Custom Auto of Idaho Falls, ID, held its first Diesel Dyno Day June 28, giving diesels from all around the region the chance to spin the rollers and prove what they got.
With the help of sponsors like Superchips, Hypertech, Dynomite Diesel and Bullydog, Custom Auto was able to award some great aftermarket products along with a pretty good cash payout to its top competitors.
When it was all said and done, the top number of the day went to Al Babneau of Firth, ID, in his 2004 Dodge 5.9L Cummins. His truck dialed up 929 hp and 1586 ft-lbs. of torque on fuel only, which was enough to seal his first place spot by more than 200 hp.
Running a set of MPI compound turbos and some very large F-1 injectors, Babneau had some tuning issues during his first runs of the morning and had to spend some time fine tuning his stacked chip setup. Once it was dialed in it was easy to see this Common Rail meant business. Babneau was able to leave his mark as top dog, taking home some cash and a Bullydog PMT.
The first place Duramax award went to Dmitri Miller of Lehi, UT, whose truck laid down a very impressive 661 hp and 1046 ft-lbs. of torque. That's not bad for a completely stock bottom end and fuel only run. Some EFI Live tuning and a hybrid Garrett turbo probably make Dmitiri's LB7 a truck we definitely would not want to line up next to at the track.
The top Power Stroke went to Diesel Tech's very own Jacob White with his 2002 7.3L F350. A Garrett GT-42, Dynomite Diesel B-code injectors, DP Tuner tuning and Terminator Engineering dual oil pump system all pushed his 7.3L to 551 hp and 1088 ft-lbs. of torque on fuel only.
James Brendle, owner of Custom Auto, spent every minute of the previous two weeks pulling and rebuilding the motor in his LLY Duramax to prepare it for the dyno event. After having the block completely machined and reassembled with the help of his employees, they were able to start the truck late Friday night and do a little tweaking to the EFI Live tuning. After driving the truck only about 50 miles, Brendle strapped the truck down on the rollers and pushed out more than 700 hp on fuel. That's pretty impressive for a brand new motor with no break-in time or fine-tuning on the programming. Brendle says he's shooting for 1200 hp out of this truck on nitrous and after seeing the fuel left over on his dyno run, we think it's safe to say he ought to get close.
All in all, the event turned out to be a big success. Owners went away happy with really strong numbers being laid down all day. With numerous trucks in the high 400s and a handful in that beloved 500-horsepower club, the region was well represented.
We'll definitely keep our eyes out for next year's Dyno Day from Custom Auto. It's not one we'll want to miss.