I have a 97 crew cab LB, 2WD, dually that I love. I love the size, the body style, interior, everything but that damn TD. Id oes OK, but towing up hill with the trailer / rig, 55 is max and I have it floored getting a whooping 6 MPG. All the while my buddy in a new Durmax just screams past me. I was thinking about buying a new rig, but I've always been one for doing things different, so I'm toying with the idea of replacing the engine / trans with a Duramax / allison or a cummins / NV5600.


Pro / Cons of either...

Anmyone have any experience with either of these swaps ?

shit dude, you have all the tools and know how. buy a cummins with a tranny, bust out the tools of build and get to work! :flipoff2: i feel your pain. i was sort of an idiot and yanked the 6.5 TD for a 502 chevy with a huge cam :shaking: . i eventually bought a dodge w/the rat-a-tat-tat option. just throw that 6.5 in the garbage and ad a straight 6. dont forget spring rate increase in the front.

I used to have a 6.5 also,,It was my first diesel so I thought it ran pretty good... But the cummins our dmax will run circles around it all day long...

I would vote to drop a cummins 12v in your cheby with a nvg5600 our nv4500..

definately put a 12v in it. I have a 12v in my 84 chevy and it's stupid how much power and how well it drives. Right now it's not doing so hot because it got broekn into but before that it would haul ass and still get decent mileage. There are several companies that offer engine mounts and after that you just have to cut a little here and there and the engine is in. I would definately recommend the nv5600 over the nv4500 due to strength and longevity differences, but they are more expensive

-ben

definately put a 12v in it. I have a 12v in my 84 chevy and it's stupid how much power and how well it drives. Right now it's not doing so hot because it got broekn into but before that it would haul ass and still get decent mileage. There are several companies that offer engine mounts and after that you just have to cut a little here and there and the engine is in. I would definately recommend the nv5600 over the nv4500 due to strength and longevity differences, but they are more expensive

-ben

What is an average cost for a 12V / 5600 ?

You would have to put the 12V and 5600 together bc they were never mated at the factory. I saw a truck just like yours with a 24V in it, not bad, very bad install but he said it flat got it.

What is an average cost for a 12V / 5600 ?

new or rebuilt? I found them ranging in prices from 5500 new from factory to about 1800 plus core charge. Now prices may have changed sinc I did the conversion (about 1.5 years ago) since they are now offerring a diffreent tranny in the HD dodges. I got my complete setup (flywheel, upgraded clutch, and tranny) for right at 3000. May seem expensive but when you start adding up parts it's not all that bad. I'd say average price is about 2200 without the parts to convert it and you'll spend between 500-1100 on the parts depending on the clutch that you get. Oh yeah my tranny was brand new too. I couldn't justify the 500 dollars difference between new and rebuilt seemed like a no brainer to me. There are several companies and I don't know who is the cheapest now but most of them are on Ebay.

-ben

if you were going with an auto, what tranny would you go with?

depends on what you are trying to do. If you are running stock power and never plan on uprgrading the engine runa 47rh which is the hydraulic hd tranny dodge used in the late 90s. Pretty good tranny and no electronics to mess with. If you are planning on ever upgrading get a built tranny lots of shops build them I've heard good things about dtt suncoast and ats Call around they all seem to be about the same quality and customer support I'd look into which one seems to suit you best.

-ben

I bought a complete 1993 4x4 std. rig for $4500 and all the small parts payed off big, the nv4500 swap and hyrdoboost were the only upgrades that I had to buy for....The first gen's won't make the horsepower of the 97&98 std engines but upgrades are cheap and the pump can be turned up with a few twists of a screw...go to www.turbodieselregister.com and there's a forum for conversions thats very helpful...

another nice thing about the early trucks (well nice for fitment not power) is the lack of an intercooler. That makes it a lot easier to fit since your truck wasn't originally designed to have another two inches of thickness where the radiator is located. I just cut out the inside of my grill actually looks pretty clean and you'd never nkow from the ouside and it's difficult to see from the inside but I'll tell you what took me an entire saturday to cut it out it's a bitch because it's very then double wall so the plasma didn't like it too much and then the cutoff wheel kept digging in but that' was the best way to get it done. If you have questions about the conversion specifically shoot me a pm I am sure I have a pretty good idea about it.


-ben