Note: The following is an archive story from the June 2010 issue of Diesel Tech Magazine.
Third time's a charm, right? That's how it went for this
issue's cover truck, a 2007 Chevy LBZ owned by Josh Briggs. When our original
cover truck fell through due to a blown motor (hey, just get some friends and
push it down the road for the photos!), we went to plan B, which immediately
led to plan C-Briggs' LBZ.
What first strikes you about Briggs' truck are the clean
looks and big stance-that is unless the first time you see it is at night, with
all of the lights turned on. Briggs' side business involves lighting up parking
lots for dance parties. The truck is the center of attention and when the five Rigid
Industries LED light bars, the Recon strobes and tail lights, the Lightforce
off-road lights and the ASM HID head lamps and fog lights are all on
(simultaneously, thanks to a bright box addition), the parking lot is
considered lit.
But lights and strobes do not make a truck fast. No, but
compound turbos and EFI Live do.
Briggs' truck is running an MPI compound turbo kit that
eliminates turbo lag and transforms the mild LBZ Duramax into a 638-horsepower
machine. EFI Live tuning by Powerlabs Diesel fine tunes the fuel delivery
system to match the boost capabilities of the compounds. A DPS-5 switch-newly
available from SoCal Diesel for the LBZ and LMM Duramax-lets Briggs drop down
to a milder tune for towing heavy loads.
The LBZ is running a stock fuel system-stock CP3 and stock
injectors. The LBZ's FICM is capable of supplying the fueling needs of a
600-horsepower truck without any modifications.
To keep an ample supply of cool air flowing through the
charge system, Briggs added a Spearco Torque-Master intercooler and an AFE intercooler
tube. And the truck has a 4-inch turbo-back exhaust with a Magnaflow muffler.
A Snow Performance Stage 2 water/methanol kit gives the
engine more cooling capabilities and gives the truck an added boost in
performance.
Cam Hulse at Adrenaline Performance built the Allison
transmission.
The Silverado HD features an RCD 4-inch lift coupled with
Cognito's 2-inch level kit, which features upper control arms and Cognito's
dual-shock hoops with Bilstein shocks. The front end is complete with Cognito
HD tie-rods and idler and pitman support brackets.
RCD traction bars keep the rear axle in place under load,
while Cognito Deaver springs and a Firestone Ride-Rite air bag kit keeps the
rear end from sagging, especially when the bed is loaded with gear.
A Leer topper keeps the compressor and other items in the
bed secure and protected from the elements. CAG Performance installed the Yakima rack on the topper
with all of the Rigid Industries light bars.
Inside the cab, there are five Esspro white-faced gauges:
fuel rail pressure, pyrometer, air pressure and two boost gauges. One boost
gauge is for the large charger and the other shows total boost entering the
intake manifold.
A Bully Dog Watchdog monitors other parameters of the truck.
Briggs has a Pioneer AVIC-03 touch-screen head unit for the
audio system and a Tekonsha trailer brake controller for towing trips. And even
the interior lights are HID bulbs.
AMP Research electronic-folding running boards round out the
added features, while a set of 37x13.5R22 Kumho Road Venture M/Ts ride on
Incubus wheels.
The truck is an impressive build, especially considering
that Briggs almost sold it a year ago to buy a new LMM. But he didn't want to
deal with the emissions problems the new trucks have and instead invested in
the reliable LBZ.
Good move. Now, I can't find my keys . can someone turn the
lights on?
Sources:
Powerlabs Diesel
208-680-2677
www.powerlabsdiesel.com
CAG Performance
877-529-1935
www.cagperformance.com