It's hard to imagine, but there was a time when 1,000-1,500hp diesel sled pullers didn't exist, and it wasn't long ago. In the summer of 2001, Billy Zimmer, a die-hard Ford fan, began pulling this F-250 in area events near his hometown of Jacksonville, Illinois.

One diesel event you don't want to miss is the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, held every year in Terre Haute, Indiana. Dan Scheid is the man behind the scenes, and over the years he's built up his yearly gathering to extraordinary proportions. How about more than 60 sled pullers for the 2.8 class alone? Just as many were in Work Stock, and twelve Modified trucks showed up to give the crowd a feel of what 1,500-horsepower diesels really sound like. There was also eighth-mile drag racing, where six-second elapsed times in full-weight trucks were recorded. That's high 9s in the quarter, folks. The Scheid dragster made an appearance, running in the 4.50s in the eighth at almost 160 mph. There were two chassis dynos, and between them almost 200 trucks hit the rollers that weekend. Since this is our "Top Ten" issue, we're going to not only include coverage of the event, but we'll list the top ten pullers in each category, along with the 10 highest dyno numbers. Since more than a few drag trucks had problems, we'll list the five quickest times at the drag strip. Enjoy our coverage of the 2008 Scheid Diesel Extravaganza, and mark your calendars for August 28-30 of next year so you too can see the diesel mayhem in 2009!

Time, it's the biggest enemy a diesel enthusiast has. Each of us spends at least 40 hours a week at work, 56 hours sleeping (if you're lucky), and what seems like years doing chores around the house. Most of us only get a few hours of the day to even enjoy driving our diesels. So where does that leave time for actually working on them? The answer is-it doesn't.

2008 was a great year for Diesel Power. Diesels are the new muscle cars, and their fan base is growing. Sure, diesel still has its original backers like the trucking and agriculture industries, but even environmentalists have done an about-face for diesels and are scrambling aboard.

The RG32M military patrol vehicle combines cutting-edge diesel technology with reliable drivetrain components in a rugged, proven package. It is built in South Africa by BAE Systems, and has served in various roles across the globe. From the extreme cold in Sweden, to the sweltering heat in the Middle East, this vehicle has gone through monitored tests and real-world trials. The RG32M is a clean-sheet design, and is one of more than 380 variants of the RG32. The highlight of the RG32M for us here at Diesel Power, is of course, the turbodiesel engine.

How many of you out there used to own a diesel truck, and wish you still did? Maybe your pickup was stolen, or you needed the money and were forced to sell. Maybe it was in an accident, and your biggest fear was that your diesel truck would never be the same? Jason Gonzales made the best of a bad situation after a Ford Taurus pulled out in front of his '02 Super Duty earlier this year. Fortunately no one was injured, but the Taurus was completely destroyed. Thanks to the aftermarket front bumper, Jason's truck faired better, but still sustained heavy damage, including a bent frame.

To mainstream America the diesel engine is often misunderstood. For one thing, diesels aren't built for the present-obsessed. Instead they're prepared for what's on the horizon and answer a confident "yes" to the question; will it last? Take Donald Riepe's Nissan diesel-powered International Scout for example.

This is part three of our series on "How to Make Money with Your Diesel." Just in time for winter, we will show you how your truck can pay for itself plowing snow. One thing to remember is, whether or not we get as much snow as we used to, we are paving more parking lots and roads, which will need to be plowed as well.

It's been a while since we've been over to see the crew at Gale Banks Engineering, so we decided to drop by and see what they were up to. They've been pretty silent since they ran the first-ever seven-second pass with their diesel-powered drag truck, so we figured they'd be up to something. And guess what? They were. Here is their second-generation drag racing engine, dubbed the DRE-2. It's pictured here on an engine dyno, which is used to measure horsepower and torque. Since the dyno can put the engine under load, it can also be used to fine-tune these racing engines, which is a very important factor in making efficient, smokeless, power. The original drag racing engine made about 1,250 horsepower and spun up to 5,500 rpm, but the Banks team has their sights set even higher for version two: a whopping 1,500 horsepower, and engine speeds of up to 7,000 rpm.

We were looking for a cheap way to make more power on Project Rust Bucket, so we started looking into compressor upgrades. A compressor upgrade is basically where the front half of the turbocharger is replaced, which means you'll get a new compressor wheel, as well as a new housing. We figured this should make more power, but there are also a bunch of other fringe benefits that we hadn't initially thought of. In no particular order, we'll delve into them now.