Engine Upgrades

The Cummins 6BT 5.9 12v is capable of significantly power more than the 145bhp that it was built with.

We wanted to give the truck a little more ooph, especially when going up-hill and to improve the fuel efficiency. When going down-hill we wanted to take the stress off the brakes with an exhaust brake. And of course, increase the driving range with a new fuel tank. Finally, we knew we’d be adding significantly more electrical devices, so an alternator upgrade was planned.

Bosch VE Fuel Injector

Our DAF was built in 1990, so it came with the Lucas CAV injector. Later versions of the DAF (so called Euro-1 and Euro-2) came with a Bosch VE Injector, which is significantly more superior. In the US, they only fitted the CAV to farm vehicles, with puts its abilities…

Exhaust Brake

An engine requires oxygen to burn the fuel, if you reduce the flow of fresh oxygen rich air into the engine then it will slow down. An Exhaust Brake is one of the most popular upgrades because when activated it restricts the flow of air out of the engine. The…

Cummins 60lb Valve Springs

When you install an exhaust brake you also need to upgrade the valve springs. This is done to ensure they stay closed when the brake is active. The brake stops the engine expelling air through the exhaust, so it increases the overall pressure inside the engine. The recommendation is to…

Killer Dowel Syndrome (KDS)

There's a lot of debate about the Cummins 5.9 Killer Dowel Syndrome. There are definitely cases where the dowel between the engine and timing cover comes loose, falls into the engine and causes chaos. However, DAF owners have not reported this happening, and inspection of the dowel shows it's still…

3,200rpm Governor Spring

The Bosch VE Injector allows the engine to be revved up to 2,500 rpm. By changing the spring in the injector, you are able to rev the engine to 3,200 rpm. What that means is you can stay in gear long, which is particularly helpful on a hill. This is…

Boost Pin

The Bosch VE Injector comes with a guide pin and diaphragm that restrict the fuel delivery until there is sufficient air to burn the fuel. Replacing the guide pin increases the fuel delivery for the same boost pressure, thus improve your engine performance. That adds around 30hp and 50 lb-ft…

Dynamic Timing Advance Spacer

As the RPM of the engine increases there is less time for the fuel to burn. The dynamic timing advance in the injector compensates for this by injecting the fuel into the cylinder earlier in the cycle. This spacer provides more room for the dynamic timing advance to travel inside…

Holset HX35W Turbo

There are essentially two ways to improve a diesel engines performance, you either change the fuel or air flow. The greater the volume of cold air that flows into the engine, the more oxygen is available to burn the fuel. You want cold air because it is more dense than…

Delco Remy Alternator

It's not clear if our truck had the stock alternator installed but it had an output rating of 80 Amps. We wanted to ensure we had enough power to power all the additional electrical load we expected to install, such as lights, navigation etc. We contacted Delco Remy directly, who…

Fuel Tank

The standard fuel tank on the DAF is 120L, which according to Beep Beep Africa would give a real-world range of 330 miles driving a T244 around Africa. This was far shorter than our goal of 1,000 miles. Whilst we could have added a second tank, given the condition of…