Tighten it up 2 clicks, and see. If you cant get it to idle down with the idle adjustment bolt, then you went too tight. From my understanding of the way these work, if you could machine a shim to only work on the smallest spring, you would have the easy pedal with a little more rpm, a little better than the washers would do. It's not costing you anything but time to experiment.

 

I'll give her a couple clicks tomorrow and see where that gets me. I love the way the pedal feels, nice and responsive, but I would love to be able to get to 3000. I'm lucky to hit 2200 as it is.

 

Did ya get yours up to 3000???
About to try this out myself.

 

Any other 97 guys try this??? My 97 stock will rev 2700 RPM's right now. So just wondering if this will work on my truck or will I be another 97 that it does not work....

 

Well I finally tried it and it worked the second time,,first time i used 3/8 washers that were to small diameter on the outside,,,so tried another set that were just under 1 inch and wahlah,,,runs really good jus one prob,,,didint see the thing bout opening em up to 1/2 in center or to fit over retainer,,,still work jus hard strtn. So am gonna take it apart agn and drill em out,,,but it is easier from the side as i did it from top first time,,

 

Any other 97's do this with success?

 

Just did this to my 96 with any auto. Worked perfect. No change in idle. And fuels around 2850.. I used .062 thick 3/8 washer. Opened up the holes on the washer large enough to slide over the spring retainer inner lip( slightly larger than 1/2).

I set the stud length between .030 -.040. I am running 100 plate in the middle and starwheel 3/4 forward. Truck flat out rips..........

 

Good luck to use but it sure seems like the majority of people who did this mod ended up with trouble down the road and ended up paying the $100 for a real kit later.

 

Still going strong after 40k miles... Knock on wood.

I'll say it again.. I think it's real important to use the same size/weight washers. Even if it's the same size, some are thicker than others in the same batch.

 

Infidel I am by no means a Cummins expert. But I expect the only problem I will have is my stock converter and trans not lasting to long........ LOL

 

What sort of trouble are you speaking of? I work at a fab shop and was playing with the idea of trying this. I know I can cut two washers of exactly .920" OD and .505" ID at .070" thick, which should eliminate many of the inconsistency problems others are experiencing. What is/are the "down the road" issues? If this has a greater potential to hurt my truck than the spring kits I would love to know.

 

From what I've read people who have done this mod keep on having to adjust the idle or experience cutting out at higher rpm "down the road".
It turns into never ending adjustments to keep it running right.
It's probably due to the washers not weighing the same and throwing the spinning governor out of balance.
We have extremely accurate scales at work.
I divided all the parts of a 4k GSK in half before installing and weighed them.
The opposite sides were the same weight down to .001 of a gram.
Pretty hard to come that close by eyeballing.
Might also be why what seems like $5 worth of springs costs $100.

 

Thanks for that information.
Seems my best odds are to very finely cut the washers, and then match weigh them just to be sure. If those steps are taken I can't see a difference between that method and the replacement of the springs other than the 100 dollars. I get that doing these washers in the fab shop environment would usually cost the same 100 dollars, but if I worked at a spring factory . . .
Thanks for the warnings and advice on this. I am going to try it and watch closely for the symptoms Infidel described.

 

I bought my 3/8 washers from Home Depot. I drilled them out so they would slide easily over the inside of the spring keeper on the GSK. I did not even have to adjust my idle after install. My truck de-fuels right around 2900. I am sure I could put one more click on the springs and get it closer to 3200-3400. But 2900 is good for now. I have drove the truck hard for the last 200 miles. No hanging up in any RPM. Truck starts right up and runs excellent.

 

So what is the highest in gear RPM fueling anyone has got out of a 96 Auto? And what was your stud measurement set at?