Brag on your 6.5

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

I love my 6.5. Therefore, here is a forum to brag on your 6.5. I know that the 6.6 is an entirely different class, but this is for your diesel only.
Here's mine.
We had close to 8 inches of snowfall last night. Today I came across a Freightliner fullsize snowplow with a load of sand that was stuck in a ditch. Driver was shovelling sand under the tires. Stopped and asked if he wanted a tow and got laughed at. Driver tried to drive out and slide in further. He then took my offer. Hooked up and put the truck into 4lo/lo. Barely any throttle at all and out she came to the amazement of the driver, (and myself)
I love my 6.5:D
Come on, let's hear some other stories

[DmaxMaverick]

Spent an afternoon trying to pull start a Cat D4 with a dead pony motor. It never started (fuel pump also went south), but I pulled it around for hours on some of the most slippery dry soil you'll ever find (Paso Robles, CA), like driving on marbles. Uphill, downhill, across..... I did this with the '01 Duramax, but the '85 Blazer would have done nearly as well, I think, but I would have had to use low range. The '95 is a 2wd, so no chance. The D4 is a 7 ton tracked tractor. I have more exciting stories (not really stories), but this one made believers out of more than a few diehard gasser drivers. A gasser would have just dug holes, which is what was happening before I got there.

Excellent choice for a thread, 6.5DD. Should be a good one for many readers.

[soulman67]

I have pull started semis truck and trailer, pulled an old 32 ft RV 35 miles with it in gear cause the shifter was stuck in gear. Pulled an old dodge demon with no axels under it 25 ft so a fork lift could get to it. Four wheeling I have been in mud up to the doors and didn't get stuck while pulling a 24 ft gooseneck loaded with 7k lbs of fence material.

It will take a lot for me to part with Ol' Blue, I just got my F150 to drive while I fix up my old chevy collection that and my job requires me to own a newer truck.

[chrisk1500]

I had just bought an old International 914 pull type combine at an auction for dirt cheap. Rather than bring a tractor from home, I decided to just pull the combine with my k1500. It easily pulled the 10 000lb combine at 30 mph (max speed rating on combine's tires). Stopping was a bit interesting though....

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

95 pickup in signature:

02 Jan 00: purchased used, 80K miles
30 Jan 01: lift pump
28 Feb 01: all steering parts
04 Apr 02: idler/belt tension pulley
31 May 02: Wastegate Actuator Solenoid
11 Oct 02: FSD
28 May 04: FSD
01 Aug 03: harmonic balancer, pulley
14 Dec 05: alternator

Runs like the day I bought it: perfectly. I guess it's not a Toyota, but I'm very happy.

Blessings!

[Mark Rinker]

Two used '94s, purchased one year apart and in different states. Happens that both had come from same KCMO city fleet, with identical inservice dates. Both were fairly well thrashed, but ugly flatbeds come cheap. In retrospect, I think Satan himself brought them back together and into my business plan...the EVIL TWINS!

Both required turbomasters as the wastegate actuators were not functioning. Both needed lift pumps. In time, both needed climate control modules, water pumps, new HD fan clutches and new radiators to keep things cool. One actually EXPLODED its waterpump and the shrapnel took the fan and radiator with it... Soon, an FSD failed from heat-soak and then I got fee-soaked by my local dealership. After that, remote coolers were installed and spare FSDs located to carry around in glove box. (Never needed another one, of course.)

Somewhere about that time, I also replaced an accelerator. There are three redundant potentiometers in this thing, sort of like a NASA part for the space shuttle main throttles. The GM parts guy said it was the only one they had ever ordered into stock. At $350, I wasn't honored. There is a cool little light on the dash for this problem that says "SERVICE ACCELERATOR SOON". I must be the only guy in my town that has seen this illuminated.

Rear seals, brakes, rotors, calipers, u-joints, shocks and front axles seals in time. (Did you know these trucks have 'propellor shafts'...?...they do, and I have purchased two, but never seen either fly, although one mechanic asked me if the truck had ever been '...seriously airborne'. That one could never be aligned.) New tow truck springs for that one as it carries a 1.5yd sander. A couple new windshields. One truck had tons of electrical gremlins and I was informed it had been submerged at some point in its horrific life as a public servant. They handed me seaweed to prove it.

Then the crankshaft in one broke. New '98 motor. New oil cooler and lines that leaked. Twice. New exhaust. New performance chip and nifty gauges. Then it shucked a tranny. (Hey, its just money!!!) Recently, the crankshaft in the other broke. Sold that one as-is.

Sum total, so far I have got about 130K miles out of BOTH trucks, and probably about as much in revenues - before fuel, REPAIRS, insurance, labor, advertising, my ex-wife's monthly dole and my bottomless street rod and Ebay parts addiction.

Synopsis: I'm not sure if they have made me any money, but I've sure learned alot about diesels and I love TDP. Can you tell?

[NH2112]

Well, I don't have any 6.5l stories but do have a couple 6.2l anecdotes.

My friend Mike has an 84 K2500 w/6.2l, TH400, and 4.10s. He used it as his plow truck, and plowed the whole dirt road he lived on with it - that truck would push a pile of snow half the size of his truck, and the one time he tried using tire chains he twisted the rear driveshaft like a candy cane and stripped the front driveshaft's splines. Lotsa torque! He's in the process of a frame-off resto now, and is using a '67 or '68 M715 for plowing this winter.

My old 85 K10 had a 6.2l, 700R4 (when I bought it, I later swapped in an SM465), and 3.08s w/31x10.5x15 BFGs. One night we were in the middle of a storm that dumped about 30" of snow on us, and a little while after I got home I got a call from Mike asking if I could pull him out of a ditch. His Ram 2500 had blown a front axle U-joint earlier so he only had 2WD, and had gone off the (dirt) road on a short but steep hill on the way to his place. I lived about 10-12 miles from him and there was enough snow on the ground that it took almost an hour to get there. He'd waited in his truck so he hooked up his chain, then I let out the clutch in 1st gear high range and idled him up the hill and through 2' of snow the 1/4 mile or so to his house.

[restoguy]

Thought I'd throw my two cents in here.
I have a '94 K2500(8600GVW) ExCab with a 4L80E. I bought it with the engine smoked. The previous owner didn't take care of it and locked it up pulling his gooseneck horse trailer. I bought a salvage yard engine(complete), second hand, from a friend with only 8K miles on it. It came from a '94 with 5spd. (pay close attention to that last part!) I pulled it down, cleaned it and put it together with new gaskets because it had sat outside for a couple years. It ran like a top and I was happy. But 4200 miles later it was making a noise I can only describe as a midget with a hammer going crazy inside the block. It was a broken crank. Still ran like a top, but no power and lots of black smoke when you tried to move it. This was caused by the trauma of the tranny imput shaft putting spline marks 1/2" into the back of the crank when it was originally wrecked. When I got the motor it had 5 of the 6 motor mount bolts broken off in the block and one head had been fixed where a bolt went clean through the end! It got hit hardddd. Anyway new block, crank, and rods and I was back in action. 25K miles later my front cam bearing walked out of the block and I lost oil pressure, so she came apart again. Other than the usual little stuff I haven't had any other problems. But I still love my 6.5 and everyone laughs at me. Except one.

My brother has a friend that is FordFordFordFord. It's really bad, you know the type, blinded to anything wrong with a ford product. Well, while my brother was borrowing my diesel his friend got to drive it(ford powerbroke fan, remember) and he was actually impressed! He said it makes a great work pickup! These trucks won't win too many competitions, but still people like'em. And soon mine will be treated to a fresh 18:1 engine, that should shut up the rest of the PS guys 'round here!!