Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselSJ
I said that. But big block guys all look the same to him.
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I've run big blocks, diesels, smallblocks, and LQ4 truck motors.
The knee jerk reaction that everyone needs to have 500hp or a diesel to tow is a bit obnoxious.
It's like the people that say you have to have a Dana 60 and NP205 in your 4wd and the Dana44 or 10 bolt and the NP208 are garbage.
It's down to expectations. I might tow once a month and the LQ4 in my 2500HD does just fine. I don't need to tow my 18' flatbed at 95mph on the interstate and I don't worry about 0-60 times with the trailer either. It'll do 60-65 uphill with a 2013 Toyota Tundra 5.7L strapped to the trailer.
You have to have the right starting point.
If a rotted out Panel truck with a Cummins 4BT fell in your lap for $250 you could swap it in for around what you paid for the 454 modifications. That's a Unicorn.
You already had a good running 454 in a truck. That's a far cry from finding one for a reasonable price. That's pretty close to a Unicorn.
Rust bucket good running GMT800 trucks with life left in the drivelines but not the chassis are very inexpensive here in the salty Northeast. Hence the popularity of these drivelines.
If you have a 4wd no AC truck, you aren't afraid of wiring and have the tools and experience to do it right, and you can sell some parts from the T800 donor like we did and it is downright cheap to do. Time consuming but cheap.
We paid for motor mounts, clocking ring for the NP208, VSS pulse generator that screws into the speedometer cable, various hoses, exhaust, frame mounted high pressure fuel pump and electric rad fans... that's about it. The original fuel tanks HVLP pumps, and senders were toast so you can't really count the replacements as part of the swap. Body work, glass, lighting etc the same way.
You can bump the power levels up to LQ9 territory with a cam swap and headers.
It's not 500hp but it's a respectable advertised 443 hp at 5,400 rpm and 467 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm according to Scoggin Dicky.
Mikeys' truck has noticeably more power than the LQ4 in my 05 since he played with the cam, exhaust, and the PCM. I don't like to mod my daily drivers.