New Truck!

[reidbear]

SO! One week ago i hopped on a plane from the Bufallo, New York airport and several hours later i landed at LAX. After a weekend in Bakersfield at a nostalgia drag race event my dad and i took off across the dessert to Meadiew Arizona to look at a 1991 D250 that i found on craigslist several weeks earlier. As we neared the guys house the sky started to turn black, the road turned from ashphalt to dirt, and from dirt to basically rough trail. Needless to say i started to get a bad feeling about the truck before i'd even seen it.
WOW was i pleasantly surprised. The truck was waiting in the driveway recently washed and cleaned inside and out. There wasn't a spot of rust on the truck, although the paint on the hood and roof is pretty faded and missing in spots. When i popped the hood i check the oil and airfilter, both appear to have been recently changed, the oil still being clear. The truck is a 5 speed, it has an airlift airbag system with an onboard pump, a banks muffler, and some badass mudflaps. I made the deal and after spending a week or two here in arizona at my parents condo, i'll be driving it back home to Niagara Falls Canada. My plans for the future include a fuel pin, governor spring and a timing modification. Eventually i'd like to get some gauges and fix the faded hood and roof. I love reading these forums and can't wait to start personalizing this truck and making it my own.

 

[Exekiel69]

Nice truck. Don't forget to overfill the getrag at least 1qt and always keep an eye on it bc some like to leak and this is what kills them. If You'll do pump mods get the gauges first like a pyro, water temp, etc.
If it's a 91 do You have the IC right?
KDP is very important to get it done, no one knows how far out it could be, I just drilled a hole in the case then taped it and drive a SS long bolt to stop it if it moves out.

You'll love the 3200 spring.

 

[reidbear]

Thanks for the reply Exekiel69. I definitely plan on doing the KDP once i get home. I asked the guy i bought it from if he had had any problems with the transmission and he told me the only problems he had were with leaks and that he had made his own gaskets to fix the problem once and for all. He also said that he overfilled is by a quart like he had heard to do. Unfortunately the truck is non IC, its an early production date truck. I got the original owners manual with the truck and i was looking through it yesterday and in the back where the pages are left blank for notes there are records of every oil change, tire rotation, brake job and every other bit of maintenance done all the way back to 1991. It seems like it was well taken care of.

 

[rebel_horseman]

Not unfortunately, the non-IC Cummins came with larger injectors (and some say made more power from the factory) than the later IC trucks. I wouldn't worry about timing advance so much as fuel screw tweaking. The timing advance is only really beneficial for mid range and top end power. If you turn up the fuel screw you can get lots more low to mid range power. I'd suggest changing the 'Rag fluid to synthetic and check all the ball joints up front for wear. Probably a good idea to drain and flush the radiator when you get a chance as well. The BHAF is a good addition as well and will help the lag-master H1C that came on the '91 trucks.

And of course, before any power mods you need gauges especially EGT since the fuel screw makes things hot quick.

 

[crashnzuk]

Bumping the timing will help to some degree with EGTs and fuel mileage. A tiny timing bump on my truck made a huge difference in the way my truck acts during normal everyday driving. If you plan to work the truck and not go crazy with the fuel, get a smaller exhaust housing for the turbo, like a 14cm. With a smaller hot side, you may not need to turn the fuel up as much as you think to get a nice running, snappy truck.
Travis.

 

[reidbear]

Although i don't plan on doing a lot of towing or heavy hauling with this truck, i'll be the first to admit i have a heavy foot and love seeing a cloud of black smoke. for that reason i've set myself a budget of $1000 for modifications. I know i can afford a fuel pin, spring, KDP, and a set of gauges. I don't think i want to go as far as upgrading the turbo and injectors because i know it will start a snowball effect of then upgrading the clutch, transmission and yada yada yada, i'm sure most enthusiasts on this site know what i mean. I have a K&N air filter leftover from my old 89 D250 that i plan on using when i fabricate my own intake tube. I mainly want an everyday driver that i can have some fun with at the track on the weekends if i want but still get to work with on monday.

 

[rebel_horseman]

You can make gobs of 'moke by turning the smoke screw all the way down, installing a fuel pin, and turning the fuel screw in to the nut. That's what I did in mine and I can freely cause global warming in any area I chose. Total cost for my upgrade was a whopping $100 for the DennyT Stage 2 pin.

I went with a BHAF on the stock tube and it works pretty good. I also recommend making the muffler disappear. It helps with EGT and turbo spool, plus the truck sounds really nice with it as well.

 

[crashnzuk]

An exhaust housing isn't that expensive, and will make the turbo spool faster and give you more boost. You can still turn up the smoke too if you like, it's just the smaller housing makes it more fun to drive everyday.
Travis..

 

[SORTIE]

Sweet truck, but is 2WD going to do it for you up in Canada? Or do you plan to take the truck off the road for the winter?