My Cummins 6BT Story (1 Viewer)

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Dec 1, 2004
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Well, figure it's time to start a thread on my LX450 with a 6BT.

This is "The" Duiser LX450 build that they originally show cased as their better work.

I purchased from a fella that only had it a couple months. He never wheeled it or really drove it after he got it to Kansas. It's evident as to why. The truck drove TERRIBLY. It would barely get out of its own way. The shift points were terrible, as the compushift GCU was not programmed well whatsoever. The motor had a 2800RPM redline and not even the basic modifications to the injector pump, which cost nothing, to make it have some pep.

I drove it for about a week and the motor developed issues.

We found the flywheel wobbling due to the fasteners being too long among many other installation problems of the swap.

Additionally, the oil pan was hitting the connecting link and drive shaft, which resulted in a bent connecting link. This left the alignment terribly towed out. The wheel bearings where 3 turns out from even finger tight as well. The list goes on.

In the process of hunting down the engine knock, we installed a reman'd 6BT with 4,000 RPM valve springs. With motor issues and installation problems, it was time to call a spade and spade and just start over :/

The good news is the LX is now back up on all 4s and is really an amazing machine. It's FAST too. I mean real fast.

She has
-A new 6BT (with a notched oil pan)
-Transgo Shift kit
-Worked over VE pump with BD fuel pin, 3800 governor spring, etc ($120 in parts and a couple screws makes a HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE difference with these pumps).

I now have to add a solenoid for the intake heater grid, as Duiser must have assumed the truck would never be ran in sub 25 degree weather. I verified that it starts great with no heater grid (like glow plugs) at 28F, but not at 25:). Gotta love the Cummins motors for being so warm blooded. 28 degree diesel starting with no heater of any kind is pretty solid! My old powerstroke wouldn't start below 50 without running the glow plugs!

Next on the list is to sort out rear springs, wheels and tires for it. Will post some current pics later, but thought I'd get something going... Below pics are over the old Duiser motor, and the investigation and fixing process...

-Phil

 
How much lift do you have? I have wondered if you could get away with a 2 1/2 inch lift if you notched the pan
 
How much lift do you have? I have wondered if you could get away with a 2 1/2 inch lift if you notched the pan
2 1/2 should work with a notched pan. I have 4" lift and mine clears fine. Or you can move the the bar to the front of the axle like other have been doing when they upgrade to the one ton ends.
 
Since this relates directly to your build...

Soon after I started on my cummins 80, Jonesey's off road, jonesy's auto club, Duiser off road, whatever they're calling themselves started on their 6bt Predator conversion as they called it. As a diesel mechanic and cummins and land cruiser enthusiast myself I was interested to see where they were going with this. As I progressed on mine, they quickly outpaced me.

However, right off that bat, any skepticism was shot down harshly and rudely. I was pretty skeptical of a few things and I also noticed quite an attitude in their responses and an aloofness about things. I was put in my place in short order and I sat back to see if my doubts had any merit...

Some time after, they decided there would no longer be a kit, anyone asking why, was shot down harshly, no real answer was given. Then they became Duiser, which was a bit confusing and more rude posts followed.

Fast forward... one of our members, infinitely more knowledgable than myself, completes his conversion. It's awesome btw... His friend, the OP here, Turbophil, then buys the LX that Duiser swapped. Problems ensue. What should have been a turnkey operation is shown and proved to be a botched swap full of issues, documented with pictures, by two very adept individuals.

I post about it in Jonesy's original thread and POOF the thread disappears, seemingly deleted by Jonesy's / Duiser. Not the way to run a business if you were to ask me.

Sorry you had to be the one to find out the hard way Phil. On the bright side, with the skills, tooling, and knowledge to take on something like this you saved someone else an infinite headache and a lot of $$$

I know duiser posted once in your other thread but I never saw that anything came of it. Seems pretty shady to me.
 
How much lift do you have? I have wondered if you could get away with a 2 1/2 inch lift if you notched the pan

I'm probably about 3" taller on the front. TJM heavy duty lift. It's not a problem unless wheeling... Duiser originally did the swap and advertised it with no lift. I have a feeling they lifted after finding all the interference issues. The reality is that it needs a notch to give plenty of breathing room with no or low lift options at full articulation.

@turbophil wow, you found that in Kansas ? So what transmission is this truck running ? Oh, and the obligatory question, whats your mpg figures look like ? Nice work getting it back together.

Not sure... At this present time, probably not great, as I'm still hot-rodding it every opportunity. The turbo spooling and the way it moves out is pretty addictive. As soon as the "new" wears off, I'll be able to get a more realistic idea of what the MPGs will look like...

-Phil
 
Phil, is this the one that was listed on our Craigslist not too long ago? We're you the owner or did you buy it?

Happy to hear that it turned out for you
 
Do you have pic of the stance right now? the rear was 2" taller than the front with the TJM HEAVY kit. the rear now has stock rear springs with a 1" SLEE spacer and it is about 2" lower than the front now (just measuring wheel to fender measurements).

Yes this was the one on craigslist in November. it has the Stock 96 A343

I'll second it drives nice now. I'm really second guessing my 4bt. The 6bt is quieter and oh so smooth at idle. it pulls through every shift. It is comparable to most 1/2 ton gas trucks out there. with the gov spring and fuel pin it runs very clean little to no smoke/haze just a puff on down shift when it revs up over 3000 and spools. That's to be expected.
 
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Do you have pic of the stance right now? the rear was 2" taller than the front with the TJM HEAVY kit. the rear now has stock rear springs with a 1" SLEE spacer and it is about 2" lower than the front now (just measuring wheel to fender measurements).

Yes this was the one on craigslist in November. it has the Stock 96 A343

I'll second it drives nice now. I'm really second guessing my 4bt. The 6bt is quieter and oh so smooth at idle. it pulls through every shift. It is comparable to most 1/2 ton gas trucks out there. with the gov spring and fuel pin it runs very clean little to no smoke/haze just a puff on down shift when it revs up over 3000 and spools. That's to be expected.

You gonna bring it to the club meet? I want to see that thing run and go for a ride... well both yours and the OPs
 
Small update. Was 23F this morning (low of 18 last night). I still haven't hooked up the heater grid for cold starting. Thinking that I would be driving a gasser today, I was surprised to have the big 6BT roar to life in about 1/2 a crankshaft revolution. The word at the shop, "she's a start'n son of b-tch"! :)

Also installed these wheels:

PTR18-35090B.JPG


Point of reference. Not only will the center caps not fit unless you have 1.5" spacers, but the wheel won't either. The center hole is too small for the hubs on both the front and rear. Even with the 1.5" spacer, the front center caps won't clear the dust caps. It's not off by much. I'll probably turn out some billet dust caps that are a bit shorter so I can use the front center caps...

Next on the list is castor correction. Have a couple kits on the bench-- both the offset bushes and the rear pivot drop for the trailing arms... Will probably use the latter for now and see how it looks. Really like those arms from Slee though:) Castor is currently negative a couple degrees, so she finds every groove on the road...



-Phil
 
Really like those arms from Slee though:)
-Phil

The last pair they had in stock shipped out to me a couple days ago, the order took about 2 months to come in...get on the waiting list now if you want a set.
 
The last pair they had in stock shipped out to me a couple days ago, the order took about 2 months to come in...get on the waiting list now if you want a set.

Good to know! I'll try the rear drop points for a while.

I need to replumb the the thing still to get rid of the old rubber, etc. Was in too big of a hurry to do it when the motor was out... still a child at heart :)

Anyone know the flare fitting size on the OE steering box and then on the Dodge power steering pump? Was going to build some lines that are correct for the project (the joys of having a 38 ton hose crimping maching :)) rather than the cobbled up bit that Duiser did...

-Phil
 
After reading this and a few other threads I'm left wondering if the guys that worked at Profitt's started up Jonesy/Duiser? I'm sensing a lot of similarities in workmanship.
 
Founds the dodge fitting... Google had it...

Pressure is 16x1.5mm

now just need the two on the FZJ80 box. If anyone has handy, that would be great.

Thanks!

Phil
 
I believe I have a spare. I had to buy 2 when I did mine. The one that matched was a kit made for a ford mustang if I remember correctly.
 
I believe I have a spare. I had to buy 2 when I did mine. The one that matched was a kit made for a ford mustang if I remember correctly.

Perfect! Let's look at it this weekend....
 
@turbophil - You are the first I have seen notch the oil pan to clear the connecting link. In your opinion, is that only needed for stock to 2.5" lifted truck? I know Dustin's kit is designed around lowering the steering box support to clear the oil pan...was that lowered on your rig also?
 

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