Q: What about stuffing a 6.5 into a non-GM vehicle?
If it promotes the 6.5 or GM diesel ownership in general.. You've got my vote! ;)
One of our members in Australia has made a living equipping Ford trucks with the 6.2 then the 6.5 diesel when it became available. Toyota Land Cruisers, Land Rovers and many other types of vehicles around the world are running the 6.5.
Put yourself in the shoes of someone new who comes to this web site for the first time, looking for help with his/her 6.5 or perhaps just wanting to learn more about the engine and related maintenance. How might they react to lots of BB talk and published articles about pulling the 6.5 to install a Cummins? How would promoting the Cummins as a replacement affect their 6.5 ownership.
As you'll read in the Rendezvous coverage in a few days, about 60% of the vehicles attending were 6.2/6.5. I know at least one of them had over 200,000 miles. One attending member owns both a 6.5 and a Duramax. He drove his 1992 6.5 from northern Alberta to attend. Many of these guys are true 6.5 enthusiasts. If ronniejoe attends the Pull-Off next week, we could see a new level of performance for the 6.5. http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/t...ons/icon14.gif
JTodd, Useable power... The 90's GMT-400 3500 series dually trucks were rated for up to 8500-lbs max towing capacity or about 17,000-lbs GCVW. A 400 RW horsepower Duramax won't break a sweat or lose any speed on any hill with that power and load. Want more? I've heard of Duramax's generating more than 900 RW. Once the aftermarket somewhat caught up to the Duramax potential, no Dodge has come close to running with the Duramax at our Pull-Off for the past 4 years.
Jim
PS - If anyone wants to discuss Cummins conversions, the "General Diesel" forum is there for you to do that. :)