Ok how much power is reasonable vs reliability?

[hammersley]

Ok here's the $64,000 question - (older timer's - remember that show) I realize that race cars, sprint drag racers etc get a zillion horsepower out of these engines - but they are only expected to last - hopefully for one event! Now I, along with a lot of others would like to know at what level of bombing do you start degrading reliability - I mean engine service life - not breaking transmission's, clutches etc. For example, those on the board who have become complete bomb-alholics - do you now have a much less reliable engine - say one that now can only be expected to last a very short time before overhaul?

 

[Big White Beast]

Depends....

What do you consider reliable??



I think that the mods I have in my sig. are more reliable than when it was stock. (And a lot more fun too) The gauges add to the reliability.



But hey that's just my opinion,



Garrett

 

[RustyJC]

Smokey Yunick Nailed This One!

Someone once asked Smokey Yunick this question. His response was that any given engine has a finite number of horsepower-hours built into it. You have your choice - you can get lots of horsepower for fewer hours, or less horsepower for more hours.



I guess if the Cummins will go 500,000 to 1,000,000 at stock power, maybe 300,000 miles at significantly increased power levels might not be such a bad thing.



Rusty

 

[Strick-9]

I'm going to roll 200,000 in a few months. I considered my truck extremely reliable until I got over 400 HP.



cumminsgetme has over 200,000 on his truck (211,000 maybe?) and has had 300+ HP for over 100,000 miles.



I want to rebuild my motor to freshen it up, and see how the main and rod bearings look, but the ol' girl still runs great and doesn't deserve to be torn apart just yet.



-Chris

 

[Floor It]

For autos trannys they say no more than 1lb of boost for every 100 rpm. 1800 rpm no more than 18lbs of boost.

John

 

[Ray Torresdal]

duty cycle

The other issue is duty cycle. I doubt 250-300 Hp. (rear wheel) will significantly affect engine life, unless you are towing heavy all the time. I would guess that quite a few of the 350-400 Hp. trucks rarely utilize much of that power, except when running the local streetlight circuit, and they are not pulling their campers when they are spinning their tires.



Ray

 

[Briar Hopper]

Excessive unburned fuel such as that put out by larger injectors, will contribute to a shorter engine life. Soot, and cylinder wall washdown... . If you increase the fuel, get enough turbo to burn it.

Ray said it best, we're not using all the power, all the time, so I really wouldn't worry about losing engine longevity.

 

[Okie-Go]

Mine isen't as quick as a lot of the trucks, nor is it as powerful. With these mods as they are called I would like to call it maintenance when I need to replace something. With me haveing the 6 spd I am sure the clutch will be the first to go. Sure is fun to drive and pull though.

 

[C Schomer]

Hammersley, I think the name of that show was "You Bet Your Life". Do you remember when Groucho was talking to this woman contestant in the beginning of the show and she said she was married nine years and had eight kids? Groucho took his cigar out of his mouth and said "Lady, I like my cigar too, but I take it out once in a while"!! The screen went all fuzzy(network shutdown)! Those old live shows were great! I think I'm pushing the reliability limit. 5th gear trashed in 27k miles and I know Ams 2k75w90 is good stuff but my diff had problems with it - had to find something better! Not everybody tries to top the mountains loaded as fast as possible though. Craig

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I believe in conservative fueling

My Ram is very reliable and is used as a daily driver, hunting vehicle, and tow vehicle for my travel trailer.

If I didn't need it for daily transportation, I would b. o. m. b. it more :--)

Come to May Madness and see for yourself; I might find a few more horsepower laying around



With that other thread talking about a 600 hp 6. 5 liter GM (whatta joke, those morons would need about a 3:1 correction factor on the dyno) I guess I bvetter try for 650 or even 700