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Project Frankenstein has begun..

89K views 605 replies 106 participants last post by  armyguy209 
#1 · (Edited)
Well after WAY too many problems with the 6.0, as well as being left stranded on the road at least4 times a year(thank God for AAA), I have finally decided to take the leap to the dark side.

I found a local place that is very knowledgeable who is going to do the cummins swap into my truck. I already bought the motor today(07 CR 5.9l cummins with only 66k miles) complete with everything. It is still in the donor truck and will be getting pulled out monday, then shipped to my shop. I will probably keep it stock for now until I can get everything to pass smog which I'm sure is going to be a headache.

I will keep you all posted of the progress as we go along. I am still trying to figure out which tranny I am going to go with so I can get all of the parts ordered. What do you guys think? I can either go with a built 47re, an Allison, or the 5r110/4r100. If I stay with the ford tranny, Brian from BTS and John from JWT both said I should go with a built 4r100 as they are a lot easier to program and can handle way more power than the 5r110. I have already looked into it price wise and found that the price across the board is not a whole lot different for any one I go with. I will need a stand alone controller with any of them which varies from 850 for the ford trannys, to 1500 for the Allison tranny, and 1800 for the 47re. The only thing with the 47re is that I won't need the flex plates and adapters so it evens the price a little. I talked to Auto World and they like to run the Allison trannys behind theirs. Problem is none of the shops including destroked have actually done a swap using the dodge tranny. What tranny would you guys go with?

And thoughts, suggestions or comments are welcomed.


EDIT 02/01/13: Well she is finally up and running after many months. Still have a few bugs to work out which are currently getting dealt with. I posted a video of it running which is on page 24, or you can click the link in my sig which will take you to the video. Pictures are kind of scattered throughout the thread. I will post a page with everything on it when it is completely done. Thanks
 
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#387 ·
Well he said 2 weeks. I knew that wasn't going to happen though, because even Destroked who does this day in day out takes 1-2 months. I figured 2-3 months honestly. Then we had a few setbacks, but even with those being incorporated in, 9+ months is way too long for a professional shop. I think we are almost done though. I am going down there today to see where we are at, and I really hope I am AT LEAST driving it around the block this time. From the way he made it sound, he got it running and shifting right, and was making some valve body adjustments to fine to the shifting.
 
#388 ·
As much as I hate to hear about someone doing the whole destroked thing it will be a bad *** truck and I'm sure a blast to drive. How much did this set u back may I ask?
 
#389 ·
ive asked about money before, im scared of the labor. but id be fighting that tooth and nail with lawyers. or you couldnt have known but set a flat rate up front
 
#390 ·
Can't go over prices of labor but I can tell you I am getting a good deal and it is a flat rate. So I am not gonna get hit with some crazy bill at the end.
 
#392 ·
Any Good news? Just spent the last hour reading this thread....wow man, you are the most patient and easy tempered guy I've ever come across. I woulda gone ape s#*t after 3 months.
Hope today is the day. Good luck.
 
#394 ·
I've been silently following this thread from the very beginning. I still perps lily think your crazy for doing this but then again some people call me crazy for dropping $16k on a ford reman long block :doh: To each his own but my god this gives a whole new meaning to patience, I really don't know how you managed. My truck was down for 8 days when it got a new engine and that about drove me crazy, I even had my parents cars to drive whenever I needed/wanted to. Now that I got it back I couldn't be happier. I'm even more rest assured knowing that I have a 2-year parts and labor warrantee from ford if anything breaks. My service advisor even told me to run the piss out of it because if anything is going to break it will break soon. Anyway, I hope only the beast for you and hope you get back on the road and have countless reliable miles. I think we both know how many times you've said "going to the shop today, hopefully get a vid driving it" lol. Hopefully this time you will actually get to do that. Best of luck!


Sent from AutoGuide.com App
 
#395 · (Edited)
Thanks guys I appreciate it.

Maz I followed your thread as well. I couldn't have spent that though to put the same motor back into mine when I have so little faith in it now. It really sucks because I will never buy another 6.0 again because of all my bad experiences. Ill tell you this though, when it did run good it was a beast. You should be very happy with yours. I was really curious of which way you were going to go. Hopefully it treats you well.

As far as mine goes, I am patient but I don't know how much longer I could have continued it for if it hadn't been running still 9 months later. It is nice to finally see the finish line in sight. As far as the update goes. Well I went down there today. The cold air intake I ordered isn't going to work. Even modifying it, I wouldn't be able to use my wiper fluid bottle so I have to go another route. He is going to get a stock setup off a dodge and try to use that since it is a lot smaller. Not a huge deal.

He has been test driving it a few times now and it is running and shifting good. He was able to make everything shift right off of the Dodge ECM computer so I don't have to use a standalone contoller, which I don't think anyone has figured out yet. I had even called all the places like Destroked and they all said that they haven't done any swaps with the dodge tranny, and all said that the only way to make it work is with running a standalone. I didn't get to drive it because he still had the valvebody off to make the adjustments but he said once he makes the adjustments and puts it back together (which might be by Friday), that I can come by and drive it. He said it was driving and shifting good with all gears shifting and lockup working like it should. He just wanted to adjust it a little because he wants it to shift perfectly, which I am fine with. Then just a few minor things like getting the reverse lights wired up to turn on right, and little stuff like that which are easy and quick. Then comes the check engine light which he already has some things he is working on. So no exact time frame but soon. He said it is still throwing about 8 codes through the Dodge OBD2 port so he is working out how to get each of the sensors working right.

With all that said, I am not going to update this thread again until I am actually getting to take it for a spin, and I will post a video of all that of course. I am really hoping by friday but if not, next week for sure. Hopefully the check engine light doesn't take too long because this thing is ready to be back in daddy's little hands.
 
#396 ·
With all that said, I am not going to update this thread again until I am actually getting to take it for a spin, and I will post a video of all that of course.
I hope so, but

 
#398 ·
I second the nomination
 
#402 ·
yea man, i dont know how you ahvent just got a lawyer and sued for what the truck and motor were worth or didnt just want him to buy it off you
 
#404 ·
just read this whole thread, and i hope all is well.

I am considering the swap myself, just cause im paranoid about the 6.0L, even though i havent had ANY issues. But i love the Cummins engine, always have always will, just dont like the Dodge chassis. And independent suspension in an 8K lb truck, what were you thinking Chevy. :doh: Way to many moving parts and bushings...:hehe:

I know people have done this swap a hundred times, but yours is definately unique considering all the Smog rules you are trying to follow. But once its done, Its gonna be awesome..

Good luck..:liar:
 
#406 ·
Thanks man I appreciate it. :thumb:
 
#405 ·
It's MAY!
What's happinin?
:eek:hnoes:
 
#407 · (Edited)
Well I knew someone would eventually bring this thread back up...haha

I haven't posted any updates because there honestly haven't been any positive updates to post. I still don't have my truck back and we just hit the 10 month mark yesterday.

Basically in a nut shell, he has been having a lot of problems getting the 48re to work right. He has got it all shifting, lockup working, etc. The problem he said he is having is that he just cant get it to downshift back into first gear. It is something electrical but he has torn the harness apart several times now and said he just cant figure out why it's not working.

He finally decided to throw in the towel with the 48RE and we are now going back to the mechanical 47RH. He ordered a billet input shaft last week and it should be there sometime this week. The 47RH is already all built because we were going to use that in the beginning anyways but it needs the input shaft and he doesn't want to rob it from the 48RE that is in my truck now. He will have to send the drivelines out again to get lengthened/shortened because the RH is about 3" longer. That's about a 2-3 day turnaround. The 48RE is coming out this week.

As far as codes, he has it down to only throwing 8 codes now and started with like 16. I think he said there are 2 for fuel sending unit(high and low), 2 for the cruise control, battery temp sensor, 2 for the tranny, and something else but I can't remember.

He said he plans on having it all done by the end of the month so we will see. We have to wait for the input shaft to arrive to get the new tranny in and start working on the codes. The S&B intake won't work so we are now just going to use a stock Dodge intake. He has been tied up with the transmission thing for about the past 1.5 months trying to get it to work. That set the thing back quite a bit.
 
#408 ·
You know, "sainthood" is quite an aspiration.:noteworthy:
 
#409 ·
What a mongolian cluster f&ck .... sorry to hear it Dan :(

I know one thing I will never be doing to my truck lol.

I hope you get it back all fixed up real soon.

I think you would have had better luck buying a dodge taking the cab bed and frame off and putting yours on :D

Good luck getting it wrapped up!!

Todd
 
#411 ·
Thanks Todd. I know...it really freakin sucks man. Had I known all of this was going to happen, and that it was going to take this long, I would have fixed the headgaskets yet again, and traded it in on a freakin Dodge. I love Ford but this truck has made me lose complete confidence in their products. The only Ford I would buy now is a 2002-2003 7.3 Lariat. Then I would do some mods and call it a day. All these new trucks and their damn emissions crap SUCKS. The EPA is completely ruining our trucks, but that is a different story for a different day.

Hopefully I get this back, have no problems with it, and can be completely happy driving my good ol Ford again.
 
#410 ·
Yeah it sucks..If I wasn't living in good ol Republik of Kalifornia this thing would have been done a LONG time ago. I would have just thrown an Allison in it, not had to worry about the CEL and codes, and been driving the $hit out of it....ahhhhh but I do live in Cali.
 
#412 ·
How would the guys (I think you called them referees) know which transmission was in the truck or not? Hell... how would they know that you're supposed to have a Powerstroke in there instead of a Cummins? If the Allison transmission wouldn't throw a CEL, then you should be good - right?

I mean... I read somewhere in this thread that the referees said that you have to have the stock/factory transmission in the truck, which is why ya'll went with the 48RE/47RH - but how would they know it was an Allison in there instead of something else?
 
#414 · (Edited)
Well to sum it up briefly, we have two different smog referees here. One is just the smog technician, who has a very basic knowledge of cars. You have to take your car/truck to these guys once every 2 years per DMV requirements in order to get your updated reg tags. They basically put a sniffer on the tail pipe, scan your obd2 port for any codes, and do a quick visual for any mods. If you pass you are good for 2 years. These shops are everywhere and you can go to whatever one you choose. For a diesel, they just do a visual check to make sure EGR, CAT, DPF, etc is all there. I have seen them look at diagrams for the individual truck to see where the stuff is and what it is supposed to have. Then they plug into it and make sure there are no codes. Last they do a snap throttle test which is basically just like what it sounds like. They get in the truck and snap the throttle a few times and look behind them to see if any black smoke is coming up. You can have aftermarket intakes and programmers, etc. as long as they are on the CARB exemption list, and you have the CARB EO# on the item somewhere.

The second type is a State Certified Smog referee. There is only one of the per every few counties. These are the guys you get sent to if you get stopped by Highway Patrol and if they see you have a bunch of aftermarket stuff. They are also there for motor swaps or any kind of major emissions change that has to be signed off. These guys have a lot of power. They basically decide if your vehicle is going to be back on the road or not. They are WAYYY more strict and they dig a lot deeper. For a motor swap, that was one od the first things they told me is that the tranny has to be from a dodge if I am putting a dodge motor in it. Other than that, they make sure every single piece of emissions stuff that is supposed to be on the dodge is on there. Then they check for any codes (soft or hard) and can fail it for that. They make sure that the check engine light works right, and that all sensors are running properly. If after all that passes, they give you a permanent body label that says the truck is now registered in the state of California as a Ford with a cummins diesel motor. These guys know exactly what they are looking for. They are basicallt mechanics that chose to work for the state and are given the power to make these decisions. Then I don't ever have to go back to them again and can go to the regular shops every two years. They would notice the Allison because Allisons have big raised letters across them. Lol

I just want to do this the right way so I don't have any headaches to deal with later on, I am just dealing with all the headaches now...well for the past 10 months and counting...haha
 
#415 ·
I still don't understand why they would give a crap what tranny you're using, it's not going to make the truck run different or have more emissions :doh:. I guess that's one of the many reasons I don't live in CA, although CO is going the way of CA :ranton:
 
#417 ·
One of the reasons I will never live in the liberal state of California.. What they make you do to your truck is impeding on your freedom, plain and simple. Bad enough I live in a liberal state of Maryland- I hate it... bUT NO emissions for diesels:)
 
#419 ·
Move to Louisiana where i'm at, we have none of this non sense going on with emissions.
 
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