Power Driven Podcast

Power Driven

Welcome to the Power Driven Podcast, where we dive deep into the thrilling world of horsepower. Join your hosts, Todd and Will, as they engage with employees, industry experts, and special guests to explore the pulse-pounding stories, cutting-edge tech, and the raw power behind everything that goes vroom. Whether you're a gearhead, a casual enthusiast, or just love the roar of an engine, this podcast is your pit stop for all things horsepower. Visit powerdrivendiesel.com to explore our latest products, special offers, and more.

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S2 · E17
April 28 · 54 min
How to Build a Cummins Engine the Right Way (Part 1)
If you have ever cracked open an engine block and wondered whether you are missing something the shop guys never talk about, this episode is for you. Todd, Will, and Myer break down the real hands-on engine building process, step by step, using their Myers UCC build as the backdrop for a conversation that covers everything from the stuff you check before you turn a wrench to the stuff that will bite you if you skip it. The episode kicks off with oil galley plug inspection, what the guys call the oil rail, oil rifle, or oil passage depending on who is talking, and why making sure every one of those plugs is seated before assembly is a non-negotiable. They get into cleaning procedures using an engine bore brush kit to pull out machining particles and metal flakes from the cylinder bores and oil passages before anything goes back together. Bearing clearances get a solid breakdown here. The guys walk through main bearings and rod bearings on a Cummins engine, explain why the oil holes in the bearings do not line up the way you might expect, and talk through what proper clearance looks like for street builds versus high RPM race applications. They also hit a detail that trips up a lot of first-time builders: rod caps are matched to their specific rod during the machining process, and swapping caps between rods will cost you roundness and likely an engine. Cylinder wall prep takes up a good chunk of the conversation too. The guys reference using the Total Seal ring break-in compound to verify cleanliness, where green means the wall is ready and brown means you are not done yet. From there the discussion moves into piston ring gap, how they set the second ring at or slightly larger than the top ring, ring orientation during installation, and their experience running Total Seal gapless second rings at higher horsepower levels where piston land strength starts to become a real concern. The back half of the episode covers assembly lube, specifically the Joe Gibbs Driven line and other black assembly greases the guys have had good results with, where to apply it and where not to, and the proper way to lube a camshaft, lifters, and cam lobes before the engine goes together. The cylinder head side of the build runs long and gets pushed to next week, so consider this Part 1 of a two-part deep look at what it actually takes to build a diesel engine the right way. Subscribe on YouTube to catch Part 2 the moment it drops, and if you are listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, follow the show so you never miss an episode. Everything the guys talked about in this episode, rings, bearings, assembly products, all of it is the kind of stuff you can find at PowerDriven.com. If you are building an engine, start there. Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com 0:00 Intro and Mars UCC engine build overview 1:18 Oil galley plugs and why they cannot be overlooked 2:30 Cleaning oil passages and cylinder bores 4:13 Main bearing installation and oil hole alignment 5:03 Measuring journals and bearing clearances 7:07 Cylinder wall prep and final cleaning order 10:00 Total Seal break-in compound and cylinder wall verification 10:35 Measuring rod journals, main journals, and bearings 12:30 Bearing clearance specs for street vs race applications 13:24 Why race clearances and thick oil do not work on a street truck 18:33 Rod cap and rod matching on Cummins and aftermarket rods 29:52 Piston ring clearance and piston wall clearance 31:42 Ring gap setup and second ring sizing 33:34 Ring orientation during installation 40:37 Total Seal gapless second ring discussion and high HP concerns 42:06 Loctite, fasteners, and oil galley plug sealing 49:15 Assembly grease selection and application 52:25 Camshaft and lifter lubrication 53:45 Episode wrap and Part 2 preview
S2 · E16
April 21 · 46 min
The Truth About Diesel Pistons: Cast vs Forged, Bowl Design, and What to Run in Your Build
Pistons are one of those parts everybody installs but not everybody actually understands. Todd, Will, and Myer break down piston design from top to bottom, and if you have ever wondered why there are so many options or which one belongs in your build, this is the episode you need. They start with piston bowl design and why it matters more than most guys think. Narrow bowl versus wide bowl, reentrant versus non-reentrant, and how each design affects the way fuel and air mix inside a diesel cylinder. Because diesels fire fuel directly into that bowl at the very end of the compression stroke, bowl geometry has a direct impact on combustion quality, smoke, and power output in a way gasoline engines never have to deal with. Swirl numbers get covered too, and why that circular mixing motion plays a bigger role in emissions and haze than it does in outright peak power. The conversation moves through piston options platform by platform. Common rail, 24 valve, VP44, and 12 valve all get their own breakdown. The guys talk about why they almost always steer people toward a narrow bowl for over-the-road use, but also when a wide bowl makes sense, like sled pulling and nitrous-limited classes where you are chasing every last horsepower. Cast versus forged is a big chunk of this episode and the guys do not sugarcoat it. Forged pistons are stronger and handle RPM abuse better, but the increased wall clearance required, the wear characteristics, and the oil ring differences make them a poor choice for anything that sees regular street miles. They even mention their factory 6.7 cast pistons surviving a truck that averages 2200 horsepower down the track, and what that says about how capable a properly built cast piston really is. The 12 valve guys get their section too. Stock pistons, the early first gen wider bowl swap, and why the shop has largely moved away from recommending low compression pistons now that six seven blocks are the go-to platform for high-output Cummins builds. Piston coatings and cylinder honing round out the episode. The guys cover their coating experiments on Myer's race truck, what coatings can and cannot protect against, and why proper piston wall clearance is still the thing that determines whether any of it survives. Subscribe on YouTube and follow the Power Driven Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you do not miss episodes like this one. Everything from pistons to full build components for your diesel is available at PowerDriven.com. If anything from this episode sparks a build question, the team there can point you in the right direction. Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com
S2 · E15
April 14 · 55 min
How a Simple Engine Ran 4.99 in Pro Street Diesel
Myer's drag truck just ran a 4.99 in the eighth mile, and the engine making it happen is almost offensively simple. On this episode of the Power Driven Podcast, Todd, Will, and Myer break down what it took to get there and why the technology available to diesel builders right now is changing what is possible at every level of the sport. The guys dig into what that number actually means in context, where the money goes in a build like this, and why high level diesel performance is more attainable today than it has ever been. The conversation covers everything from drivetrain decisions to turbo costs to cylinder head development, all through the lens of what it took to put a tow truck in the fours. Pro Street diesel is growing fast and the boys make a strong case that now is the time to get in. Multiple trucks are running deep fives and dipping into the fours, the parts are better, and the price to compete has come way down compared to even a few years ago. Everything the guys talk about in this episode is available at PowerDriven.com. Links below. Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com
S2 · E14
April 7 · 57 min
Why Your Diesel Tows Like Garbage (And How To Fix It)
Every diesel guy has been there. The truck feels great empty, pulls hard, and you love it right up until you hook a trailer to it. Todd, Will, and Myer dig into exactly why that happens and what you can actually do about it. The conversation starts with a real story about building a 12 valve for power without thinking about what it would have to do. Big pump, big single turbo, five speed, and a trailer to tow. The result was exactly what you would expect from a setup built for the strip and not the highway. It towed, but it was miserable, and that experience sets up everything else in the episode. From there the guys get into tuning strategy for trucks that need to work. Pedal mapping and throttle input are a bigger deal than most people think, especially when your transmission is mechanically activated and does not know your engine is making twice the power it was designed around. If your transmission thinks you are at light throttle while your engine is at full pull, you are going to have a bad time. Getting the tune and the transmission working together is step one. Turbo selection comes up as one of the biggest places guys go wrong when building a tow truck. Oversized turbos that are great for making peak power numbers are often terrible for towing because they surge, they come on hard, and they kill drive manners under load. Compressor wheel clearances also factor into efficiency and reliability in ways most people do not think about. The right turbo for towing is not the biggest one you can bolt on. Fuel system choices matter too. Massive injectors and multi-pump setups introduce complexity and reliability concerns that become a real problem when you are stranded on the side of the road a long way from home. For a dedicated tow truck, simple and reliable beats flashy every time. Carrying spare parts because you know your setup is likely to break is not a strategy. Tires are another thing that can quietly kill your tow truck. Load ratings, tire size, and how they affect your effective gear ratio all play into how your truck behaves under a load. Going up in tire size without accounting for everything downstream can smoke a transmission and make towing miserable regardless of what else you have done to the truck. The core takeaway is something the guys come back to repeatedly. You have to decide what your truck actually is before you build it. A dedicated tow truck and a street truck that occasionally tows are two completely different builds. You can have a modified truck that tows great, but the parts and strategy have to match the application. If you are building a diesel and towing is part of the plan, this episode is worth your time. Subscribe on YouTube and follow the Power Driven Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Everything discussed in this episode is available at PowerDriven.com. If you are building a tow truck or a street truck that needs to work, the team can point you toward the right parts for your application. Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com
March 31 · 47 min
Why the Diesel Community Is Calling Todd a PURSE POACHER
Todd poached a purse and the diesel community is not happy about it. He showed up to a Blue Collar class drag race in Phoenix with a high mileage Cummins truck, a nitrous setup thrown together the night before from used shop parts, and no real plan to win. Then he won. Now there are posts. Now there are opinions. And now Todd, Will, and Myer are here to talk about it. The truck was not purpose built for the class. It fit the rules close enough to enter and that was the whole strategy. A 62mm turbo, a 52 jet, and a flat foot launch that just happened to hook. No PDD resources, no race prep, no endless planning. The guys break down the full story, get into the spirit vs. letter of the rules debate that followed, walk through exactly what was on the truck, and dig into whether nitrous should be banned from the class or just opened up to everyone with a standardized jet.
S2 · E12
March 24 · 52 min
Everything You Need to Know About Cummins Engine Blocks
Not all Cummins blocks are built the same, and if you are pushing serious power, the one under your hood matters more than most people think. Todd, Will, and Myer break down the full spectrum of Cummins engine blocks in this episode, from the various 12-valve generations to the 5.9 common rail and the 6.7, and explain exactly why the differences matter when the power numbers start climbing. The 6.7 gets a lot of attention here, and for good reason. The conversation covers what makes it structurally superior to earlier platforms: a thicker deck, a larger bore, longer wrist pins, and pistons that have held up to 3,000 horsepower in competition builds without giving up. The guys talk through how modern tuning lets builders get even more out of what is essentially a factory race motor sitting in everyday trucks, and why the 6.7 has earned its reputation as the current king of Cummins diesel performance. The 12-valve conversation goes deeper than most. There are meaningful differences between block variations that matter at high power levels, and the guys cover what to look for. Power Driven offers a 14-millimeter main stud upgrade across their block lineup, including as a standard feature on their 12-valve block, because the math on clamping force versus a stock bolt simply does not leave room for argument. One topic worth paying attention to is the roller lifter issue on newer 6.7 trucks. The guys call it out as a real problem already hitting a significant number of engines, potentially on the scale of what the VP44 pump failure was for the 24-valve crowd. If you own a 2019-and-up Ram with a 6.7, this part of the conversation is worth your time. There is also a breakdown of why dropping a 12-valve head onto a 6.7 block causes combustion problems. The 12-valve injector enters the cylinder at an angle, so the piston bowl is offset toward that injector. A centered bowl piston paired with an off-center injector creates combustion characteristics nobody wants. It is a simple geometry explanation that answers a question the comment section apparently asks regularly. The guys wrap up with some real-world context, including Todd running 10-second passes in his tow truck and a story about winning the fastest pass at an airport drag race against mustangs and a supercharged F-150 on a 6.90 slip. The point being that the power these engines support on the street right now is genuinely historic. If this episode has you thinking about your next block build, Power Driven has you covered with prepped and upgraded Cummins blocks and everything else mentioned in the episode at PowerDriven.com. Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com
S2 · E11
March 17 · 1 hr 17 min
We Went to NHRDA Arizona And Won $20,000
The crew is back from Arizona and this one is worth every minute. Todd, Will, and Myer all showed up to the NHRDA Arizona event with trucks ready to race, and nothing went according to plan in the best possible way. If you have ever thought about getting into diesel motorsports, this episode is going to push you over the edge. The NHRDA Arizona event was a well run show under new ownership that delivered on the details, from clear signage to efficient staging lanes to bonus qualifying rounds when time allowed. The crowd was big, the energy was right, and even a PDD shop employee who had never raced before got talked into running Willard the tow truck and came back asking where he could buy one. That is what these events do to people. Todd lined up in the NHRDA Blue Collar class with Vin D against a stacked field of modern power and a $20,000 winner take all purse on the line. The 12 valve Cummins pump gun had something to say about how that ended. Will brought Uncle Rico to the 590 class, qualified strong, and had a legitimate shot at a trophy run before the motor had other ideas on Saturday morning. Myer's Scrat build finally made it to the track after months of fabrication and a last minute Thursday night dyno session that gave everyone just enough confidence to load up and go. The truck made an impression in a hurry. The episode closes with the burnout contest, the Junker, a neutral drop on compound boost, a wall, an exploding fan clutch, and a water methanol tank that had the track crew convinced there was a fuel spill on their hands. If you want to race and you have been sitting on the fence, get a truck ready and show up to an NHRDA event. You do not need an expensive build and nobody is going to give you a hard time for being new. More events are on the calendar including Indiana in June and Montana in August. Several of the parts and components discussed in this episode are available at PowerDriven.com. Whether you are building a race motor, putting together a transmission, or just keeping a working truck alive, the shop link is below. Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com
S2 · E10
March 10 · 53 min
Why Bigger Turbos Are KILLING Your Cummins Tow Rig
If you have ever second guessed whether you have the right turbo on your truck or just assumed bigger always means better, this episode is going to sort that out with real numbers from real trucks pulling real weight. Todd, Will, and Myer just got back from hauling to a race in Phoenix and brought the data to prove what properly sized turbochargers actually do out on the road. The guys recap the full tow to the NHRDA event, covering how Willard, their VP44 powered second gen, hauled over 22,000 pounds while running the 60-64 turbo with almost no smoke, no heat issues, and solid boost numbers from Cedar City all the way down to Phoenix. On the other side of that convoy, Myer was pulling 31,000 pounds in his 6.7 common rail tow truck running the Aggressor 480 in a compound setup, holding 30 pounds of boost against 27 pounds of drive pressure the entire way. That kind of boost-to-drive ratio does not happen by accident, and they break down exactly why it worked so well including how a ported cylinder head and cam combination keeps heat out of the air charge and off the radiator when you are working hard under a heavy load. From there the conversation moves into waste gate strategy for both single and compound setups, covering screamer gates, hot pipe gates, and what they learned while tuning the junker for burnout contest reliability at 130-plus pounds of boost. They also get into how nitrous changes the entire equation when it comes to getting exhaust volume out of the system fast enough to keep turbos alive. The guys cover the Aggressor 62-9 and 67-9 singles after running them in the Blue Collar class at the event, including back-to-back comparisons on fuel only and with nitrous. There is a real conversation here about spool characteristics, turbine sizing, and why the 62-9 spools noticeably quicker and what that means depending on what you are actually doing with the truck. They also get into how wide you can spread compound turbo sizes before things fall apart, and the honest answer based on their testing might surprise people who assumed there was a hard limit. The junker running a 62-9 paired with an Aggressor 98 as the atmosphere charger is the case study, and the dyno results on that setup are worth hearing. The episode wraps with a practical breakdown of which turbo makes the most sense depending on your platform and how you use your truck, covering the tow series lineup across the second gen, common rail, and Power Stroke applications. If you are trying to figure out what to put on your rig this is about as straight of an answer as you are going to get from guys who have actually tested all of it. Subscribe on YouTube and follow the Power Driven Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. It is also March which means the Power Driven sale is live sitewide and they are giving away five Aggressor turbos to customers this month. Every hundred dollars you spend earns you an entry. Here is what is on sale: 👉 10% off all Power Driven products including heads, transmissions, pushrods, air filters, and oil 👉 15% off all PDD fueling 👉 15% off all PDD turbos 👉 20% off Power Driven True 6.7L Crankshafts If you have been sitting on a parts order this is the month to pull the trigger. Everything talked about in this episode including the Aggressor turbo lineup and the full tow series is available at PowerDriven.com, and if you have been sitting on a turbo upgrade, March is the month to pull the trigger with the sale running and five turbos being given away to customers. Shop Power Driven Diesel: https://www.powerdriven.com
S2 · E9
March 3 · 46 min
Is A $10,000 Cylinder Head Worth It On Your Cummins?
What does it actually cost to build a diesel that makes real power? More importantly, what does it cost when you buy the wrong parts? This week on the Power Driven Podcast, the guys are pulling back the curtain on one of the most debated topics in the diesel performance world: cylinder heads. Whether you're building a Cummins street truck or chasing records in a purpose built race rig, the head you choose can be the difference between a truck that dominates and one that leaves you stranded with a pile of parts you can't use. The crew breaks down the real cost of high performance cylinder heads, from shelf heads running factory valves all the way up to full custom builds pushing toward the $9,000 to $10,000 range. They talk about why a premium head is an absolute must once you start adding big turbos, stacking boost, and pushing into serious horsepower territory on a diesel engine build. A poor flowing head will cap you out fast, no matter how much fuel and air you throw at it. But it's not all about top shelf builds. One of the most important takeaways from this episode is knowing what your truck actually needs. The guys get real about matching parts to your goals, because throwing a race spec head onto a 500 horsepower street truck is just burning money. They dig into the middle ground too, including valves, springs, connecting rods, and pistons, and how the diesel aftermarket is maturing to give builders more competitive options at better price points than ever before. They also give a glimpse into what's being developed in the shop right now for the upcoming UCC build, which is shaping up to be one of the most serious Cummins engine builds the Power Driven team has ever put together. Meyer has been deep in the R&D on a head that could set a new standard for the platform, and the guys are genuinely fired up about where it's headed. Spring is coming. Race season is right around the corner. If you've got a build on the table, this is the episode to listen to before you start buying parts.

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