Diesel News 3-11-19

Truck of the Week

Collateral Damage at 140 psi of Boost

The boys at Firepunk Diesel were at it again last week on the dyno. This time, their recently-acquired 12-valve two-wheel drive 5.90 Index truck was subjected to a bit of testing, when mid-way through the dyno pull the drive shaft let loose and twisted up like a pretzel. During the split-second melee, the wadded up shaft took out the overdrive section of the transmission, a rear four-link bar, axle yolk, and even damaged the truck’s frame! The upside? It made 1,372 hp on the rollers. A Northeast 14mm pump, an S468 on the manifold, and two S472’s as atmosphere chargers make for a nasty, quick-lighting setup that should make it an interesting truck to watch in the ODSS series this year.

Highlights

Offseason is the Best Season to Have Your Injectors Gone Through

Industry leader Dynomite Diesel Products recently made an important public service announcement for all of its common-rail injector customers: With the race season fast approaching, now is the time to have your injectors inspected, rebuilt and re-balanced. DDP owner, Lenny Reed, put it best: “It may run awesome right now, but I don’t want you to be at an event on Saturday or Sunday, have an injector fail, and then have to put in “whatever” [injector] just to get you through the event.” Another word of advice from the DDP camp is to entertain the idea of purchasing an additional injector, properly balanced to the other six (or eight), as a spare, just in case.

Sources: https://www.facebook.com/DynomiteDieselProducts/videos/253634658881393/

California’s Diesel Phase-Out Continues

New legislation proposed on March 8th by California lawmakers may spell the end of diesel trucks in the Golden State. If passed, the bill would call for a 40-percent drop in diesel emissions by 2030, and an 80-percent decrease by 2050. Though trucking industry experts warn the freight, construction and agricultural industries would not be prepared for such a drastic change, California has already taken steps to make all of its transit fleets emission-free within two decades (and will forbid any new diesel bus purchases by 2029). Proponents of the bill believe the growing infrastructure surrounding electrification will make the gradual phasing out of diesels possible. Ground-level diesel owners and operators disagree.

Source: Diesel trucks would be nearly eliminated in California under proposed law

Events

Sun Coast Spring Shakedown

The Sun Coast Spring Shakedown attracted racers from all over the country to Emerald Coast Dragway the weekend of March 8-9. Among the many competitors that made the journey was Matt Maier, an avid index racer from Readyville, Tennessee. He and his ’97 F-250 (yes, it’s a 7.3L Power Stroke) would take the win in the 8.0 Index field on Friday, then come out on top of the 7.70 category the following night. Other winners included Chris Buhidar taking the Pro Limited win in his triple-turbo’d, Cummins-powered ’00 F-350, and Susan Soga earning the W in 6.70.

OEM News

VW’s V-8 Touareg…Is Diesel

Finding a 664 lb-ft diesel V-8 under the hood of a Touareg was a surprise to most 2019 Geneva Motor Show attendees, but Volkswagen warned everyone not to get too attached to it. VW marketing chief, Jurgen Stackmann told news outlets it will likely be the last diesel V-8 the company ever produces, and that he sees the 419hp 4.0L-equipped SUV becoming a collector’s car. According to VW, the twin-turbo diesel won’t be available in any other model either. It’s believed the diesel Touareg can sprint to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds, which might just make it good for a high 12 or a low 13 in the quarter-mile.