If you can sit there and name of list of who is who in Diesel performance , I called everyone of them and got to talk to the main man personally. Spent alot of money following there advise just to go back to how i had it on my own, then talked to kenny and got me on track then bombed the hell out of it Again, I bombed it when i first started getting into diesels , then de bombed it and put EVERYTHING stock back on and started over

 

wow that was well said and saidly true

 

 

Nice. I agree. I also know quite a few guys that are on top of the PSD game that don't know a damn thing about tuning, turbos, fuel, NOTHING. It's sad that lil ole 350hp me knows lots more than guys with 700+...

Money is nice, but I'd rather experiment with my own pile that send it off to be worked on.

 

In 50 years of being in business I guess Banks knows a bit of forced induction.
He may not know about the torque specs of a Cummins, but thats what manuals are good for.
But he may know that multilayer head seals are not to be retorqued...

With a Diesel saturation of 3.6% in the US, I do not wonder about missing knowledge. The market demand is still growing.
Compare that to a european saturation of over 50%- if you can't swing your butt around a diesel you are out of business.

Relax and calm down, the diesel market and knowledgeable mechanics in the US will grow slowly and steadily as fuel prices rise..

 

There seems to be a bias built into a lot of people these days against BIG ____ (you fill in the blank). Big oil, big companies, big business, etc. The truth is, without a few of those big businesses, most of the parts we take for granted would not exist.

That doesn't mean that the small shop or lone technician hasn't figured out some stuff -- of course he (or she!) has. That's basic hot-rodding. Someone does all the hard work, figures out how to make power, then someone else comes along and mass-produces the parts so that everyone else can get in on the game without having to re-invent the wheel.

I figure it takes all sort of people to have a great trade, be that diesel or some other venture. It takes inventors, innovators, those that know the insides of the system better than anyone else, the users, the money people who fund projects that they don't even understand, and yes, even the advertisers and wanna-be's.

If you have a great local tech who really knows his diesel business, so be it -- good for you! Bet he learned from someone else who learned from someone else, etc. Also bet he buys some parts from some of those big names, and is glad he can get them for a reasonable price. I can't imagine the cost of casting a one-off exhaust manifold, but I know that I can buy one from a big manufacturer who makes them by the thousands, and who has amortized the costs over all those parts. Same for turbos, injectors, etc.

 

I also think the "bigger" guys loose touch with what is going on. Its the same as any industry. The smaller guys are the ones that have the time to actually help someone, even if there is no money exchanged. The "big" companies want your money first, then they might help you. Most smaller companies/ shops know that people will remember someone that helped them and in return buy something later. Its real customer service.

 

I agree with DM's original post entirely, however i'm going to state what some others have stated before me, if not for the big companies none of the stuff we do would be feasible, like a friend of mine, he's building the worlds first Compound-Twin turbo duramax, and no I didn't say that wrong, 4 turbo's, now a guy like him is small and trying stuff no one else has fathomed of doing, however it doesn't mean he's going at it blind, he's getting help from many different companies and people like ATS, Garrett Turbochargers, Vibrant Performance, Dynomite Diesel Performance, and the shop he's building it at G&J diesel (Dirtymax dragster), and Idaho Rob, so i completely understand where DM is coming from, the true innovation takes place at small shops, but the big companies make the parts that make it possible for us to tinker with things

 

I've seen that truck and it's just plain cool. You should have him post pics on here too. I seen them over on duramaxdiesels.

 

We're not just talking diesel performance here either - I think this goes for anything in life. I've seen countless musicians who claim to be great but can't do squat or have no fans or respect, athletes who have mom and dad's money being pumped in to get them all the best gear and training and they'll never make it. The guys who start from the ground level with 0 respect and work day and night through blood sweat and tears and no budget are the ones who if they make it, they make it big. Always root for the underdog!