Hey guys, tragedy happened a few weeks ago and my ram 1500 was totaled. TIME FOR AN UPGRADE! I purchased an 05 white 2500 (cummins obviously ) with 86k and a perfect body. Ive been working on the gasers for awhile now and had my truck pretty much set, now its time to get away from the dark side and join the light lol. So forgive me when I ask dumb questions about diesels as I'm new to this side of the game.

Ive already decided I want stacks but Im not sure what brands are good. Any ideas??

Also, no pics yet as I just was stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi and the Ram is back in PA. Ill get pics asap.

Thanks bros

 

all about the same if you ask me...

check out CumminsPerformanceParts.com and DieselAutoPower.com

jamie @ CPP and jacob @ DAP are both great guys to work with and will get you a good deal on whatever you need. jacob is pretty good with customer service, but I have yet to find anyone better than jamie at customer service. he goes way above and beyond for his customers...

Anyway diesels are a whole different game from gasolines. built much stronger and easier to make power out of. throw some gauges on your truck (EGT, Boost, trans temp, rail pressure) a good fuel system like airdog150 or fass150, and then put EFILive or a smarty on your truck and it will be a whole different animal. might also want a clutch or built transmission before hand because electronic tuning does A LOT on common rail trucks. Electronics do up to 150-175hp for my generation of truck with wiretap fueling boxes, but nothing like what electronics do for the common rails. We gotta do a lot more to our trucks to compete with just a smarty or EFILive tuned common rail.

 

So by electronics you mean tunes right?

Also a general question what size exhaust pipe is decent for the 5.9. I know for the 5.9 gaser it was no bigger than 3", so is it 5" for diesel??

 

well for the common rails the OBDII programmers are the best, but for the VP44 injected 24v's the fueling boxes like edge comp and quadzilla adrenaline are the kings because the most we can gain in power via flash programmer or data port connection is 65hp, but with the box wire tapping the injection pump it can gain 150hp. (higher yet if aftermarket injectors are involved)

for exhaust 4-5" is about the best for these trucks...I personally went with 5" because of my compound twin turbos...the S475 exhaust outlet is 5", so I figured why choke it down to 4" so it has full 5" including 5" downpipe.

 

That's interesting, I've got a long way to go to relearn all this stuff again for a different engine but I cant wait.

 

Congrats on the truck. There is alot to learn, but it is a fun and interseting learning curve. If you plan on making alot more power with tuners, i would reccomend first putting a little money into your trans to save you alot of money so you dont blow it out. The Cummins will make way more power than a stock trans can take.

 

Yep, get a built trans if you have an auto, then get some gauges. (Boost, egt, trans temp, rail pressure) then you can do EFILive or a smarty and really wake that truck up! (Were talkin 200hp gain at the rear wheels)

Might want studs, lift pump, and a bigger turbo if you plan on pushin the full 200 from tuning to it.

 

My first diesel was a Detroit diesel someone did wrong and blew the rings. So my first diesel I got to pull the engine and rebuild it. If you have to pull the engine get a stringer engine hoist and stand. The difference is no ignition. The rest is not that much different.

 

I plan on making this beast a weekend dragger so Im hoping for a lot of mods in the future. AS of right now Im having stacks installed, got tires and rims, and a full check up before it ships down here to me. Then Im getting smoked lights all around and then finally gauges.

What are some tranny mods I should be looking into, I do plan on getting a built tranny down the road but what can I do now to help keep it alive while Im adding very little power.

 

Leave it stock until you can to a full build. You could do a valvebody and torque converter, but as long as you're there, the whole thing might as well be done.