Ready to Modify my 7.3L - Diesel Forum

Scully777 · 10-28-2009, 03:40 PM

Ok I am ready to do some serious modifications on the rig I just bought, and I would love opinions on what to do, where to start and what vendors you all think have the best products to increase the performance, but not kill the truck. Any and all opinions welcome. Also if anyone knows of a good diesel tunning shop / person in or close to Phoenix AZ I would love that info as well.
My goal is to end up in the 500HP and 700 ft lbs. range.
Thanks,

lone_star_dsl · 10-28-2009, 03:48 PM

Gauges -Trans, boost and EGT. I prefer Isspro.
Tuner - I dont have one but most prefer DP Tuner.
Transmission - Most prefer BTS

I am not a big HP guy, more will chime in shortly. These mods will get you started down the right path though.

LoveTurbo · 10-28-2009, 06:22 PM

First off when saying you want those kind of numbers out of a 7.3 just letting you know it wont be cheep and by all means is not a budget build lol AFE Stage 2 intake Larger 4 inch exaust MBRP Magnaflow take your pick guages boost, trans, piro, basics tuning get jody at DP-Tuner too set you up with one of his tunes make sure you tell him what your looking for out of your truck and what mods will be done, gunna need injectors Swamps or Beans Stage 3 260cc single shots or go with some Mini Me's. choose your "Big Oil" Dual HPOP set up. Termanator or Stealth are two big ones around here. next your turbos gotta be changed out and dont think a drop in replacement would be good enough such as the garret GT38R or somthing simple from Turbonetics, so your prob going to need a built H2e set up. if your looking for this to be a pull truck go with somthing smaller. while running the pressure through a new intercooler, could go with the 6.0 cooler somthing from spearco or i hate it but banks makes a nice one to.with that fuel and boost numbers head studds are going to be needed aswell ARP is popular. dont know your opinion on drugs but might want to throw some Water/Meth in there too keep things cool. or throw some nitrouse or propane at the motor. with numbers in the 500 area i think the internals should be good with the 01 as far as the rods being forged and all, pistons, heads and crank. (Could be wrong) id actualy like to know can someone answer that?. because you may need thigns along the lines of mahl coated pistons, fire ringed heads and a built and balence crank with all the trimmings. going to need a built transmisson BTS is recomended around here could go a bit pricy with suncoast just stay away from anything ATS. think iv got a lot coverd but id like to hear from the Big Horsepower guys out there id like to learn more as well good luck with your truck to guy

klhansen · 10-28-2009, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scully777

Also if anyone knows of a good diesel tunning shop / person in or close to Phoenix AZ I would love that info as well.
My goal is to end up in the 500HP and 700 ft lbs. range.
Thanks,

ITP Diesel is in the Phoenix area. They'd probably love to have you spend your money with them.

They have some good stuff, like fuel system mods. They also sell Jody's tunes and chips, I believe.

Scully777 · 10-28-2009, 07:59 PM

Wow there is a bunch to chew on here. Thanks fir taking the time to put that post together. So I am seeing a recurring theme of NO Banks, and no ATS from more than a few people. What's the deal....... I am curious as to what you all know that I do not about these guys.

444-4D · 10-28-2009, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scully777

Wow there is a bunch to chew on here. Thanks fir taking the time to put that post together. So I am seeing a recurring theme of NO Banks, and no ATS from more than a few people. What's the deal....... I am curious as to what you all know that I do not about these guys.

You said you wanted 500 HP. Banks has really nice stuff but nothing for over about 300 HP. I have no experience with ATS. When you ask a question like this you are going to get lots of suggestions. Most of them are going to be incorrect. Do you homework twice. Be prepared to spend $10-15,000 minimum.

LoveTurbo · 10-28-2009, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scully777

Wow there is a bunch to chew on here. Thanks fir taking the time to put that post together. So I am seeing a recurring theme of NO Banks, and no ATS from more than a few people. What's the deal....... I am curious as to what you all know that I do not about these guys.

no problem guy i was bored at work lol. but yea banks makes some good quality stuff theres no question about it. just its over price and over advertised in my opinion. for what you would pay for banks you could get something just as good and better for sometimes half the price, just gotta know where to look and what your looking at. Mr Gale Banks himself does have the fastest diesel on the planet ?? but hes not makin a lot of big power stuff, atleast for what i have seen for the 7.3. ATS..... GARBAGE!!!! most will say there transmissions are overpriced nicley painted worthless boat anchors. check out the thread "Snake Bit and Gun shy " or somthing like that its the most recent Horror Story on the ats transmission. BTS is the way to go for these trucks the guy knows what hes doing i dont even have one unfortunatly but i know enough to stand behind what he does.

mg5000 · 10-28-2009, 09:33 PM

Seeing how you live in Phoenix, AZ it would be wise to get a 6.0L transmission cooler, especially for the 120+ degrees in the summertime. I got one on mine plus a bigger Hughes trans pan--both of them make a world of difference.A good diesel mechanic in the Phoenix area is Strictly Diesel in Scottsdale, they are up on Scottsdale Rd. and Butherus up by that little airport.

Scully777 · 10-29-2009, 10:34 AM

thanks for the heads up. i had no idea about ATS.

SmokeyWren · 10-29-2009, 12:11 PM

If you really expect 500 reliable ponies on a dyno, then you're planning to spend at least $15,000 on engine and tranny mods. And probably more than that if you achieve over 400 reliable orses that will live for tens of thousands of miles. $10,000 for engine mods, and $5000 for a BTS built tranny.

Yeah, ITP in the Phoenix area should be glad to spend your money as long as you have enough to achieve what you want to achieve. But don't expect to spend only a coupla grand to reach 500 reliable horses.
ITP Diesel, LLC
Dennis Schroeder
ITP Diesel, LLC
21616 N. Central Ave.
Suite # 9
Phoenix, AZ 85024

Dennis has been a sponsor of TheDieselStop for several years. But I don't know if he actually builds engines. Maybe he knows someone in the Phoenix are that builds engines using the good parts from ITP.

If I were going to spend that much money on a truck that's at least 6 years old, I'd first drive to the Ozarks and have BTS do his magic. About $4,500 plus travel expenses. Then I'd drive to Houston and turn the truck over to David Lott at
Diesel Innovations
for the $10,000 or so in engine overhaul and building work. Notice that "Snow White" truck on David's website. He's been there, done that, with 7.3L engines. He's also blown up at least one 7.3L in Snow White, so he knows the limits.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scully777

So I am seeing a recurring theme of NO Banks, and no ATS from more than a few people. What's the deal....... I am curious as to what you all know that I do not about these guys.

Banks makes great stuff, but it's overpriced compared to other sources for similar mods. And Banks won't even talk about pumping 500 horses out of a 7.3L. Banks stuff will give you reliable power without killing longevity, and that can't be done if you expect 500 horses. Back off to around 400 horses and Banks might be willing to set you up, but it will probably cost a lot more than from some other vendors.

I don't know anything about ATS except they claim to make lots of diesel performance products. And David Lott has an ATS tranny in his race truck. Any tranny that can live in Snow White must be good stuff. But I'd still go with the proven BTS tranny. My BTS tranny has been putting up with my abuse for over 5 years.

Scully777 · 10-29-2009, 12:27 PM

again thanks for the info. it is invaluable. i could have never found some of these builders if it were not for you guys. I am going to email BTS this morning. I figured it was going to cost me more than 20K so i am ready for it. The last car i built while not a diesel was still fun and addicting. 30K later there was a 550AWHP rally car in my garage. I will look into diesel innovations as well. You guys are all great!!
thanks,

ckanderson · 10-29-2009, 12:32 PM

Since your in AZ you might consider john wood for your tranny....

way closer then BTS

shocker444 · 10-29-2009, 02:04 PM

Zane Koch from Wide Open Performance in Sandy, Utah gets my vote, good builder and he has lots of cool rides!!! A lot of the work you can do yourself though, like pulling the motor isn't too bad, I've done a couple of them. Pull the front clip off the truck and the turbo and it's ready to come out. Makes the trans drop easy. Personally I'd pull the heads, get it set up for o-rings, h11 head studs, and start doing bolt ons. Big injectors, big oil, big turbo (or 2) and some laughing gas will get you there.

TinyScramblerMan · 10-29-2009, 02:40 PM

I called up Beans the other day and talked to Matt over there. Anyways I already have the 4" exhaust turbo back, wastegate valve, K&N Intake and Wicked Wheel. This is what he told me he could do for me. He would sell me a 1.0 housing, another mod to the turbo to take out the wastegate, Chip with custom Tunes, a new valve body for the tranny from BTS, boost spooler amongst other little things and he said 360 or so RWHP. And if i were to get the stage 2 injectors it would be around the 440 RWHP.
Are the Beans Chips and DP Chip comparable?
Does that seem to be a way to spend some money so that i can pull my camper cross country?
I am looking to get away from the Edge Chip and a few other ways to modify to pull the crawler hauler better. I went to SD a month or so ago and it struggled bad in the mountains.

444-4D · 10-29-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scully777

I am going to email BTS this morning.

BTS does more than transmissions. If all you want to do is write the check, they can do the whole job. If you want to be involved for the fun of it, they still have at least one item you need besides a trans.

Your first big decision is your rods.