Should I Turbo my 6.2L M1010

[KamikazeKunze]

Hey guys,

I got Rambo the Ambo almost set up. She weighs in at 7500 pounds per the local scales after the RV conversion.
Shes billy goat off road but slow as **** on road.
Should I Banks Turbo my 84 6.2L?
She only has 31k on her. I do have 255/85/16’s on her stock rims.
I’m not sure how these guys power their lifted ten tens with 35’s or 37’s or in my case town a build for camping trailer behind it.

This may be sacrilegious.....but I’m toying with the idea of transplanting the box onto a 1st or 2nd gen Dodge Cummins.

 

[Iceman3005]

Diffentely put a turbo on it. Makes a huge difference! I did it to mine.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[Boats]

I did it to my M1010. Don’t forget to rebuild the bottom end at the same time. With only 54,000 miles on it, I didn’t.... and 200 miles later blew a ring. She’s back together, and built right... but would have been much cheaper to do it right to begin with.

 

[joshuak]

You should if you want to!

Nice combination KamikazeKunze, truck trailer looks real good!

 

[KamikazeKunze]

Boats - thanks for the heads up on that..... I sure wasn’t going to do that, but it sounds like a should.
joshuak - thank you. I want to get the trailer built out mostly for my kids when they come out with me, but I thought about making it my support trailer. Water, fuel, solar, etc.

 

[Mad Texan]

Cough... Cough... YES! Turbo it...

Boats... Let's see some pictures of your setup!

 

[KamikazeKunze]

So I poked my head back in the engine compartment. Still jacking around with my blinker issue.....but it looks like the turbo plumbing from the drivers side to the passengers/turbo side is going to be fun.....not.

 

[frank8003]

I saw this in SS
https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?43430-How-to-turbo-a-6-2-using-6-5-parts


https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?140773-Those-who-have-added-a-turbo

 

[KamikazeKunze]

Frank8003,
thanks for the links. It’s very much appreciated.

 

[chevymike]

Biggest thing I seem to run into is, I haven't really found anyone who did a turbo setup on a M1010 keeping the dual passenger side alternator setup. Seems most are installing on M1008 or M1009 which uses a single pass. and driver side small alts.

I just cannot see how a turbo setup is going to clear the upper pass. side alt. Anyone who has done this, have any pics?

 

[KamikazeKunze]

Ah....well. The prior owner of my 1010 made an over built upper alternator bracket and eliminated the lower. I’m trying to get brackets from cucvrus so I can reinstall the lower one and have it charge my house batteries. I guess I better rethink this and possibly just leave it alone.

thanks chevymike!

 

[Matt S]

Don’t forget to rebuild the bottom end at the same time.

What do you mean by this? Did you do something more than refresh the rod and main bearings?

 

[Sharecropper]

I believe if I were you, I would consider changing engines before I expended the time , energy and money in a turbo. Back in the 1980’s I was making annual trips from Atlanta to NW Colorado to elk hunt. In 1985 I bought a brand new GMC truck with 6.2 and TH400. Pulling our small hunting trailer, it almost wouldn’t make it through the Eisenhower tunnel. The next summer I ordered a brand new Banks turbo kit and had my certified mechanic install it. Total investment around $2500. Pulling the same trailer that fall, up the same incline and through the same tunnel, I couldn’t tell much difference. And we had the fuel turned up as much as the EGT would allow. I remember thinking how I wished I had the money back.

You are going to be moving a lot of weight. I really don’t think you will be satisfied with the return on investment, especially at that high altitude and thinner air. My suggestion is to forget sacrilegion and fix your truck to do what you want it to do, which is to pull that rig up and through Eisenhower at highway speeds. In my opinion and based on my experience, simply adding a turbo to your 6.2 will not do it. A turbo at sea level helps, but you will be disappointed on Red Mountain Pass south of you.

just my 2 cents.

 

[KamikazeKunze]

Thanks a bunch sharecropper. That’s what I was looking for.

 

[patracy]

I turbo'd my 1008 with 6.5 parts. I'd highly recommend that over the banks kit. Unless you like paying more.

 

[gimpyrobb]

First thing I'd recommend is pulling the injectors and have them pop tested and adjusted. I put new injectors in my truck and it made a huge difference in starting and power. I was going to have mine adjusted but found a smoking deal on new.

 

[LT67]

Ya never know what we're going to get with these old trucks regardless of what the odometer reads. I briefly toyed with the idea of adding a turbo to my M1008, but decided to leave as is. I wanted the 6.2 to last a while, so I made sure the fuel system was working as it should and put a new balancer on it. It runs just fine and does what I need it to do. Sometimes I use it to pull a 5500lb tractor on a tandem axle trailer and it gets the job done, just not that fast...

 

[swinters]

I carry an old pickup camper that I rebuilt (was a $150 leaker) and tow a small enclosed trailer behind that and even at sea level the thing couldn't get out of its own way so I bought a Banks Sidewinder kit and put it on. I also have a 2007 GMC 4x4 dually Crewcab that has the Duramax/Allison package and my CUCV now feels like it has the power of my GMC. I'm sure it doesn't but I pull hills like it does.

I've talked to a bunch of others who put the Banks kit on it and they all seem to be happy with everything except the exhaust routing. I totally agree. The Banks kit was apparently set up for the later model civilian trucks and they must have more clearance, probably because GM went to Big Block motor mounts but the Army, wanting to maintain parts commonality, stayed with the Small Block mounts that were in use when the CUCV was originally spec'd. I called Banks when I was trying to install the exhaust and it wouldn't route properly and they said I had bad motor mounts so I went and got a set and put them in and it didn't make a bit of difference, so just rigged it with a piece of flex pipe and drove it to the exhaust shop and let them work their magic with their pipe bender. Cost me $60 and worth every penny. The only thing I did that wasn't on the instructions was put exhaust wrap on the crossover pipe that runs from the driver side manifold to the turbo. It runs pretty close to the fuel lines at the fuel pump so I figured adding the exhaust wrap was a good "ounce of prevention" thing. Probably would have been fine without the exhaust wrap but will definitely be fine with it.

I don't remember the total cost but it was reasonable, at least compared to a lot of kits I put on semi's back in the 70's when California started tightening up on smoke. I ordered it while I was deployed to Iraq in 2005 and it was waiting for me when I got home but had to wait a little longer while I did the honey-do's so didn't get it installed until Spring of 2006. The one thing I wish I had is an aftercooler. I really have to watch my exhaust gas temperature because when I'm doing a long pull, like going over Snoqualmie pass, the boost is up there and for quite awhile and I really don't want to start melting pistons or anything. That'll probably be my next mod.

This is the truck with the camper on it (adding it here in case I change my other picture) and by the time I add the weight of the loaded trailer it just didn't have enough power.

 

[Boats]

When the turbo was first installed, the odometer only showed 47,000 miles. So I only rebuilt the top end, and installed arb head studs. After about 200 miles, going up a hill... broke a ring, scored the cylinder wall, and trashed a head.
Out came the engine, total rebuild.
Would have been $$ ahead to do it before the turbo install.
As for the passenger side alternators, I modified the dual bracket by cutting off the lower end, and using the top part of the bracket. The other alternator is on the driver’s side.