I've always been a motor head. It was mostly small-engine machines that gave me the horsepower fix. Then one day my friend brought his '98 Dodge 24-valve Cummins over and took me for a ride. It was originally a standard, but he had blown the transmission a few times already and had converted it over to a 5-speed manual. It had an intake, exhaust and an Edge Juice with Attitude setup.
From there, it took a little time but I finally got a diesel of my own. And I gathered up as many aftermarket products as I could in the first week. Just driving around with the sound of a Duramax behind my ear and the puff of black smoke at my disposal made me feel like I owned the road. I was ruined on gas pickups.The first ride was incredible. Coming from a world of gas pickups where the difference between a sluggish truck and a fast one is defined by 30 horsepower, the power of the diesel was impressive. I'd never felt torque before, at least not like that. And that was over 10 years ago. It wasn't much by today's standards, even for a stock truck. But it was amazing how that thing would just lay you back against the seat and break the tires loose between each shift. It was as much of a rush as throwing a leg over a supped up motocross bike and flying around at the dunes.
Five diesel trucks later, the feeling hasn't changed. But what's been fun over the years is sharing that feeling with other people who haven't been around diesels and diesel performance much. And when they hop in your truck and take a ride and their face turns to a wide grin and then a loud laugh as they feel their stomach press against the seatback.
Some of these guys have traded in their gas pickups for diesels. Some already had diesels but now have enough performance parts on them to make any forum lifer jealous. Others have gotten into drag racing or sled pulling.
But what's really fun to see is how some of these guys (and gals) who have really gotten into it really get their hands dirty. These are people who normally pulled into the nearest Jiffy Lube for service, but now work on their trucks themselves. Or at least have done it enough to have a very good understanding of how the mechanical stuff under the hood works. From personal experience, nothing is more rewarding than knowing that you installed something fairly major to the truck's engine or drivetrain yourself in your garage.
Sharing the diesel bug with friends has been a rewarding feeling. So I'm glad I had a friend who shared it with me all those years ago.