4BT Cummins Turbo Diesel in an 05 Silverado (with pictures!)

[FordeatinZ71]

Yea, I agree the 6bt is too big for a stock half ton, but here is why I want one...my truck is going solid front axle and will have 1-ton axles in it, along with 1-ton springs in it. I plan on hauling the same loads a typical 1-ton can tow/haul. My truck is going to be built to wheel but it is and will always be a work truck. I want an all-around truck. A truck that will have plenty of power to tow/haul, wheel with the best of 'em and maybe even run down the dragstrip and get across the finish line before the track closes.

With that being said, I'm still undecided. I think a lot will come down to what I get the best deal on. As things are now, you can get a 12v 6bt for less than a 4bt...and I'll be damned if I'm gonna pay more for less, lol. If I do put a 6bt in my truck (btw, I've been talking to a guy on 4btswaps.com who does Cummins conversions for a living and he assures me a stock 1/2 ton IFS GM will handle a Cummins 6bt just fine, with only a mild t bar crank) I will box at least the forward section of the frame. I will definitely beef up the truck to take it.

If I go that route...lol

[Ivan D.]

Originally Posted by FordeatinZ71

Yea, I agree the 6bt is too big for a stock half ton, but here is why I want one...my truck is going solid front axle and will have 1-ton axles in it, along with 1-ton springs in it. I plan on hauling the same loads a typical 1-ton can tow/haul. My truck is going to be built to wheel but it is and will always be a work truck. I want an all-around truck. A truck that will have plenty of power to tow/haul, wheel with the best of 'em and maybe even run down the dragstrip and get across the finish line before the track closes.

Well then, go with the 6BT, that's a no-brainer there - with what you want to do with your truck, the 4BT will be on the underpowered side, especially once you start throwing big tires on it and so on. By the way, how much weaker is your 1/2-ton frame compared to a 1-ton? I remember the older C/K 10s had something like 6" tall c-channel vs. 8" for the 1-tons...

[VortecZ]

solid front axle and will have 1-ton axles in it, along with 1-ton springs

Sounds like you would just be better off selling your truck and buying a 1-ton. If you really like your truck and want to convert to a 6bt and all the 1-ton stuff, it seems like it would be easier to put your body on a 94-98 Dodge frame. I have done a lot of different conversions and have never done a re-body but is would probaly be less work than what you are talking about doing.

[ryan_thompson87]

All he wants is an SAS really ain't that much work, just alot of fabbing. much less than a body swap. Ha Ha Probably less work than putting in that Cummins actually

[1989K1500]

Very nice swap. Im really impressed with your VSS and tach signal, you really did a badass job on those.

How fast is it compared to the 4.3?

Originally Posted by FordeatinZ71

I will box at least the forward section of the frame. I will definitely beef up the truck to take it.

It is boxed from behind the firewall forward.

[FordeatinZ71]

Wow, I've been at work and missed all these responses. Yea Ivan, that's what I was worried about, with all I wanna do with my truck the 4bt might not be enough.

As was mentioned above, doing what I want would be a lot easier than doing a re body. Not to mention, I wanna keep my truck as much GM as I can, other than what I wanna do. The rear axle just bolts in...the SAS is gonna take fabrication, but that's not THAT hard. I mean, yes there are easier ways to go about it, but I have this planned out exactly how I wanna attack it when the time comes.

Luke...I looked at my truck...I'll be damned...never realized that.

[crossy's son]

your definely not gonna mate a 700r4 behind a 6bt cummins. Thats a $800 adapter there just to go from cummins to GM.

Most any 6bt you get will have a adapter for a mopar torqueflite trans,

or you gonna go 5 speed route

[FordeatinZ71]

Lol, who in their right mind would mate a 700R4 to a 12v Cummins?! I wouldn't even mate one to a 4bt for longer than a week or so. I want to go with an NV4500/5600. But if I stay auto I'll go with a 4L80E

Btw, to the op. I'm sorry for the thread jack, it wasn't intentional!

[james_8997]

half ton+6B cummins+auto tranny=

[jpstreetracer95]

man this truck is awsome. me and a friend talked about puting a small diesel in an obs or a c-10.

[VortecZ]

Very nice swap. Im really impressed with your VSS and tach signal, you really did a badass job on those.

How fast is it compared to the 4.3?

Thanks. It was pretty easy to do. The hard part was finding the info about the sensors to know what they are looking for.

It is just as fast or faster than the 4.3 was. It feels a lot different because it is low horsepower and high torque. I can spin a tire(open diff.) hard taking off in 2nd and bark it when I shift to 3rd and have no trouble at all passing people on the highway. I know that isn't saying much for a truck that is heavy in the front and no weight in the back but the V6 would barely break a tire loose.

[Black06]

what were your mods to the fuel system.....lift pump and such?

I would keep the 4l65 in mine if I ever did the swap though

[VortecZ]

I took the pump/float assembly out of the tank, took the electric pump out, put a hose in its place, and put the assembly back in. I bypassed the evap valve and such for the return line and returned directly to the tank. I also added a 1/2" vent hose in the top of the tank for better venting. I cut both fuel lines off at the frame rail and ran new hoses to the motor from there. The lift pump is new but a stock replacement for the motor. The injection pump is freshly rebuilt and turned up some.

I think a 4L65E would hold up ok with one of these motors but my truck originally had a NV3500 manual and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't last long with the torque of a diesel. Plus I wanted a manual to maximize mileage.

[Black06]

Sounds simple enough......I figure with a big tru-cool trans cooler and a decent shift kit the 65e would survive light towing duty (dump runs and the occasional car trailer) and simplify my conversion.

Keep us updated! I'm interested in some long term mileage numbers once you find the ideal driving style

[VortecZ]

I now have my a/c compressor mounted and working! I fabricated a bracket to attach to the head and mounted a tensioner to it off of the original V6. I used an old pulley I had off of my 91 Camaro, from when I put power pulleys on it, and modified it to fit over another pulley on the engine. This works great and blows cold air. The compressor is roughly in the same location it was on the V6 so all the original lines bolted right up with minor bending and adjusting. The only problem is it is pretty high up and pretty far forward. It was close to not fitting but all I had to do was make one little notch in one of the hood braces for when the motor torques up.




Couple other updates:

I pieced together my own air bag helper kit with a couple 2500 pound bags, some brackets welded right to the frame, and some brackets bolted to the original spring perches on the axle.

I also cut my stock muffler off and welded in a straight pipe. Now my exhaust is mostly 3” pipe with a little bit of the stock exhaust pieces which are almost 3” too. It really isn’t much louder and sounds much better!

As far as mileage goes, I’m still making little changes like cutting off the muffler and making adjustments. It seems that I am getting better mileage on the highways than I am the interstate. My driving is normally mixed pretty evenly between the two but I spent one week making trips almost entirely driving on the highway with lots of speeding up and slowing down for little towns and the next week was driving on the interstate about an hour at a time. I got 31mpg on the highway and 29 on the interstate. It isn’t much of a difference but my Avalanche gets much better mileage on the interstate so I thought it was worth mentioning. I’d like to try some different gears to see what difference it makes but probably won’t go that far. I may try some taller tires just in the back as a test.

[fortplainman]

we need some more videos and you need to get a 4-5 inch exhaust haha.

[Black06]

29-32 mpg works for me! Much better than the dismal 14mpg highway I get in the 4.3 now

[Vanquish]

Very well done! I am currently piecing together stuff for this swap. Problem being these engines are rare around here.

[Shopkins]

Originally Posted by VortecZ

Plus I'm setting it up with helper air bags and a good hitch so I can haul stuff and pull a trailer too. You can't do that with a little car!

and set it up for a goose neck, that will REALLY get people thinking haha.

-Shaun

[Toadz]

Originally Posted by VortecZ

As far as mileage goes, I’m still making little changes like cutting off the muffler and making adjustments. It seems that I am getting better mileage on the highways than I am the interstate. My driving is normally mixed pretty evenly between the two but I spent one week making trips almost entirely driving on the highway with lots of speeding up and slowing down for little towns and the next week was driving on the interstate about an hour at a time. I got 31mpg on the highway and 29 on the interstate. It isn’t much of a difference but my Avalanche gets much better mileage on the interstate so I thought it was worth mentioning.

Are you saying your Avalanche gets better mileage than the diesel on the interstate or are you saying that your Avalanche gets better mileage when driving the interstate vs. highway, compared to the diesel driving the interstate vs highway?