Silvan Squires’ 7.3L diesel-swapped OBS truck, built on a budget

Sometimes you gotta do it yourself

This month’s Shell Rotella Truck Of The Month winner is Silvan Squires. Silvan hails from Utah, a land of beauty and challenge. Trucks, especially diesel trucks are especially suited for this territory. Silvan took on the challenge to remake an OBS, 2 WD, gasser that suffered from low compression – turning it into this capable and admirable reader’s rig that was voted into the top spot. The rig is impressive, as is how Silvan decided to go for greatness on a budget.

An ever-evolving project, Silvan has made changes to his 7.3L since entering the Shell Rotella Truck Of The Month contest. We decided to show both versions since we appreciate both.

We caught up with Silvan as he was working through his college finals. He told us he is excited about the Truck Of The Month win. We asked him to take time away from his studies to share a little about his build. As you’ll read, he made this repower his own and on his own terms.

I bought this truck several years ago, but when one cylinder in the stock gas 460 v8 developed low compression last year, I decided to diesel swap it instead, hoping to double my fuel mileage and have a truck that would perform as good as it looks. I started an Instagram account to document the project, @cowboycustomdiesel.

I found a rolled 7.3 Power Stroke with a good engine and solid drivetrain. The donor truck was 2WD, so I had to convert the diesel-specific E40d to 4×4. I ordered the internal goods From MTS Diesel and rebuilt the transmission to be solid much past my final HP goals. Before I swapped the drivetrain over, I went through and added as many parts as possible to make an economical, reliable, and fun-to-drive 7.3L Power Stroke.

Thanks to Skyjacker Suspensions, it rides excellent on the Nitro 8000 series shocks. Full Force Diesel Performance helped up the power with upgraded 180/30 single-shot injectors, stage 1.5 HPOP, and an intercooler kit. Gator Head studs keep the top end held together with the extra air being pushed by the KC Turbos KC300x Stage 1 63/70. Carrick Customs Battery Trays made swapping the diesel starting system super easy.

I diesel-swapped the entire truck in my driveway with nothing more than basic hand tools. During this build, I found there were components I wanted that were not offered for these trucks. I decided to develop them myself and started a website to sell some of these OBS-specific parts unavailable elsewhere. some of these include bolt-on traction bars, lower core support customized valances, full-length customizable frame plates, and pre-runner style bumper light bar mounts that require no drilling holes in the front bumper.

I think the biggest thing was figuring out how to do it on a budget while having a quality finished product. I received a lot of criticism for the amount of second-hand and used parts in the build process. People are very prideful about having to buy stuff “brand new” but I didn’t pay too much attention since I was able to be careful and find good, lightly used components that enabled me to meet my goals in an economical way, without sacrificing reliability. Another challenge was finding the tools I needed to work with. I was able to find all of them for cheap by visiting garage sales and estate sales.

TECH SHEET

• Gator Fasteners Head Studs
• KC Turbos KC300X Stage 1 Turbo 63/70 .84 AR
• Full Force Diesel Performance 180/30 stage 1.5 single shot injectors, stage 1.5 15* HPOP, Boost Fooler, Intercooler kit, Stainless Steel Bellowed Up- Pipes
• Riff Raff Diesel HPOP reservoir mini spacer, HPX, 6637 Intake, Filterwear, Stainless Steel injector cups
• TS Performance Engineering 6 position Chip with Gearhead Custom Tunes
• 73dipstick repair kit
• Banks Power 3” downpipe
• 444fab E-Fuel with billet tank sump and SD pump
• Glowshift sensors and gauges (EGT, FUEL PRESSURE, BOOST)
• roadrunner heavy duty torque converter- triple disc, low stall, billet cover
• MTS diesel transmission rebuild kit, solenoid block, Custom built valve body Sonnex billet shafts, F9 Front pump, full synthetic transmission fluid.  Transgo shift kit components
• Summit Racing performance flywheel
• Motorcraft sensors
• 4” straight pipe exhuast, 10” tip
• CCV mod
• 6.0 Diesel large capacity transmission cooler
• Custom ladder bars
• Custom pre-runner bar (no holes drilled in bumper) included
• Mishimoto valve cover harnesses
• Battery cables and new batteries
• Carrick Customs OBS battery trays/ hold downs
• New Mickey Thompson classic III 16×12 -51 offset wheels
• New Toyo 385/70r16 Open Country M/T tires
• BDS suspensions OBS F350 4” front lift springs
• Rough Country 2” rear wheel spacers, mini spacer pack front leveling kit
• PMF suspension dual steering stabilizer kit
• Brand new skyjacker shocks all around
• 18% tint, 5% windshield brow
• Bluetooth stereo
• Full-size spare