Power Driven Podcast

What happens when an $11,000 VP44 Cummins with a short parts list out tow trucks that cost five times as much? Willard, our 2001 Dodge Ram dually, just pulled a race trailer home from Diesels in the Mountains and held the speed limit up the grades. This episode breaks down why this old 24 valve keeps surprising everybody and what it takes to turn a 25 year old diesel truck into a legit cross country tow rig.

Todd, Will, and Myer walk through the simple build on this 5.9 Cummins with the VP44 injection pump: a 650 horsepower transmission, Power Driven stage two injectors, a turbo upgrade, head studs, intake, and exhaust. On a clean tow tune it pulls hard, makes around 520 wheel horsepower on the top tune, and the EGT control is so good the crew had to verify the gauge with dual pyros on the dyno. They also get honest about the limitations, like the four speed and 3.55 gears making it slow off the line with a heavy trailer compared to a newer six speed truck.

Next they cover the comfort list that turns a fun truck into a real tow truck. That means killing exhaust drone with a better tip and a big straight through muffler, adding an inline four inch exhaust brake that leaves room for compounds later, and why V band connections matter for exhaust brake performance.

Old truck problems get their own fix list too: a leaking heater core, a cracked second gen dash, sound deadening while the interior is out, a turbo silencer ring, a modern radio with a backup camera, better tow mirrors, headlights, and brakes.

The guys also run the numbers. Willard sits around $22,000 all in, with way fewer electrical gremlins than a brand new Ram 2500 that can lock you in the cab on the side of the highway.

Finally, they map out the next stage of this VP44 build: camshaft, ported cylinder head, then turbos, chasing a 700 to 800 horsepower tow truck on a stock VP44 pump. Plus some fun talk about how Willard might stack up against the new 8.3L Duramax in a TFL Truck style towing test.

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The parts that make Willard tow like this are the Power Driven stage two VP44 injectors, the 650 horsepower transmission, and the turbo setup.

If your turbo whistle is wearing on you during long tows, the turbo silencer rings are on the site too. Shop everything mentioned in this episode at PowerDriven.com. Links below.

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A shelf on cylinder head just won the biggest payday in diesel drag racing, and it beat trucks running heads that flow a lot more air. If you think bigger is always better on a race build, this episode of the Power Driven Podcast might make you rethink your whole combo.

Todd, Will, and Myer break down the 72 Fast class in Texas, where first place took home $100,000. Every truck runs the same 72mm VS Racing turbo with zero modifications, weighs at least 6,000 pounds, keeps a factory ECM, and launches off a foot brake against an instant green tree. No nitrous, no water injection, no trans brake. It all comes down to engine building, tuning, and the guy behind the wheel.

Will explains how he ran the numbers on Matthew Parker's 6.7 Cummins and built him a Power Driven Stage 3 diesel cylinder head with the shelf left on. At a 4,000 rpm shift point, the engine only needed about 267 CFM, and the head flowed 261 on the bench. Parker tested it back to back against his old head with the same tune, watched his air fuel ratio go leaner, kept adding fuel, and eventually ran out of CP3 at peak torque. He went on to win Texas after already taking Indy.

The guys also talk about Spencer Shultz, who finished runner up with a head Will reworked after a dyno contest, and why those two trucks were nearly dead even. That opens up a straightforward breakdown of coefficient of discharge, valve size, and airspeed, and why a smaller, efficient port can fill the cylinder better than a big one when everything is sized to your RPM window.

Camshaft selection, two valve versus four valve heads, and why injector placement matters for combustion all come up too. It is the kind of conversation every diesel engine build should start with before anyone orders parts.

To wrap things up, they cover rumored new classes for next season, plans for their own race trucks over the winter, and a 3,503 uncorrected horsepower pull on a SuperFlow dyno that set a record for raw numbers on that machine.

If you are into diesel performance and truck drag racing, subscribe on YouTube and follow the Power Driven Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Plenty more coming this winter.

The Power Driven Stage 3 cylinder head that carried Matthew Parker to his second straight 72 Fast win is available for your own 6.7 Cummins, along with our full lineup of diesel cylinder heads, engine blocks, and performance parts built and tested in house using real race data. Whether you are building a race truck or a street build that pulls harder where you actually drive it, grab everything mentioned in this episode at PowerDriven.com.

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What does it actually take to keep a Cummins alive past 3,000 horsepower on the dyno? It is not just more fuel and a bigger nitrous shot. This episode breaks down the real engineering behind Myer's second gen common rail race truck and why so many mega power builds scatter before the pull is over.

With Diesels in the Mountains coming up in Utah, Todd, Will, and Myer dig into the torque limit of a factory cast block and why it wants to split right at the cam tunnel. They explain how making the same torque at 6,000 rpm instead of 2,500 turns a tow rig number into a record number, and why dyno correction factor at altitude means the uncorrected number is the one worth comparing.

On the engine side, the guys walk through how a deck plate and a longer rod move the peak cylinder pressure above the factory block, and why they run the sleeves with a loose fit instead of a press fit so the weaker cast iron is not preloaded before the fire ever happens.

For diesel tuning, they cover why nitrous means pulling 10 to 15 degrees of timing compared to a fuel only tune, how injector size changes how precise your injection window has to be, and why floating valves are behind most nitrous dyno blowups. Diesel cylinder pressure at this level is closer to Top Fuel than anything a gas valve manufacturer is used to, which is why Inconel is on the table.

Then it gets into the turbo and nitrous setup. Myer runs four bottles, each on its own feed line, plus three wastegates that open the moment each nitrous kit fires so boost stays in check before it can overshoot. They also talk about undivided turbine housings, running as lean as 50 to 1 on the dyno, and why four bottles is about delivery, not showing off.

The episode wraps with transmission line pressure and how slippage quietly costs hundreds of horsepower, running higher tire pressure with a spool to keep tires from blowing apart, and the dream of a hub dyno power wheelie.

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From deck plates and sleeves to turbo boots and nitrous components, the parts behind builds like Myer's are the same ones we run and trust every day. Shop everything mentioned in this episode at PowerDriven.com.

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Every diesel guy has a list of mods he would take back, and in this episode Todd, Will, and Myer own up to theirs. From pushrods that snapped on a tow to Texas to a 12 valve Cummins quietly running out of oil, this is a shop floor confession about diesel truck mistakes that cost real time and money, and how to avoid repeating them on your own build.

They break down turbo choices that missed the mark in both directions, including a big single on a 12 valve that never wanted to spool, an oversized junkyard turbo that made a truck lazier, and why a smaller 60/64 setup on their VP44 test truck ended up being the most fun to drive and tow with. If you are picking a turbo for your Cummins, that lesson alone is worth the listen.

The fuel side gets plenty of attention too. The guys talk about cheap lift pumps that fell flat feeding a VP44, why a 13mm injection pump with no timing advance felt underwhelming, and how delivery valves really work, including where a full cut helps and where it just adds smoke and EGT.

Then the fabrication stories start. Doubled up flex plates, a home welded turbo adapter, splines welded onto an input shaft, injector nozzles that sprayed the wrong way in a 12 valve, and a gallery plug that needed overnight to cure all come with lessons learned the hard way.

They also cover mods that look cool but bite back, like hood stacks that coat the cab in soot, ceramic clutches on a street truck, torque converters that are too tight or too loose, and duct tape and baling wire on a boost boot. Plus what they learned about cast compressor wheels overspeeding on the dyno, and why you keep the engine running after a turbo lets go.

Got a dumb mod story of your own? Drop it in the comments.

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This episode is full of hard lessons on turbos, lift pumps, delivery valves, and fabrication, and if you want to build it right the first time instead of learning it the hard way like these guys did, Power Driven Diesel has the parts and the know how to help.

Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com

Todd, Will, and Myer sit down to build the ultimate 1000 horsepower Cummins street truck from the ground up, part by part. Five hundred horsepower used to be the number that turned heads. Now the bar has moved, and this episode lays out exactly what it takes to build a diesel truck that lives at four digits and still drives home every night.

The guys pick a 2006 third gen Dodge with a 5.9 Cummins as the starting platform and spend real time weighing that against stepping up to a 6.7 Cummins, covering spool, towing manners, and how each block handles the power level. If you're deciding between a 5.9 and a 6.7 for your own diesel truck build, this breakdown will save you a lot of guessing.

From there the conversation moves into turbos, comparing the factory 8351CW against aftermarket compound setups built around an S466, S467, and a 98 millimeter atmosphere charger. They talk through single turbo versus compound turbo tradeoffs, when a wastegate actually matters at this power level, and how compressor and turbine sizing changes spool and peak power on the dyno.

They cover the bottom end and cylinder head next, going over street fighter connecting rods, 14 millimeter main studs, and the ongoing debate between H, P, and V bearings for a truck that sees real street miles. On top of the block, they break down cylinder head stages, valve springs, pushrods, and when a bigger intercooler actually becomes necessary as boost climbs.

Fueling gets plenty of attention too, with a look at CP3 pumps, single versus dual injector setups in 12 and 14 millimeter sizes, lift pump options like Air Dog and Fleece, and why upgrading your rail pressure sensor and relief valve matters once you push past factory pressure.

If you're serious about building a reliable 1000 horsepower diesel truck, hit subscribe on YouTube and follow the Power Driven Podcast on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.

Shop everything mentioned in this episode at PowerDriven.com.

All month long you can save 10% off everything at Power Driven, 15% off PDD Fueling, 10% off Airdog, and 10% off OptiTorque.

Every purchase this month also gets you five entries to September's giveaway: a compound turbo kit, a Colt Cams cam combo that includes a PDD cylinder head, an Aggressor turbo, a fuel package, and an Airdog fuel system.

Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com