Heres the DennyT power pin after about 5k. It has a groove in it but its as grooved as it will ever be. I tested the Bully Dog pin and it tested to be equal to 1018 cold roll steel. Thats a shame too, they should know that it at LEAST it requires a stainless grade. The Bully Dog pin was also severely grooved to the point where it was getting stuck.

 

Never had a complaint Mine looked new after 75,000 miles.

Mike

 

if im going to do this who has the best pin out there ( Old smoky pin , PDR , Bully Dog ) ? So there wont be any problems.

 

I went with Smoky pin.

 

I blew 200 bucks on a pin, i would grind it.
Just my .02$.
TOMMY

 

Grind your own, zero dollars.

 

Whats the pin have to look like when done. size how to grind off how long?

 

Use moly wheel bearing grease.

 

I just smoothed out the groove that had worn into my Bully Dog pin and I am going to try to get it hardened and tempered this week, will post the results...

 

Before I became a computer geek, I was an industrial wrencher (later years in a paper converting factory)... several of the machines used parts (shafts, guides, gears) that appeared way too soft for the condition. In our (I learned from an 70 y/o textile mechanic) brilliance, we sent a few "samples" out to be case hardened or built from harder base materials.

What we found (due to **** recordkeeping) was the parts we "hotrodded" tended to stay in service for 300-400% longer (some never broke again), BUT other associated parts along the chain began to wear/break at an alarming rate... many didn't have a history of failure prior to the introduction of our "better" parts. We ended up figuring out which parts were the best based on cost, ease of replacement, etc. and which ended up costing more in related parts.

In speaking directly with the engineers (both American & Italian), there were several instances they said "Good idea, we didn't XXXX that part to get a lower overall cost on the machine"... the others were always "HAHAHA, we tried that, but found it caused other parts to wear prematurely and spec'd it to be made softer... a sacrificial lamb"

So, I have to ask...
1) Is there a correlation between the OEM fuel pin hardness and that of the little pin riding against it?
2) What happens when the little pin grinds against an ultra hard fuel pin... effectively decreasing it's length? More or less power?
3) What's it take to change out the little pin... IIRC, it inside the VE top cover?

Are the softer aftermarket pins made to be "sacrificial"? OR just "sloppy sales practice" (knowing someone will check, find it grooved, and likely buy another)?

 

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me why that little pin gets stuck in the bore every so often.

Be interesting to see what the end of it looks like after running against an aggressively ground hard pin.

 

I made a custom pin out of a grade 8 bolt, I'll have to take some pics to show how it's wearing... Oh, hey ACE, how's it goin man. Good to see that you're posting again. It would be a shame to see the forum loose you over a petty argument- you're a WEALTH of knowledge on here... Cheers!

 

The factory AFC cone is hard enough that it never gets a groove worn in it. Aftermarket pins that are too soft are just shoddy products, IMO.

If you made the little pin shorter you would lose power.

Pump top has to come off, then you remove the AFC lever to gain access. Intercooled trucks are harder to do because the AFC lever shaft is held in by staked *****. Non-intercooled trucks use screws so it's real easy.

 

Question #1,are factory pins hardened through-out?
#2 if not after self grinding do many of you notice a groove after a while?

 

Get the Old Smokey no worries here