That Cummins, she’s just a ____ing machine!

PA12DRVR wrote:
Nice looking setup. While my preference would run to a blue oval, it sounds like your setup really hits the sweet spot for you.

...and if it can pull uphill fighting the winds (I spent three years around Spokane...), it's obviously a stout beast.

How's the truck work for routine drives w/o towing? Do the big tires & lift impact in-town maneuvering?

Thanks!
Yeah I was surprised how well it did coming up westbound at Vantage with a decent quartering head wind. Same grade, same conditions, similar power levels, similar frontal area and weight with the old Mega cab/TC/boat in tow, I'd have to drop to direct gear (4th gear on both rigs), but pulling the hill a little slower with the old Cummins. If this truck was not lifted and sitting on stock tires, it would have annihilated that hill I'm pretty sure...
I wouldn't say sweet spot, but it gets the job done just fine and better than the "sometimes uninformed" onslaught of opinions about how bad lifted trucks tow.
The tune helps. I was running at a 90 level. Didn't try it on stock power level. Although stock, even on the SO 6.7s is pretty decent at 370/800.
Daily driving is basically the same, except I can just about look eye to eye with semi truck drivers, lol. Maneuvering in thight quarters is like having a short dually with dually wheels front and back.
Backing into parking spaces is even more necessary than with a skinny truck and some drive thrus, its best to just pull up onto the appropriate curb to make your way through vs trying to thread the needle and curb rash the brodozer rims!
Handling is fine, no perceived lack of cornering stability, but I suspect the big offset on wide tires cancels out the higher center of gravity. Steering is a little more vague than stock. Akin to the old 07 truck with 100k more miles on mostly original steering components. Part of it is big squishy tires that I'm also running a bit soft, trying to correct the wear pattern that the PO caused by running them over-inflated.
I attribute the rest to the cheap lift kit and trailing arm relocation brackets vs longer trailing arms and same thing with the front track bar. Front springs aren't as initially complaint as a quality lift coil like a Thuren or Carli spring which makes the front ride a bid harsh as well over small bumps like potholes or sunken manhole lids and bridge approaches.