Big Boost: 2 Engines, 6 Turbos and 8,000 HP!
In the world of diesel truck and tractor pulling, the words “Super Stock” denote the highest caliber vehicles you can pay money to see. In these elite categories, you’ll find production-based engines saddled with some of the most exotic aftermarket components in existence. Concrete filled or replica blocks and heads are the norm, as is finding multiple turbochargers, water-to-air intercoolers and massive mechanical injection pumps under the hood. In the truck game, Cummins is king, with 6.7L-derived versions originally intended for Ram pickups ruling the day. On the tractor scene, engine choice isn’t as one-sided, although John Deere and IH mills tend to dominate the landscape.
For a closer look at what makes these big boost diesels tick, we’re profiling one from the Super Stock truck segment and another from the Super Stock component tractor realm. The 391 ci Cummins that’s destined for a pickup was pieced together by one of the biggest names in all of diesel truck pulling: Haisley Machine. The 540 ci IH was built by Salenbien Performance and powers a championship-caliber, 8,000-pound, Case IH 340 Magnum Super Stock called “Liv’n a Dream.” Both engines sport two-stage, triple-turbo arrangements, hulking billet injection pumps, turn more than 5,000 rpm and each one belts out in excess of 3,000 hp. Enjoy!
The Super B
Haisley Machine’s Super B Cummins all but revolutionized the Super Stock diesel truck pulling scene roughly 10 years ago, and the company’s engine program has been thriving ever since. By machining a cast-iron 6.7L Cummins block (chosen for its Siamese bore design) to accept a bedplate, ductile iron cylinder sleeves and a 1-inch thick deck-plate, Haisley’s Super B’s are rock-solid reliable. In fact, customers can run an entire season at 3,000-plus horsepower without breaking the seal. Concrete-filled water jackets, billet rods, low-compression pistons and ARP fasteners from top to bottom help contribute to the 391ci Cummins’ steadfast durability.
Two-Stage, Triple-Turbo Configuration
Super Stock truck class rules dictate that two stages of turbocharging can be employed, along with a maximum of three turbochargers. As you may have already concluded, Haisley runs the class limit with this triple-turbo configuration (the third turbo is parked behind these two, and is attached to the exhaust manifold). Wimer Fuel Injection & Turbo built the Holset-based chargers, with each unit making use of a T6 turbine inlet flange and an 8-blade compressor wheel. Charging down the track, the job of producing 130 to 150 psi of boost is split three ways, which means the turbos aren’t under as much stress as they are in two-turbo compound arrangements.
Big Fuel
Also turning to Wimer Fuel Injection & Turbo for the Super B’s injection pump, a billet housing, inline mechanical pump with 18mm plungers was supplied. A Waterman gear-driven lift pump will provide ample low-pressure fuel supply (85-100 psi) for the injection pump to gobble up. Leaving the Wimer pump, copious amounts of fuel will make its way to six massive, triple-feed injectors threaded into the top of the cylinder head.
24-Valve Cylinder Head
For years, Haisley’s well-matched ported, big valve 12-valve head and high-lift steel roller camshaft combination was hard to beat, but the head bolted to this Super B has 24-valves… The fact that Haisley has gone back to four valves per cylinder leads us to believe a breakthrough has been made in the 24-valve arena. This cast-iron piece is fitted with an SMT Performance roller rocker system, a T6 flange Steed Speed manifold on the exhaust side and an individual runner intake manifold from ZZ Custom Fabrication on the intake side. Also notice the previously-mentioned 1-inch deck-plate it sits on top of. The deck-plate is employed to stop the cylinder bore distortion that occurs in the factory block when it’s exposed to extreme cylinder pressure.
Water-to-Air Intercooler
Though a multi-nozzle water-injection system will be used to keep the engine’s exhaust gas temperature (EGT) in check, the water-to-air intercooler out front is a big reason why the Cummins makes so much power. By keeping intake temps low (in the neighborhood of 100 degrees F), only the coolest and densest air possible makes it into the engine. Haisley’s 4-core water-to-air unit was fabricated by Sandridge Customs of Bloomdale, Ohio.
Dry Sump Oil System
Another mandatory item for an engine of this caliber is its dry sump oil system. At the heart of it sits a Peterson oil pump with various scavenge and pressure stages. Belt-driven, the dry sump pump provides for more than 100-psi of oil pressure at all times, a prerequisite for keeping bearings alive at this power level.
Harnessing Horsepower
Transferring that 3,000-plus horsepower figure to the front and rear Rockwells begins with a four-disc clutch. The clutch lives inside a hydroformed steel plate, blow-proof bell housing from Custom Floaters and the transmission is a one-speed reverser from ProFab Machine. Downstream in the driveline, a quick change transfer case (also from ProFab) will route power forward and rearward, and also provide for convenient gear changes at the track.
Liv’n A Dream, Super Stock Style
It doesn’t get any more extreme than this in diesel tractor pulling—and on plenty of occasions Brandon Hunt’s 8,000-pound Super Stock Case IH called “Liv’n A Dream” has finished ahead of the pack. In the past, Hunt has won the NTPA’s Region VI points championship (2016 and 2018) and in 2019 he took First Place at the prestigious National Tractor Pulling Championship in Bowling Green, Ohio.
The Salenbien Special
Behind all the fuel lines, safety cable, miscellaneous hoses and turbo piping, the engine that powers Liv’n A Dream is a real work of art—and it performs just as well as it looks. Put together by the folks at Salenbien Performance in Maybee, Michigan, the DT466 based, 540ci IH inline-six sports a re-cast, replica block from Hypermax stuffed with a billet crankshaft from Bryant Racing, Riverside Engine forged rods, Diamond pistons and that has been topped off with a billet-steel 12-valve cylinder head. While we fully believe the 4,500hp numbers that surface when you talk Super Stock engines, rumor has it that this particular IH also belted out 7,000 lb-ft of torque while bolted to the engine dyno.
300-PSI of Boost
It might not be visible here, but there is an identically-sized (130mm) Wimer turbocharger on the other side of this behemoth. Like the two-stage compound arrangement employed on the Haisley Machine Cummins, the two front-mounted turbos act as a single atmospheric unit, while the third charger, slightly smaller (118mm in this case) and located up on the exhaust manifold, serves as the high-pressure turbo. At full song, the trio bolted to Liv’n A Dream produces more than 300 psi of overall boost. To survive that kind of abuse, each turbo is equipped with a ball bearing center cartridge.
Billet Sigma
When a standard Sigma won’t do, you opt for Columbus Diesel Supply’s billet-aluminum version. Much more than a fancy, polished housing, CDS’s billet Sigma incorporates 18mm plungers (vs. 16mm on the standard Sigma) and a proprietary grind camshaft. All told, this pump can flow 2,300 cc worth of fuel. By comparison, a cast-aluminum 16mm Sigma—which can easily support 3,500 hp—has 1,600cc potential. The 18mm Sigma feeds a set of billet, triple-feed injectors.
Cut Tires and 75-plus MPH Wheel Speed
Once power makes it through the tractor’s 5-disc centrifugal clutch and the three-speed ProFab transmission, the massive, approximately 32-inch wide cut tires see more than 75-mph worth of wheel speed on occasion (ground speed checks in at roughly 35 mph). With so much power on tap, it can be a fight to find traction and maintain it when storming the track.
For more on triple, compounds and massive single turbos in the sled pulling world, check out these killer setups.
