600 Hp LB7 Duramax Walk Around! Complete Modification List

An up-to-date walk around and modification list of this 600 hp LB7 Duramax Diesel.
Instagram: @raberle7
Facebook: Reid Aberle
Email: [e-mail]
Feel free to get ahold of me for any questions/business inquiries!
Here is a list of everything done to this truck to date:
Engine:
Headgaskets/ARP Studs
Stock Injectors
DuramaxTuner Built Trans Tuning
HSP Diesel 3"Hot/Cold Side Piping
HSP Diesel 4" Intake
DRP 3.5" Intake Horn
WCFab 3" Ybridge
Danville Performance Pinned LBZ Waterpump
WoldFab Quantum Max 64mm Turbocharger
HSP Diesel Corner Mount Coolant Reservoir
HSP Diesel Billet Thermostat Cover/Cross Over pipe
Fuel:
Fass Titanium 150 Lift Pump
1/2" Fuel line running directly to 1/2" inlet fitting on LBZ CP3 and FPR
BD Sump Kit
FPRV Block Off Kit
Transmission/Transfercase:
Built Transmission with Suncoast Gmax 5 Kit and Suncoast 1056 TD Converter
Trans Tuning for Defuel shutoff and 2nd Gear launch
TCS Billet Input Shaft
Rebuilt transfercase with Pump Rub Kit
5/8" trans cooler lines
TCase Brace and new Transmission mounts
Allison Deep Pan/Filter Kit
Steering:
PPE Pitman/Idler Arm Braces and new Pitman/Idler Arms
Kryptonite Deathgrip Tie Rods
Empire Stainless Steel Straight Centerlink
Redhead Steering Gearbox
Performance Steering Components Power Steering Pump
Bilstein Steering Dampner
Suspension:
HSP Diesel 70" Traction Bars
Fox 2.0 Front Shocks
Fox 2.0 Rear Shocks/QA1 Vertical Shock Mounts
Timken Wheel bearings
Cognito Upper Control Arms
Kryptonite Swaybar Links
Hellwig Rear Swaybar
DHD Rear Suspension Stops
Detroit Trutrac/New axle seals and bearings in rear axle
Exhaust:
3" MBRP Downpipe
5" Magnaflow Straight Pipe
DMAXStore MaxFlow Manifolds & Up Pipes
Wheels/Tires:
Gear Big Block 725BM 20x12 -44 Wheels
305/50/R20 Toyo Proxes
1.5" Spacers in rear
#Duramax #FixedVaneDuramax #lb7

[@kyle8387]

i live in southern Iowa so I see a lot of these trucks in tractor pulls, because if you don't know around 65-70% of Iowa land is devoted to cropland, which makes a lot of farmland total, this truck looks all around beautiful, I've always wanted this kind of truck, same body style and color, your living my dream, idc how much gas is or the insurance, this would be my proud daily driver

[@sethowens1791]

Badass truck bro, I bought my first duramax about a year ago. 2003 lb7 w 73k miles in great condition was a lucky find

[@DarrenWS6]

Great looking truck! Love the cateye front end especially being the 06 style. Frame looms great as well. Love the color under the hood as well.

[@smittys19daytona]

biggest surprise is your still running the stock injectors, goes to show they have quite a range , nice truck for sure

[@tonybrochu2670]

Love the truck man! I got an 03 LB7 that I’m building now. Saving up for a built trans so I can get it retuned to support my current mods.

[@holdenporter6162]

Same here lol cab off right now for studs, heads and gaskets...

[@jessesalt3294]

probably the cleanest one out in existence

[@slice179]

Holy shit that garage door is a beast! Have you got any pictures of it? Also the truck looks awesome but as a garage door technician I’ve never seen a door like that😂

[@clintonmaurer5758]

I hope that POR15 holds up. I used here in Ohio, but those customers do run their trucks year round and it maybe held up a few winters. But like you said in your case it won't see crappy weather like that. I used it on a 99 GMC K2500 and put 3 coats of POR15 on it then their top UV coating and it was holding up very well, but I was also cleaning the bottom side weekly and I had the bottom of the bed, bedlinered. So I hope everything holds up for you. Very nice looking truck

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Yeah I am interested to see how it lasts, I don't daily drive it generally but I will take it to work and our farm a few times a week so it does see some gravel and such. It won't see salt etc during the midwest winters. I would still like to do a body off restore at some point down the road if I can in which it would be blasted and either powdered or painted.

[@clintonmaurer5758]

@@FixedVaneDuramax you followed the directions it will hold up pretty good for you, I didn't one time and it bite me pretty good. If you get to the point of a frame off resto, I'd blast it, epoxy prime, then paint it. I'm not a huge fan of powder coating, but it's also the shop doing it, if they prep it right it will last forever, to many places cut corners nowadays. Another product to use is called Steel-it, it's a sprayable stainless steel coating, right now they only make two color silver and flat black, but it would hold up great on a sand blasted frame

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Yep we were pretty anal about the 3 step process of cleaning, etching/metal prep, then several coats of the actual product. I used a quality spray paint as my top coat once the final coat of por15 had set about an hour and a half for UV protectant. We will see how it olds but so far its rock hard and looks great. I've actually used the Steel-It product on a couple of brackets and the transmission crossmember, coated it when the trans was getting repaired this fall. Pretty impressed with it so far as well.

[@jessemaksymetz4891]

Clean!! Im looking to do a similar build instead of the red was looking for a blue

[@alecsanderfuentes3913]

Finally a BLACKED OUT cat eye almost everyone on KZbin has every color but black subbing just for that bro

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Cheers man!

[@44santaniello16]

Truck is absolutely sick 🔥

[@aaaaaa72060]

Not sure if this was answered or not but is 600hp to crank or wheel? I’m going to be building a duramax similar to your setup soon and am curious to what I should expect. Real clean truck btw 👌🏻

[@donaldthomas5852]

You have a bad looking truck, black is the sharpest color when it’s clean, lol. Nice upgrades you done. I have a Black 2001 4x4 Excab Chevy 2500HD LB7 Duramax with only 92,000 miles. K&N cold air breather and a tow tuner 300hp and 600 lbs of toque . I will keep it like it is. I am not interested in making it a pull or a race truck. But I enjoy seeing and watching others do it. I am trying to see how long the truck will last keeping it in like new condition , it been garage kept since it was new , absolutely no rust in this truck , it’s not driven in winter snow with salt on the roads. There’s two other trucks I drive another 2500 6.0 and a 3500 8.1 both 4x4’s. They are my farm work and daily driver. I do have a 25ft camper 5th wheel, 6,500lbs. That my 2001 Duramax pulls with ease.

[@OGKILLa9365]

Tint all the windows, do some boost auto mirrors, and a black license plate!

[@Pit_Sniper]

Beauty truck, if you had to pick either a built transmission or upgraded turbo and manifolds what would you do?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Definitely the Allison build needs to come first. It's less exciting because you're not adding engine power but the stock trans will not last with an upgraded turbo unless you completely baby the truck (at which point, why even upgrade the turbo?) But I'll also say the peace of mind that comes with a well built transmission is worth every penny. Knowing you can beat on the truck and the trans will hold the power without an issue is fantastic. Then in the future when you want to add power its no problem.

[@Pit_Sniper]

@@FixedVaneDuramax thanks for your insight I appreciate the honesty. I’ve got an 06 lbz and I’m about to install the pusher super max kit and fass 165 lift pump and I can save some bucks by doing the turbo and manifolds at the same time. But if I do then like your saying I ain’t saving money when I’m gonna grenade the transmission. I just pull a 26’ travel trailer noting crazy like you do with your truck. I was kinda hoping you would say the trans would last lol

[@ryderlbz7544]

Love the truck man looks badass. Hey man I was wondering how you like proxes for pulling?? I just put these tires on last fall.

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Cheers. They are decent for pulling, though probably not the best choice. I personally like them as they have enough traction to keep me competitive, usually in the top 5. However, the great thing about them is if there is any point where the truck will either hook hard and break something in the drive train vs slip the tires, it'll always slip the tires. That being said there has been at least 3-4 times where I lost a place or 2 by less than a foot where I am confident that on an all terrain I probably would placed higher. A little give and take.

[@bobbybushong9551]

Nice truck man I personally have a 05 lly and black and red the whole thing looks damn close to yours all except for the trans im dreading 😅

[@davidschmidt449]

Looks great. 👌

[@coryayers9214]

I will be at McLean co fair pulling my lb7 again this year you should ride over!

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

I'm definitely planning to! I pulled there stock class 2 years ago, this past year we were having our summer conference at work that week so I just didn't have time.

[@sethowens1791]

This trucks badassss

[@brianpreslik9894]

Nice truck.. love the everything blacked out. I have an 2003 Duramax that has 153k miles with front end damage. I want to do the same thing you did. 05-07 front clip. I'm looking for a donor truck for parts. Do I need to find another Duramax equipped truck or will a gas equipped truck front clip work as well? I need the core support, passenger side fender, hood and bumper. Radiator is busted but, I'll buy a new one. Do you know if the diesel and gas core supports are the same? Will the gas core support work in a Duramax equipped truck? Did you run into any problems with the conversion? I thought I heard somewhere that the bumper mounts might not be interchangeable.

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

I am not 100% sure on the core support, whether or not one out of a gas truck will work or not honestly, I did a quick gmpartsdirect search and the part numbers are different so that would make me think they are not the same. As far as the bumper mounts, they are the same from 03-07 so you should not need to change those out.

[@nickledimez4012]

Thank you for the videos! What kit did you use for the pump rub fix?

[@99chev60]

Damn she's bad!!! I see you have the FPRV block off. I bought a HSP intake horn and it's hitting the FPRV and instead of buying a new one I was thinking about doing the block off. I keep reading mixed reviews on doing it. Some people saying how dangerous it could be and most saying it's fine. Have you ever had problems with it and what do you suggest? Thank you. Love the channel. Keep the videos coming

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

I was just going through some comments and realized I never answered this! I've had the FPRV block off in for 4 years, no issues on this end. Not sure it "gained" a whole lot from having it except for clearance realistically but then again it wasn't tuned to push the stock fuel system to the max when I installed it either.

[@KMFSPERFORMANCE599]

How do you like the new steering gearbox?

[@felixboutin3559]

holly god you putted like a good 30k on the truck in parts holly molly

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

I can neither confirm or deny this statement😂

[@jamesanderson5886]

Did you have the 63.5 mm rebuild kit for the stock turbo ?

[@TheSixthGearr]

Did you buy the black front bumper and cap or did you have a body shop paint it?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

I had them painted at a body shop.

[@kevingallegos9602]

Question did you rebuild the internals by any chance having to push that much power or do you have stock internals?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

No, the rotating assembly is all stock yet. Since this video the truck as received a 12mm cp3 pump and 65% injectors, and I installed a set of Wagler push rods while the valve covers were off. But the bottom end is still stock.

[@kylegilmore3630]

How are the painted interior grab handles holding up? Any paint chipping or rubbing off?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

These have held up well, the paint on the hard plastic pieces is still in great condition. The paint on the rubberizes handles have held up good as well however they were "sticky" for a long time afterwards. There may be a different product that would work better.

[@jj19973]

Whats that rear bumper called? looks great.

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Cheers! It's a rollpan.

[@gavasranch2989]

What’s a good trans with 6spd for my 04 LB7 I already have efi live downpipe s&b intake fleece turbo inlet

[@Steve_I]

Assuming you have the allison, you will have to get the duramax tuner 6 speed conversion.

[@mattleonard5268]

Allison 6 speed or zf6

[@mr_sallad]

Most of what I've heard implied that the Lb7 bottom end (rods being the limiting factor) was only good for up to like 550hp before you're at risk for bending a rod. Does your tuning just make sure not to put too much power in at the bottom of the rev range, or does it just go full savage no matter what? haha

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Yeah that's the general idea behind it, just keep the torque out of the low rpm range more than anything. Seems like more and more guys have trucks of this generation running mid 700s even into the 800 hp range for a good amount of time, especially big single turbo builds as they take so much more rpm and air movement to spool. However generally that is a "when" not an "if" range to be in. Low to mid 600s, especially on a high mileage loose motor, I'm really not worried about the bottom end at this point. Knock on wood!

[@reddlsx7979]

What color is that?? I'm looking to spray my truck that color looks awesome is it a blackish grey?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

The body color of this truck? Just standard GM black

[@reddlsx7979]

@@FixedVaneDuramax wow then props out keep it very clean

[@apollocreed2089]

Kind of a broad question, but do you know how difficult it would be to rebuild a duramax motor? Measuring clearances and stuff or just bolt it up and go?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

I have never done a rebuild myself but like most engine builds I am sure there is a decent amount of checking and double checking measurements/tolerances along the way.

[@LeviThomas-p1f]

Where did u get lights

[@aleklukacs6170]

All together how much did it cost?

[@onecleanlbz]

This might be an odd question... How much lighter is your truck compared to a four door 3/4 ton duramax? I’m assuming not much lighter but just thought I’d ask. And also... do you have any tricks to getting out the uppipe?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Good question, last time I weighed this truck fueled up with me in it, it was right at 6900 lbs. I redid all the cross members in the rear slightly lighter, and I can drop off my 70 lb hitch, as well as remove the tailgate and possibly the rear seat for racing. Between that and a half tank of fuel hopefully I can hit that 6500lb mark. On the uppipe are you wanting to get the bolts out? I used a ratchet with a ratchet strap looped around the torsion bars to break them loose initially.

[@onecleanlbz]

Fixed Vane Duramax Yes I’m looking to do the same setup you have. But looks like the up pipe is a little tricky to get out. I was curious if you ha any tips?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Do you mean the downpipe? The uppipes come out pretty easily once the bolts themselves are out.

[@onecleanlbz]

Fixed Vane Duramax Yes sorry. I’ve done some research and a lot of people say it’s pretty hard

[@alecsanderfuentes3913]

OnecleanDmax yeah you might want to soak em up overnight buy brand new bolts cuz they most likely won’t be able to get torqued properly

[@jadenschroeder339]

How did you get your front bumper to look like that? Did it yourself or got a shop to do it. I want to do the same on my 04 LLY

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

I had a shop do it. I hit a deer and it mashed the original bumper so I bought a whole new bumper, the metal was primered vs chrome, then had a local autobody shop paint everything before I assembled it.

[@dakotamell2744]

Is this truck stock crank and stock firing order cam??

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Yes, bottom end is totally stock, as are the heads and all compononents within them except for ARP studs

[@jessekasper7486]

Heard you said you went to the u of I. Are you from Iowa.

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Jesse Kasper Nope! U of I to me is University of Illinois I’m from central IL.

[@jessekasper7486]

@@FixedVaneDuramax my sister in law lives in st Charles. Love the truck.

[@chazgeisler6213]

Do you still recommend the max flow manifolds?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Sorry for the very late reply, no issues with either the manifolds or up pipes on this truck up to this point!

[@chazgeisler6213]

@@FixedVaneDuramax sweet. I have these same manifolds on my lly now and they are good. Just have to make sure the manifold bolts stay tight.

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Nice! I added a little bit of loctite to mine (blue not red) when I installed them, not sure if that helped or not it may have just burned out the first time I pushed it hard lol. But also when I installed them I tightened them down, then heat cycled the truck a few times over a couple of days, then retightened them to make sure they hadn't loosened from expansion. I checked them a month or 2 ago and they were all still tight.

[@chazgeisler6213]

Sweet man. One thing I have to say though is they made changing the motor mounts a pain.

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

@@chazgeisler6213 I can definitely see that, luckily the motor mounts on this truck were changed a few years ago so I shouldn't have to experience that.

[@matthewcrittenden1774]

Whered you get the blowin money flag?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

One of the original offerings from DurtyMax Jack/Enthuzst years ago.

[@Handreasyoutube]

how much did it cost?

[@CCCC-tq8yo]

2 yrs later

[@talonmalbone4483]

Is your truck deleted?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Its an lb7 so did not have an egr to begin with so no deletes were needed.

[@PndaS2k]

Love the channel and truck. But dude please stop talking 100mph 😂

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Lol I get that comment a lot both for presentations for work and on here!

[@nb6584]

Don't worry man you talk fast but at least you can understand you. Guess some can't follow along but it works for me keep up the great work on the truck!

[@KoltFin]

2x speed is perfect

[@alecsanderfuentes3913]

Fixed Vane Duramax dude your speed is fine that’s better than the people who go “uhhhh” every 8 seconds when explaining stuff

[@speedfreak341]

Lb7 stock connecting rods?

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Yep, bottom end is stock as a rock for now. Makes me nervous to push it much further

[@ericelyako]

What diff setup are you running

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Detroit TruTrac in the rear, stock open diff in the front for now.

[@ericelyako]

@@FixedVaneDuramax nice. I got a 14k trailer that I'm going to start hauling and I want no issues with the diff. I think I may need injectors soon. I have a lb7 too.

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

I have had 2 stock diffs go out on 2 of my trucks. One on this truck and one on my previous LLY. On the LLY it locked the diff as a solid axle so it was chirp and hop slightly going around corners. On this truck it locked the diff open so it was a one wheel powered truck, which is preferable obviously unless you are pulling heavy or going offroad where you need even power distribution. I installed trutracs in both trucks, over 40-50k between the 2 no issues or complaints. Acts just like the stock limited slip but won't/shouldnt ever break again.

[@ericelyako]

@@FixedVaneDuramax thanks for the reply. I'm thinkin of Maybe going for 500 to 600 horsepower Just to have that extra power for hauling what injectors would you recommend.

[@FixedVaneDuramax]

Stock injectors can support 530hp on a stock turbo (stock turbo is the limit in this case) and with a decent 64-67mm drop in will take you to the higher 500s and maybe hit 600. 30% or 45% overs would be plenty for that range. Upgrading to 30 or 45% over would be a good idea, as stock injectors are being stretched to the limit to push that much fuel for them, upgrading to larger sticks allow the tuner to dial back the pulse width back to a safer open time.

[@Doubledteam1]

start it

[@taylorh3930]

Old communist COVID had covid twice and I'd rather get covid again vs a bad hangover 👊

[@johnnyringo2690]

Lmao you act like you didn’t do much to it. 5 minutes in and you’re easily 15k worth.

[@misterspot1552]

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