Diesel News 7-9-18

Truck of the Week

10-Second Banger

ZF-6 Duramax

Who says manual trucks can’t be fast? Although it happened back in April, a recent re-share on social media once again has the Internet ablaze with Jessey Rhodes’ standard cab Silverado—the classic body, ZF-6-equipped Duramax that runs 10’s. Packing a Valair clutch, billet S476, Danville Performance tuning, and a small hit of nitrous courtesy of a 0.063 solenoid, Rhodes’ Chevy clicked off a 10.91 at 129 mph. Right after that, the truck backed it up with a 10.94 at an even faster 130 mph. The gutted, regular cab Silverado weighs just 4,820 without Rhodes in the truck, but still makes use of the factory torsion bars and some of the rear leaf springs.

Highlights

7.3L Power

Another P-pumped Dinosaur

A minor Facebook firestorm took root last week when Black Widow Diesel posted a video of a P-pumped 7.3L Ford making a test hit out in the middle of nowhere. Rumor has it that the standard cab F-250 Super Duty is powered by a full-on Hypermax engine, complete with the company’s P-pump conversion system (inline eight-cylinder Bosch pump in the valley, aluminum front cover, fuel transfer pump, the works). According to Black Widow’s Facebook page, they had been tasked with spec’ing the turbochargers for the customer’s compound arrangement. In the video we saw, things look pretty serious. We can only hope this mystery truck makes an appearance at a track near us soon!

’13+ Ram Tuning

No More Unlock Devices

It’s official, no longer will additional hardware be required to unlock the ECM on ’13-newer 6.7L Cummins-powered Rams prior to tuning them. On July 6, EFI Live announced that its latest Beta software allows for flashing by way of OBD-II and without the need to first unlock the ECM via the J1939 port under the hood. EFI Live’s latest flash routines can now manage the unlocking functions during the ECM flashing process. Needless to say, the days of using a third party device to unlock the ECM before it can be tuned are over, and the tuning breakthrough will save Ram owners hundreds of dollars.

OEM News

Ram Truck Sales Show Growth in June

In its June sales report, FCA, parent company of the Ram Truck brand, disclosed that Ram sales increased 6 percent (to 51,729) last month, making it the company’s best June on record. According to FCA, the Ram brand’s retail sales also had their best June in history, increasing 4 percent to 36,750. While light-duty truck sales provided the bulk of the sales improvement, the HD line did have a role in the new sales benchmark. FCA also stated that Ram ProMaster van sales had nearly doubled to just under 7,000 units (6,996 to be exact).

Luverne

Celebrates 55 Years

2018 marks the 55th anniversary of Luverne’s American manufactured accessories for trucks, commercial vans, and SUV’s. Founded in Luverne, Minnesota, the company’s first product was a heavy-duty, painted steel bumper designed for pickup trucks in agricultural applications. By the 1970’s, the company’s distribution network began to expand to other Midwestern and Western states and by the 1980’s it was time to upsize its manufacturing facility, and Luverne’s headquarters shifted to Brandon, South Dakota. Tubular grille guards, nerf bars, and side entry steps highlighted popular company products of the 1990’s, and most recently (2016) Luverne joined the CURT Group family of brands.

Big Rig News

Glider Truck Builders De-Regulated

An EPA-imposed 300-unit cap on glider kit builders has been postponed, at the very least, through the year 2019. Beginning in 2018, and according to Phase 2 emissions regulation requirements finalized in 2016 and set to go into place in late 2017, glider truck builders would’ve been restricted to producing just 300 trucks per year. For years, glider trucks have offered an alternative to both the reliability-hindering emissions regulations of newer diesels and high OEM Class 8 truck prices by utilizing older, pre-emissions era engines in new truck bodies and offering them at lower prices.

EVENTS

Diesel Thunder:

Texas Edition

If you were wondering what went down at the Diesel Thunder Summer Extravaganza over the weekend, you didn’t miss out! The event has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 11th and we’ll have a recap available shortly after its conclusion. The Diesel Thunder racing series is known to attract some of the heaviest hitters in the diesel world, and the affair in Lufkin, Texas should be no different. Pine Valley Raceway will play host to quarter-mile drag racing, a dyno competition (with $1,000 handed out to the truck with the highest combined numbers), and a truck show. First place Pro Street, Pro Mod, and Pro Dragster payouts will be $3,000, $2,000, and$1,500, respectively.