Making a 'THUMPER' out of a Duramax.....

[Buicks4Speed]

It looks like I'll be "Hot Rodding" my Duramax after all the good stuff I found on-line. Unfortunately I have the LLY 04.5 instead of the LB7 which has a programmer that boosts #'s up to 532 hp and 975 Ft-lbs. Thats awsome for just plugging in a box. The "HOT" box for the LLY only adds 180Hp and 360 ft-lbs. but it will be enough for me. Its like nitrous in a box! :Brow:
So far PPE- http://www.pacificp.com/ seems to be the most involved and dedicated to the Duramax performance and upgrades. Right now I plan to get the HOTXcelerator and a ATS Co-pilot. One is for the engine, the other is for the trans which upgrades the shifts and reliability without having to pull the trans for a shift kit or other mods. PPE recommended it to me over pulling the trans. THey told me THe trans would be fine with the Co-pilot at the "HOT" box performance levels. I'm also adding the 4" exhaust but haven't found a definite winner but will be using a turbo-back over a cat-back style.
I found lots of info on the Duramax surfing around the net and getting on a few turbo diesel forums. I feel that I'm not having the problems some have had but from what i've read and know, the programmers will solve and/or avoid me from running into them.

I looked at "THe Edge", "Bull Dog", Hypertech, and Diablo; but felt PPE had the best product. Anyone else with comments or feedback?

[73rx3]

Hi Rick,

when you get done let me know if it works good.
i would like to do something to my 03 duramax 1 ton dump :)
i had my heads replaced at 130 miles,was burning antifreeze :af:

thanks Michael

[D-Con]

have you looked at http://www.thedieselpage.com/ ? These guys were nuts way back in the 6.2-6.5 day. Lots of info to peruse.

US Diesel Parts is here in Missoula where I'm currently living (listed on the page as a vendor). Let me know if I can get anything for you there.

Jim Haas might give you some ideas on parts as well since diesels are his bread and butter I believe.

[Buicks4Speed]

That diesel page seems pretty good but I haven't subscribed yet. Right now I've been going to www.gm-diesel.com Its got some good info and feed back. It had what I was looking for at the time. I put some serious miles on the Ford F250 and the Chevy 2500HD Duramax before I made my purchase. In fact the the truck I put all the miles on was the one I ended up buying. They let my drive one for a day that was a little too nice. My truck only had 760 miles on it when I left for Iraq. I was happy with the power, comfort, and how quite it was. To me it responded and had power of a stong gas engine. The only thing is I like a nice crisp shift since its more of a muscle truck. It has more of a standard shift which there's nothing wrong with but its not the firm shift I like. Nothing a "box" wont help fix. A shift kit requires you to pull the trans. I'll try the HOT Xcelerator then the Co-pilot before I pull the trans. I'm still watching for feedback on all the different programmers for where they tend to run the EGT. I haven't seen one that has caused high egt's under a resonable load so I'm not sure that I will need to have an EGT kit installed. We'll see.