Heath Diesel Power Today

At Heath Diesel Power our goal is to deliver the most cost-effective towing-performance components and packages possible. Over the years, in our shop operation, we have focused on modifications which provide our customers the highest practiical ouput obtainable with the factory or near factory engine combination. The most important performance characteristic, for them, had to be strong uphill towing-power / speed while maintaining engine operation within the EGT limit. This quest for maximum practical output ultimately lead to the development of our Turbo-Master boost controls and to these component and package offerings.

Heath Diesel Power History

We started business in ’84 as an extension of our hobby, which is drag racing. Located here in central Washington, we are surrounded by steep grades so anytime we went racing, we were having to tow up hill. When we started using the 6.2 GM diesel in the early 80's our uphill speed was slowed considerably as compared to the 454 we had been running. Before long, however, we were finding ways to increase pulling power in the 6.2 and soon we were able to lead the pack uphill and without having to stop at every gas station along the way! Our ability to develope strong uphill towing power created a bit of noteriety amoungst fellow racers and the word spread to others who tow. Soon we found ourselves in business outfitting trucks with turbochargers and other performance modifications. We did quite a few turbo set-ups and many with water / methanol injection for intercooling.

When we used a waste gated turbo, we also built our own mechanical boost controllers, which were the forerunners of today’s Turbo-Masters. Our developmental efforts were significantly enhanced by the close proximity of long steep mountain grades, which we used to do our testing.

Often, turbocharger compressor maps and other engineering data are not readily available, which necessitated the development of test procedures that allowed us to gather the data needed. We would outfit test trucks with a variety of pressure and temperature measuring apparati and hook up to heavy loads then head fora long steep hill. We could chart turbine inlet pressure, compressor outlet pressure, inlet air temperature, exhaust temperature, outside air temperature and etc. These allowed us to chart the range of maximum-efficient compressor-output and correlate these to turbine housing restriction levels. Through these findings we determined the most efficient boost pressure output ranges, which guided our developmental efforts in each Turbo-Master design. When GM introduced its 6.5 turbodiesel in ’92, we immediately went to work on a proper controller to replace the spring-loaded canister they used. That controller is largely unchanged from the model -GM we offer for these engines today.

When the Dodge-Cummins came onto the scene, we began to experiment with smaller, waste gated housings on these and again, designed boost controllers to go along with them. The important features of those early designs are reflected in the current model -12 Turbo-Master.

Over the years, we quietly made our Turbo-Master a part of our performance packages, refining each design as time went along.

In 2001, we decided to get serious about volume producing the Turbo-Master and making it available to end users for home installation.

At this time, we offer these models:
-GM for the ‘92 - ’95 6.5,
-12 for the ’94 - ’98.5 Dodge with either 12 or 14 cm housing,
-24 for the ’98.5 - ’02 Dodge manual trans trucks,
-24.A for the ’01 and ’02 Dodge automatic trans trucks
-40 for the HX40 Cummins
Others in the process of development include a unit for the D-mx and as well as one for the B-1.

Through it all, we have held fast to our goals to create meaningful towing-performance gains, provide solid value and to have fun doing it. The turbodiesel is really beginning to blossom as the engine of choice amongst those who tow heavy, however, there is much work to do in helping it be all it can be. Looks like an exciting future and big fun to us!

- Bill Heath, Owner