Farm Truck Compound Build Thread

[jstaylor954]

So my old farm truck is a 98 3500 xcab 4x4 Flatbed 5spd with a 12v. When I bought the truck it was bone stock except the flatbed and the kdp was tabbed.....or so i was told. It had 239k on it and was in pretty good shape. Just a tiny spot of rust on drivers side rocker, tear in the driver's seat, and the front bumper was dented from a deer. The steering was a little loose, but at least the dash wasnt busted. I struck up a deal and bought it. I took it home and ordered all front end components and completely rebuilt the front end. I put a black grill on it and a new ebay black front bumper.

Then less then 500 miles later, i was at church one Sunday and my buddy pointed out that my truck was leaking a lot of oil! Po had lied about the kdp being tabbed! So, I changed the gear case and got it back on the road again. Also, my dog jumped on my dash while barking at a squirrel and busted my dash!

Less than 1k more miles, I was taking a load of steers to the processor, as i came up to a stop sign, i tried to shift out of 5th gear and my trans was stuck in 5th! I had to rebuild the transmission, so i put a Southbend DD clutch in with the big input shaft. I also upgraded the turbo to a HE351CW and put 5x12 injectors and .025 DV'S along with an afc live and all the afc mods. The truck ran really good and pulled alot better.

Then, a couple more thousand miles, while pulling my tractor up my driveway, my transfer case blew up. I decied it was time to make the truck stronger. I bought a used NV5600 and a brand new NP271 transfer case and installed it with my current DD clutch. I completely rebuilt the front and rear drivshafts with upgraded u joints and bigger constant joint on the front shaft, along with lengthening the deont and shorting the rear one. I figured then would be a good time to bump the timing, put my 4k gsk in, along with Hamilton behive valve springs and push rods too. We installed it all and bumped the timing to 20*. Man what a difference! The truck ran awesome! Felt like it picked up 150 hp! Then, 2 days later, i had pulled our skid steer to work and one of my workers told me i had something dripping under my truck. Antifreeze! There went the HG! It was a steady stream coming out on the exhaust side on #5 cylinder. So that brings us to the current build!

Again this is my farm truck that i use to pull alot and pull heavy too. Our skid steer is 10k+, mini x is 12k, and our tractor is 14k+ and I pull them on a 24ft gooseneck trailer. We pull heavy loads of cows and have had as much as 23k of hay on my trailer, for short pulls. My main purpose for this truck is for pulling( with some fun on backroads too!) I have read and read about towing compounds and decided to go with a he351cw/s475. I am going to stick with the stock bottomend for now. I have another shortblock that im going to rebuild and add a cam and marine style pistons to later.

Ok so my current mods on the truck now:
HE351CW
Drawstraw in tank puckup
1/2 fuel line lift pump
3/8 return
PDD Hot rod lift pump
Adjustable OFV
Pdd .025 DV'S
20* timing
Gauges
AFC live and spring
NV5600 trans
SB DD clutch
NP271 Transfercase
Sd 2.5 front springs
285/75/16's with billet steel rear spacers
Hamilton behive springs
Hamilton HD Push rods
Complete front suspension rebuilt with Dodge offroad 3rd gen track bar, red head steering box, and Borgeson steering shaft

Parts that i have ready to go on the truck now:

Stock head machined, oringed, and mild P&P and machined for top hat valve seals by Crutchfield Machine
Haisley L19 headstuds
Mishimoto intercooler
Mishimoto radiator
PDR HD intercooler boots and clamps
Keating machine billet freeze plugs
Water bypass kit
Evil fab twin piping kit
The current He351cw (has ported exhaust housing and wg)
Turbo tuner
Bullseye batmowheel S475/87/1.10 race cover
Full set of Autometer gauges for tuning- pyro, FP, 60 boost, 100 boost ,and Exhaust pressure
All fittings to plumb 1/2 from lift pump to fuel filter and dual feed the IP
Haley Speed Innovation 5x18 SAC injectors
1.25 Hiem joints for custom traction bars

We started tearing down the truck today to swap heads. Im going to install the oringed head back with the he351 and everything but the compounds until i get all my retourques done. Then im having the IP benched and installing the compounds and bigger injectors. Also might upgrade to 7mm DVs at this time.

I will be adding stuff as we go and posting pictures of the build as I take them and as soon as i figure out how to post them. This is my first big build so i would love to hear opinions on it and any suggestions to make it better!

[jstaylor954]

Also, when choosing a twin piping kit, i couldn't find a lot of info on the Evil Fab kits. I went with them because they are the only ones that build the He351/s400 kit thay uses the stock WG actuator on the 351. I wanted it that way so i can use the turbo tuner to tune it from the cab. I will be doing a full review on the kit.

[turbo2387]

Your gonna tow with 5x18’s? Bud you will struggle to clean up the haze with an empty truck with 18’s. Ide not go Any bigger that 5x14’s if infact you are using this truck to work. Thats fuel for high 5’s maybe 600hp. 18’s can break 1000hp.

[turbo2387]

Ide also lime to see your timing in the 16-18* if your towing heavy. Your beating your engine for no gain as your towing under 2000rpms. Not making HP over 2000. Thats abuse for no reason.

[R1raptor]

I would hold off on the 7mm delivery valves in a towing truck every set I’ve had or installed have been Smokey. I just took a set of pdd diesel 7mm out of a truck with 351/475 compounds because I couldn’t tune the smoke out. Went with a 191 delivery valve. And actually enjoy the truck again.

[jstaylor954]

Originally Posted by turbo2387

Your gonna tow with 5x18’s? Bud you will struggle to clean up the haze with an empty truck with 18’s. Ide not go Any bigger that 5x14’s if infact you are using this truck to work. Thats fuel for high 5’s maybe 600hp. 18’s can break 1000hp.

Do you not think i can tune it enough with the AFC live to use the 5x18's? I actually have a set of PDD 5x14's with some needle work in the truck now. I sold the 5x12's and stuck them in for now

[turbo2387]

i personally DO NOT LIKE AFC LIVE on anything but a race truck. they never get tuned correctly by your average human. and NO you cannot make a .00018 hole physically smaller it will be terrible on the street. hot smokey mess.

pintle machining adds to pulse duration. making the event longer and sloppier. I almost never have added machine work done to the pintles.

[R1raptor]

I ran pdd 5x14 with needle work in mine and there plenty with a Seth built 180 pump. A honest 550-600 hp set that works good zero smoke with a custom ground fuel plate.

[jstaylor954]

I could always try the 5x14's and if i wanted more, im sure i could trade the 5x18's for 5x16's considering they are brand new. Im definitely going to try and use the AFC live to tune it first since i already have it. If i cant get it right, ill put a plate in it.

[turbo2387]

Do you understand how and AFC operates?

[turbo2387]

Most folks only kinda know what it does and thats why AFC live is not on my favorites list.

[jstaylor954]

Im definitely still learning on things but i know the basic functions of the afc. I know i cant make the injector hole size smaller of course, but by limiting the rack travel, it essentially pulls back fuel, or limits the amount of fuel to the injectors, correct? Thats what i meant by tuning out some of the fuel. I stoll wondered if the 5x18's would syill be a little big but ive seen several other people running similar setups and injectors and till towing. Maybe not as heavy though.

[turbo2387]

the AFC is the computer for the p7100. you get it wrong just a little per your trucks tune and it will run like hell. afc live is a super neat piece but if you do not know what you are adjusting and how it effects the tune of the truck 99.999999999% of people end up in full send mode because it runs better there for them. this is because they don't know what they are doing. 5x18 injectors aren't a little to big they are WAY too big. you will melt turbos and pistons with them towing as heavy as you state above.

[Mudn_1]

It also depends who built the injector. I tow with my 5x.018s 62/475 compounds. It hazes a little until you are around 20psi.... timing at 26*.....

I also have a set of 357/472 compounds if you are interested. Extremely good towing setup.

[Bersaglieri]

Cool story and build. Sounds a lot like what I have done and had happen over the years, trans failures, tcase failure, KDP failure...I love farm truck builds.

I'll start with what I do. I use my truck for a farm truck too. I've moved around 55 tons of gravel, 3-4 ton at a time in the bed, and countless loads of wood, motors, dirt, etc. I've went hunting in it, offroad in fields, desert, and woods. I've driven and towed goosenecks all over the country from the northeast to the southwest. I tow tractors, trucks, etc, so I feel like our goals a loads are similar.

Aside from steering, tires, and suspension, I went from mostly stock [4" MBRP and a little pump tuning] to a 62/71/14 [sucked for towing] to what I have now:

Stock 180 motor with 280,xxx miles
5x.014 Ducky injectors [may have .010 pintle lift, I can't remember for sure]
HX35-14/HT3B-26 compounds
Stock 180 pump and stock delivery valves around 17.5 degrees timing [I think it has a zero plate in it and a Peak Diesel 4000 GSK]
Early G56 transmission and Valair Dual Disc Comp 3850 [Far better than the 47RE for towing, Valair says don't tow with this clutch, but I do.]
BD intercooler [I was splitting stockers at 78psi]
Steed Speed manifold [Stocker shrunk, 3 piece leaked]
Shimmed OFV at the pump for higher fuel pressure. [I have had a gauge on it for a while and it only drops low on long WOT runs.]
Upgraded intercooler boots [Blew one out at the track]


I am typically a minimalist. Install what is needed, don't waste money. That being said, I honestly don't think I need any more fuel. I feel it would just add heat and not necessarily power. I have had 7mm delivery valves on the shelf for a few years and just don't see a reason to install them. I certainly don't want or need bigger injectors. I could probably get better with tuning but it pulls and tows anything I need as fast or slow as I want. I have AFC live on the shelf too, but I'm not motivated to make any changes because it works so well. Maybe a cam or headwork would help but until something goes wrong, I don't think it's worth the effort until something goes wrong. Same with headstuds, I still run stock bolts.

Things I think may help my setup:

60lb valve springs - I keep putting this off, but it for sure needs them.
Smaller exhaust housings - a 12cm and 23cm combo would help now that it's a G56 instead of a 47RE. There is a noticeable loss between shifts with a dual disk that was not there with a fast shifting 47RE.
Better tuning - I could probably get my combo to work better if I took the time to tune the HX35 wastegate and pump more.



I guess what I'm saying is you probably do not need a lot of the extras you planned on. Dual feed, 5x.018, delivery valves, water bypass, hot rod lift pump, aftermarket radiator, and AFC live to name a few. I take pride in doing more with less, but there is nothing wrong overbuilding it a little either. I look forward to following the progress.

[turbo2387]

Where is the like button? What this guy said.

[jstaylor954]

I guess what I'm saying is you probably do not need a lot of the extras you planned on. Dual feed, 5x.018, delivery valves, water bypass, hot rod lift pump, aftermarket radiator, and AFC live to name a few. I take pride in doing more with less, but there is nothing wrong overbuilding it a little either. I look forward to following the progress.[/QUOTE]

First of all, thanks so much for the comments and real life experiences. I knew that i was overbuilding it when i chose alot of this stuff. Im sure the truck would run just fine without most of it. I guess my thinking is that if by spending a little more now and overbuilding it a little, hopefully i might can avoid getting stuck out somewhere with a load of steers or pulling something. That sucks bad. I had read several times about the stock radiator not keeping up with heat in the summer with compounds? Idk but i got a good deal on it or i would still be using the stock radiator. It might not help, but hopefully it wont hurt either.

[jasonc]

Never had a problem with the stock rad, with the stock fan. That's on flat roads running atleast 75mph average pulling my gooseneck, probably grossing about 14k trailer weight. If you live in a mountainous area, I'm sure you could overheat anything if you pushed it hard enough.

I also ran 5x18 injectors and over 20* timing. I put over 200k miles on that truck and would get better milieage than my deleted CR truck.

[jstaylor954]

Originally Posted by jasonc

Never had a problem with the stock rad, with the stock fan. That's on flat roads running atleast 75mph average pulling my gooseneck, probably grossing about 14k trailer weight. If you live in a mountainous area, I'm sure you could overheat anything if you pushed it hard enough.

I also ran 5x18 injectors and over 20* timing. I put over 200k miles on that truck and would get better milieage than my deleted CR truck.

Nice! Im in the central part of NC so i dont go into the mountains much, but occasionally. What turbos were you running in that setup?

Also, im staying with the stock fan too

[jasonc]

58mm S300G, box S475/96/1.32

Towed great, never watched an egt gauge. I had 4.10 gears with stock height tires, it was around 2600rpm at 75mph, so it loved higher timing, made a big difference in milieage and just how the truck ran.