Diesel News 7-16-18

Truck of the Week

Firepunk’s Latest Drag Truck

Hits the Ground Running

The long-awaited debut of Rick Fox’s newly-reborn ’00 Dodge—fully prepped for the Outlaw 5.90 Index class—came over the weekend. After laying down an effortless 1,257 hp aboard the dyno on Friday, Fox and the Firepunk Diesel crew loaded the truck on the trailer and headed southwest to the All Diesel Day drag race in Kentucky, where it would compete in the Pro Street category. After working through a few gremlins (brake, steering, and drive belt issues), Fox made a 6.02-second pass at 120 mph and took the win in the first round of eliminations. Overall, Fox would take second place on the day, a strong showing for the truck’s first time out.

Events

All Diesel Day

2018 Valley Blackout

As mentioned, the All Diesel Day 2018 Valley Blackout took place in West Point, Kentucky over the weekend. Hosted at Ohio Valley Dragway and presented by Rollin’ Smoke Diesel, eighth-mile drag racing, a show ‘n shine competition, and dyno challenge were all part of the fun. As part of a double-headed debut on behalf of the Firepunk Diesel team’s new 5.90 Index trucks, the Dodge shown here, piloted by Austin Doidge, was signed up to run both 6.50 Index and Pro Street. Despite running into nitrous system issues and making all but one pass on fuel alone, the truck had no problem running low 6’s and Doidge took top honors in both categories.

Highlights

Fastest ‘17+ Stock 6.7L Power Stroke?

Maryland Performance Diesel

Leave it to Maryland Performance Diesel to push a bone-stock 6.7L Power Stroke long-block to the brink. In this case, MPD’s Online Sales & Marketing Manager, Josh Sargent, nearly pushed the company Super Duty into the 10’s with a recent 11.12-second pass. The pre-’17 Super Duty is powered by a Job 2 ’18 model year 6.7L Power Stroke that’s completely untouched, internally (not even head studs have been installed) but fitted with an MPD turbo kit, S371, dual high-pressure fuel pumps, and is backed up by a built 6R140. The extended cab, short bed ’11-’16 Ford tips the scales at just 6,400 pounds, which means this nasty, stock long-block, late-model Blue Oval is sending 750 hp or more to the wheels.

For Sale or Trade

Cummins Powered Rat

Cummins-powered ’47 Ford anyone? This unique rat-rod creation surfaced on social media last week and garnered all kinds of attention. The basic powertrain rundown entails a ’97 12-valve 5.9L, a P7100 set to flow 450cc’s, an S363 over S475 compound arrangement, 5x.018 injectors, FASS lift pump, a fire-ringed head anchored down via ARP studs, and a South Bend dual disc clutch transferring 580 hp and 1,000-plus lb-ft of torque through an NV4500. For a sturdy foundation, the ’47 body is mated to a two-wheel drive model ’98 Dodge 2500 frame. Not surprisingly, the truck (listed for $15,000 OBO or trade for an Apache) sold within a few days’ time.

OEM News

’19 Chevy Chassis Cab Pricing Released

Last Wednesday, Chevrolet announced its MSRP for ’19 cab-and-chassis Silverado 4500HD trucks would start at $48,465. That price includes a 350hp, 700 lb-ft version of the Duramax and a destination charge of $1,495 but excludes taxes, title, and additional dealership fees. It’s Chevrolet’s hope that this economical starting price point will appeal to small business owners and large fleet owners alike. “These new Silverado chassis cabs are a great addition to our lineup because we can now offer small businesses and large fleets a truck that can be upfitted to do many jobs including construction, utility, and landscape work, tow truck operations, first responder calls and more,” U.S. vice president, GM Fleet, Ed Peper, was quoted as saying. “Chevrolet was obsessed with making these Silverado trucks easy to upfit, drive, and own.”

Doh!

Diesel in Gas

A major fueling mix-up at several Sam’s Club stores and Costco locations in Virginia led to customers filling up their gasoline-powered cars with diesel. All locations reported that the regular gas tanks had been mistakenly filled with diesel fuel. After learning of the problem, the stores with contaminated gasoline reservoirs immediately shut down the pumps and embarked on the extensive process of having the tanks purged and cleaned. In the meantime, customers that filled up at the locations in question and experienced a subsequent problem have been urged to contact the store management at those locations.

Parts Rack

Dodge Trans Control

Anteater Pro

Looking for full control over your 47/48 Dodge automatic? Firepunk Diesel is in its final beta testing phase for its new Anteater Pro controller. The plug-and-play device works with any conventional 47/48 valve body (no need to upgrade or change it), features manual mode and auto mode, Overdrive cancel functionality, and holds three custom tuning files that can be changed on the fly. The controller’s manual mode is ideal for trucks that tow, owners that want to hold out each gear a bit longer, or even sled pullers looking for the ability to perform Second gear starts. And because converter lockup remains based on the tuning file you’re running, there is no need to install a manual lockup switch. Firepunk is targeting a late summer release date for the Anteater Pro.