The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post

cell · 07-06-2006, 11:33 PM

My vote would be the Cummins 4BT. This is the 4 cylinder version of what is currently in the Dodge Rams.

Cummins did a repower project with a lot of companies who used the GM P30 "step" vans (the big box vans), and replaced the gasoline engines they originally had with 4BT's. Many of these vans are reaching retirement age, and are being auctioned off. If you are interested, hit up dovebid.com and search for "4BT". They have an auction about once per month. Be sure to look for the chevy vans only, as they come with the right bell housing adapter and motor mounts.

There is also a forum on tdr1.com for cummins conversions, as well as prirate4x4.com, and the 4BT is very popular among that crowd (although they are mostly putting them in old jeeps). People on those forums claim fuel economy around 25 MPG, but that's with 33" off road tires and short gears. With the right tires and gears, you should get near 30 (a late model Ford F150 with a 4BT claimed 30mpg).

as far as transmission, I would say nv4500 or maybe the tremec tko-500.

07-06-2006, 11:33 PM	#12
cell Active Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Austin Posts: 217	Re: Best diesel setup My vote would be the Cummins 4BT. This is the 4 cylinder version of what is currently in the Dodge Rams. Cummins did a repower project with a lot of companies who used the GM P30 "step" vans (the big box vans), and replaced the gasoline engines they originally had with 4BT's. Many of these vans are reaching retirement age, and are being auctioned off. If you are interested, hit up dovebid.com and search for "4BT". They have an auction about once per month. Be sure to look for the chevy vans only, as they come with the right bell housing adapter and motor mounts. There is also a forum on tdr1.com for cummins conversions, as well as prirate4x4.com, and the 4BT is very popular among that crowd (although they are mostly putting them in old jeeps). People on those forums claim fuel economy around 25 MPG, but that's with 33" off road tires and short gears. With the right tires and gears, you should get near 30 (a late model Ford F150 with a 4BT claimed 30mpg). as far as transmission, I would say nv4500 or maybe the tremec tko-500. Last edited by cell; 07-06-2006 at 11:35 PM.