[chrisd91]

Figured it was about time I made one. Here goes nothing...

Bought my truck in June of '10. It had been on the dealer lot for more than a year and I talked them down significantly in price over a 6 month period before I bought it.

It was rough. Bed corners had torn sheet metal and the bed was pretty dented. Tires were quite worn, rear pinion seal leaked, and the dash was GONE. This was fitting considering it was a trade in from a local logging fleet.

The good:
120k miles, engine ran strong, trans shifted great, and 4wd worked flawlessly

I'll dig up some pics of it how it sat on the lot

As every noob knows, the most important mod on any vehicle is sticks so I made sure to order a big cummins C

First day after buying it:
Modified the headache rack/bed rail guards off my old 90 chev, in an attempt to hold the bed together.

Also did the first of many exhausts to come. Completely removed the factory exhaust, made a downpipe using the factor turbo end, a reducer, and a 45* elbow. With some pipe I had laying around I ran it out the side in front of the rear tire. Hangers were made from bolts welded together and no bushings were used.

It was loud and crude

I also bought a napa 6637 filter, because it was in stock and was cheaper than the larger BHAF. To prevent the plastic end from crushing under the clamp I cut a small piece of exhaust tube to slide into it

 

[NC Firefighter]

Subscribed cause this looks like it could be good.

 

[Guest]

Got tired of the raspy sound after a while, bought a straight through muffler that was long. Also got tired of the shoddy hangers so I decided to redo the side exhaust.

There was a fancy bend sitting neglected in the corner of the shop, so I claimed it for my new side pipe

 

[Guest]

Continuing on...

Scored a used airdog 150 in the fall of '10 as well as a Quadzilla adrenaline with control pod and pulse monitor.

I didn't have time or tools to do the airdog while at school, so I left it in the box and just installed the quad without tapping the pump wire. The pulse monitor was junk so I ran the control pod only.

Over my thanksgiving break I put in a new dash, which I painted semi gloss black to make the interior black/gray two tone. I started to install the airdog, but realized i didn't have everything I needed, so i tossed the bed back on, leaving that for a christmas break project.

I got a little greedy and also tapped my pump wire without an aftermarket lift pump or fuel pressure gauge. My sending unit stopped working around then, and I ran my truck out of fuel in a starbucks parkinglot after hotrodding around with the quad turned up. I tried for many days to bleed the system and get it started, to no avail.

I finally gave up and had it towed to the dealer. My VP was toast. Being finals week for me, meaning I had to drive home within a week, I got a VP44 expedited from DAP and had the dealer install it do I could focus on studying.

I drove my truck 3 hours home after finals, and immediately pulled it into the shop and did my airdog 150 install, using a Vulcan drawstraw 1, JIC and pushlock fittings, and fuel line from napa. I made my own sandwich mount so I could mount it outside the frame rail next to the tank. This place it high out of harms way and the filters were not visible unless you crawled under the truck

 

[Guest]

Toward the end of the spring of '11 semester I bought a slightly used fleece VGT controller. Over that summer I bought an eBay he351ve and pieced together my own VGT setup on a second gen manifold.

EBay turbo

Bye bye hx35!

Turbine and vanes

Mocked up

Ugly first draft intercooler pipe

Everything in place

Metric water fitting tapped to 3/8npt. Inline with heater hoses.

 

[Guest]

V-band flange welded to stock turbo elbow to connect to downpipe made from previously made downpipe

Had to add a small be to the top of the downpipe to compensate for the exhaust manifold adapter. Cleared the bell housing without issue

 

[Guest]

I got busy with work, do I paid a friend $100 to install my clutch for me. I bought a used set of DDP 150s and tossed them in the truck right before school started up for the fall of '11. I had a hard time finding a boot to come off the he351's 3rd gen style outlet, so I was running a cheap amazon boot. First run out with the 150s and the boot split at about 25psi. Fortunately I had ordered a spare and was able to limp the truck to school keeping boost under 15psi.

Over that summer I also did a few cosmetic upgrades in the form of projector headlights and blacking out the grill

 

[Guest]

Version 1 of the finished product

On the first run I realized I had put the actuator arm in the wrong position and in effect had a very large non VGT turbine lol. That was easily fixed. Exhaust sounded like a dryer vent at idle due to the he351ve's extra muffling. I ended up re-straight piping the truck, though it still ended up being quieter than most trucks with a high flow muffler
Here's a vid that does a good job of showing the setup

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb366/chrisd91/White Dodge/HE351VE/DSCN1003.mp4

Ended up shortening the shock tower by later on to allow me to clock the center section of the turbo to where the oil drain was vertical

 

[Guest]

Once at my new apartment (at the schools dairy) I washed my truck. This is a rare occurrence for me, so it called for some pic whorin'

Tires are 265/70/17 treadwright guard dogs that replaced the bald coopers that came on the truck

 

[chrisd91]

The next cosmetic project was color matching my tail light plastics and tinting the lenses. I used Duplicolor perfect match for the plastics, and VHT nightshades for the lenses

 

[chrisd91]

In late October '11 I final did what I should have done the first day I got the truck: I had my windows tinted to 20%

 

[chrisd91]

Over thanksgiving break of '11 I installed SDX 150s and sold my DDP 150s. Smoke cleaned up a bit and power felt identical.

 

[chrisd91]

Around thanksgiving time 2011 I picked up a set of 18" wheels from Craigslist.
They had a bald set of tires on them, and my treadwrights from fall of '10 were quite worn. I ended up going with a set of 285/60r18s from treadwright, this time in an AT tread.

 

[chrisd91]

With a stack and a VGT it was entertaining to play airplane

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb366/chrisd91/White Dodge/HE351VE/4d87783c.mp4

 

[chrisd91]

Over Christmas break 2011 I put in TopGunzCustoms .5" longer control arms, and made a light bar with relayed wiring

Played with some effects

 

[chrisd91]

I also decided that I missed the loud cummins sound since I switched to a VGT and I decided to try to regain it with a miter stack
Mockup with PVC

Stack and stack plate I made

Sootsly, my carbonaceous pet

Oralling the coal like a loser. I'm kinda embarrassed about this now, but it sure felt cool when I was younger and dumber
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb366/chrisd91/White Dodge/Stacks/0f8cce1c.mp4

I eventually raised the stack a few inches to quiet it done and get less spot on the cab

 

[NC Firefighter]

How did you like the treadwrights? Obviously enough to buy another set. I'm about to need tires and I was really looking at the guard dogs in a 315/70/17.

 

[Guest]

Still have the 285s, they've been good. The m/t wore out quick, though my truck did have some serious alignment and suspension problems when they were on it, and I think one was wearing funny after hitting a divider curb hard in the fog

 

[Guest]

Spring of '12 was the most recent cosmetic makeover for my old girl. I switched out the the chrome housing smoked lens headlights for black housing clear lens headlights. I also color matched a new grille and the folding portion of my mirrors. Halos and LED lights in the headlights are powered by a relay tripped by the parking lights

I also had a local shot cut and bend a bumper for me based on Bleedcummins
design. I mocked it up, but never had time to finish it and install it

 

[tdanielson95]

I personally think a 4th gen bumper would really set it off. Looks good! Nice progress made :thumbsup: :thumbsup: