I have a thread in the 7.3l area that tells the story up to 321,000 miles.
Excursion Project: The War Wagon - Competition Diesel.Com - Bringing The BEST Together Recently the gremlins and other wear parts are starting to pop up. Now I am on the edge of two cliffs, dump money into the 7.3l or step up to a familiar 5.9l Cummins. Before I jump off the Cummins cliff I looked over the edge and had some questions.
Cummins: I am familiar with the PPump motors, but it seems the VEpump trucks start better in the winter when not plugged in. Sure building a powerhouse would be fun, but a in reality 400rwhp should be plenty for us. I like compounds but a VE motor with a HE351 would be a good all around performer in my eyes. I am trying to keep it reasonable for her to drive, and a VE pump would limit me from doing stupid things :evil
I did a CR in mine. Originally an 03 with the throttle cable but have since switched to a 06 harness for EFI live tuning with shift on the fly adjustability
Transmission control: PCS TM-2000, Simple Shift, US Quick Shift. What is everyone using, which is preferred? The Excursion doesn't tow often, but when it does it's under 8,000lbs, usually a utility trailer or something similar. I have never tuned a transmission so I don't think I would be able to get it right for a long time, so I would rather just buy a tune or pay someone to tune it for me. Simple Shift has dials for adjustment which seems helpful for live tuning. How is tuning for a built 4R100 vs a stock one?
I have run the PCS with a 4R100 since day 1, It came from BTS with a base tune, I have since made tweaks to it to my liking
Destroked vs DCS: One better to deal with? Better support on the electronics? Better fit? Better parts? I heard Destroked has better motor mounts. I don't want to cobble**** this together, I want cruise, dash, A/C, adjustable pedals, all that stuff to work.
I used Destroked parts. They have worked for 10 years without issue. You will not be able to keep the adjustable pedals with a cable set up. If you use the 06 pedal you might be able to fab a mount but I have not tried. I used the GOS pedal mount when I change ocer to the 06 harness. Cruise I have not addressed and I really don't miss it. Dash work perfectly other than the check engine light on. I could probly take the dash apart and remove the led but it does not bother my enough to do it. I am sure a tuner could burn a chip to turn it off.
Mechanical fan: I read the motor and transmission needs moved back for this. Mechanical sounds good in the world of mechanical motors but if moving everything back 3.5" for one and possibly run into more issues with driveshafts, firewall, transmission mounts, perhaps electric is the way to go.
I run an 06 6.0 radiator and fan shroud with the GOS fan adapter and a Hayden fan clutch. Only complaint is the A/C is a little weak in stop and go traffic due to the fan clutch not locking up as well as I feel it should. I used a pickup trans crossmember and just drilled new holes to install. I also turned the trans mount 180* which reduced the amount the trans crossmember had to be moved and the mount holes had to be slotted. Since I am lifted I needed different drive shafts anyways so that was not a deal breaker for me.
How hard is it to wire in relays for the Cummins grid heater? I would prefer two grid heaters for better cold weather starts.
Easy to do. Grab the signal wire from the engine harness and connect the power cables to the battery just like the factory does. I fabbed up a bracket to hold the relays off the side of the battery tray.
What am I missing? Can this be done without becoming a basket case that wears me out?
Thanks guys.