Hope this is ok to put here.

 

I wanted to put the history and semi build up of my truck so far for both record and might be able to help others some how. 

 

So, I have been a dodge fan for years, partly because my father works at a dodge dealership and because the only non dodge product we have ever had in the family was a mid 2000s Subaru Legacy. My first time driving anything was when I was like 3-6 years old, my father let me steer his Jeep Grand Wagoneer down the road. We actually still have that jeep but it has fallen into disrepair because of reasons. I personally have had a 1999 Jeep Cherokee (on loan from the parents), 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 (was my first vehicle I could call my own, sold a few years ago), 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 (nearly my dream truck, needed to be a sport to be my 100% dream truck), currently also own a 2019 Ram 2500 (needed because I chose to start sled pulling with the 2001 Cummins and I needed a second vehicle). Also have a 2016 Yamaha Stryker for a motorcycle.

 

So this was the morning after it was dropped off to me in 2015:

 

I actually bought the truck off of a classmate of mine so that was a fun surprise.   

 

And so began my foray into the world of diesels.

 

Unfortunately, previous owner didn't take good care of the truck. No power steering fluid, and it was really low on oil, like half of the required amount drained out my first oil change, and the steering was really all over the place. Also, the exhaust was cut off right at the end of the cab, and the mounting rod that attaches to the tranny had broken off allowing the exhaust to just rattle against the tranny crossmember. So I swapped it to a set of MBRP cool duals.              Out with the old

 

 

In with the new.

 

Few months later gave the truck a bath. 

 

 

 

Also after, digging through my photos, I don't take a lot of photos of the projects I've done. Or I cant find them. 

First big issue was that when I went and got new tires for the truck, the place that was doing the alignment broke my nv5600. Unfortunately, said place is a regional chain in the northeast and gave me $500 as compensation after the company that rebuilt the tranny said that they had seen this kind of failure quite often. they forced the shifter into a place it wasn't supposed to be and separated the circular thing from the actual shift rails. Top right corner is where it was disconnected.

      

 

So i used this time to get a fresh rebuilt tranny, rebuilt driveshafts, a Valair dual disk clutch and new shift tower.

Took the day of yesterday to clean up the mess I made and swap the turbo. Mostly went without issue.. Mostly.. 

 

Lost my other intake horn bolt (the long one) so need to deal with that.

Turns out my turbo was held on with 3 of 4 nuts.. Bottom firewall side of the flange was missing the nut and all of the others were relatively loose.

Turbo elbow and intercooler line were a PITA to get connected up.. Needed to grab my brother to hold the elbow while I tightened the v-band

 

Then the fun starts to happen.

 

HX35 downpipe wouldn't come out of the rest of the exhaust, so I had to cut it.  

HX40 down pipe is shorter than the HX35 downpipe by almost a foot. I can deal with the straight pipe/downpipe only for a bit until I get a new mid pipe.

But, I can't run the engine at all without the oil drain line hooked to the turbo. My drain line is hitting the wastegate actuator rod. Was thinking of doing one of the braided flexible lines. 

 

Anybody have any recommendations on how to remove the factory oil drain from the block? Does it just pop out or do you need like a slide hammer or something to pop it out of the block?

Agreed.  Down pipes are a pain.

 

You can bend the actuator rod or bracket a little for clearance.  It is a really tight fit.  The braided oil drain line makes for easier installation.

Small update.

 

Waiting for parts to arrive, wanted to do something a bit different than what was available for flexible drain lines. Ordered an o-ring'd drain flange from a place called RallyRoad.net. Took a week to get a shipping confirmation, but just looked and it still hasn't been given to USPS. Not enthused with them so far.. We'll see what the quality is like when it gets here. But if it takes much longer, IDK.. Might get one from a different company.

 

Tried supporting a local race shop near me, but its sometimes hard with semi oddball sizes like push-lok -10 AN fittings. Unfortunately, they only had straight hose ends, and only had a 15 foot roll of -10 push-lok hose. So I bought the hose, despite only needing like 18-24 inches of hose at most. Ordered the fittings from Summit, should be here Saturday. In hindsight, I probably should have just gotten the hose from Summit at the same time.

 

I have no experience with braided stainless line so that's why I went with the push-lok hose.

 

In other news, I actually found a powder coat that matches patriot blue. Its from Prismatic Powders and is called misty midnight. https://www.prismaticpowders.com/gallery?htids=Misty Midnight PMB-4239. Oh boy do I have ideas now..

Anyone ever done a braided turbo drain line? How much of a PITA is it getting the pipe out of the block? Need some guidance on how to do that...

 

Finally got my parts but the weather isn't cooperating.. High, high 50s-raining or threatening to rain. Sunny and gorgeous? sorry 30s is all we can do..  

 

Anyway.. the Rally Road flange fitting is a really nice piece but the holes were too small. Drill bit took care of that. Otherwise, it seems to be a quality part, the machining was very good even by my company's standards. Only thing I wish was a full dovetail O-ring groove and black anodized. But I know the full dovetail groove is an expensive item to machine, so I get it.

 

Had other ideas to avoid pulling the pipe in the block if I could but turns out that the silicone hose that goes there is 7/8" ID. Equates to a -14 AN hose size. Guess what size isn't offered anywhere.. 7/8 or -14 AN.. So, back to pulling the pipe out of the block. I've had the idea of taking a pipe cutter for like copper piping and seeing if I can cut the pipe after the bend and get some sort of puller in there but I don't know how its pressed in there (O-rings, normal press fit, other?).

 

I really don't want to take the oil pan off either. even though it would probably be the easiest to get that part out.. 

As far as I've ever seen they are just push fit into the block. 

They are push in style...

 

 

 I got the braided line from DAP aswell but have a problem with fitment. Tried the bending etc but the rod is just not going to function properly with it, even with stock line it's limited. 

I need to get rid of the wastegate completely and go to a valve style. (Looking for ideas - hint hint)

 

Super Bee Special turbo btw 64/71/14

 

 

Spring gate might work best for you.. thats a lot of interference..

 

How did you end up taking the pipe out of the block?  

1 minute ago, Silverwolf2691 said:

Spring gate might work best for you.. thats a lot of interference..

 

How did you end up taking the pipe out of the block?  

The Ole wiggle jiggle method lol.

 

Just twisting and turning if I remember right. Clean it really good before you pull it. 

 

I was talking with @Mopar1973Man and I still don't think the spring gate would clear. Still would have interference with in drain. 

I forget what's it's called but it was an adjustable elbow of some sort on the compressor side I think, that you could use in place of spring or rod.

I know bicycle brake cable isn't strong enough but something like that would be awesome.. 

 

I think you might be thinking of the boost elbow.. 

SHE LIVES!

 

Not without some hiccups though.

 

Had to make a bracket to get the wastegate actuator to line up right. Post photos in the morning.

Need a serious retune in the quad. Never seen my 50s hit 1400* before (was my sled pull tune, starts at 115 and goes up to 150 by 22 psi and a whacky timing curve)

Never got above 25 psi, not sure why..

 

@dieselautopower, I haven't gotten my 35s on yet, could that be hindering the load on the truck? Currently 285/70r17. Also the actuator pushes on the arm to actuate the wastegate flaps, correct? Otherwise I need to fix where the actuator is on the linkage..

4.10 gears yeah I think you can go up.

 

You current final ratio on 285/70 R17 is only 3.94:1 to the ground. Now 35 inch tire would put you at 3.71:1 final ratio.

 

If you to jump to 37 inch tire would be 3.51:1 final to the ground. Just for information purpose.

 

Kind of why I went down in tire size. Going to 245/75 R16 on 3.55 gears is 3.69:1 so the 35 inch tires will put you right near where I'm at.

EGTs are a bit better with more fuel and pulling some timing, but it still wont build above 25 psi. Might be in the too small realm for injectors.. Also there is like a 3 to 5 psi lag in the quad for reading the map sensor vs the boost gauge.. I know that's been discussed for a while already so it is what it is..

 

Need to order a pipe for the exhaust, downpipe only resonates the cab something fierce.

And put my 35s on.

MAP sensor inaccuracy and will get worse above 25 PSI at least for my setup.

Playing around on my quad yesterday and I discovered something.

 

8 degrees is the bottom of the timing scale. Unless the timing sliders can pull that down further.

 

Gonna try getting the 35s on before futzing with the tune any more..

 

Despite the time change I'm glad for more sun after like 530-6. Makes working on the truck after work much easier

8 to 9. Degrees is as low as the vp goes internally the cam ring won't retard any more. Mine wont go below 8.8 degrees. The vp does a little trick electrically  at cranking RPM to reduce it 6 degrees more by starting injection on the 21 tooth edge instead of the 19 edge past the index tooth. Each tooth of the vp tone wheel is 3 deg at crank. A single byte in a mostly static CAN message from the ECM changes from 0 to 2 to command it.

That explains the 3.xx I see on the quad with the key on engine off then. 

 

Damn that blows my idea for using the quad to pull timing and advance the timing gear a tooth for sled pulling.. Bummer..

Meanwhile I wish I could just figure out my timing. 

 

22 hours ago, Silverwolf2691 said:

Playing around on my quad yesterday and I discovered something.

 

8 degrees is the bottom of the timing scale. Unless the timing sliders can pull that down further.

Was that just playing around or do you run close to that initially? 

Bit of both i run 11, 15, 19, 23, 30 normally.

 

But i had to pull it even further down to help spool the turbo with injectors that are probably way too small for it.

 

Hard to drive the truck right now without going deaf, but i have parts on the way for that. Just hard to find 4" pipe longer than 48". Needed like 60..

Well if you were around here I could hook you up with 4" or 5" 

 

I can't figure out any of my quad stuff lol. I guess in time I'll learn something...lol 

What cant you figure out?