Summer Project

[79GLIDE]

I'm going to start a fire, and throw some diesel on it. I have read tech information presented on this site. I have 2 1990 F250's, a 2x4(ZF5) and a 4x4(E4OD). Besides the 4x4 and transmission, they are identically equipped. I'm going to scrap the body on the 4x4 chassis(sig), and replace it with the nearly rust free 2x4 body, stem to stern. I'm looking for opinions based on individual experiences, pro and con, in 3 areas. I'm running Kelly TSR 315/75x16 on the 4x4 currently.

1) Body Lift: I'm pretty set on utilizing a 2 inch body lift. My reasoning is creating a some firewall clearance for adding a turbo. If anyone has tried this to gain clearance for the down pipe, I would be interested in knowing if it is helpful. Generally, I'm not a fan of body lifts. Since I'm swapping, I'm giving it serious consideration.

2) Suspension Lift: I'm interested in a 4" suspension lift for additional tire clearance. Last time I started a thread about lift kits, most responses were related to reversing shackles or trimming the front bumper for clearance. I'd rather use a commercial lift kit or additional springs. Any votes on which company makes the best kit? Are F350 solid axle front springs the same length as the Dana 50 heavy springs?

3) Turbo/Injection Pump/Injectors/Cam: Is the power gain worth changing the camshaft? Which brand and type(wastegated?) of turbo makes the MOST reliable power? What pump and injector setup is best, based on the cam and turbo situation? I tried to view the dyno data on the tech article, but the images are gone.

My plan is to complete this project by the first snowflake next Fall. I know a lot of these things have been done before, lots of different ways. I'd like to consider all options.

Thank you.

 

[icanfixall]

Buy new body bolts. Yours will probably be rusted tight. Cut off the rusted bolts too with a torch.

 

[79GLIDE]

icanfixall, in your opinion does the 2 inch body lift provide a significant advantage for turbo downpipe clearance? Is there a supplier that you know of that has a kit that addresses any necessary adapters for steering linkage? Would I be better off to BFH the firewall for the down tube, or BFH the firewall for the driver's side cylinder head?

 

[USNENFTS]

icanfixall, in your opinion does the 2 inch body lift provide a significant advantage for turbo downpipe clearance? Is there a supplier that you know of that has a kit that addresses any necessary adapters for steering linkage? Would I be better off to BFH the firewall for the down tube, or BFH the firewall for the driver's side cylinder head?

With a 2 inch body lift you would clear the up pipes and down pipes no problem! Mine is stock, no lift and no new body bushings, mine only required slight bending to get the up pipes and down pipes in.

 

[79GLIDE]

Does the Hypermax down pipe come partially crushed down, so it fits. Or is it uniform diameter to your 4".

 

[USNENFTS]

The downpipe with the hypermax kit is 2-1/2" in diameter and I only had to hammer the firewall slightly to get it to fit between the engine and the firewall, it didn't take much, maybe 1/4" at most.... It fit really nice. If you had a 2" body lift, you wouldn't need to bend anything. The kits sets you up for a straight pipe right to the back really nice. I did a little customization but they have 3" exhaust kit you can buy, if you wanted. I wanted it straight piped, 4" sound amazing. I have a video in my build thread.

 

[79GLIDE]

Why did you choose the Hypermax turbo over other alternatives? Did you do much research before choosing the Hypermax? The reason I started this thread is because I am skeptical about published information, and prefer to rely on first hand experiences to guide me. I'm no authority on any of this stuff. I'm also not going to jump on the first thing that is suggested. I'm in the planning phase of this project. I want to limit the list of things "I wish I would have done", when it's done. Plus, with the new wave of Duramax popularity, I want to represent.

 

[79GLIDE]

Why did you choose the Hypermax turbo over other alternatives? Did you do much research before choosing the Hypermax? The reason I started this thread is because I am skeptical about published information, and prefer to rely on first hand experiences to guide me. I'm no authority on any of this stuff. I'm also not going to jump on the first thing that is suggested. I'm in the planning phase of this project. I want to limit the list of things "I wish I would have done", when it's done. Plus, with the new wave of Duramax popularity, I want to represent.

 

[USNENFTS]

I choose the hypermax because they use a Garrett turbo as Banks uses a Mitsubishi turbo which you can't get replacement parts for, you need to buy the whole turbo. There are countless threads about turbos. If you go the used route you can find the ATS turbos, those are good from what I hear, replacement parts can be difficult to track down because ATS stopped producing them. I mean, there is a lot that comes into play with turbo kits, dont want a lot of boost on a stock IDI, 7 PSI of boost popped my head gasket, so I used ARP studs so it doesn't happen in the future. Just search through the forums and you will learn about wastegated and non-wastegated set-ups. Hypermax is non-wastegated so it has a low-output turbo, banks and ATS are wastegated so if that was deleted you could get more boost. R&D IDI Performance also has turbo kits but.... Require intercoolers, head studs, different cam, I would sleeve the block first, lots of things to change with his turbo kits, but, you get a BAS @$$ IDI, I can tell you that.