I bought this truck a month ago. 97 diesel 2500, manual trans. extended cab. This is my first diesel, and pretty much my first truck (have an 85 Bronco that I bought with a blown engine, in the process of an engine swap, and had an old Datsun pickup that I sold a week after I bought it to make a few hundred).

What mods should I start out with? Also, what brand of lift? So many I see are just spacers and blocks, I want a lift that replaces the springs. What intake, exhaust mods, and tuner?

This is currently my daily driver, but I want to take it offroad on the weekends.

Do the headlights naturally suck on these trucks? My friend had a Dodge, and he said his were really dim, too.

 

first mods would be guages... EGT (exhaust gas temp), boost pressure and fuel pressure, this way you can see the differences each of the next mods you do. tuners/programes are a personal thing the guy that buys the banks stuff is gonna say buy banks, the guy that bought the Edge stuff will say the same. each truck almost have their own personalities what works on your truck may not work on the other guys truck, hard choice to make?
Next mod would be to get a decent fuel delivery system FASS or AirDog... then the sky is the limit!!

the mods are a never ending money pit...

As for lifts... how high you wanna go determines whether you get "spacers" or "springs" up front. How much do you want to spend ... couple hundred to $12,000 for a lift/suspension system.


yup headlights on these trucks really suck!!! check in your area with DOT on whether you can rn HID light system or not.

 

I have a boost gauge that I bought for my car, where's a good line to tap into on the truck?

Explain the fuel delivery system. Is it a fuel controller, or what?

I was going to go with a 4 or 6 inch lift. My friend said that any bigger than a 4" lift, and towing capacity goes out the window. I will spend as much as I need to for the lift I want.

I ended out buying little round $25 "driving lights" from Walmart, and mounting them in the factory holes in the bumper. They pretty much fixed the low beam problem. I'll mount some Hella lights to the brush guard for off roading and such.




With my cars, intake and exhaust has been the first mods done. This is my first turbo vehicle though, so I'm not sure how important intake and exhaust mods are.

 

go back by Wally World and pick yourself up a Diesel Power Magazine or check out their website here. http://www.dieselpowermag.com/index.html
Read a little while before you just jump on the first part you see. I am sure if you read some of the combinations that guys on here run it would also be helpful to a first time #2 burner. (i am sure that is why you posted this thread.)

 

Thanks. That's basically what I needed, somewhere to start learning. I have friends with diesel trucks, but I don't think they know as much as they pretend to.

Those $25 lights from walmart have like a 1.5" lense, and they're brighter than the stock headlights!

 

First off, theres no such thing as a tuner/programmer/chip for your truck. You have a 12 valve. Mechanical injection pump. No electronics control the fuel system...

Now that we have that established...

Your trucks fuel system consists of a mechanical lift pump, that sucks the fuel from the tank and sends it to the Bosch P7100 injection pump, commonly referred to as a p-pump. The injection pump pressurizes the fuel and sends it to the injectors, then into the combustion chamber and boom, you have power.

EGT, boost, and fuel pressure are the first mod you should do. Next is a 4" or 5" turbo back exhaust. Go ahead and ditch the cat and muffler while your at it...

Then look into an air intake.

After that it depends on how much power you want, and what the trucks used for. Youll probably want an upgraded clutch to hold the extra power. South Bend is probably the top clutch manufacturer out there.

The easiest way to add power is with a fuel stop plate. http://www.dynomitediesel.com/display_part/3.php

Theres some mods you can do to the pump that are more or less free. Adjusting the AFC, timing, sliding the fuel plate, etc.

Get a 3kgsk kit as well. Itll definately wake up that Cummins. Thats a 3000rpm governor spring kit. They also have a 4kgsk...

Injectors and delivery valves are another way to add power. Depending on how much fuel you run, youll need headstuds and turbo upgrades...

 

Where is a good place to get an a pillar cluster?

Should I have a shop bend me up an exhaust, or is there a pre made one out there. If I have a shop do it, should I pay the extra money for mandrel bent, or does it make a difference.

 

Mandrel bent is the only way to go. Otherwise you have pinches and crimps in the pipe and your more or less just throwing money away on trash. If you can find an exhaust shop thatll mandrel bend a whole system for less than a premade, then do that. But Id uess most will charge more, because they are custom bending it and it takes a bit of time to fab exhaust.

MBRP, Silverline, Magnaflow are just some of the companies that have exhaust for your truck. http://www.dieselmanor.com/mbrp/s6100409.asp

Diesel Manor also has pods... http://www.dieselmanor.com/pillars_p...ts_pillars.asp

Also have gauges/pod as a unit

 

Thanks. There's a local place that lists one for the same price as the one in the link. They can bend custom exhausts, too.

http://www.stans-headers.com/diesel.htm

 

Honestly I couldn't have said it better. I would like to add on a few more things though. Go get some magazines, use the search button. Oh and for basic stuff go to summitracing.com for general pricing. Happy modding brotha.