Diesel Vehicle of the Week: 2-Stroke Monster Truck Rat Rod on the Wild Side

Steve Darnell gets dreamy about his Diesel 2-stroke.

While scrolling through sites looking for a worthy candidate to be Diesel Vehicle of the Week I came across this YouTube video of a most unusual creature, a 2-stroke Monster Rat Rod. The rat rod's builder, Steve Darnell, is founder of Welder Up, now in the limelight on the Discovery channel's show "Vegas Rat Rods." This Brit is also into dirt bikes. 

He thought there might be a way to tie in his truck concept to the vintage two-stroke bikes he rides. He designed the truck to be used to haul dirt bikes to interesting locations and trails.

This is what an original 1958 Chev Apache looks like.

What he decided to do was drop a Detroit Diesel 2-stroke engine into a 1958 Chevy Apache. It's an homage to 2-stroke dirt bikes and the history of the motorcycle. The video I found details the story of this build and its unique features. "2-strokes are always fun," Steve says at the beginning of this story.

There are pros and cons to dropping a 2-stroke engine into a truck. First, they do not produce a lot of horsepower and torque, and this one is a bit under-horsepowered. But it's functional and very reliable. Because of their reliability they were used in trucks, boats, pumps and tanks in WW2 and Vietnam.

Another problem for these old motors is the matter of engine runaway. The term runaway is exactly that. There's enough heat in the engine to cause preignition and it keeps accelerating until the engine fails. This was a serious problem for vintage motorcycles. One solution, to prevent that, was an air shutoff, which is effective because ignition power is generated by the air-fuel mix.

After describing what he's created, the camera draws in close to show what's under the hood, which has been cut away to make room for the turbos. It's a V-6 with an intercooler-radiator combo that he calls "confusing, but it looks cool."

Cue up intense guitar music and we get footage of the best clawing through rugged terrain. The drone camera work adds a nice touch there on the mountainside.

Darnel says he and his sidekick Merlin first started thinking about this truck when they were in Big Sky country. For sure it's always fun to be paid to do what you love. Kudos to the whole team at Welder Up.

Related Links

See several other whacked out Welder Up builds here.

YouTube video in which Steve Darnell talks about his Monster Truck Rat Rod. 

The Next Ford F-150: Combining Old-Style Diesel Tech in a Futuristic New Design

As any student of automotive history knows, truly "new" breakthroughs don't just happen. Perhaps they are conceived in an "aha" type of moment but the engineering can take years to work out. All kinds of new engine designs have been conceived during the past century. Most of what we are familiar with are incremental improvements on basic designs. Even these take time to work out the kinks. For this reason many vehicle owners are reluctant to jump right in on the first year of a new engine design.

Needless to say, automakers and engine builders work very hard to minimize the speed bumps. Extensive testing is a given. And it all takes time.

Last month The Drive published a story about a new engine design for the next Ford F-150. The tech article by Caleb Jacobs takes a look at the direction Ford is taking with its most popular truck. The goal here is not just fuel economy but energy efficiency, and to achieve it they are drawing upon an older tech concept: pre-chamber ignition.

We've been reading a lot about pickups getting bigger, stronger and more muscular. What Ford is doing here is moving in the direction of diesel's other strength: efficiency. Jacobs opens by noting that with the dawn of a new EV age, most manufacturers are putting their creative energy in that direction, not in new technologies dependent on oil. What Ford realizes, however, is that the EV revolution is going to take decades till full adoption. The benefits outweigh the risks when you think it through.

At this point I will interject that there was a time when the earth was considered the center of the universe. Copernicus proved otherwise, that we were just a tiny speck in a massive decentralized space. This realization became known as "The Copernican Revolution." That is, the idea the earth was at the center and everything revolved around us was now proven wrong. Funny thing is, this "revolution" took 100 years before it became accepted as widespread knowledge. So it is that transitions take time, and though the EV revolution is more than two decades old, it has only just begun.

Ford has been investing heavily in this new engine design, $10 million over three years. Here's an attempt to describe what they are working on.

Last fall Road and Track did a story on Maserati's new MC20 Supercar that uses pre-chamber ignition. "Pre-chambers are exactly what they sound like: separate chambers inside the cylinder head connected to the main cylinder area. There are two types: active and passive. Active pre-chambers contain a spark plu and fuel injector, and ignite after a lean air-fuel mixture is brought into the cylinder. Normally, this mixture wouldn't have enough fuel to ignite on its own, but the fuel from the pre-chamber is enough to create an optimal air-fuel ratio, and speeding up the combustion process, improving efficiency."

The pre-chamber concept is an old diesel idea that has been used in the racing world as well. The Ford engineers are adding a little twist to the concept, some kind of compressed-air alongside the fuel injector. The objective is "to achieve faster, cooler combustion that burns fuel more completely while also producing fewer NOx emissions."

The real challenge is always in the translation from drawing board to reality. In theory, this will bring us one step closer to the ideal truck of the future, powered by fuel and not batteries, powerful and efficient simultaneously. 

Another surprising feature of the new engine design is that it will be 15% lighter than the current engine, with subsequent improvement in mpg as well. 

Go check out the story here at The Drive. They also have a video there on how the pre-chamber ignition setup works. 

This Road & Track story explains and clarifies Maserati's pre-chamber ignition design.

The 2021 GMC Yukon Denali: This Diesel Might Surprise You

With 2020 behind us, the economy has begun showing serious strength in a variety of ways. Live, in person diesel events are happening again and SEMA has announced that SEMA registration is open for this year's show in Las Vegas. Over 1500 companies are already registered.

On April 30 Cars.com had an interesting story by Aaron Bragman titled "Can the Mammoth GMC Yukon Denali Get Good MG With a Diesel Engine?" I like headlines with questions. The word "mammoth" adds a dimension of intrigue. If he left that word out of the title it would not be the same. with the word inserted it suggests, "Can something this massive get good MPG?" 

Bragman begins with a little background that many of us are familiar with. 40 years ago GM offered diesel engines in its big SUVs. More recently, diesels are back, this time with a turbo-diesel 3.0-liter Duramax six-cylinder engine as an option on some of its vehicles. Included in the 2021 catalog are the Chev Tahoe/Suburban and GMC Yukon/Yukon XL. 

"Diesels are often renowned for their stump pulling torque," he writes, as well as their "fuel-sipping frugality." For this reason, Bragman has set up some tests to see how well these attributes hold true in the latest and greatest Yukon.

Before heading into the meat of the matter, we're treated to a description of the interior. Like many of the latest pickups and SUVs by all the manufacturers, efforts have been made to make these machines as comfortable as a dream. More spacious, more luxurious. And under the hood we have a diesel power plant that delivers 277 horsepower with 460 pounds-feet of torque driving a smooth-shifting 10-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive.

What Bragman is intending to do here is take the Yukon for a long drive that will involve city, suburban and open highway routes, then compare his results with what the EPA has rated the vehicle at. Before sharing his ride with us, he spells out the expectations with a specificity that lets us know where things stand. This is not his first rodeo. He has a standard 200 mile loop that he drives, and a standard procedure of having the tire pressure set at the manufacturer's recommendations, windows closed and climate control with A.C activated. There are no segments where he does drag racing and his speed is maintained within 5 mph of the posted limits.

Unfortunately, one variable that he has no control over did interfere in his first attempt. Wind gusts up to 45 mph were on and off again to such an extent that he had to abort the mission. The second attempt took place on a placid, sunny day, with satisfying results. 

The Results
Even with its massive weight (5800 lbs) the Yukon Denali 4WD delivered impressive number. The EPA rated it to get 22 mpg but Bragman's results were significantly better. While highway cruising his trip computer showed he was getting more than 30 mpg. The overall numbers when tallied showed he had achieved 27.9 mpg on the 206 mile course. When he refilled the tank, the fuel economy appeared to be 26.9 mpg which was 5 mpg better than its EPA rating.

To Bragman's big surprise, the diesel engine option is $1500 less than the V-8 for this Yukon. Fuel economy savings and a better price as well? What's there not to like?

Well, there are a couple tradeoffs, he says in his closing paragraph. You still know it's a diesel engine there because of the noise. Not a bad big-rig clatter, but something that you can notice. Also, since diesel fuel is currently more expensive at this time, the fuel economy comparison isn't entirely apples to apples. Nevertheless, 65% better fuel economy makes up for a lot compared to the V-8 engine. 

Bottom line: There is much to like in the 2021 Diesel-powered GMC Yukon Denali. 

Read the full story here: https://rb.gy/of5t4m 

Insights for Diesel Owners: the Pros and Cons of Turbochargers

Turbo cutaway

Last week we looked at a triple turbo diesel setup that was quite intriguing and incredibly powerful. In that article we looked at how turbochargers can improve horsepower and torque. But we never examined the downside of turbos. Are turbochargers always beneficial? Is there a downside to turbos that people can neglect to consider? 

Turbos have generally been add-ons that improve engine efficiency and performance. In recent years more and more vehicles have been fitted with turbochargers from the getgo.

The way a turbo works is like this: hot exhaust gasses spin the turbine that is connected to another turbine which sucks air in and compresses it into the engine. It is this compression that provides the engine with extra power. The more air you can get into the engine, the more fuel can be added for more power.

We're fairly well acquainted with the benefits of turbochargers. Extra power is primary. Unlike superchargers, there is no engine drain because the power comes from hot, expanding gases coming out of the engine already. In addition, turbos aren't affected by the thinner atmosphere of higher altitudes. Furthermore, turbos provide better fuel economy, so they are a win-win on several fronts.

What's the downside then?

The first is heat. Turbos are powered by hot exhaust gases and they get hot, hot hot. How hot? Hotter than molten lava! When pushed to its limits for a continuous amount of time the turbo can start glowing red. For this reason racers have vents to get air circulation flowing through the engine bay. 

The second is friction and heat in the turbine itself. Think about this for a second. Your engine revs at 2,000 rpm when cruising. Your turbo's turbine can reach speeds of more than 280,000 rpm. When I wrote, "Think about this for a second," it was to make you think about this: in one second that turbine will spin as many as 4,666 times. Try wrapping your head around that... more than 4500 times a second. That's a lot of friction there if the lubrication is insufficient.

This turbocharger bearing system is lubricated by the oil from the engine which is fed under pressure into the bearing housing. The oil is both lubricant and coolant. This is one more reason that the engine oil you select meets specifications.

Another disadvantage with turbochargers that doesn't get talked about much is "turbo lag." At times, when conditions are right (or wrong), there will be a delay between the moment you stomp on the pedal and the moment you actually feel power. This is turbo lag. 

At low speeds there aren't a lot of exhaust gases passing through the turbo, "so when you demand power from the engine, the turbocharger turbine needs time to start spinning at an optimal speed. The effects of this can be reduced by downshifting to a lower gear." Astute drivers will still notice the split delay at times.

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Because of their benefits, turbochargers have almost universally become stock equipment on diesel pickups and will be around for years to come. It's useful, however, to be aware of their shortcomings.

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Sources 

What Is a Turbocharger and How Does It Work

Eight Things About Turbochargers You (Probably) Never Knew

May Special: Motor State Distributing Offering 10% Discount on Blue Flame Diesel Engine Oils to Wholesale Accounts.

“Founded in 1964 as a part-time venture in George Lane’s garage, Lane Automotive (Retail) and Motor State Distributing (Wholesale) has become a speed equipment industry phenomenon,” stated Karl Dedolph, Director of Performance and Racing at Champion Oil.

“Since the days when local racers lined up to buy racing parts at that tiny, one man shop, the company has grown and is comprised today of four separate divisions. One thing has remained the same throughout the years of growth - the desire to provide the best parts and the best service at competitive prices.”

 

Dedolph added, “Known the world over as a premier supplier of performance parts and accessories for racers, hot rodders, truck and off-road enthusiasts, Lane Automotive, Motor State Distributing, ALLSTAR Performance, and Lane Automotive Collectables serve customers around the world located in Watervliet, Michigan, at the intersection of Interstate 94 and Michigan 140. / 1-800-772-2678.    https://www.motorstate.com/

 

During the month of May, Motor State Distributing is offering a 10% discount on Blue Flame Diesel Engine Oils to wholesale accounts.

Blue Flame Diesel Engine Oils are formulated with workhorse high-zinc performance additives, superior protection, advanced polymer technology, and high TBN, supported by a carrier blend of synthetic fluids. 

In addition, Blue Flame Diesel Engine Oils deliver unmatched high temperature film strength and lubricity protection, with the muscle to combat oil shear and maximize sustained cylinder compression. They also inhibit oxidation, corrosive acids, sludge and varnish build-up. 

 

These robust performance oils keep diesel engines going longer by reducing soot-induced engine wear, controlling abrasive soot contamination and preventing high temperature corrosion, even while allowing for improved fuel economy and lower total cost of ownership. They are proven to increase engine horse power and torque. https://www.championbrands.com/diesel-engine-oils/

Motor State Distributing also has a 10% off Wholesale Special in May for Champion Race Motor Oils, Classic & Muscle Motor Oils, Power Shield Engine Builder Products, Modern Muscle Motor Oils, and everything else Champion. https://www.motorstate.com/ 

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2021 Champion New Products
and Announcements

Champion Brands Celebrates 65 Years in the Lubricant Business

Champion Oil's Winter-Blend Diesel Flo Fuel Additive Gets an Upgrade

Highlighting A New All-Season Air Brake Anti-Freeze from Champion Brands

Champion’s Classic & Muscle 15W-50 Motor Oil for Vintage Trucks

Blue Flame Contingency Program for Drag Racers: How to Get Your Piece of the Action

Champion Oil Seeking Diesel Vehicle Builds for SEMA 2021

Special Offer For New Champion Diesel Oil Distributors

Champion Blue Flame Diesel Engine Oil Recommended for Limited-Edition Shelby F-250 Super Baja Pick-Up

Champion Oil Introduces a Professional Grade 80% Ether Starting Fluid
Champion Blue Flame Diesel Engine Oil Supports OOIDA Members

Champion Offers Power-Shield Assembly Lube & Oil Booster to Diesel Engine Builders

Featured Diesel-Powered Vehicle of the Week: Wade Moody's Rail Dragster

Duramax Diesel to the Max

For the past several Mondays we've been featuring various head-turning diesels to start our week. So far we've been highlighting vehicles highlighted by CarBuzz in a 2019 article titled Cool and Crazy Diesel Powered cars. Today the spotlight is on Wade Moody's rail dragster. 

If you have an eye-popping or heart-stopping diesel truck you'd like to see featured here, tell us about it so we can share it. 

Wade Moody who has created a lot of buzz indeed. By the time he was 32 he had been racing half his life. For sure, diesel engines seem to be part of his DNA. According to Diesel World, Moody turned to diesel drag racers in 2006 with a 4WD Cummins-powered Dodge Ram, competing in the Pro Street class. After winning a few championships at that level, he acquired an S-10 drag truck and moved into the Pro Stock class.

The truck had a powerful Duramax engine, which he fine tuned into another top dog racing machine. This truck powered him to championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013. A crash in 2014 put an end to this truck's reign as fastest diesel drag truck.

Despite this setback, Moody was fortunate in that the engine and Turbo 400 tranny survived. Once transferred into a new frame, he had the fastest Duramax-powered dragster in the known world. 

It was a three month build but fitting the Duramax into the rails proved to be a worthy ambition. By the end of 2015 the machine was doing test passes and the new configuration being readied for war. Even before it had all been worked out they were making passes of 7.02 seconds or 195.48 mph. None of these passes were under full power as they wanted to ensure things were tight. The were anticipating good things in 2016 and indeed achieved them.

With more refinement they became the first common rail diesel dragster to get down into the 6's with a first place win at the Midwest Truck Nationals. Time: 6.997 seconds @ 192.8 mph.

In July 2016 Brian Wagner of DragZine wrote a story about this achievement with additional details about the engine and the dragster. Wagner describes the ways in which Moody and his team squeezed out more power based on things they learned. Moody gave credit to his tuners John Jordan and Kroy Willis, "and all of the awesome products from the rest of our supporters that make it possible to go faster each season."

Check out this YouTube video in which Wade Moody talks about
all the details that went into this build.

The target they were aiming for was "Fastest Diesel in the World," a title owned by Jared Jones. His record pass of 225 mph a couple years earlier.  

Here are some links to the sources for this story and a pass on Moody's Facebook page.

Diesel World Story: The Fastest Duramax-Powered Dragster

Dragzine: Wade Moody First to the 6 Second Zone with Duramax Power

Wade Moody's Dragster Makes a Fast Pass on Facebook

CarBuzz: Cool and Crazy Diesel Powered Cars

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If you are a racer, click on the Orange Button
in the upper right to apply for our 
Champion Blue Flame Contingency Program

 

Champion Full-Synthetic Racing Gear Oils Dominate Diesel Drag Racing and Pulling

Champion Brands, LLC, a globally recognized industry leader in racing and performance specialty lubricants for over 65 years, is proud of their winning success and podium finishes with Champion’s Full-Synthetic Gear Oils in diesel drag racing and pulling vehicles that need robust lubrication in severe environments to decreases friction and wear, oil film resistance at hot temperatures, and to allow smooth gear shifting at start-up and during lower temperatures.

“Hypoid differentials, gearboxes, transfer gearboxes, synchronized or non-synchronized gearboxes, gearbox/differential, or transfer gearboxes found in diesel and other vehicles require specialized lubrication that provide a high degree of gear protection”, stated Karl Dedolph at Champion. “Our Racing 75W-90 and 75W-140 Full Synthetic Racing Gear Oils ae designed to lubricate these components with extreme-pressure additives that are more viscous than other racing type gear oils in the market.”

 

“These additives have the ability to transfer a lot of power when the gear box runs very hot, work with heavy loads and low revolution speed or moderate loads and high revolution speed and have a good balance of extending replacement intervals.  This, choosing a high-quality diesel racing gear oil, like Champion’s, is very important for the life of your competition or high-performance vehicle.”

 

“While many of the racing gear oil competitors still use mineral gear oils, synthetic gear oils are becoming the norm in racing. Synthetic gear oils show better resistance to oxidation, better flow at start-up, and better retention of viscosity at elevated temperatures.  These characteristics are exceptionally important as race maintenance-intervals get stretched out, sumps get smaller, and airflow across the axle is reduced by ever changing body designs, wheel-wells, air ducts, skid plates, and track condition aerodynamics.”
 

“While mineral gear oils are usually thickened with heavy paraffinic base oils, synthetic gear oils are typically lighter and are thickened with polymers. Champion uses a premium grade polymer in a proprietary formulation which makes it less likely to quickly shear out of grade,” added Dedolph.

 

Champion 75W-90 and 75W-140 Full-Synthetic Racing Gear Oils benefits include: Formulated to provide extreme pressure protection for competition racing, provide better lubricant oxidation stability, superior corrosion protection for less synchronizer wear, reduce differential and gearbox temperatures, improves shifting, reduce foaming at high speed, and long lasting.

Plus, Champion Full-Synthetic Racing Gear Oils, part #4312 & #4371, have the highest film strength in the market, contains a limited-slip additive, suitable replacement for a differential calling for an 80W90 or SAE 90 gear oil, contains additional friction modifiers for suitability with clutch-type limited slip differentials, plus anti-oxidation, anti-corrosion and anti-foam additives.  

 

Champion SAE 75W-90 Full-Synthetic Racing Gear Oil specific properties: Amber color, 16.7 Viscosity @ 100°C cSt, GL-5, Viscosity Index 172, KRL Shear % Loss - 8.4, Flash Point 199°F, Composition Ingredients: Synthetic Oil, Alkyl Polysulfides, Long Chain Alkyl Amine, Alkyl Phosphate, Long-chain Alkenylamine. https://www.championbrands.com/full-synthetic-racing-gear-oil-75w-90-2/

 

Champion SAE 75W-140 Full-Synthetic Racing Gear Oil specific properties: Amber color, 27.4 Viscosity @ 100°C cSt, GL-5, Viscosity Index 190, KRL Shear % Loss - 8.5, Flash Point 199°F, Composition Ingredients: Synthetic Oil, Alkyl Polysulfides, Long Chain Alkyl Amine, Alkyl Phosphate, Long-chain Alkenylamine. https://www.championbrands.com/full-synthetic-racing-gear-oil-75w-140/

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2021 Champion New Products
and Announcements

Champion Brands Celebrates 65 Years in the Lubricant Business

Champion Oil's Winter-Blend Diesel Flo Fuel Additive Gets an Upgrade

Highlighting A New All-Season Air Brake Anti-Freeze from Champion Brands

Champion’s Classic & Muscle 15W-50 Motor Oil for Vintage Trucks

Blue Flame Contingency Program for Drag Racers: How to Get Your Piece of the Action

Champion Oil Seeking Diesel Vehicle Builds for SEMA 2021

Special Offer For New Champion Diesel Oil Distributors

Champion Blue Flame Diesel Engine Oil Recommended for Limited-Edition Shelby F-250 Super Baja Pick-Up

Champion Oil Introduces a Professional Grade 80% Ether Starting Fluid
Champion Blue Flame Diesel Engine Oil Supports OOIDA Members

Champion Offers Power-Shield Assembly Lube & Oil Booster to Diesel Engine Builders