AZTimT

Well, first off, I want to say that this has been an excellent site for info and research that I have read since long before I ever bought my 1st Cummins. I read alot and rarely post... since I learn more that way and know alot less than most of you. Also, I have been so busy over the last 5 months since I bought my 1st gen that I have been unable to find out the things I really want to know or even announce it, but I digress.

My truck is a 92 W250 CPL1351/getrag that is mostly stock except for the following:
Frame stretched 18* to replace club cab with crew cab, leveled lift about 4" over stock, Banks gauges for boost, pyro, and oil temp as well as Dodge addon tach, BHAF, true 4" exhaust including downpipe, 16cm wastedgated turbo IIRC a modified HX35, and "+30HP injectors of an unknown origin", both the injection pump and the getrag have been rebuilt once in 185,000 miles

Question 1 - I would like to know how safe is it to and/or how many of you have turned up your VE pump and are still running a getrag? My pyro is post turbo and I cannot get the egt's to exceed 700 no matter what I do.

Question 2 - Does anyone know about or recommend any specific LED tail lights that can be used to replace the 2057 bulbs for a brighter/more efficient tail light solution with the factory lens?

Question 3 - I have a 98 12v/NV4500HD 2wd combo with 150k miles on it that I bought to put into a GMC crewcab after I came home from Iraq in 2004 but the project never got completed. The donor vehicle was a front end wrecked fleet maintained 3500 dually and I was able to actually drive the truck forward and backward 30 feet to verify that the engine and tranny were ok despite the fan being shot. My question is this... with this at my disposal, would I be smarter to buy the adapter for the NV4500 to mate to my 205 and swap out the current engine and tranny, or should I just put the combo up for sale and if so, what is a fair price these days to ask? The third option I have is I can trade the 98 12v by itself for a 4bt with a 4 speed manual out of a bread truck and still have the nv4500 at my disposal which I could put in my 78 blazer which I never drive anymore cuz of the MPG. These are not easy choices for me and I would just like to know some of your valuable opinions.

Sorry for the long post but I don't want to have to repost for missing info and would greatly appreciate the help on any or all of my questions.

Tim

G1625S

First off, even though you've been lurking for a while, I'd like to say Welcome to DTR!
Now, on to business:

1)The getrag really has a worse reputation than track record. When run with a quality synthetic fill of 4.5-5quarts of 5-30, they seem to hang in quite well. There are a few holding over 600 horsepower...and that's HP at the rear wheels! If looked after and not hurried from gear to gear, the getrag can get-r-done just fine, thank you very much

2)Can't help you there...sorry...

3)To mate to your 205, the entire mainshaft of the 4500 needs to be swapped, so you're getting into some bucks there. If I were you, I'd buy a new 4500 with all the cool updates and use your 2wd as the core, if you can. Then, swap the whole mess into your truck--98 12er and new 4500. Yuo would then have the combo that many dream of, but very few have---1st gen 4x4 crew cab 12-valve (with the 215 pump) and a manual tranny...drool drool....

wannadiesel

1 - what Greg said. Mine hasn't blown up yet.

2 - I dunno about LED's, the problem is that they are very directional so you'd have very little side light. Get 2357 bulbs, they are 20% brighter on stop/turn and 50% brighter on tail compared to the 2057's Dodge spec'ed.

3 - Like Greg said, a '98 motor in a 1st gen would be awesome!