Duramax/Allison conversion

[MVR 155]

Cant beat the diesel for towing and economy, went down to Lake of the Ozarks this past weekend for Labor Day, I towed my 2 place jet ski trailer that weighs maybe around 2K lbs (1 ski is 790 dry and the other is 840, trailer probably weighs a couple of hundred pounds plus fuel, oil etc.. in the skis). I averaged 12-12.5 mpg round trip doing 70-80mph the entire trip. Now my friend that came with me has a 32 foot Sunsation Dominator with 2 496HO motors and a 110 gallon fuel tank that was about 1/2 full (guessing around 7000-7500 pounds for the boat and whatever the trailer weighs) and a bunch of gear, he has a 2005 3/4 ton silverado quad cab with the Duramax/Allison combo, he has a banks system on it as well (empty the thing flies ). He got 11.5-12 mpg for the entire trip and the power it has while towing that big boat is just phenominal, towing almost 4 times the weight not to mention wind drag from that huge boat he was right where I was mileage wise not to mention the power on tap from the Diesel.

[dkhummerh2]

The guy in Wichita was that company. I can't believe that they want that much. I have seen them sell 06's with the conversion on ebay for around 70k and the truck only had 1500 miles. I wouldn't pay more than 10k, so I think that you are right on your numbers. Of course finding someone qualified to do that is a whole different story. I will keep my eyes open and post on the forum when I find something.
thanks
dk

[marius]

The problem is to find a company that is willing to buy the parts at cost, not be greedy on markup on parts and make a decent penny on their labor not on both parts and labor. The parts (engine, tranny, transfer case, intercooler, radiator, mounts, exhaust, tranny cooler) can be bought at cost for about $ 11,000 (I have done the wholesale research). The labor can run close to $ 7000 if they take everything apart and have 2-3 people work on it for 4-5 days. Additionals would run another 1000-1500. I understand 20K, but 25, 28, 40 its a racket.....double dip and unreasonable labor charges.

[obzidian]

man, i sure want a 6.6L in my rig!! Would make tow my fully loaded 25' featherlite a piece of cake. Granted, the h2 tows in so no problem now, but a duramax is a terrific motor and with the 6spd, 2wd/4wd transfer case... OMG, thats would make me wanta keep my H2 when the lease is up!!

[marius]

Well maybe if we get 3-4 of us to do it maybe the price can come done as a package deal.......

[bmrtire]

Johnathan Goodwin @ H-line conversions did mine. He's the Kansas guy. There is much more to a conversion than just dropping it in the bay. In fact, Johnathan removes the body, puts in a completely new 3/4 ton chassis with the Duramax/Allison. He did the LBZ vnD in mine (07) 6-speed allison - drive train and changed the rear gears to my needs. I would never go to anyone except Johnathan because he is completely honest plus a genius. Conversion, propane kit, new GPS, KMC Rockstars on nitto grapplers, hydraulic reserve coilovers, paint front grill, smoked marker lights, AMP bars (electric step bars), color - change to paint inside and out. About $75,000. Oh, power box increase for HP. Total of about 680 horsepower. Unreal torque. Other things he did that I can't remember right now.

[pugads650]

i just got my h2 in july and i dont even drive it anymore beacuase of the gas milage i get anywhere from 7 to 9 mpg i only drive it when i take my bikes out to the dunes. so do any of you guys know how much the conversion would cost if i were to put in all the parts.

i have a complete 2004 gmc sierra 2500 duramax which was my brothers truck but he rolled it and sold it to me. it lot drives and runs great the 4x4 and all the switches work but the body is completley unuseable so it will make a perfect donor for my h2. i just need to find someone that can do all the work.

[marius]

How much did you pay ? $ 75,000 for the conversion ?

[marius]

I sent requests for information to Mr. Goodwin twice, no reply, then send emaill to his sales staff, nothing again. Does not score high with me, he may be a genius but not very proffesional if they don't reply to inquiries from people that want to give them business.....
I made inquiries with SinCity, Magnum, Mash, Predator, they all has at least the proffesionalism to reply and blow me away with the price.
Bad thing is that I am gathering the money to do it and I am getting serious but these guys don't want the business bad enough to negotiate a few grand off the high prices they want. The double markup is what kills the deal so far. They want to make money on the parts once as re-sellers and mark up a bundle on the labor as well.

Marius

[TXSUT]

Originally Posted by bmrtire

Johnathan Goodwin @ H-line conversions did mine. He's the Kansas guy. There is much more to a conversion than just dropping it in the bay. In fact, Johnathan removes the body, puts in a completely new 3/4 ton chassis with the Duramax/Allison. He did the LBZ vnD in mine (07) 6-speed allison - drive train and changed the rear gears to my needs. I would never go to anyone except Johnathan because he is completely honest plus a genius. Conversion, propane kit, new GPS, KMC Rockstars on nitto grapplers, hydraulic reserve coilovers, paint front grill, smoked marker lights, AMP bars (electric step bars), color - change to paint inside and out. About $75,000. Oh, power box increase for HP. Total of about 680 horsepower. Unreal torque. Other things he did that I can't remember right now.

Already back from your "classified" mission?

Originally Posted by bmrtire

I sent mine to him to resale because, just after I took delivery, I was informed that I would be gone for a year, very soon (classified).

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

I have heard of the Kansas guy and is supposed to be very good. Just a year and a half ago, give or take, he charged just $14,000.00 for the engine change out. Costs have gone up though and if you ask for almost a complete conversion the way we look at doing it with no engine change out just roughly $40,000 to $50,000 with power adders and your rig will get you a major custom conversion whether a road look or go to off road function plus interior upgrades. It is hard to and really impossible to do a broad price guess for larger custom work. We do just what you ask for when we sit down with you in person and go through a check list of what you want and stick to it unless you decide on changes. Then that is where cost starts going up bad. Reason being is we may have just had an area R and R'd then a person decides they do not like this whatever they chose and they pay double for the R and R again. The really bad thing is deciding to add more and it being in an area we just finished and have to go back in to make major changes or a better upgrade when we suggested it in the first place.

Simply customer causes allot of higher cost. Go in with what you want written down so we can write it up compare it to your written list and we both sign each others job lists. Ours will be with pricing after we check with vendor to make sure nothing has increased in price or sometimes have gone down as well. We try very hard whether it be an H2, a rice rocket, a crotch rocket, and well come to think about it even a golf cart and a bicycle to be careful on pricing. We are even more careful to be sure we are all on the same page as what customer is asking for. Professionalism is what we apply to every customer whether a $50K job or a $500 job.

On the guy in Kansas switching chassis to a 3/4 ton would be to just save time I guess. The H2 already has a boxed in 3/4 ton chassis along with starting in 2005 added a ladder chassis frame put under the H2 that is less likely to fail than the regular 3/4 chassis. It may be an easier way to get just a few inchs in length to get Duramax in as I understand it is very tight fit. Chassis was the next yearly in 05 improvement along with more HP which was just a tuning of H2 software of fuel management. That HP was already there to tap along with a few more like digital upgrade phone service along with better OnStar service in once poorer areas. There has been a few things which GM has tried to upgrade H2 some each year.

Just one angle of looking at conversions etc. I want to visit with the guy in person. I have been thinking about going over and visit with him about doing Duramax changes for us. I think I can still get new Duramax with auto tranny from a company that takes them out of mostly ambulances and a few other type rigs to put gas burners back in the rigs. Go figure why city officials do what they do. He said if I could give him notice he could have 1 set back for me. I planned to just have one bought and when sold buy replacement. This is what I wanted to discuss with him to hold cost down. I hope after a few months of tests my health things will get corrected and I can get up to 80% full power.

Well enough of info sharing that I had of the system conversion more in general. I know for fact Dragons "05" 2500 GMC Duramax turbo runs 400HP and 800 ft. lbs. of torque dyno'd. Shop named rig "The Tow Pig". It hauls our various mall queens to shows. It is a monster.


TAZ

Originally Posted by bmrtire

Johnathan Goodwin @ H-line conversions did mine. He's the Kansas guy. There is much more to a conversion than just dropping it in the bay. In fact, Johnathan removes the body, puts in a completely new 3/4 ton chassis with the Duramax/Allison. He did the LBZ vnD in mine (07) 6-speed allison - drive train and changed the rear gears to my needs. I would never go to anyone except Johnathan because he is completely honest plus a genius. Conversion, propane kit, new GPS, KMC Rockstars on nitto grapplers, hydraulic reserve coilovers, paint front grill, smoked marker lights, AMP bars (electric step bars), color - change to paint inside and out. About $75,000. Oh, power box increase for HP. Total of about 680 horsepower. Unreal torque. Other things he did that I can't remember right now.

[Hummer Aficionado_VT]

Well, this has been a fun read!

[marius]

TAZ buddy, you lost me, I don't get it, are looking to do a conversion like I want or not ? I am not intrested in doing any inside upgrades, I like my interior the way it is. What is with the 40k-50k interior and "power adders" without a diesel engine upgrade ? Can anybody translate for me ?

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

Sorry it was early in the morning. In the 40k to 50k I'm talking a complete ext. paint job stripped of all trim custom paint job. That includes blocking the body many times to get it way more smooth than factory. We shoot as many coats of clear as it needs to give a real deep rich look.

Then it would include int. upgrade along with sound etc. We have audio and sound you can spend 10k on easy and you would be shocked what some people spend.

It would include a supercharger or turbo setup whatever the customer wanted. We could the diesel conversion but, where we are there would not be enough interest for it so we just work hard on the tires, rims, paint, new int. covering, sound, power adders, and on and on. As I mentioned I had looked at getting new removal diesel engine and tranny thinking about doing one on a SUT to take to shows but, it would have been all off-road look with road armour bumpers with corners etc. I had a plan for a SUT with a cameo paint job that looked good but, functional if need be.

If someone was not as interested in the street type conversion then we can go the off road way. Lifts, heavier bumpers, winchs, lighting and whatever the customer wants. No job is to small. It starts to add up fast when you figure labor etc.

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to be sure you understood I'm quite sorry I made it sound confusing.

No joke it will not be the last time. Most of the old timers have learned to interpret what I'm saying.

Anyone please do not hesitate to ask me to clarify things if needed. Open in front of others or in PM. It is no problem for me seriously.

My thinking process is way to fast for my typing skills and I will catch myself having typed 2 thoughts in one line. I had planned to be the start of one line and the ending of a completely different line. I do appologise for these things.

Dragon would be the first to tell anyone that if they are talking to me in person have a tape recorder when I start to think about ideas of things to build or try. It could be me talking to you about your idea and then my little 120mph pea brain will then shift into overdrive to try and give you ideas.
I mean well.

TAZ

[dmaxh1]

My name is andrew and I build custom diesels trucks from h1 with duramaxs to dodge diesels running in the 10.s or putting cummins withallisons in fords dont let these jack asses tell you they are putting 800hp in a hummer first the conecting rods collapse at about 650hp second you have to go with 12,100 halft shafts third the diff wont hold with out major mods trust me I tried it I have video if you want to see I have been calling out any one with 800 hp in ther h1 but no body comes forward call me 651 434 5760