Best (Non-Caddy) Diesel Truck Available in the US?

[drrtybyl]

drrtybyl, the F150 is not enough truck to tow big loads (you're thinking a 4 horse trailer). Have you ever had a trailer push your truck around on the highway? Have you ever had a trailer that keeps going after the truck has stopped? I have (was young and dumb) it's not something I wish to repeat.

You're right -- it would most likely be hauling 1 or 2 horses.. 4 horse trailer would be an absolute max load.

[Turbinepowered]

Turbinepowered, do you know which CAT engine was used? I'm curious as to what size came in a 90s 2.5+ ton Ford truck. Also, now you have me scratching my head. I thought there was a 6v71 and a bigger v6 too. And they had inline engines with the same displacement per cylinder. I thought the "71" engines went all the way from 1 cylinder to 20-something in every V and inline configuration imaginable.

Believe me, I've hunted for a 6v detroit simply because I wanted a V6 diesel and two-stroke would have been awesome.

Detroit's naming scheme was (number of cylinders) (V for V engine, - for inline) (Cubic Inches Per Cylinder). So a 1-71 was a single-cylinder 71cid two-stroke, while an 8v92 was a V8 with 92cid per cylinder.

You could get 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 cylinder engines only in an inline configuration. Beyond that there were 8, 10, 12, 16, and 24 cylinder versions, available either as inline or v configurations. 71 and 92 were the common per-cylinder displacements, with 124 (or maybe 128?) being the big mother engine available.

I'd love a 4v71, too... but they didn't make those either.

I'm looking for my pics of the Cat-in-F250 swap. Tim (my coworker) wants to put a 3126 in his Ford. Big engine...  I believe it's also called a C7? 7.2L of inline six Caterpillar diesel if that's the case...

[Patrick]

Pretty sure that DD made a 6V53 and and a 6V71, I know they made a 6V92. Have seen a 2 53 (inline) and a 4 53 (inline) as well as a 3V71 in an early 70's chev pickup (homebuild)

Doesn't take a lot of horsepower to pull a big trailer, it takes torque.
My homebuilt truck is a 1988 4 door GMC  2500 longbox. Has a 354 Perkins out of a mid 60's Dodge pd600, no turbo, rated at 120 horses at 2800 rpm. Max rpm is 3150 from the factory, max torque is 375. Pulled a 4 horse gooseneck with a big changeroom 31 feet long for years, now pull a 2 horse with a small changeroom.
Got a call last weekend from a freind who broke down, went and collected his 3 axle gooseneck trailer that had 2 tractors on the deck  (4 or 5 ton load plus 2 ton of trailer) and had no trouble running whatever speed I wanted.  Doesn't accelerate fast, but has all kinds of pull and gets just shy of 30 mpg empty and 20 mpg pulling a big load. Go for torque if you're pulling, not horsepower.  I'd go Cummins 12 valve next time, but I'm happy with what I've got.

[Turbinepowered]

Pretty sure that DD made a 6V53 and and a 6V71, I know they made a 6V92. Have seen a 2 53 (inline) and a 4 53 (inline) as well as a 3V71 in an early 70's chev pickup (homebuild)

A 3V71? As in a v 3 two stroke diesel? Two cylinders on one side and one on the other bank?

I will concede the 6v92; I pulled out my series 92 service manual and it does indeed indicate a 6v92 was built. I now want one, and Tim may well put one in his truck instead of the 3126 Caterpillar.

[Patrick]

Pretty sure that DD made a 6V53 and and a 6V71, I know they made a 6V92. Have seen a 2 53 (inline) and a 4 53 (inline) as well as a 3V71 in an early 70's chev pickup (homebuild)

A 3V71? As in a v 3 two stroke diesel? Two cylinders on one side and one on the other bank?

I will concede the 6v92; I pulled out my series 92 service manual and it does indeed indicate a 6v92 was built. I now want one, and Tim may well put one in his truck instead of the 3126 Caterpillar.

Sorry, I got ahead of myself, it was an inline 3 71.......  The 6V92 is pretty big and heavy for a small truck. New a guy that had one rated at 350 hp in an old Astro cabover, pulled a 3 axle dump, 115,000 gross wieght. I think you'll be happier trying to mount/carry something a little smaller.

[Turbinepowered]

Sorry, I got ahead of myself, it was an inline 3 71.......  The 6V92 is pretty big and heavy for a small truck. New a guy that had one rated at 350 hp in an old Astro cabover, pulled a 3 axle dump, 115,000 gross wieght. I think you'll be happier trying to mount/carry something a little smaller.

The 3126 isn't precisely a light engine either, at 1500 pounds (only 500 lighter than the 6v92). The 6v53 would probably be more than adequate, too, and is about the same weight as the 3126. Smaller, too. :p

[OM617]

71 and 92 were the common per-cylinder displacements, with 124 (or maybe 128?) being the big mother engine available.

149.

How about a 1600hp 39.1L 16V149?



Might be a tad heavy for a pickup.

15 Quarts of oil...  

Only 15 quarts? The semis I work on take 10 gallons. The engine pictured above holds 50 gallons.

[Turbinepowered]

15 Quarts of oil...  

Only 15 quarts? The semis I work on take 10 gallons. The engine pictured above holds 50 gallons.

Explains the four oil filters, mmm? At least I'm guessing that's what the big orange things on the bottom are.

[catlin_cava]

71 and 92 were the common per-cylinder displacements, with 124 (or maybe 128?) being the big mother engine available.

149.

How about a 1600hp 39.1L 16V149?



Might be a tad heavy for a pickup.

15 Quarts of oil...  

Only 15 quarts? The semis I work on take 10 gallons. The engine pictured above holds 50 gallons.

I found the diesel i'm going to put in my jetta

[Patrick]

How about a 1600hp 39.1L 16V149?

Biggest one I saw on a tour of the plant was a 20V149. Coolest was a PAIR of 24V71's (on left rotation, one right) being built for some shiek's boat. Bright red with lots of chrome. Neat!

Another option. Once saw a small cat V8  (1066?) that looked like the size of a V8 in a car, not sure of the displacement. Was not as big as a 3208.

[bajacalal]

Turbinepowered,

This guy has pics of a 6V53T in an old Ford pickup, but I think the swap was done when the truck was new! Its in your part of the country too:
http://community.webshots.com/user/Grigg3

[rabbitman]

71 and 92 were the common per-cylinder displacements, with 124 (or maybe 128?) being the big mother engine available.

149.

How about a 1600hp 39.1L 16V149?



Might be a tad heavy for a pickup.


I found the diesel i'm going to put in my jetta

More like ON your jetta

[Turbinepowered]

Turbinepowered,

This guy has pics of a 6V53T in an old Ford pickup, but I think the swap was done when the truck was new! Its in your part of the country too:
http://community.webshots.com/user/Grigg3

Sweeeeeeeeet. Looks like it fits; granted that's a '61 Ford F350 rather than a '95 F250, but it looks like there's plenty of space to play with. We can always beef springs to handle the weight, there's already a 5k pound iron flatbed on the back to balance it out.

[Rabbit on Roids]

so many of you guys dont like GM products... why?
my dad has an 06 Duramax with over 220k miles on it. the only things it has had wrong with it, was a leaky trans cooler line, and a glow plug went out. both were covered by the warranty. other than that it has just had the fluids changed regularly and been loved. same with all the other duramaxes in my family, except those ones are not loved and cared for like our rigs are.

and on another note, that was a GREAT design to mount the friggen oil filters up side down on those big detroits. 

[bajacalal]

I've hated  GM since I was 16. I don't know exactly why, maybe there stuff is too mainstream for me, maybe it's the fact that the first car I ever owned was a first generation S10 with that 2.8 liter v6 (had the acceleration of a VW NA diesel with the fuel economy of a small block v8) and leaked/burned 1 quart of oil for every tank of gas used. It also developed a new electrical problem every month. Anyway, that truck was abused so maybe it's not GM's fault but it soured me on GM products.

Then there's the fact that they've become Government Motors which irks me because I think an American car company should at least be able to dominate the competition in their own home market (please no debates right now about what is and what isn't American or foreign).

I think the Duramax is a good engine but I dislike the rest of the truck. I don't like the front suspension they are with their heavy duty line of pickups. I know the general trend has been in that direction of independent front suspension but it's not what you want in an heavy load/towing/offroad situation IMHO.

Like I said, best truck = 1987-1997 Ford. Best engine = 12 valve Cummins 6bt. Luckily, this combo is a viable option and is relatively common.