In the first part of this project, we added a nice roll-up Lorado tonneau cover, a DPF-back exhaust system from MBRP and a high flow intake tube and turbo inlet pipe from Wehrli Fabrication. We followed up those modifications with a 2” leveling kit, 34” Toyo Open Country A/T’s and some 20” Rogue wheels. With the truck finally looking the part, it’s time to get back under the hood for some added performance.
Once thought of as a lofty goal, various breakthroughs in the diesel world have made it possible to build a 1,000hp 12-valve for street use. Year-round daily driver? No. Street able? Yes. There is a difference. Much of it boils down to smoke control and driving manners—both of which can be kept in check by piecing together the right combination of parts.
How do you fit ten pistons into five cylinders and make a running diesel engine? Well, the diesel engine manufacturing community has been doing that since the early 1930s with opposed piston engines. One cylinder, one combustion chamber, two pistons and connecting rods and two crankshafts. You get something near twice the work from each firing event, though there are some tradeoffs in terms of complexity.
Pushing the limits of a stock engine is what diesel performance is all about. With a set of big hybrid injectors and an S369 SX-E bearing down on it, the 190,000-mile, stock, bottom-end 7.3L Power Stroke in David Keyser’s ’97 F-250 decided it’d had enough just eight minutes after being started. But instead of throwing in the towel, David decided to pull the engine, overbuild it, and enjoy his horsepower upgrades reliably.
For this project, owner Dillon King, had his sights set on a Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab. “I am always pushing for more, bigger, trying to top what we have done in the past, so I knew that this Ram had to be over-the-top.” He nicknamed the build “MegaChaos” because, if you’ve ever built a vehicle for SEMA, it is a lot of work in a short amount of time. Dillon built his Dodge from top to bottom with the best-quality parts the industry had to offer.
An 800HP LBZ Duramax Built To Do One Thing—And One Thing Only
If you’re raised on a farm, you’ll likely grow up to be a farmer. It’s just what you do. And if you farm in America’s Heartland, chances are pretty good you’ll take an interest in truck and tractor pulling. Things were no different for west-central Illinois native Nathan Beard. In his neck of the woods, the 8,500-pound Work Stock diesel truck class is all the rage.
