Hey all, I'm seriously considering putting a dmax/allison setup in my fs chevy and I've got some questions. Fabrication and making all the iron fit is no problem but I run into a lack of knowledge when it comes to the electronics portion. I'm putting it in a '93 2500 chevy pickup (why?: because it was my first chevy and its getting redone either way so why not make it mine.) and I have no idea what I need computer wise to make it run. Is it even possible to make some of my gauges work with it? Do I need a stand-alone computer or does the dmax have the computer on the engine and I just need to retro-fit my truck with the drive-by-wire controls and sensors to make it all mesh? I've always been thinking about it but after seeing Matt Hughes' C-10 at TS this year I thought to myself "self, if it can be done once it can be done again". Thanks in advance for all the help. I'm a heavy equipment/heavy truck mechanic for a living and own my own business doing it so I am fairly well versed in mechanical skills. This should help some of you guys with how to write your answers. Thanks, Sean
Duramax conversion questions
- Thread starter 02Dmax
- Start date
Chevycummins
Bad case of Tinkeritis!
i believe your gonna have to use all the electronics from the engine and tranny. if you have the donar truck that all of it came out of then i would try and get the complete wire harness and gauge cluster and just retrofit it into your truck. i dont know if you can get your gauges to work with that, i believe that the newer engines like the dmax use different signals for the sensors than the older trucks and it will be off if you try and hook up to the older gauges your readings will be off.
like you said it has been done, but i am not sure exactly how to do one i just have a general idea of what is done hope that helps you out.
like you said it has been done, but i am not sure exactly how to do one i just have a general idea of what is done hope that helps you out.
dslhtrdr
Always learning...
Yes it will be easier if you have a complete truck, but it isn't nesessary. As far as making the dmax run, it requires the factory harness and computer.
The harness is huge. It goes from the front bumper all the way to the reciever hitch. PPE is the king of dmax swaps and they modify each harness to the application they go into, whether it be an old chevy, a boat, etc. It costs around $1500 for them to modify it to your needs. They can make it to keep the allison, or delete that completly, like they did on mine for my camaro. Standalone pcm's are out there for many electronic trannys, or you can use a "stupid" tranny (non electronic).
As far as gauges go, it would probably be easier to use the stock cluster, but getting it to fit in your stock dash probably wouldn't look that great. If your not afraid to fab, some autometer gauges in an aluminum or stainless steel sheetmetal frame would be fairly simple.
Dmax's have the same bellhousing bolt pattern as all of the ls series motor (ls1, ls2, etc) so that will make it easier to find a tranny to bolt up to it.
Hope some of that helps. Just my $.02
The harness is huge. It goes from the front bumper all the way to the reciever hitch. PPE is the king of dmax swaps and they modify each harness to the application they go into, whether it be an old chevy, a boat, etc. It costs around $1500 for them to modify it to your needs. They can make it to keep the allison, or delete that completly, like they did on mine for my camaro. Standalone pcm's are out there for many electronic trannys, or you can use a "stupid" tranny (non electronic).
As far as gauges go, it would probably be easier to use the stock cluster, but getting it to fit in your stock dash probably wouldn't look that great. If your not afraid to fab, some autometer gauges in an aluminum or stainless steel sheetmetal frame would be fairly simple.
Dmax's have the same bellhousing bolt pattern as all of the ls series motor (ls1, ls2, etc) so that will make it easier to find a tranny to bolt up to it.
Hope some of that helps. Just my $.02
THEFERMANATOR
That guy
This may help you out some. This is my 95 BURB to an 01 DURAMAX/ALLISON combo. I will say there is ALOT of myths out there surrounding this swap, but I will confirm that it isn't easy nor cheap. Once it's done though it sure is SWEET. You can get ahold of me on the other site if you have any direct questions about my swap as I don't stop in here very often.
95 SUBURBAN to a 01 DURAMAX/ALLISON - The Truck Stop
Another site of interest that has a few of these types of swaps done on it.
TheDieselPage.com Forums - Powered by vBulletin
A donor truck will be your savior here. Try and find one equipped with what you need in it if possible. I know that floor shift transfer cases are getting a bit scarce to find as I had to look for awhile to get mine. If going with an auto, I reccomend the ALLISON as a 4L80E will be a bit weak to hold up if you plan on towing. LB7's have the smallest engine footprint as they are the shortest of all of them. And there is no reason to go to PPE for the harness if you have any electrical skills. the harness isn't really all that bad to set-up to your individual needs if you get the ALLDATA subscription with the factory wiring diagrams. Of my whole swap the electrical was probably the easiest portion for me to do. And you can easily make the stock 93 cluster work if you don't mind losing the DIC in teh DMAX cluster. EFILIVE is also a VERY good investment for this swap to tune out quirks that you will most likely incur.
95 SUBURBAN to a 01 DURAMAX/ALLISON - The Truck Stop
Another site of interest that has a few of these types of swaps done on it.
TheDieselPage.com Forums - Powered by vBulletin
A donor truck will be your savior here. Try and find one equipped with what you need in it if possible. I know that floor shift transfer cases are getting a bit scarce to find as I had to look for awhile to get mine. If going with an auto, I reccomend the ALLISON as a 4L80E will be a bit weak to hold up if you plan on towing. LB7's have the smallest engine footprint as they are the shortest of all of them. And there is no reason to go to PPE for the harness if you have any electrical skills. the harness isn't really all that bad to set-up to your individual needs if you get the ALLDATA subscription with the factory wiring diagrams. Of my whole swap the electrical was probably the easiest portion for me to do. And you can easily make the stock 93 cluster work if you don't mind losing the DIC in teh DMAX cluster. EFILIVE is also a VERY good investment for this swap to tune out quirks that you will most likely incur.
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