Wicked Willys Return

Today on trucks. If you drive a diesel truck, you won't want to miss this week's show because we're going to bolt on one of the hottest diesel upgrades the aftermarket has to offer. After that, we've got one Hummer of a vehicle to show you before the moment everyone's been waiting for.

That's right. The Wicked Willies makes a return appearance in the truck shop. That's all today on trucks.

Welcome to this week's show everybody, you know, in the past, we've shown you a whole bunch of different ways to get better horsepower with gasoline motors.

But we also realize that a lot of you guys out there are driving trucks with diesel engines too.

So we thought it'd be a really good idea to massage one of those up for you. So today we're gonna see what we can squeeze out of this brand new Dodge Ram with the Cummins diesel engine. Now, one of the unique things about a diesel engine is you can get some serious horsepower and torque out of them without sacrifice and fuel economy. Matter of fact, everything we're gonna do to this truck today will give us more power. Also give us better mileage.

As you can see, the stock numbers on our 24 valve cummins are more than respectable for a stock pickup at about 100 and 80 horsepower at 410 ft pounds of torque. But you guys know how it is. You can never have too much grunt. So we went to Gale Banks engineering for their power pack kit to see if we can improve on our stock numbers.

Now, the best way to make any engine, especially a diesel really come alive is to help it to breathe better.

And the power pack system definitely takes care of all aspects of that. So the first thing we're gonna deal with

is the turbo charger and the exhaust system

with the air inlet tube and the air filter box out of the way we can unbolt the exhaust system.

Then on both the oil drain and the oil supply line from the turbo.

Finally unbolt the turbo charger from the manifold and the outlet tube.

Now make sure you put a rag over that outlet tube, so no junk falls down inside there.

Now that we have the turbo out, tear into the stock exhaust, now we will dump the entire system,

but we do need to reuse the rubber frame mounts to hang the new system. Good shot of penetrating lube is not only gonna preserve the mount

but it's gonna help the pins pop out easier as well.

Now, one of the ways that banks deals with the turbo charger is with a larger lower back pressure turbine housing and a better suited actuator. Now, this makes the boost come on quicker and stay on longer.

Now to install it, put the turbo into a vice, take out the bolts

and then pop out the center bearing and compressor assembly from the old housing,

then you can install them into the new turbine housing.

Another place you can really open things up is with the exhaust. Now, the stock system comes with a three inch pipe, which is definitely pretty big, but bank supplies a massive four inch stainless steel replacement. It's gonna make a huge difference. And if that's not enough for you,

it also comes with a dynaflow muffler.

Now, you've got a thermocouple that comes with the kit and it monitors the temperature of the exhaust gasses that go into the turbo.

It mounts right back here in this rear exhaust port. Now to install it,

take a small rag stuff it into the exhaust passage. And what this does is keep any metal shavings from getting into the manifold.

Then you can drill your hole,

tap it

after all that's done, you can install the thermocouple

finally bolt on the turbo.

Now, while Stace was putting our modified turbo on, I went ahead and got started on the exhaust system. First thing I did was put on a new outlet pipe,

then got a four inch clamp loosely in place so I could slide the intermediate pipe on. Now, for you guys with extended cabs, the kit also includes an extension pipe.

Now it's time for the muffler. Here you go. Got it.

Now, the kit comes with special hangar clamps that slide right into the factory rubber mounts

and you may have noticed that we haven't used the catalytic converter on this application.

That's because with the diesel, you don't need one

to finish off. Our monster exhaust banks also supplies the tail pipe along with a really nice looking stainless steel tip. Now, the entire section goes up over the rear axle and into the muffler. And once you have everything where you want it, you can tighten it down.

Now for you guys who don't know exactly how a turbo charger works, we'll explain it to you. Now what we have on the motor, we're gonna stuff into the Harry hauler is a supercharger and that's driven by a belt off the crank.

Now, a turbo charger on the other hand is spun by exhaust gasses. Let me show you how it works.

Exhaust comes out of the manifold into the turbine housing where it spins a turbine and then continues out the pipe.

Now, the turbine spins a shaft that's connected to another turbine inside of the compressor. Now, the compressor acts like a centrifugal supercharger sucks fresh air in compresses it

and then blows it out of this tube into the inner cooler and eventually to the intake,

we still have quite a bit of work left to do before we can really put our ram to the test. But right now we need to take a break. Don't go away. We'll be right back

later in the show. We've got something. Everyone's been waiting for the return of the Wicked Willies. Also in today's show, it's big, it's red and they call it a T rex.

But up next, we're gonna finish bolting on our diesel upgrade and show you the numbers.

Welcome back to trucks. Everybody. Now we've already upgraded the exhaust system and the turbo charger on this Cummins diesel engine. So now we're gonna deal with the computer

and the air inlet on this big old dodge. You know, one of the best parts about this kit from banks is they haven't left anything out for the intake. You've got this brand new high flowing inlet tube

and the brains behind the operation is what they call the auto mine computer. Of course, the kit also includes all the water I

and hookups you'll need as well as the gauges and gauge pot. Here's that new inlet too, man. All right.

Now, obviously, with the turbo upgraded, we gotta do something with this air inlet so it'll handle the flow

as you can see. This stock piece is pretty restrictive. So we're gonna pull it off of there

now, to do this, we've already disconnected the air inlet to

taken off the dipstick finally unbolted the inlet.

Now, since the new wiring harness is gonna run underneath the inlet, we're gonna wait to put this new piece on.

Also,

these three bolts need to come out so we can move this throttle assembly this direction so we can get to the wire underneath

while C

is dealing with things under the hood, I can work on the brain transplant. Now, our RA M has trailer brakes. So the first thing we had to do is get the module out of the way.

Now, the auto mine mounts best behind this panel out of sight below the steering call. All you have to do is

pop off the panel and remove these two screws on the right hand side.

Now, eventually the auto

mine is gonna mount between the plastic dash and a metal sub panel,

but we don't wanna do that until we have all of our hookups taken care of.

Now, we know a lot of you guys get really nervous when it comes to wiring, but don't worry, Banks has made this pretty easy for you.

All you have to do is splice into this wire here on top of the fuel injection pump plug in this yellow wire.

Then we're just gonna lay the harness in place

and finally run it through the grommet in the firewall

into the cab to melt.

All right, sis, I got it.

Now, all you have to do is plug the main connector into the auto mine.

By the way, this little black box upgrades your fuel system by controlling the fuel delivery.

In other words, it matches the fuel delivered to the airflow you're getting for maximum power and efficiency.

Once you have everything hooked up, make sure all your wires are out of the way.

Finally, we can hook up the rest of the harness. Now, it splices right in line here and goes to the throttle position sensor.

It does the same thing back here with the map sensor on the intake.

Then finally, we're gonna hook up a ground to this bolt and finish off with our thermocouple wiring

to be able to monitor our new system. We have a turbo boost and exhaust temperature gauge. Now, with our kit, we decided to go with this pod that mounts to the A pillar to give us easy access without having to tear up the dash on our brand new ramp. Now, once you have the gauges and pods securely in place,

all you have to do is run the wires over to the back of the auto mine

and plug it in

with all the wiring hooked up. The last thing we need to do under the hood is put on this air intake. Now, you will have to relocate the dipstick using the hardware in the kit. Now, one of the cool things about this setup is other than this pipe. You don't even know what's on there until you stump on the gas. Speaking of stomping on the gas, I'd say it's about time to put our ram on the di on suit we picked up. Let's do it.

Mm.

Well, as you can see, the numbers don't lie. We picked up about 100 and eight horsepower and almost 240 ft pounds of torque by bolting on the bank's power pack system. Heck with those kind of numbers. We can tow a house behind our ra M now. And the best part is Banks claims we're gonna get about 7% better

fuel economy.

Now, for all you Ford and Chevy guys that are kicking the dirt out there. Well, you can just relax because Banks also makes a kit for the Ford Power stroke and the GM diesel. But until you get one of your own, well, you're gonna be looking at the tail lights, our big old dodge, stay with us. We got more trucks coming to you after this

up. Next on trucks. We've got a T rex to show you that's one Hummer of a vehicle

after that. It's time for the moment. Everyone's been waiting for the return of our classic 55 Willy's wagon.

Welcome back, everybody.

Well, if you've been hanging around the shop with us since the start of the show, you've probably been wondering what the deal is with this big red Hummer. Well, first of all, what you see here isn't a Hummer at all, believe it or not. This vehicle is actually called the T Rex. It's owned by Chris Luck of Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Now there's a lot of companies out there making kits so you can build a Hummer style vehicle. The reasons are obvious hummers are cool.

They also have a huge price tag.

So we're gonna show you how this one was put together by using one of those kits and some of the aftermarket

hell, we know the biggest question you guys have right now is whether it's steel or fiberglass

and just like a factory Hummer. The body is indeed steel. The panels are stamped to closely resemble the look of a Hummer. But you also have things that have never been available from the factory like these half doors.

You can also see this vehicle is just as wide as the real thing, but it does have some unique features on the front end, like the stainless grill and headlight treatment as well as the shape of the hood,

which because of its size, the hood is fiberglass because if it wasn't, you'd never be able to lift it

since we're on the subject of lifting things lurking underneath the hood of the T rex is one healthy heartbeat in the form of a GM 350 crate motor

also just like the real Hummer. The radiators laid back to compensate for the low hood clearance and gets its air through vents in the hood.

Now, the axles, transmission and transfer case are out of a Chevy suburban donor vehicle,

which means the sophisticated suspension and 16 inches of ground clearance on the real Hummer aren't there,

but this setup is tried and true. Not to mention you don't have the option of putting a lift kit and big old fat tires on a factory Hummer.

The T rex has a soft top with a few different options.

You can run it with the side curtain when the weather gets bad,

the curtains off for a safari style look

or better yet, you can just yank the entire thing off and have the biggest convertible on the planet

with the soft top peeled away. We can get a good look at the interior

now. It's got four leather bucket seats that are separated by a huge console that houses the motor and tranny

as well as a stainless steel dash

and a full set of gauges.

Well, if you've always liked the look of a Hummer but could never afford one.

We hope this big red T rex gives you some hope. Don't go away. We got more trucks for you right after this.

Just can't get enough of trucks. Check us out online at trucks, tv.com.

Thanks for staying with us, everybody. You know, it seems like no matter where we go, viewers are always asking, hey, what happened to the wicked willies? Where to go?

Well, guys today, your patience is gonna pay off because we rolled the Wicked Willies into the paint shop, did a few extra little tricks to it. And today, finally the Willies is ready to make another appearance.

Now for you guys that aren't familiar with the build up of our 55 we thought we'd take you back in time for a little wicked Willies review.

Of course, it all started about a year ago when we rolled it up on a trailer and towed it back to the truck shop.

First thing we did was pull the body off our old classic

followed by the motor and tranny so we could prep the frame.

Then we got it ready to take on the trail by Bolton on a Dana 44 in the front as well as a high opinion nine inch Ford in the rear.

And that was only the beginning.

We also dropped a dodge three 60 crate motor into our wagon and

back that up with an NV 4505 speed,

an Atlas two transfer case and some custom built drive shafts.

Now, once the running gear was in place, we put some new floor pans into the wagon and rolled it down to the paint booth

which brings us to where we are. Now, the first thing that really jumps out at you is the Sherwood Green House of Colors, paint we shot it with. But before we could give it any color, there were a couple minor body modifications we wanted to do.

Now, these old wagons have a drip rail that runs all the way around the front of the V

pickle and that really doesn't look very good.

So we shaved it off, welded in the seam for a nice smooth look.

We also welded up this seam down the side

as well as this one here on the front of the fender.

And you can also see where we had to notch out the bottom of the grill to clear the power steering

under the hood is where all those measurements we kept harping about really paid off. We got that crate 360 about as close to the front cross member as we can get it. And you'll also notice we had to recess the firewall two inches for clearance. Now to smooth everything out and really make it pop. We had to cover it with stainless steel.

Now, you may already know that Willie's was the first manufacturer to make the all steel wagon, but they still had the look of the old woodies. So

we decided to make the Wicked Willies's one of a kind and put in real wood panels and we started with eight inch birch wood and spent a lot of hours cutting and measuring to make sure they fit right.

Then we sealed them up so they'd be waterproof. Finally, we mounted them in place using these button head screws. We got from Mr gasket

one of the best things about an old vehicle is that most of the trim is stainless steel, which means all you have to do is spend a little time at the buffing wheel to bring it back to its original life form.

Now, our chrome on the other hand has started to pit, which is totally natural after facing the elements for 40 plus years. So we'll definitely have to replay it all that.

Well, that pretty much brings you up to date on project Wicked Willies and in the weeks to come we'll finish it up and show you exactly what it can do.

A torque wrench is a tool that you'll find in almost every toolbox. And if you're serious about doing it yourself, well, you gotta have one couple things to remember about them though.

Torque wrench is a precision measuring tool. So if you want to stay accurate,

make sure you release the tension on it once you're done

or

also

don't use it as a hammer or a pry bar. That's what hammers and pry bars are for. And finally,

if you want it to keep clicking when it's supposed to hit it with a little spray loop from time to time. If you do this, you'll never have any trouble out of one of these.

And now truck gear parts, tools and equipment for pickups and sport utilities.

You know, mcguire's made their name decades ago by giving vehicles great looking shots. Now they can appeal to your sense of smell with their brand new odor. Eliminator. This extra strength formula eliminates odors like smoke mildew or just about anything that gets caught in your carpet or upholstery mcguire's also claims their product won't release the odor again. When your interior heats up,

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A carburetor is one of the staples of the performance industry because if you got one well tuned, well, you can outrun just about anything.

So when the new demon carburetors hit the scene, people really took notice. Now, not only do they look really cool,

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Put a demon under your hood for about 330 bucks.

You Jeep guys know if you spend any time on the rocks. One of the first places you're gonna get some damage is on your rocker panels. Not only are they extremely vulnerable, but they're also pretty weak sun performance products. Decided to take care of both of those problems with their heavy duty rocker protectors. These things are not only

made of thick steel and mount right over the rocker to protect them, but they can also support the weight of the vehicle and won't bend up on you if you happen to get hung up, attack the rocks with these rockers for about 270 bucks a pair that's gonna do it for truck gear. Here's a preview of next week's show.

The Harry Hauler is back in the truck shop to get a custom built bed running boards, fenders and a whole lot more.

Then we'll take a close look at a 64 El Camino. That's one clean street machine.

After that, the guys have some more budget upgrades to show you that won't break the bank and can be done in your own driveway.

That's all next week on trucks.

Well, that's gonna do it for this week's show. We appreciate you hanging out with us. Yeah, we'll be back with more trucks next week.

Trucks is an RT M production.