6.7L Cummins Turbo Diesel Builds

We love seeing unique builds from the diesel community and the 6.7L Cummins platform never disappoints. Since the engine launched in 2007.5, everything from mild to wild has been covered. 2000+ HP builds, ultimate tow rigs, the engine swapped into older trucks, you name it, it’s been done. We did a recent episode that was a first for us, and it got us thinking, what makes these builds so popular? In this post, we will go over what we’ve learned about 6.7L Cummins Turbo Diesel builds.

On a recent podcast episode, the guest told us how he had the engine gold plated. Not powder-coated, but actually gold-plated. During our chat, he told us he how wanted a custom, never-before-seen setup that caught people’s attention. Hearing that got us thinking, “What makes this platform so fun to build?” First, there was a lot of part commonality shared with the 5.9L when it was released. This jump-started aftermarket support with things like turbos, manifolds, head studs, etc. While the injection pump, injectors and ECM are different, the aftermarket had familiarity with how to make power from an inline 6.

The Cummins name and history play a major role as well. The company’s history, innovation, heavy-duty market background, and on-road success attracts potential owners. Coupled with the race history of Cummins-powered Ram trucks, this sets the stage for truck enthusiasts. Early in the 6.7L Cummins run, a handful of racers embraced the platform and showed it could go fast at the track. Sure, it had a learning curve and wasn’t as quick as its 5.9L cousins, but slowly, 6.7’s started to win regional races, compete in national events, etc. As time evolved, the Cummins racing crowd started to see the benefit of the 6.7L Cummins Turbo Diesel for specific benefits. First, it can spool larger turbos faster than the 5.9L, the pistons were designed to handle heat better than 2004.5-07 trucks, and it had a larger intake plenum opening, a fuel rail, and crossover tubes that flowed more fuel.

The area that took the most time was transmission technology. The 68RFE automatic offered two additional gears vs the previous 48RE. However, building a unit to hold power at 500+ hp was not as easy. Because it is electronically controlled, hydraulic upgrades didn’t work like the 4 speeds. Once transmission tuning and pressure controllers were released, the hard part upgrades took off – billet input shafts, valve bodies, clutch drums, etc. Today, there are options for a solid 800hp 68RFE whereas in the past, it seemed unattainable. While 800hp isn’t at Ultimate Callout Challenge levels, it covers 95% of the trucks on the road.

If you have a 6.7L Cummins, from 2007.5 on, you have choices for upgrades. How far you’d like to take it, only depends on your imagination. This post was about what we’ve learned about 6.7L Cummins Turbo Diesel upgrades, the history of building them, and why it may be the best platform for a newer diesel truck.