I am pondering my next creature. I would like to find a 4x4 96-00 F-250/ or 350 crew cab Short Bed... old or new body with a junk motor and tranny and around 300K miles +- good body and paint? But i am currious what you guys might think the motor combo im pondering it is a 1999 CAT 3126 around 300Hp 850 ft/lbs a 6spd or a 8spd
I think length wise i should be OK height it might hang a little lower than my cummins but should still fit. with those kind of HP and torque numbers i probably wil leave it alone or just barely turn it up. I would like to be able to get the torque at full throttle and not have to back out of it on hills to keep the E temps down. I know that with a PStroke or the cummins 5.9 you can build good power but with both when they get to the 850 ft/lbs range the exaust temps are too high to continue pulling in that power range you ussually have to back out of her.

i could look at the c-10 300hp 1075 ftlbs but i think ill have frame twist problems and weight not to mention length and clearance. with the smaller 3126 i should be able to suspend the weight fit the motor and handle the torque. I would like to get a motor with a jake brake engine compression brake setup but that is probably out of the question on the smaller motor.

Let me know what you guys think of this creation
Dusty

 

What size of truck are we talking about here is it a 650 750 those engines you listed will not fit a P/U truck because they are too large and heavy. You can't get a C-10 in a Ford its the 3126 its a good engine has some problems with the HUEI system but its better than a ISB and ISC. I wish a guy could get a C-10 in a medium duty some MDTs you can get a ISM (M-11) these engines put out a honest 300hp and more torque.

To shift a 8spd you need a truck with air brakes Road Rangers are the best the 8LL is good if you need the deep reduction L and R.

 

I am not looking to order this vehicle, i am looking to construct it from a body and frame and possible the drive train.
I agree i think the c10 would probably be too heavy but the 3126 is comparible to an 8.3L cummins in weight and i have seen several ford crew cab 1 tons since i did my conversion with the 5.9l cummins, that had the 8.3 motor in them. as to the round the rosie eight i would not need air brakes just a positive (not vacume) air resivoir to jump from the low to high side.
i have installed several 3126's in few medium duty trucks, i also have played with and driven a multitude of heavy duty trannys for a fair number of miles, i even thought about a nine over but the eight is ussually a pretty simple tranny to operate over the others availible and married to the CAT there should be a little more down time between shifts, at least on my 475 cat thats how it is. Thats what i have always hated about our trucks with the N14, the shifts are fast.
As to what type of truck as i said above i looking at a F-250 or F350 as the victim for this transplant, Not a medium duty but a light duty, length wise i should have and weight wise with the 3126 sitting in front a little bit of boxing to the forward frame should help suspend the weight a little better and it will stiffen the frame a little more too against torque twisting. weight wise though it seems to me, now i could be wronge here that the 3126 was around 1500-1700 lbs, my 5.9 cummins was 1150 lbs so in actuallity if you include my bumper and winch which are on the 5.9L cummins truck the weight hanging over the front of the 250 or 350 pick up without a bumper would be about the same.
I will probably use a divorced t-case to harness the out put power and divide it between front and rear. the eight speed may not be necesary though other than the deep reduction which was part of the reason i considered it. I would like to use 3.08 or 3.37 gears if i can to lower the highway RPMs and yet still have enough gear to get her going without clutch clatter. The other thing i am thinking is that the use of the larger tranny and bell+ the flywheel provides for a stronger stock clutch. This half a** stuff with both the PStrokes and the cummins when you turn them up the trannys and clutches become really tempermental, bearing fail easier, clutchs are jumpier due to the high PSI load needed to transfer the power to the ground. etc etc. I like the power that i am rear wheel dynoing right now and my setup is staying together before when i was pushing 900 ft/lbs and 365HP it wasn't practicle i couldnt pull a load without sky rocketing the E temps on the pyro. now at 300 and 715 itll pull but i still have to back off and can only hold 645ft/lbs under a hard pull after that my Etemps rise above 1200* before the turbo.
After this first year and 75000 miles of driving with the 12 valve cummins 5.9 i have realized that the motor is adaquate for what i do but if i really want to have the extra torque i need something with a more efficient larger exhaust system. And no i am not putting a 7.3L Pstroke it would defeat the purpose of my whole goal of being different.

Dusty

By the way thanks kenworth keep up the responses they make me rethink and define with more clarity what i am thinking

 

I don't know what the Cat would weigh but it would be a expensive install because of all the electronics stuff another engine you could swap into a truck would be a DT466 International. You get a full mechanical version it would be easy to put in as a Cummins and you can get any Road Ranger transmission to bolt to it I have seen 15spds bolted to them.

If you do a project like this it may be easier to put a P/U body on a MD chassis but anything can be done depends on how thick your wallet is

 

why would you do this? Do you enjoy spending large sums of $ and time to end up w/ an inferior product? Why not just purchase a proper medium duty truck? Why would you take an 800K mile heavy duty truck engine and put it in a worn out chassis that was never intended to house and cool that kind of engine?

 

I really shouldnt defend what i do because i enjoy odd creations. And some people do not always think that a new truck is what they want, they make like the body style or geometry and handling of their vehicle and so in order to make that vehicle what they want they will donate mass hours of time and money to keep that vehicle over spending $40K+ on a newer vehicle that may or may not be what they want. They may want more gears and more power in the smaller frame vehicle, liking different creature comforts or quarks that thier present vehicle or one of a certain year had. Just for consideration a conversion like this installed would cost around 10K to a normal any day builder, custom interior and a refinished exterior 8-12K loaded. A vehicle chosen a for a project of this nature ussually is worht less than 10K probably 8K in its delapidated condition. Add in redoing the brake system and diffs another 2K now you're talking around 30k tied up for exactly what you wanted, the power, tanny and all the amenities that you probably would have only had a fraction of if you had spent the 40K on the new truck. so it is just a matter of opinion and view with things like this. As to the power and chassis some turned up PStrokes and cummins motors are pumping out more than what i install for torque and Hp figures and the trucks &, frames stay together just the motor has a hard time continuing to produce the power for a long period of time without too high of E temps, and the clutches trannys and t-case fail prematurely so these heavier eaton and rockwell units provide the solution as do the larger motors. they are just stuffed into a smaller package kinda like putting a hemi in a jeep.

Well lets exclude cost from the equation because for most of these parts i have friends and customers who own light duty -heavy duty truck wrecking yards who in exchange for services to be or already performed and the hard to find parts that i provide will provide a rebuilt engine or a good used engine and tranny for the project without cost or with very little. Also the welding, frame work and other parts are at my disposal so a major chunk of that cost comes at the expense of my time only.

Yes this might be an inferior product when compared to a medium duty vehicle but for the customer when it is done it is a little better to them than what is availible on the market, as to throwing time and money away everyone needs a hobby my hobby just pays for some of my time especially when you have buyers lined up for this kind of product willing to pay for the unique and yet clean looking custom conversion product.

Cooling is easily conquered through a custom 4-8 core aluminium radiator and a modified radiator support, plenty of capacity since your load never exceeds 25000lbs-30000lbs your motor is not working hard enough to produce the heat you are worrying about.

even with hacking fire walls etc if you weld grind and repaint it looks factory. I have put a cat 3208 into a 92 F-350 2wd trailer toter and it is still going strong truck, frame (425K) and engine 200k latter and to an uneducated individual it could pass for a factory engine until you knowtice the fenderwells are bulged and cut a little and that the body is above the frame by and extra 1.5" the tranny was a 6 spd eaton with a over under divorced splitter behind that. I never cared for the 3208 though, and the 3208 is a little under powered for its size.

Kenworth I like your idea of the binder 466 they are out there and they are easy to find since our forest service (my favorite low mileage donar) makes such a habit out of rolling a truck or two a month. and the trannys availible are multiple, you might be onto something here. i hadnt considered putting a 466 in yet they are a good 6 cyl and easily rebuildible and a fair size and weight if i remember right.

Thanks guys
D

 

My apologies. Your abilities are so far above mine that I didn't realize how feasible a project like this was. (for you, not me!)

The C-10 weighs damn near 700 pounds more than the 3126. Truthfully a C-9 would be your engine. Unfortunately they have only been available for 2 years to the equipment operators and are just now making it to the Heavy Duty truck segment next month so I would think your chances of finding one for a proper price would be nill. They are available new directly from the Cat distributers. Generally other engines w/ no core to turn in have costed 30K or more so that would be pretty prohibitive.
The C-10, well has a B-50 life of 900K and only weighs 20lbs. less than the C-12 so it would seem like overkill to me. That is truly a Heavy Duty truck engine.
Just for your info, the 3126 is scheduled to be replaced by the C-7 this year. I presume that it will have ACERT technology.

Good luck w/ the project.

 

Hello, I have a 2003 Ford F350 and I put the Cat 3126B with the Eaton 6 spds transmission, the previous 6.0 powerstroke (Navistar) blows the hard gasket and the decide to swap the engine for a Caterpillar, I'm so happy because I can pull everything I want and she go like empty
I can told you my friend this truck in so stronger now

 

<p>12 year old thread, and none of the posters have logged on it many years.</p>

 

Yeah, but if that ain't ****, I don't know what is...........

 

Idk, doesn't look like it's done/driving from them pics.... But gives me ideas to replace the V10 in my F550.....

 

<p>it ain't a drop in, that is for sure. the firewall will need modification to fit the SAE-2 bell housing in, and probably the trans tunnel to fit the trans.</p><p>then there is the front issues. most likely need to relocate the radiator, run electric fans, not to mention beefing up the front end to hold the weight, and beefing up rear suspension to control the axle wrap that much torque is going to make.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

 

True That....But hell it's only sheet metal, If it's in the way whack it with a BFH or torch n Weld a new one.......3 or 4 Paygrades above my abilities.

 

Definitely some good truck **** there, that is just plain cool 12 year old thread or not. Hopefully we will hear more and see more pics. I am wondering where the OP is, his handle is Orlando then I see the Alberta tag on the dash. Must not have to worry about smog.

 

It doesn't add much more weight than hanging a decent sized snow plow off the front end. Roughly five hundred pound net gain in the engine plus whatever the gain of the transmission would be. It's further back than a plow would be, too.