You may not think that your own diesel has much in common with a 1,700hp sled pulling engine, but think again. Many of the tricks that are used on Curt Haisley's pulling truck, Off Constantly, can be used in your own diesel engine. They might not be as extreme, but the same theories apply. Here are a few good ones.
Custom TurbosIf you or a buddy can weld, chances are that with a little reading and a lot of work, you can fabricate your own custom compound turbo setup. Although you might not want to use the monster HX82 turbochargers that Haisley runs, a stock turbo combined with an HT3B as a secondary charger can be a great twin setup that will support up to 800 hp on most trucks. The best part is you can salvage HT3Bs off of larger diesels for less than 500 bucks.
Water InjectionHaisley's 10-nozzle water injection system might be a little overkill for your truck, but that doesn't mean you can't use it. Curt Haisley told us he runs enough water that he can put the EGTs wherever he wants to, although the truck usually runs best at about 1,400 degrees. To put things in perspective, without the water, Curt's EGTs would exceed 2,000 degrees. For those of you with EGT issues, water injection just may be your solution.
Lift PumpCurt runs a 500-gallon-per-hour lift pump on his Cummins that supplies the injection pump with plenty of #2. Why should you care about this? Well, running a good lift pump can prevent fuel starvation, leading to more horsepower and better reliability. Remember that most injection pumps are lubricated by fuel, so running them dry is usually a bad idea. While your truck may have been fine at stock power levels, doubling the amount of fuel your injection pump puts out with either a programmer or through mechanical measures means your stock fuel system needs to be addressed.