I would appreciate opinions on optimum IDI build, all fantasies welcome.

[Trashnomancer]

I am planning on a full custom RV build. Custom motor, gearing, body, and interior. And I am not afraid of spending real money on the project.

Actually I am planning to sell my house to sure up the budget.

I have done a great deal of reading. And originally I was planning on a 4bt build. But more recently I started thinking of building up a top end IDI.

So I came to Oilburners for some advice.

Priorities are, in order:
1. Reliability
2. Fuel economy
3. Torque

I have heard mention of the idea of a 6.9/7.3 hybrid. I was wondering about taking it further. Buying a 94 turbo engine then sleaving it down to 6.9 building it up as strong as possible, and putting on the biggest turbo the engine will support. 4" exhaust. Yatta yatta. Guessing I will need a custom injection pump, or would it just be a well built 6.9l IP?

Am I on base with this idea?

Would there be a bigger badder build? Would this even be doable?

If you had $100,000 to build up a truck with the priorities listed what would you do?

I just want to build this once and be happy with it for the next 300,000 miles.

What truck would you start with for the build? Preferably something with a solid front axle, and a silly heavy frame.

I am planning a 5 speed tranny and gear vendors three speed auxiliary, I just wish there was a brownie box that was built for a standard size truck too.

Gears, and gears, and gears.

What do you think the top fuel economy for this engine, if money was no object?

I will gladly buy beer and deliver to anyone who can help once the RV is done.

 

[Trashnomancer]

By and by, I have small but vary accurate machine tools(lathe, mill, surface grinder, also tools for port and polish and valve jobs). I also have access to large, and vary large, machine tools at friends shops.

So much of what can be done by me, will be done by me.

I can fabricate most parts with very tight tolerances. So building custom anything is not out of the question.

Any shape or size of gear is no big problem. 0.00005+/-0.0002 tolerance is obtainable with tools on hand.

 

[IDIoit]

Any shape or size of gear is no big problem. 0.00005+/-0.0002 tolerance is obtainable with tools on hand.

if these tools are on your hand, you may want to move your hand, they are pretty heavy.
sounds like you need a bus, unless youre one of the "little people"


if i was to do something like this, i would be using over the counter parts.
things break. and when they do, i dont want to be waiting for a month on the road waiting for the parts to be fabricated and get where ever you are.

ive seen a few "i wanna build a badass 6.9" threads, guess heres another one for the books.
good luck on your adventure.

 

[Trashnomancer]

Thank you for the reply IDIoit. You caught yet another piece of poor grammar. I am good for them. Truth be told I haven't had a machine on my hand in awhile. But I have made the mistake. Luckily it was under a ton and didn't make it all the way to the floor.

I am definitely one of the "little people". The overall design will be very compact. I have a parts list started, but I was hoping for others to share their ideas, so I didn't want to simply lay out my list.

The RV will offer under 110 square feet of space, including the cab over. So the frame will likely be cut short.

The original idea was for a Toyota Pickup with an OM614 engine. The space provided by the Toy was fine, but the cargo capacity was not up to *****. I was also leery of the frame rot that seems to effect every Yota I have seen.

My RV will be my full time house.

I also feel you on the "over the counter parts". But I can always make and carry an extra set(or many) of whatever is being made so that sort of solves that. The argument is one of the main reasons I want to stay away from the 4bt.

If you know of any of those "bad ass 6.9" threads that actually got anywhere I would appreciate a link. I will search the forum tonight when I get time.

Sounds like you put together a rather optimum f350 based on your signature. I am guessing you have one of the Moose IPs? Which model and how do you like it? What is the fuel economy on that set up?

 

[BDCarrillo]

Why not buy a bread van that already has a 4bt and be done? I see two on craigslist near me for ~4k.

Or find an ambulance box on a truck frame, if you want to go the IDI route.

Reinventing the wheel may sound fun, but it'll be pretty tedious and without any unique benefit when done. As an engineer I went through this same vehicle design/criteria cycle with a coworker who wanted an ultimate end-of-days 4x4 monster truck with space to live in and carry a motorcycle... turns out a 4x4 GM van fit the bill once the stars cleared from his eyes.

The IDI may win points for ease of WMO compatibility as well.

 

[IDIoit]

Thank you for the reply IDIoit. You caught yet another piece of poor grammar. I am good for them. Truth be told I haven't had a machine on my hand in awhile. But I have made the mistake. Luckily it was under a ton and didn't make it all the way to the floor.

I am definitely one of the "little people". The overall design will be very compact. I have a parts list started, but I was hoping for others to share their ideas, so I didn't want to simply lay out my list.

The RV will offer under 110 square feet of space, including the cab over. So the frame will likely be cut short.

The original idea was for a Toyota Pickup with an OM614 engine. The space provided by the Toy was fine, but the cargo capacity was not up to *****. I was also leery of the frame rot that seems to effect every Yota I have seen.

My RV will be my full time house.

I also feel you on the "over the counter parts". But I can always make and carry an extra set(or many) of whatever is being made so that sort of solves that. The argument is one of the main reasons I want to stay away from the 4bt.

If you know of any of those "bad ass 6.9" threads that actually got anywhere I would appreciate a link. I will search the forum tonight when I get time.

Sounds like you put together a rather optimum f350 based on your signature. I am guessing you have one of the Moose IPs? Which model and how do you like it? What is the fuel economy on that set up?

the F350 has lots of room, if i would have installed a bronco rearend it would have yeilded about 70 sf.
still too small IMO for a rv/camper

yes i have a moose pump, and no i didnt have fuel economy in mind, altho she does pretty good.
i havnt calculated the MPG's yet. but im sure shes better than my PSD.

a bread van, short buss sounds like the way to go.
my neighbor has a kid that gets picked up by one, and from the sounds of it, it sounds like a T444E

i will be doing the same one day, but i want a 40's era school bus

this is a build thread that got built, dont know if its installed yet.
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/sh...ing-for-Input-on-boring-6-9-to-7-3&highlight=

 

[sjwelds]

Why mess around guys:

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?70780-Introducing-TOTAL-MOOSEPOWER!

 

[stealth13777]

I will be watching this with interest, hope it gets done. I would probably look for a truck based ambulance (versus van based), cause to me the trucks are easier to work on.

As for the engine, 300,000 and max power don't go together. A good tradeoff that would make reliable power would be doing the motor right, down to every detail. It can be costly, but you absorb a lot of the cost if you can machine yourself. There a quite a few guys on here who have built engines on a perfectionist level and make good, if not crazy power. Get one of the cams that are available, do the proper machine work, and order the conestoga injection parts would be a good start. Pick your turbo, pick your charge cooler and make them work.

Personally, I would also look into one of the medium duty transmissions. If you can do all this fabbing, take weak points out of the equation and try one of those. But I haven't done this work before and your proposed option would and has worked for many.

Just my ideas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TahoeTom]

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1261431-class-a-motor-home-with-mild-performance-7-3-a.html
This build is posted on FTE forum. Poster is a member here also but not a frequent poster. His build is well documented and he knows what he is doing.

 

[wh1056]

I like this design:

http://pennstate.craigslist.org/rvs/4911006599.html

 

[Black dawg]

my idi build would be:
sleeved 7.3 with mods to mirror 6.9 cooling, and head studs. and huge radiator
Some sorta custom wastegated turbo setup, 15 psi regulated (absolute longevity) and big intercooler
stock but maxed or nearly maxed fuel system. 100% smoke free at al altitude
wide ratio zf5, and us gear over drive.

If I were building a motorhome though, It would be out of a dt466 powered bus.

 

[OLDBULL8]

To start out with, if your going to build your own camper, sounds like it. I would get a good used F450 7.3L, 94 and earilier dually, even if the engine is shot, if so, look into a rebuilt engine from Promar.com, highly recommended it. Then decide if you want a Manual or Auto tranny, Manual with a GV under/over will give you the best MPG. Then think about over the cab sleeping, pretty cramped and have to climb up into it. The weight of fresh water and sewage tanks. All the appliances and more, you can get from an RV salvage, like in Elkhart IN.http://www.rvpartsnation.com/.

Prepping the engine with turbo and injectors, stick with http://MoosePump.com. Russ "typ4 has a torque cam. Promar will build an engine with your extra parts, like the cam and Arp studs.

 

[marmot]

Hard to say what you are doing from your posts but if you are converting I'd buy somthing like this http://www.sellabus.com/eyre.html and convert it. Already has running gear and just needs rv package, or you may be converting a short bus? What type of rv are you building?

 

[Trashnomancer]

Thank you all for your replies.

I see I do need to add some information to the post.

The RV is going to be used as my primary residence as I travel cross country and gather information on historic rockhounding sites and mines.

It will need to be 4x4. And fuel economy is a priority not because of price, but because occasionally I will be traveling very far from the beaten path. Very far. I may not have access to diesel for 600miles or better, and that doesn't give me a budget for driving around to prospect. So I would really like to get 800 miles between fill ups. More would be better. A stock IDI gets roughly 650 miles between fill ups. A 5 gal tank and a handful of miles per gallon improvement would get me where I need to go.

The body of the RV will be made of Kevlar or Aramid fabric honeycomb composite panels for weight and rigidity. And the RV will be what I refer to as a vaulted ceiling clam shell pop up design for greatly reduced air resistance and security(no doors or windows to the RV compartment exposed when closed). All the RV and body panels will be separated by inflatable joints, to allow the frame to flex under rock crawling conditions without ripping apart the RV.

I have spent years figuring and refiguring how to fit a whole life into such a tiny space, but I have figured out how to have a full jewelry and lapidary shop, a vary well fitted kitchen, office space, and sleeping courtiers into 110 sq ft.

The body will be donated by my extended cab, short bed, El Camino. Which will get body kit to reduce wind drag, and to allow the body to be mounted high enough to hide the engine without a cowl. Wheel flairs and full moon hubcaps will be added for wind reduction. And the bed will be cut off and mounted centered over the rear axle to avoid the uni-body issues associated with the flex of a crawler.

The roof will be cut to allow a pass through in the cab over. And a vary heavy security hatch will be added to prevent people from breaking into the RV from the cab.

There will be a solenoid kill switch and likely a manual one with key to prevent hot wiring. There will also be a lock on the emergency break to prevent some one from towing it off. It can still be pulled up onto a trailer, but I don't think there is a solution for that.

If I was going to "GO BIG" why not one of these:

http://imgur.com/gallery/iKAke

So ****.

I am working on reading the links provided today. Will post on them shortly.

Thanks again everyone for the input.

 

[Trashnomancer]

A built Cummins 6bt will likely be an option for the power plant too. I just have not spent enough time reading about it to know if I can get the fuel economy out of it I would like.

There will be an inter cooler with evaporative cooling system for the really bad times. And a pulse turbo because they are impressive.

I will be "making" or more so hacking my own high efficiency refrigerator. I will be carrying a solar oven and wood gasifier for cooking. Likely a small Coleman stove for bad days too. And I will be bolting a stainless box oven under the hood.

I will also be carrying an stealth electric converted bike for getting around town and occasionally when prospecting.

There will also be a fairly decent sized solar array and kayak mounted on the roof. Hopefully people don't find a way to steal them.