Did some work on the old Cummins

[Havok248]

Hey dinner, your trucks a 24V right? Im lookin into gettin an older cummins soon and I will have to decide between the 12 and 24. How is it working on the 24v? i know alot of people swear by the 12V so im lookin to get your opinion on the matter. Also id like to ask you if you had the choice between a built 12 and a built 24 what would you pick

[rubberneck]

in my opinion, it depends on what your intended purpose will be for the truck and just how "built" you want it. For crazy nasty horsepower, you cant beat a 12 valve. Lots and lots of fuel on tap to make huge HP. Not to mention the simplicity which is really nice. For a daily driver that you want to be able to goof around with and tow also, the 24 valve is nice because you can adjust power on the fly via the fueling box edge/tst/bullydog etc of your choice. If it were me i would look for a 3rd gen truck with the newer common rail motor if you are thinking 24 valve. I have a 12 valve, a 24 valve and a common rail by the way. For daily driver comfort, the new truck sure is nice. The 12 valve just makes me smile and the 24 valve is a great all around truck i cant bring myself to get rid of.

[MikeNick]

in my opinion, it depends on what your intended purpose will be for the truck and just how "built" you want it. For crazy nasty horsepower, you cant beat a 12 valve. Lots and lots of fuel on tap to make huge HP. Not to mention the simplicity which is really nice. For a daily driver that you want to be able to goof around with and tow also, the 24 valve is nice because you can adjust power on the fly via the fueling box edge/tst/bullydog etc of your choice. If it were me i would look for a 3rd gen truck with the newer common rail motor if you are thinking 24 valve. I have a 12 valve, a 24 valve and a common rail by the way. For daily driver comfort, the new truck sure is nice. The 12 valve just makes me smile and the 24 valve is a great all around truck i cant bring myself to get rid of.

 

As far as maintenance wouldn't the 12 valve be cheaper to maintain...or not?

[rubberneck]

Maintenance wise, all pretty much the same. They all require the same oil-oil/fuel filter maintenance. The 3rd gens do use synthetic gear oill in the diffs which is more expensive compared to the old dino oil you can run in the dana rear ends in older trucks, but you dont change it that often. Now as far as repairs if that is what you are referring to, the front ends were basically the same on the 96 up 12 valves up to th 02 24 valves, and they all need the same maintenance, they tend to eat track bars and ball joints/tie rod ends. So same there. Advantage 3rd gen there IMHO, they made some upgrades and dont seem to wear AS BAD. but they still do. But remember, that front end has to carry around that heavy ass motor its whole life, so personally i dont think its out of line for a heavy duty truck. When it comes to the motors, the P-pump on the 12 valves is basically bullet proof. I have seen bad ones and they are expensive, but that is rare. the 24 valves from 98.5 up to 2002 do tend to run through pumps more often than any other years. Paraphrasing bosch's own words, that pump was less reliable than had been hoped for. My cousins just took a crap at 125000 miles. 1400 bucks for a reman unit. I wouldnt let that scare you off if you found a clean truck though. there are lots of guys with several hundred thousand miles on them with no issues. the key on them is keeping a healthy lift pump and good fuel pressure. Mostly, the comfort of the 3rd gen truck is where it is at for me. Oh, one thing i will add is that in my opinion, the 12 valves are the best sounding. Everytime i drive the 12 valve i leave the passenger window down even in the rain so i can hear the exhaust resonate off the on-ramp near my house. They sound sick with straight pipe and about 45psi of boost. Like i said i love em all. 5 years ago if i had to choose just one, it would probably be my 98 12 valve, now it would be the 06. But im kind of a pussy now and like my blue tooth and quiet interior and soft ride more than the humongous clouds of traffic stopping horsepower (smoke) i could make with the old 12 valve. The 24 valve trucks are by far the loundest interior and outside by the way, 3rd gen quietest and 12 valves in the middle BTW (in case that matters to you) Oh yeah, and the 12 vlve gets the best fuel mileage

[MikeNick]

Thanks rubberneck. Once I get some more paid on my school loan I'd like to get a 12 valve. I want a diesel but would prefer once that I can get good mpg out of. Hopefully find a decent one by then with not alot of miles for a good price. By the time I get one though diesel will prolly be back to 4 bucks a gallon again..

[rubberneck]

Cool man, i hear ya on the fuel. Creeping back up as we speak. 3.03/gal today damnit. Good luck finding a 12 valve with low mileage, im sure there are a few out there, but rare. I mean they havent made them (in a truck) for 12 years now, but dont be scared of 2-300 k miles on a cummins. (now the dodge around it, that could be another story) good luck

[Dinner]

Sorry guys, haven't been on much lately!!

 

I've never owned a CR or 12 valve so I can't say much about them. Though the VP44's (24 valves) do lack power once you start getting up high compared to the CR's and 12's. I still enjoy the 24's even though their IP is crummy. I've owned 2 24 valves and can't complain other than the normal wear and tear. Main reason I stick with the 24 valves is because they are electronic, so your fueling boxes, chips can be on the fly. And they aren't near as expensive as CR's once you start throwing the power to them. You can get lots of power out of the CR's though, but just at higher prices. If I was building a strict drag or pulling truck I would probably try out a 12 valve since I can tune the pump myself. Rubberneck has basically told you everything you need to know, so not much point in me writing a novel I'm running around with alright power in mine right now, but I'm not done yet....just waiting for winter to end

 

And around here the conversion would bring my local fuel station to 3.56 a gallon, so stop bitching

[rubberneck]

Sorry guys, haven't been on much lately!!

And around here the conversion would bring my local fuel station to 3.56 a gallon, so stop bitching

 

Shit man that was 2 weeks ago, the damn prices are still on their way up And i agree for an all out power set up its hard to beat the 12 valve. they are fairly easy to tune and i agree the CR gets expensive, but in all reality, if you are going to go that high on the HP they all start to get expensive. Like i said i love em all Hlell even had an old 1st gen. You gotta love a cummins to drive a first gen. LOL

[DodgeDiesel2500]

i have a 12v my dad has a CR and all mine has done to it is a AFE intake and straight back exhaust with no muffler and i also keep my window down just to hear my baby roar. the 12v has never let me down. the truck on the other hand.....well 224,XXX miles does some damage lol but the engine its self is unbeatable. also just put a new tranny in so it just came back to life =] lol

[Dinner]

Did you throw a tranny in an automatic or manual? If auto, did you do anything to it to increase longevity and power capabilities? Just curious really I have a built transmission in my truck minus billet output and intermediate (which I don't really need billet).

[DodgeDiesel2500]

i upgraded the tranny and its an auto. full billet converter and heavy duty springs and other stuff lol it makes me happy

[Dinner]

Leveling kit up front...still not quite level

[Dinner]

Well I'm not around too much anymore. Work is busy, working weird shifts. And I've also been funding my current project..my truck. Few months ago I threw in some 200 injectors, and with the turbo I currently have that is way too much fuel with my programmer and fueling box on kill. Long story short I'm going to be doing twins on the truck in the winter/spring. I picked up a BHT3B for $100, brand new never been ran. I'm starting to order the plumbing, boots, etc, etc and going to build my own kit. I'll be using my current charger as the small, so we will see how lag/surging ends up. This way once I get my twins, I can get another module and more engine goodies I also took my stack off the other weekend, was getting tired of the noise. And when I go twins the exhaust will be 5", exit behind the axle.

 

[rubberneck]

dinner, what size exhaust housing is on the bh3tb? Also what size is your current charger. Are you going to put an external wastegate infront of the small charger? what about in front of the 3b? that is a steal on the 3b

[Dinner]

dinner, what size exhaust housing is on the bh3tb? Also what size is your current charger. Are you going to put an external wastegate infront of the small charger? what about in front of the 3b? that is a steal on the 3b

 

It is a 26 housing, so just what I need I haven't actually taken the housings off to measure the wheels, but I believe it is a 76/86...or 75/86...somewhere around there Current charger is 62/71/14, I know quite a few people say the 71 wheel is kinda crummy with twins...but no way am I going to throw another say $600+ when I can try this out for relatively cheap. I can handle a little bit more lag than what I have now, I've gotten so used to driving around the lag that I don't even notice it. Tunnel Ram helped out a bit too actually, now just need a homemade intake horn as well.

 

To be honest I'm not sure if I should run external gates or not. I was going to see if I can tweak the wastegate I have on the 62 enough so that it works out alright for the set up. I know if people run an HX35 / HT3B set they usually open up the HX wastegate. I'm assuming the wastegate in my current turbo is the same if not larger than a ported HX35 one. I dunno though, you have any opinions? This is going to be my first twin set I also have a couple blow off valves coming as well so I can limit it down. Really don't need anymore psi than what I have now...I just need the volume!