99 Chevy 3500 HD (CK) 6.5 to dmax

take one of said truck.,

make some money with it..

generate a 2 peace crankshaft 5 miles after you unload head to next load in jacksonville FL

load tow rig on trailer.. get lucky that friend is headed back to ohio
with his dodge with a 66mm turbo dual cp3 injectors and efi live 4.10 gears... minus his wife, dog, and their two 600cc crotch rockets.. rolling weight right about 20,000lb my rig is 12,800 empty his truck is 7400.

pull oil pan find this

locate buy 06 chevy express dmax entire engine, chaissis, body harness
load everything up to prestage heart transplant.

6.5td coming out

first test fit..block siting directly on frame side of 99s engine mounts. bolted to tranny GM clamshell style 1" too high had to make new ones.. due to height and the Dmax mounts are stagered for clearance of 4wd dif on the driver side..

frame side mounts lowered everything 1.25".. use 1.5x3"" poly spring eye bushing with 9/16" bolts



theres is couple bossed forward that i added bolts too not in this picture

got the rad support oppened up 02 lb7 CAC and rad fitted in.

couldnt find alumium pipeing and had to make cold side CAC pipe.. so i used 16ga exhaust pip with slip over joints for no but weld then filled with water pressurised to 100psi had 3 pin hole leaks on first try, drained dryied weld up holes repeat test.. and it pasted.. going to wrap with reflective heat tape to keep heat soak out of the steel. went from 5 bends to 2 bends 3" at the CAC to 2.5" at the engine y-bridge.

the harness both the 99 engine part adn 06 van were sent off and blended toegther so that all the factory guages minus PRND321 indicator work.
not putting a allison in it at this time. vans ran a dmax/4l85 with rated power 250/460 which is better than the 194/440 the 6.5td had. with 4.63 gears the 6.5 would out run a 80k semi when loaded at 26k up a 5% grade..
i do have more pictures to take,will up load later..

Very nice. Glad to see you making progress with it.

I hope you're putting an allison in it as well! Looks good!

How in the hell does your truck weigh 12,800 empty?

edit: nm... "rig" = truck and trailer?

Steers 4000
Drives 4000
Trailer 4700
Truck itself weighs 6400 with me, full tanks and no chains straps. I have stripped down to 12200 ramps spare tires for a close heavy load... cat scales dont lie.
I can run an 8000lb pin weight. Un hooked rear axle is 2400lb with 11,000 gawr from gm oem 19.5 10x7.25 bolt pattern with steel wheels. FWIW 6000lb pin squats the truck 2.25"

tieign up loose ends...

Are you running a van 4l85E or a 4l80E? Nice work.

80 that has 85 parts in it

How many miles did you get out of the ol' 6.5 before she retired herself?

And I agree about putting in the Ally. 4L80E or 85E ain't gonna like the torque of the DMax.

Van dmax are derated for the 80/85es to 250/460
got 11,000 before it died

malibu795 said:

Van dmax are derated for the 80/85es to 250/460
got 11,000 before it died

Click to expand...

So you're saying that you're going to run derated tuning? :hehe:

It's still 60 hp more than he had before and a bit more torque. Most of the hot shotters I have dealt with aren't overly concerned with power. They want good mileage and longevity.

SuperSonic said:

It's still 60 hp more than he had before and a bit more torque. Most of the hot shotters I have dealt with aren't overly concerned with power. They want good mileage and longevity.

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so you're saying he should have put a 12v in it?

400hp is the goal stock 4l80 wont handle it built one will. Only time i will see wot with load is grades.
The 194hp 6.5 did fine running 65 outside high wind drag loads and lots of steep hill. Most forget it has 4.63 gears and 32" tires. Fuel cost is 90% of my over head efficiency is very high on the priority list
Next is weight or lack thereof, 5.9 has almost 500lb on a dmax. And thats money i cant get

LReiff said:

So you're saying that you're going to run derated tuning? :hehe:

Click to expand...

Don't need to , it has good parts in and is capable of more than he is going to be doing. :bow:

I like this ride ,it's a nice truck with an even nicer engine now!! Too bad chevy couldn't build them like that. Awesome job friend!:cheer:

01-02 came with 8.1/4l85 03 came the 4500 Kodiak and everyone started buying f450/550 trucks the only down side is4x4 want a factory option. They shouldn't have dropped this platform

I definitely dig your attention to keeping weight down

list of things to do is getting shorter..
most have to wait for the harness to get here form oregon.. should be tuesday.
fuel filter/pump for now grafting the 06 1/2 3/8 line to the 99 3/8 5/16 i dont see why 3/8 cant supply enough fuel for less than 300hp..
coolant expantion tank
ecm/tcm mounting
waiting on truck dipstick and oil fill tube
oil and coolant
finish up upper fan shroud and rad bracket
mount 06 APP and pull the 99 out
tune it.

malibu795 said:

Van dmax are derated for the 80/85es to 250/460
got 11,000 before it died

Click to expand...

11,000? Was it a reman?

Why not run the Allison? Its cheaper than a built 4L80E, and 5 or 6 speeds beats 4 any day.

MaxPF said:

11,000? Was it a reman?

Why not run the Allison? Its cheaper than a built 4L80E, and 5 or 6 speeds beats 4 any day.

Click to expand...

i put 11,000 on the truck since i got it(86,000 on the ODO when i got it).. 95% loaded did all the basic upgrades except harmonic balancer repalcement.... upon removal i did find out the engine has been opened up before i got it and straight water came out for coolant...the history of it, i have no clue..

putting an allison in would increase cost some 2-3000 between buying tranny tcm drive shafts etc also the allison has close to 200lb on the 4l80 deeper 1st gear(3:1 vs 2.48) and taller overdrive (.70 vs .75)

honestly i can buils a 4l80e to handle 400hp cheaper then a allison and still be lighter... shift kits dont work on either long term.. 3k to put an allison in pluse another 1700 in parts for basic upgrade or 2500 in the 4l80 having someone do it with dyno test that i already have or toss in another 6-800 for a used 4l80 and have it built..... and save wieght.