Put the truck in the shop for some performance upgrades

timc

Had my Ram 2500 6.7L diesel three years now, warranty is up so it’s time to upgrade.
deleting all the emission garbage, adding new Exhaust, EFILive performance tunes (4), transmission tune and FASS fuel system. I’ll be able to push the beast up to about 500 horse power. That ought to move that big monster. Also looking forward to the 3-6 mpg more in fuel mileage. 
Now I’ll be able to get to the range fast and use less fuel!

anyone else running a deleted diesel? Whatcha got?

jbohio

I'd have the head studded while you're at it.   
My old Duramax was done pretty much the same.  Fried the trans (Allison), second time pulling the camper on tow mode.  $4500 later, back on the road.  Then it lifted the heads on the way to Yellowstone.  It's still in Wyoming.
My new Powerstroke is bone stock, and will stay that way.

timc

Sorry for all the issues. My last truck, also. Ram 2500 with a 6.7l diesel was also deleted and I never had a bit of trouble out of it. The 60 horsepower is awesome for towing.

earlyagain

I have a 98' Tacoma.

I was gonna upgrade to new wiper blades for winter but Im procrastinating.

😋

timc

earlyagain said:

I have a 98' Tacoma.

I was gonna upgrade to new wiper blades for winter but Im procrastinating.

😋

Nothing worse than a streaky wiper blade!
;-)

Jermanator

I am putting a new fender, door skin, window, gas door, headlight, and mirror on my 2012 Duramax-- my nephew decided to brush up against a semi with the driver's side.

As far as the performance goes-- getting rid of some of the emissions and bigger exhaust is about as far as I would go. Tuners and stuff-- there is a reason GM/Ford/Dodge didn't use those settings to get more horsepower-- if they could get away with it, they would. Some probably has to do with the EPA, but some of it affects to reliability of the engine. All those diesels have plenty of power already. I just want the damn thing to run for as long as it can.

zorba

Jermanator said:

As far as the performance goes-- getting rid of some of the emissions and bigger exhaust is about as far as I would go.

That's exactly right.

timc

There are some really good efficient tunes available. Like I said above I ran a deleted truck for years with zero issues. 
The truck I have now I bought new in 2015, it has been in the shop 7 times for issues, all were for problems with emissions system which I am now deleting. 
Done right a custom tune can increase the life of your engine. Not the crazy blow black smoke lope tunes the kids like. But a good balanced 30 to 65 horsepower tune to make everything run smooth and efficient. I’ll pick up a few more mpg and no more DEF fluid!

Jermanator

If it turns your crank, more power to you. Myself? I am probably one of the most utilitarian people toward vehicles ever. I just want the darn things to run-- I could care less what they look like, resale, horsepower, etc... just get me and my stuff from point A to point B reliably.

terminator012

I don't own a diesel anymore. When I had one I did the egr delete but never done a tune to it. I figured Ford, Chevy and Dodge engineers knew more about their trucks than some aftermarket tune companies knew.

Jermanator

When my bone stock 2012 Duramax was new, my mechanical guy had a 1/2 ton Dodge with a Hemi. Heading down Grand River in Detroit to ajob, we stopped at the same light. He wanted to race. I raced him.

Out of the hole, he took right off. After the turbo lag... I smoked his ass. I was pulling a trailer with 4000 pounds. He had a furnace in the bed of his truck. 

earlyagain

In order to really appreciate the power of diesel you had to have pulled weight up grades with gas. When I first started driving, my boss figured trucks never die. I drove equipment over twenty years old. Most gas powered with two speed axles. Very slow uphill loaded. Listen to and feel an inline high compression turbo diesel slowly build rpms up a grade loaded. The old timers called it letting it pile. Its like good music compared to down shifting an over taxed gasoline engine.

zorba

I found that when hitting a grade with a loaded diesel, its gonna slow down to whatever its gonna slow down to. The gas rigs would blow on by - but if the grade is long enough, the diesel will catch up and pass the gassers gasping and wheezing in the altitude.

timc

Jermanator said:

If it turns your crank, more power to you. Myself? I am probably one of the most utilitarian people toward vehicles ever. I just want the darn things to run-- I could care less what they look like, resale, horsepower, etc... just get me and my stuff from point A to point B reliably.

Actually that’s exactly what I am doing.

jaywapti

As someone who lived and worked in Georgetown Co. at 8500' and pulled loaded trailers across Loveland Pass thru the tunnel at 11,000' to Frisco 9000' both with both Dodge gas and diesels there is no comparison, the diesel wins every time both in speed and fuel usage.

JAY

Jay

We have my dad's '01 5.9 24v set up with a few basic upgrades.  Exhaust, tuner and a FASS fuel system.  It started off with the fuel system, since that truck killed the VP44 pump, a common problem with those trucks.  After a buddy and I put the FASS system on it, my dad did the exhaust and tuner.  Runs great and averages over 20MPG all day.  He wants to turn it up a bit.  Only thing I advised him to do is upgrade the clutch.  Once you get to a certain point, the clutch won't have enough pressure to hold the torque.  Especially pulling a load.

Gila

I love my Dodge Ram 2500 with the Hemi in it.  It's 14 years old and pulls my Skeeter just fine.

timc

terminator012 said:

I don't own a diesel anymore. When I had one I did the egr delete but never done a tune to it. I figured Ford, Chevy and Dodge engineers knew more about their trucks than some aftermarket tune companies knew.

There are a couple of faults with that theory,
1. The car manufacturers are constrained by some laws restricting what they can do (emissions)
2. I’m sure there are focus group studies that show the limits of what the average person is willing to spend on a vehicle. The manufacturers find the best compromise to fit the largest range of consumers. Not everyone is willing to spend several thousand more on an already expensive truck so some corner are cut, some improvements are not pursued to save money.

zorba

timc said:

Not everyone is willing to spend several thousand more on an already expensive truck so some corner are cut, some improvements are not pursued to save money.

That's news to me - every time I look at a vehicle, its "loaded" with THOUSANDS of dollars worth of crap that "everybody wants", except me. I shop first and foremost by engine and transmission, EVERYTHING else is secondary. I'll spend the money for a better drivetrain, not so much for the automatic smart fone integrated crapulator.

timc

zorba said:

timc said:

Not everyone is willing to spend several thousand more on an already expensive truck so some corner are cut, some improvements are not pursued to save money.

That's news to me - every time I look at a vehicle, its "loaded" with THOUSANDS of dollars worth of crap that "everybody wants", except me. I shop first and foremost by engine and transmission, EVERYTHING else is secondary. I'll spend the money for a better drivetrain, not so much for the automatic smart fone integrated crapulator.

Never said they don’t put stuff in some don’t want. What is did say was the decide in where the line in the sand is to get the broadest consumer market. You should have studied a little more in your economics class! ;-)

me, I I like the extras like heated and cooled seats, Navigation, leather, nice music system etc.

zorba

Don't need heated/cooled seats if they're cloth instead of leather or vinyl. Leather is the WORST POSSIBLE seating surface in a vehicle- its hot, its cold, its slippery, it doesn't wear particularly well, its maintenance intensive, it smells, and its expensive.

I don't want the factory nav system because it costs $1,500 or so, and isn't any better than a $69.99 Garmin I can buy on Amazon - and toss/replace if it screws up.

Music system is fine - but I can always aftermarket it if need be.

I don't want power windows, door locks or most especially power seats. I hate power seats...

Again, I'm given to understand that anywhere BUT North America, I can order a vehicle by LINE ITEM. With today's computerized production systems, this is NOT a problem on the production floor - it is, however, a problem to American car dealers who only want to sell what's on their lot already. Car dealers elsewhere are small concerns because they don't have but a handful of cars on hand, everybody orders what they want.

FFLshooter

I’m still trying to figure out why every German car I’ve ever sat in smells like a box of Crayola Crayons.

timc

Oh my word.... just picked the truck up from the shop, holy crap its fast. There’s nothing like a 500 horsepower daily driver. Exhaust sounds amazing, not too loud just a low throaty rumble, I did not want loud exhaust. 
May not be for everyone but the kid still creeps out in me once in a while and when I want to giddy up and go I want it to go. I am very happy with how it turned out.
kudos to Chuck’s diesel performance 
http://www.chucksdp.com/

CHIRO1989

I see an "exhibition driving" ticket in your future

timc

CHIRO1989 said:

I see an "exhibition driving" ticket in your future

Maybe a speeding ticket. Tires are too expensive to smoke!

you know what they say...
”Objects in rear view mirror are slower than they appear!”

HappySquid

zorba said:

timc said:

Not everyone is willing to spend several thousand more on an already expensive truck so some corner are cut, some improvements are not pursued to save money.

That's news to me - every time I look at a vehicle, its "loaded" with THOUSANDS of dollars worth of crap that "everybody wants", except me. I shop first and foremost by engine and transmission, EVERYTHING else is secondary. I'll spend the money for a better drivetrain, not so much for the automatic smart fone integrated crapulator.

Zorba, all one needs is a European 2Lt diesel and a 5 speed manual

zorba

HappySquid said:

Zorba, all one needs is a European 2Lt diesel and a 5 speed manual

Truer words have never been spoken. I want A/C and Cruise control - and "they" can keep all the other crap, especially the computers!

timc

jbohio said:

I'd have the head studded while you're at it.   
My old Duramax was done pretty much the same.  Fried the trans (Allison), second time pulling the camper on tow mode.  $4500 later, back on the road.  Then it lifted the heads on the way to Yellowstone.  It's still in Wyoming.
My new Powerstroke is bone stock, and will stay that way.

If I was going above 500 HP I would stud the head along with a host of other mods. The HO Cummins should be good for up to 500 HP as is and the AISIN 6 speed transmission that
 was introduced in 2013 is good for 1200 fpt and is a much beefier transmission than the 68RFE. Couple that with I have no intention of running her that hard anyway and I should be fine.
put a few miles on her today, for me it was money well spent.

Jermanator

Don't get me wrong... I am happy for you and am very glad your mods are working so well. But me, I am probably one of the worst people ever to comment on a vehicle. I am really, really utilitarian when it comes to them, so don't think I am peeing in your Fruit Loops.

timc

Jermanator said:

Don't get me wrong... I am happy for you and am very glad your mods are working so well. But me, I am probably one of the worst people ever to comment on a vehicle. I am really, really utilitarian when it comes to them, so don't think I am peeing in your Fruit Loops.

  No worries, all advice is good. If I didn’t value your and others here opinions I would not have posted. I definitely don’t have to agree, like or follow anyone’s opinions but I do appreciate them and once in a while I actually listen!
;-)

shotgunshooter3

My 2014 Tacoma has upgraded shocks. Upgraded in the sense that when I felt my factory ones were worn out I splurged on Bilstein 5100's. 

My unofficial goal is to hit 300K in this vehicle, so I don't intend to do any engine mods. I MAY upgrade the entire suspension if the forest service roads prove iffy with the mostly stock setup.