on finding a rolled/salvage and gutting all the electronics and dashboard.
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I think this would definitely be the way to go on the swap. If I were to do this swap...which I want to soooo badly...maybe after college, I would buy a complete light wreck, graft on portions of the firewall to have all of the wiring plugs terminals retained, and graft in all the dash supports/tranny tunnel from the newer truck to retain the gauges/dash/allison trans etc etc. Heck it might even be worth it to take a torch to the crossmembers, adjust for the difference in widths of frames, and voila...bolt in assembly. Sure its not the most cost effective, but it will be pretty straight forward and done right and you can even take it to a dealer to have it checked out if problems arise. There is also another swap floating around somewhere on thedieselplace or something like that with a crew cab like the one linked to, only its a longbed/blue, and has been setup for serious sled pulls. I think the guys name is nick04duramax or something like that, I tried to email/pm him with no response.


Hey baba-I definitely want to stay informed on the progress of your swap...I would be doing it now if I werent in college.:o


Remington
 
3/4 Ton Blazer said:
The duramax is made by isuzu. HAHA!
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Which is a stock engine in GM vehicles making it a GM product. HAHA!:rolleyes::rolleyes:

I'd go with a Cummins. They've had years perfecting the inline 6 as a diesel engine. I'd mate it to the Allison 6 speed. Hey, it's not my money:D
 
Cummins. I've been speaking to a former Nasa Engineer who is in his eighties and has designed over 10 diesel engines for the US Gov't about swapping a Diesel into my K5 for a few years now and he says the true measure of the quality of the engine is how it runs without turbos. He says the Duramax is decent but there is a few design flaws and the Cummins is far superior but not recommended for a K5.

The engine he did suggest for a K5 was some random motor out of a Mercedes. I don't remember which model though.

Whats been holding me back is the amount of weight of a Diesel considering K5 frames are not the strongest and again that is why he suggested the Mercedes.

But then again he is running a International D466 out of a school bus in his Suburban.
 
uao85 said:
I think this would definitely be the way to go on the swap. If I were to do this swap...which I want to soooo badly...maybe after college, I would buy a complete light wreck, graft on portions of the firewall to have all of the wiring plugs terminals retained, and graft in all the dash supports/tranny tunnel from the newer truck to retain the gauges/dash/allison trans etc etc. Heck it might even be worth it to take a torch to the crossmembers, adjust for the difference in widths of frames, and voila...bolt in assembly. Sure its not the most cost effective, but it will be pretty straight forward and done right and you can even take it to a dealer to have it checked out if problems arise. There is also another swap floating around somewhere on thedieselplace or something like that with a crew cab like the one linked to, only its a longbed/blue, and has been setup for serious sled pulls. I think the guys name is nick04duramax or something like that, I tried to email/pm him with no response.


Hey baba-I definitely want to stay informed on the progress of your swap...I would be doing it now if I werent in college.:o


Remington
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I'm in the same boat as you just dreaming. :doah: On my other computer I have pictures of his swap.
 
Duramax. I don't know numbers, but I'm sure the aluminum heads cut quite a bit of weight. Also, Isuzu has been building diesels since the 40's, so they know a thing or two. Another, Duramax was initially designed as a military multi-fuel engine and a few of the good things has swapped over. i.e., it will run on gas. Not healthily, but it can do it if a need arises. Power Stroke will freeze on contact and I'm sure Cummins will too. Other than weight I really don't see a difference, but I don't see a difference between stock gas engines of today either. Just like NASCAR, all of the same regulations, just a different name.
 
I just think it would be a much more unique swap to do, and just bad ass! I would run it biodiesel and tune it for best performance. Probably wouldnt be a bad idea to box the frame so it can handle the added weight. I wonder if it would interfere with steering mods like high steer/x-over? Also, what front springs do you think would be best? Or just link it while you are at it. :)
 
Cowboy_80 said:
Another, Duramax was initially designed as a military multi-fuel engine and a few of the good things has swapped over. i.e., it will run on gas. Not healthily, but it can do it if a need arises.
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:rolleyes:

Jet-A or Biodiesel yes, gasoline, not a chance.
 
Oilbrnr said:
:rolleyes:

Jet-A or Biodiesel yes, gasoline, not a chance.
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improbable, yes; impossible, no. Beyond anything else, all M-series prime-movers can run, w/o limitation, on JP8, Diesel, or gasoline. The Duramax can run on gas. I don't know for how long or if it can run on JP8. My Dad put about 6 gallons in a tank before he realized what he was doing and filled the rest with diesel, no problem (he pulled into a BP, where ALL handles are green, not just diesel). My buddy the Ford tech got a Duramx from a salesman that was kind enough to drop 10 gallons of gas in an empty tank. He drove it around without a problem. Ran a little hot, but thats to be expected. He didn't go on a road trip, but it ran for a half hour on it. I'm not saying that you should run gas in one for any amount of time, I'm just saying you can if the need arises. Oh, and they're also self priming, I don't know if a Cummins is or not. If you run out of fuel, you don't half to spend an hour purging air from the system.
 
Here are the pictures I was telling you about

9b7e_3.JPG


fd48_3.JPG


fe24_3.JPG


ff1c_3.JPG


Links

http://dickwagner.com/MyCars/dually/dually.htm This guy also has a write up, although hes not very far.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/garage.php?do=view&g=3767



This is all the info I have. I have looked for hours and hours on end.
 
Cowboy_80 said:
improbable, yes; impossible, no. Beyond anything else, all M-series prime-movers can run, w/o limitation, on JP8, Diesel, or gasoline. The Duramax can run on gas. I don't know for how long or if it can run on JP8. My Dad put about 6 gallons in a tank before he realized what he was doing and filled the rest with diesel, no problem (he pulled into a BP, where ALL handles are green, not just diesel). My buddy the Ford tech got a Duramx from a salesman that was kind enough to drop 10 gallons of gas in an empty tank. He drove it around without a problem. Ran a little hot, but thats to be expected. He didn't go on a road trip, but it ran for a half hour on it. I'm not saying that you should run gas in one for any amount of time, I'm just saying you can if the need arises. Oh, and they're also self priming, I don't know if a Cummins is or not. If you run out of fuel, you don't half to spend an hour purging air from the system.
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A Dmax will NOT run on gasoline. Sorry.

Go do a search on dieselplace.com. Every month or so there is a thread from guys that have filled up with gas by mistake. If the tank is low enough, it doesn't take very long for the engine to die. Draining, purging and changing the filter is usually all that it takes to get them running again, however it is never known what kind of damage the injection pump may have suffered due to the lack of lubricity.
 
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