Detroit or Cummins?

[USNENFTS]

Alright, so I did a ZF 5 Speed swap a while ago and I've decided to build the donor truck. The spare engine is awesome! I will build that and put it in my current truck when it dies. So, this donor truck has no tranny, and won't have an engine.... The body is pretty good. You know what I see? SOMETHING BAD ASS! I am going to gut the truck and do custom EVERYTHING! Here is where I need some opinions OR ideas. Do I build a detroit or cummins? Cummins has more parts availability but detroits are just plane awesome! There is something magical about a 2 stroke diesel with a blower AND turbo. but..... Parts? What should I do..... Oh, and a tranny, I was thinkin an allison automatic..... I'm takin this **** to a whole nother level!

 

[direwulf23]

I have a great fondness for Detroits. I have fair personal experience with them and from that you just can't kill the Detroit. We have an 89 Freightliner that is beat all to hell and worn out. The truck sat for 2years before I started driving it and it fired right up. It has nearly 800k very hard miles on it. Its sat for a nearly two years now and I have no doubt it'd still fire right up.
As far as tranny I'd say get an Eaton-Fuller 9 spd.
Then go tandem axle, air breaks, and full air lockers!

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[USNENFTS]

Hm.... Air.... I like it..... This truck is gonna replace all 7 wonders of the world.

 

[Kevin 007]

6.9 + head studs + turbo + Moose products.

 

[crash-harris]

How about a DT360 (or squeeze in a DT466) and a Road Ranger manual transmission? Go ahead and do the tandem rear ends and take pics for me I want to make the Enterprise a tandem dually at some point. Recenter a Sterling 10.25" and run it on a cross between a Chalmers rear suspension and a PACCAR air glide 460.

One day.... (fingers crossed my lotto numbers hit tonight!)

 

[USNENFTS]

6.9????? Nah...... Gonna be a cummins or detroit. If I go Cummins I can P-Pump it.....

 

[USNENFTS]

How about a DT360 (or squeeze in a DT466) and a Road Ranger manual transmission? Go ahead and do the tandem rear ends and take pics for me I want to make the Enterprise a tandem dually at some point. Recenter a Sterling 10.25" and run it on a cross between a Chalmers rear suspension and a PACCAR air glide 460.

One day.... (fingers crossed my lotto numbers hit tonight!)

It's going to be a while haha! Once I buy a house, and get the truck here, the gut will begin. I am going to acquire everything first, then build it. As I have learned with custom builds, need all the **** first otherwise it just don't out as planned.

 

[USNENFTS]

I'm pretty set on a detroit or cummins. They are just simply badass, and have an extreme amount of HP/torqe when built right. The cummins has A LOT of performance parts available. Not sure about detroit.

 

[direwulf23]

My dream project is a tandem axle E series with air lockers, air brakes, Roadranger 10 or 9 spd, and turbo diesel. Why an E series? So that I can cut out the box and install a flat bed and have the box as a camper that can be slid back on.

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[direwulf23]

Oh, and dual exhaust/ turbo!

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[riotwarrior]

DT 466 or detroit cummins been done to death...booooooring

 

[USNENFTS]

DT 466 or detroit cummins been done to death...booooooring

This is true.... EVERYONE and their brother has a cummins..... Cummins this and cummins that.... I am thinkin parts wise.... Detroit parts are getting hard to find. Kinda like our IDI's

 

[subway]

Cummins have been done to death but the dt series is a bit more rare especially the 466.

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[crash-harris]

Everyone does Cummins swaps, but considering that is going to take years, $$$$$+ and lots of time, you may want to consider a 6BT since all the parts are already out there to drop one in a Ford.

I agree with having all the parts before you start. I always want to do things right, but the time and money involved means I don't get to really do it, lol. I'm planning on putting the dually D60 front that I've had for Bruiser for over 5 years in the Enterprise now. Still, it's better to over prepare/plan than under prepare/plan.

 

[USNENFTS]

That's my reasoning behind a cummins. I can find a detroit with parts, just not performance stuff, which is kind of a bummer. I'm thinking the cummins in the donor truck build and I'll find something else to drop the detroit in to have fun with haha. Ohhhhhhh say a 1960 Peterbilt?