Several questions about duramax...

[rideorange812]

Good day, I'm currently in the middle of a slow project build and I've come to pondering the option of a duramax. For one what is a good year model, and is there any bad years that have problems. Is there any aftermarket harnesses, motor mounts, and tranny mounts? Do I have to modify my cross member or any aspects of the vehicle for this swap? Thank you for reading.

[Beat68CST]

These guys did a swap into a C-10

http://www.pacificp.com/

Look at their pics, might give ya some ideas, they might be willin to answer some questions too, never know til ya ask!

[05crewcab]

I think the coolest combo would be an LBZ 06-07 with the ZF-6 manual trans. un-modified you'd have 365hp and 650lbft torque out of the box.

You'd have to find a donor with the complete wiring harness, and then fabricate everything else...motor mounts, crossmember, intercooler mount, intercooler lines...you'd have to beef up the rear end, custom driveshaft, etc....beef up the front suspension for the extra weight, and so on.

It will be a HUGE project, but will be completely radical

[treveiger]

05 and newer are the only ones youll want, 04 and later have injector problems. Do you want a manual or automatic? If you want the auto the 06 on up came with six speeds instead of the 05 and down 5 speeds. Your best bet would be go with the 06 or newer with the six speeds IMO. Find a totaled truck that has a good drive train and bring her home so you can pull all the parts off you need and maybe part out the other stuff for some extra cash. Youll deffinitally need to beef up the frame and also the suspension for it to be a good solid truck done right.

[rideorange812]

Yeah well my budget has been set to 5k on motor and 2k on tranny. My dad buys alot of cars of IAAI so I might go that route. Hopefully my bbc and tranny will sell quick on ebay. I did research and lb7 aren't bad as some speculate due to you can get warrantied injectors or go aftermark which is the plan so year isn't a problem as I will upgrade to support 660 hp or so. I just need to figured out if I need to modify my crossmember and what not. I'm set on doing it. I think a pro touring diesel will be sick.

[treveiger]

But remember the injectors are inside of the valve covers on the older models which causes a lot more work when they come time to replace. Thats what people dont like because it costs more.

[Vintage Windmills]

Personally, I'd go for an LB7 (01 or 02) that has had the injectors replaced. I think that the replacement injectors are good for a long time. The nice thing about the 1st gen is they get awesome mileage and you don't have to hassle with particulate or egr system that heats them up. They also may be easier to program the ECU from what I've heard. The best place for info is www.dieselplace.com

[MrBeast]

My first question to you is why a duramax, is it because you are a big fan of the duramax, or just want to use it because that is what GM uses?

Id strongly sugjest that you consider a Cummins swap instead here is why.

Doing a Duramax swap is going to be very very expensive. I looked seriously at doing it before getting hooked on the Cummins, and I figured that I would not be able to do a Duramax swap for less than 10-14 grand by the time I got everything I needed.

Not only that the electronics are complex, and prone to issues where there have been several factory recalls due to wiring related issues, and most who have them are running them in the trucks they came in, thus the support for installing one is just not there.

It can be done, but in my oppinion it is not worth the money when you can do a Cummins swap for 1/3 the cost and wind up with an engine that gets better fuel economy lasts longer and needs 3 wires to run.

Speaking from my experince with the 6.5 TD that I had, I will never run a electronically injected diesel again, because it takes nothing for a minor electrical gremlin to leave you stranded, and if it is a wiring issue, good luck finding it.

As well you will need a very expensive scanner to work on it if anything ever goes wrong, to me that just isnt cool.

My dad has a Duramax, while the truck was under warranty it left him stranded several times, just going down the road it would shut off on him, he would have to get it towed to the dealer, then a few days later he would have it back and running again.

When his truck runs it runs great, makes good power, but still cant get better mileage than my Mechanically injected Cummins can, there is something wrong with that.

[rideorange812]

Well my dad has a salvaged diesel truck dealership and we do swaps all the time. We have already crossed the cummins bridge on one of his projects and I personally love the hp, sound, and looks of the duramax v8. We haven't had any problems out of his accountants 03 lb7. I so far have calculated with his prices for a motor etc. with room for error or popup $$ problems 7500 for motor tranny and harness. We fabricate alot of stuff and I'm not worried about. But it would be nice to know if I need to cut up my cross member and if I need to custom make motor mounts.

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by rideorange812

Well my dad has a salvaged diesel truck dealership and we do swaps all the time. We have already crossed the cummins bridge on one of his projects and I personally love the hp, sound, and looks of the duramax v8. We haven't had any problems out of his accountants 03 lb7. I so far have calculated with his prices for a motor etc. with room for error or popup $$ problems 7500 for motor tranny and harness. We fabricate alot of stuff and I'm not worried about. But it would be nice to know if I need to cut up my cross member and if I need to custom make motor mounts.

Well if you have an in like that it will be more doable, but you are going to be fabricating your behind off, you will need a custom crossmember, motor mounts, the whole shebang, and you will want to box your frame to make it strong enough because that will be an issue with that much power.

If you look at the fabrication I am doing on my build you will have to do that and then some to make it work, and I promise you that wont be easy or fast.

The only reason I am making headway so quick is that I can model what I need to make in Autocad Mechanical, and then I can build it with the CNC machine shop I have access to.

What you want to do is doable, but I strongly advise you think it over for a good long time before diving it, it is not going to be fast, easy or simple.

If you do decide to do it you will need to do a ton of research first, and alot of what you will be doing will be poneering with this motor swap, so stand by to stand by for an andventure.

I do know this much, if you do a swap installing a duramax in a suburban you have to replace the front of the frame because the duramax frame is different, and has different mounts than the gas motor.

Thus the potential for serious issues is there when making it mount to your own frame.

[Vintage Windmills]

Wouldn't it be easiest to find a rollover/salvage regular cab duramax and swap a longhorn body onto it? They have the same 133" wheelbase. I'm a little out of the loop on the dmax but I haven't heard about the electrical issues (at least on 07 or older trucks). My brothers 04 lly never stranded him and he put 110k on it. Only issue he had with the truck was pump rub in the transfer case. Still had original brake pads on it too.

[05crewcab]

Yeah, I personally have had zero issues with my 05 LLY over 80k miles, and get 20mpg on the freeway consistently. I have not heard about electrical issues, and injector problems only affected the 01-04.5 LB7. I've heard that if you tow real heavy with my model (LLY) there could be some cooling issues, but I have not experienced it.

The only real issue isn't even with the motor itself, it the transfer case pump rub...which frankly scares the crap out of me and should really be a recall item...sounds like it happens to about 25% of the trucks, but you wouldn't have to worry about it if the frankenstein you are creating is a 2wd.

A mechanically injected Cummins is cheaper and easier to install, yes, but it doesn't get near the power, driveability, economy, ease of tuning, etc. than a Dmax does.

Like Vintage said, go to www.dieselplace.com to read up. I am a member over there as well and have learned a TON about my truck (much like here )

[Vintage Windmills]

You can keep an eye on pump rub by checking for any seepage on your transfer case. They make a repair kit so you can DIY it.

[Maxxd07]

duramaxforum and dieselplace are good forums to check out. Efi Live along with a PPE stand alone harness should get you where you want to be once you find an engine/tranny or a donor pickup. BTW there are some LB7s that have had injectors replaced more than 2 or 3 times so it doesnt matter if they have been replaced or not. Some of it has to do with the person installing them too. They are still the simplest Duramax engine. The LLY had the harness rub that could be a problem but a pretty simple fix. Some people had heating problems too but a LBZ mouth piece helps with that. The LBZ is one of the best since it doesnt have the "quirks" of the others. The LMM has the emissions but can be removed with EFI Live.
I like a good cummins swap as much as the next guy but I have to say a Duramax swap is alot neater and not everyone has one.

[rideorange812]

Thanks for the all the responses. I'm just waiting to see if I can get 3,500 out of my bbc off ebay. If that will sell I will be able to initiate this project.

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by Maxxd07

BTW there are some LB7s that have had injectors replaced more than 2 or 3 times so it doesnt matter if they have been replaced or not. Some of it has to do with the person installing them too.

Do you know if that was years ago? I believe the injectors are improved now so that they don't require replacement any more often than a LLY LBZ, etc.

On a separate note, a Dmax is quieter than a Cummins, right? Not a fan of having to shut the truck off when going through the drive thru.

[05crewcab]

Originally Posted by Vintage Windmills

Do you know if that was years ago? I believe the injectors are improved now so that they don't require replacement any more often than a LLY LBZ, etc.

On a separate note, a Dmax is quieter than a Cummins, right? Not a fan of having to shut the truck off when going through the drive thru.

Yes, the bosch injectors are revised to be as reliable as the newer motors...I am not sure when that revision when in...2004-5??

The Dmax is WAY quieter than a Cummins. If you want your truck to sound like an old bulldozer get the 12-valve cummins

i get asked to shut down the 71 way more than the diesel at the drive thru

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by 05crewcab

Yes, the bosch injectors are revised to be as reliable as the newer motors...I am not sure when that revision when in...2004-5??

The Dmax is WAY quieter than a Cummins. If you want your truck to sound like an old bulldozer get the 12-valve cummins

i get asked to shut down the 71 way more than the diesel at the drive thru

lol, yeah, i've ran the LLY a fair amount but don't have experience with the Cummins. The wierd thing is the LLY was quieter when newer, then leveled of at a still relatively quiet level. It was just super quiet when new for some reason. Was yours the same?

[05crewcab]

Originally Posted by Vintage Windmills

lol, yeah, i've ran the LLY a fair amount but don't have experience with the Cummins. The wierd thing is the LLY was quieter when newer, then leveled of at a still relatively quiet level. It was just super quiet when new for some reason. Was yours the same?

Yeah, i guess it has gotten a little louder at idle since I have owned it...there are always new little sounds or grumbles I hearing, but i think that is mostly due to the LBZ mouthpiece and 4" exhaust.

some trucks are just noisier than others. a co-worker of mine has the exact same truck a me, same mileage and all, and his truck with stock everything is louder than mine.

[stich626]

If you want your truck to sound like an old bulldozer get the 12-valve cummins

x2

[no moa]

i love my 07 duramax, and wouldn't own a dodge (just my preferance). But i would love to cram an old 12V cummins into a 72 C10 or C20. That would be the sh!t. THey are so easier to work on, and make HP with.

[treveiger]

Duramax are a lot quieter and run better in the winter IMO. My father bought his truck this fall and when it got colder the think never knocked starting up until it was single digits and bleow.

I know this is a little off topic but its a cool story involving my fathers Dmax. After a month or so of the cold my father decided he was ready to switch out to a true synthetic and bought Ams Oil diesel oil for it and im not exagerating at all on this story.

My father was feeling sick one night and it started to snow and he didnt feel like doing snow removal that night or the next morning so he gave me his truck for the night, well when i got home i realised i didnt have the cord to plug it in which it kinda worried me sense it was -9 and was suppose to get below -15 that night but there was nothing i could do because my car was at the shop so i went to bed and tried to forget about it. Well i woke up and went to go start it worring that itd sound horrible but when i started it i didnt hear a single knock out of it just a normal sounding start up if it was warmer. Before with the other Delco "synthetic" (i think thats what the brand name was) it knocked pretty good when it was in the single digits so now im a true believer in Ams Oil and were going to completely switch everything in the truck to Ams Oil.