Drivetrain for 84 c30 crewcab dually

[Irish_Alley]

i have a 4.3 tbi in my 94 1500. its not a bad engine just for the shortbed but even in there i still want the 350. i never even towed anything with the 4.3 never put a tow hitch on it cause i wouldnt want to even try with the 4l60e but with a 5 speed (nv3500) i would give it a try but i wouldnt push it much past ½ ton limits

[The Donchy Vetah]

Yes yes point well made fellas. Im holding out for a diesel now. I've narrowed it down to the cummins 6bt, ford/ih 6.9/7.3 idi and dt360/466.

Leaning toward the ih idi due them being easier to fit and cost. Would prefer the dt though.

I am also converting to manual trans.

[Irish_Alley]

think also about the trans. cummins you can get an adapter to mate it to a gm trans, we're getting ready to start up a cummins board so we will have all the help you could want there.

[The Donchy Vetah]

Thats nice. I'm a so so machinist that sometimes has access to machines so fabrication won't be an issue.

[werewolfx13]

Of those engines, I have next to no exposure to the dt466, so I cant comment there, but I wouldn't put a 6.9/7.3 idi in anything on purpose. Have had two of em in medium duty trucks...Unreliable, won't start when its cold without 12 hours on a block heater in the winter, seems to have an appetite for glow plugs (have replaced them with genuine navistar parts twice in our 6.9, they're dead again), had to replace the IP and injectors with under 60k miles, odometer last showed 40k when it worked and it hasn't left town, and only has 5200 hours on it. And in a medium duty truck, its a gutless pig, although a 1 ton square is much lighter and less drag than an international s1600 series.

My only problem with the 6bt, is the swaps and demand for the engine are so overdone, the performance of the engine doesn't even come close to being worth the price.

But, to each their own...I drool over the idea of a 3208, 3116, or 3126 cat in a square...

[Irish_Alley]

the cummins is overdone. but it sounds better and runs better than the 350 i had in my truck. parts are common, and i know one guy that has 1500 into his swap and that was for the donor cummins dodge that was rusted out. so you can find deals but they wont last long and you can find the cummins in industrial equipment, dodge trucks and 1991 chevy p30 vans. not to mention you can find the 4bt in those but the dodge truck

[LTZ C20]

No offense to Irish, I know you like your cummins, but like you said, the cummins is overdone, people put cummins in everything.... personally, I have worked with the Duramax diesel platform for a number of years now, I am truly impressed at the overall reliability of the platform. I see all the time the common stuff replaced, glow plugs, egr valves here and there, a few turbos, a few sets of injectors (on very high milage trucks) and I've only seen 1 injection pump replacement. Overall the platform in my opinion is rock solid. The Allison transmission even more so. We never have problems with those things, the few we have seen were owner induced. So personally, I would use a Duramax/Allison combo and not tell anyone I did it haha. I would just enjoy it, if someone asked what I had in the truck I would tell them but I wouldn't brag about it or poster the truck and myself in Duramax stickers. I just hate when people brag about having a diesel. Afterall, it's just one of millions of engine platforms.

[Irish_Alley]

not one sticker or decal on my truck lol. but the main reason i do like the cummins is cause you can tell what platform it is just by the sound and its reliable only a few things that can go bad, you get all that power right off idle and no computer just one wire to the injection pump for the fuel shut off

[LTZ C20]

not one sticker or decal on my truck lol. but the main reason i do like the cummins is cause you can tell what platform it is just by the sound and its reliable only a few things that can go bad, you get all that power right off idle and no computer just one wire to the injection pump for the fuel shut off

Oh I'm not saying yours has a sticker, but lots of people slap giant cummins, Duramax or powerstroke stickers on the windshields and sides of there trucks. It's like come on guy, yea you have a diesel, big woop de freaking dah. It came stock with it so who cares. I guess it's probably more common here in my area of central cali. All these kids and people who have huge lifted trucks with diesels and more chrome and powder coat then you can shake a stick at. After all, a truck was built to get work done, a diesel was built as an aid to have the muscle to get that work done. Ok, rant over lol. Back to the original post, diesel= much more affective and logical in a heavy towing environment.