Thinking about buying a modded truck

[CStansbury]

Hey all. I’ve been hankering for another 12v truck, and a guy in my area is selling one that he has put a lot of time and money into. He’s just bored with it and wants to start a new truck. I’ve never owned a highly modded truck before and wanted to get some feedback from y’all before I hand him the cash. Here are the specs:

1998 Dodge 2500 12v 5spd, 263k on dash, 13k miles on motor, 13k on transfer case, 200 miles on trans with bigger input shaft and south bend dual disk, rebuilt head with studs, Steed speed manifold, S369, FASS 220, 5x0.018 injectors, .093 injection lines, 13mm injection pump with 191 delivery valves and 5k gov springs, 23 degrees of timing. New front brakes, and wheel bearings, rear drums and brakes, driveshaft, and diff cover.

I plan on driving the truck to work 4-5 times a week and hauling some odds/ends for house projects. No heavy towing planned and probably wouldn’t be able to anyways without some compound turbos.

Any thoughts on the build? Does it sound like a good combo for the street?

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

not in my opinion and I have tried most of those mods.

 

[CStansbury]

not in my opinion and I have tried most of those mods.

Thanks, Joe. How hard would it be to get it tuned right? Would the right compound turbo setup make it a better driver?

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

It would take effort and expense. If I had it, I would get a 215 HP pump with 12mm plungers, either 215 or 370 marine injectors, 181 delivery valves (12 HP better in my testing vs, 191), and no more than .084" lines (again, better in my testing than 093). In other words, I would set it up for no more than 600 HP at the wheels. Mine was a wild animal with the bigger pump, etc. and not much fun, or mpg, on the street for daily use. I would probably get the BD twins these days; they worked well in my 2004. I doubt the 5k governor springs would idle and run smoothly. I ran 4k springs and lightened the weights to get no defueling until 5400. However, max power was at 3000 so a lot of that rpm was not useful. Max would have been at even lower rpm if the huge single turbo would have spooled sooner. Remember that you have only so many crank degrees to inject fuel effectively, it must be atomized well, so injectors can only be so big for a given pump pressure, and the clock time corresponding to those degrees gets too short as rpm increases.

 

[CStansbury]

Really appreciate your insights, Joe! I’ll go take a look at it, drive it, and report back. If it’s super clean, it may be worth making some changes at the current asking price.

 

[SnoKing]

Really appreciate your insights, Joe! I’ll go take a look at it, drive it, and report back. If it’s super clean, it may be worth making some changes at the current asking price.

Find a stocker or a slightly mod'd for a daily driver! My 2001.5 had stage one injectors, EZ Comp in timing only, DTT transmission and a PDR-12W turbo. It was a fun daily driver.

 

[Topzide]

Have you looked at the cost factor of truck and what you would need to change out? It could turn into a money pit and not be a very fun ride daily. It sounds like he's topped out on what he can do and is looking to start another to have something to wrench on. A little modded for daily would be best. Truck sounds like more of a Friday night til Sunday truck as it is! It's you coin to through at it. I enjoy wrenching on things as long as they are going in the right direction. Remember that if a daily driver, you may not want to draw to much attention to yourself or you may be late to work or dinner!

 

[BigPapa]

While I thoroughly respect Joe’s opinion, the only things I would change would be the fuel lines, DV’s, make some IP adjustments, and lower the timing some. From there, I’d assess the turbo and decide if it needed changing or maybe go to twins. Other than that, everything else is manageable.

 

[CStansbury]

Have you looked at the cost factor of truck and what you would need to change out? It could turn into a money pit and not be a very fun ride daily. It sounds like he's topped out on what he can do and is looking to start another to have something to wrench on. A little modded for daily would be best. Truck sounds like more of a Friday night til Sunday truck as it is! It's you coin to through at it. I enjoy wrenching on things as long as they are going in the right direction. Remember that if a daily driver, you may not want to draw to much attention to yourself or you may be late to work or dinner!

It definitely sounds like a beast of a truck. I’m not opposed to putting some money into it to improve drivability, but would like to be able to drive it while I’m working on it. It wouldn’t be my only transportation, so it wouldn’t be a huge deal if it was deadlined for a few days during a project.

While I thoroughly respect Joe’s opinion, the only things I would change would be the fuel lines, DV’s, make some IP adjustments, and lower the timing some. From there, I’d assess the turbo and decide if it needed changing or maybe go to twins. Other than that, everything else is manageable.

Thanks for the feedback. Those aren’t super expensive changes and I’m capable of doing them myself. I’ll let you guys know what it’s like when I test drive it.

 

[CStansbury]

Sooooo, speaking of breakage, this is the current disposition of the truck. Apparently, whoever went through the engine last time, didn’t tab the dowel pin! It took out the cam gear and the timing case! I really dodged a bullet there!

The truck is currently in the best local shop getting an engine rebuild with a used block and all new internals. While he’s at it, he is putting in a Hamilton cam and upgraded valve train. He’s also swapping in a set of compounds, which should help with the smoke/EGT issues. I’m going to test drive it next week after the work is done.
#ad

#ad

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

The 13 mm plungers and barrels result in very high pressures, both fuel and lifters to camshaft in the pump. Expect the cam to wear out prematurely.