thxman

Hello All,
I have been reading these forums for some time now and finally joined as a member.
I am asking for a little advice about modding my truck. My truck is an early year 2004 Dodge long bed quad cab long bed 5.9 with auto trans and just hit 35,000 miles. I was fairly happy with my truck when I pulled my 19 ft 4500lb travel trailer, but I have now traded that in for a 23ft 6900 lb Attitude AKG toy hauler. The truck now is a slug and I have to place it in Tow- Haul mode for any thing steeper than a speed bump. My buddy has a Diesel Ford Expedition and there is no way in heck I am going to let a Ford out pull me. I have read many posts on this forum and most of the very informative replies from professor Quadzilla. In one recent post he informed a member that it may be better to just get the XZT and not install the Commander because dialing up the HP is to tempting and can become addictive. Well I don’t need another addiction as I am already addicted to good food, NASCAR, football, beer and finding ways to do less work. Not being the wealthiest guy in the world I have to mod my truck in steps and cant afford costly repair bills. I am thinking the Quadzilla XZT may offer me the best solution for power for my first step and was thinking air box second and exhaust as my final mod. I am not looking for a hot rod I just want a little more power to at least keep up with my buddies’ stock rig. Is the Quadzilla a good choice for towing and will I be safe with a bone stock early 2004 truck at the 30 and 65 HP setting? I know EGT temperatures are important to monitor but my dealer may void my warranty for putting a gauge on. Here in SoCal the dealerships look for any excuse to void or not cover warranty work.

Thanks in Advance,
Ray

Miles PH

I have the Quadzilla race box on my truck. It now has 60K on it with only one problem the tires keep going Bald HA HA. No I tow a 28' transporter toy hauler full of toys two Harley's and a golf cart and love it. Get one and in joy the new truck with the new power.

Festus

Hey! I resemble that comment!

Well, I decided to go with the XZT tow module. I already have the exhaust work done and the airbox work will be done before installing the tow module. In addition, I ordered the commander just in case I get a little stupid with the horse trailer or quads in the mountains. Addiction........I have no addictions.

Originally, I told folks that stock power was good enough for me, but indeed got sucked into the addiction a bit. Not to mention any names, but Kevin (Morkable) may have had something to do with it. darn, whoops, I mentioned a name - there were others for sure that influenced me as well.

So, just the tow module......that way, it's impossible for me to succumb(sp?) to the higher settings and the Commader to monitor what's going on.

swansong04

the quad commander and xzt box are very good choices and we all know how good quads customer service is ... it is also very crucial to monitor your egt's and trans temp when adding any sort of box even if it is a low hp box like the xzt !! ... the only thing you might want to think about is doing a little transmission work... with the added weight of your trailer and the new found hp the stock transmission won't last long ... and you will find if you are monitoring the trans temp that it will get VERY HOT when towing !! just MHO

good luck



Gary

thxman

I have a FLHT that I want to haul. Where did you find a front tire chock and how did you mount it in the Transporter? Looking at your signature you have allot of mods. I can only do one at a time and I really don’t want to hurt my truck with a performance chip. I just want to be sure my truck is up to handling the extra HP. I think I will be ok with an extra 30Hp but I know I will be tempted to put it in the 65Hp mode.

Festus

This was my concern as well, but I decided to take the chance as many others have had good luck with a little extra HP. The other benefit on my side is I've got a handshaker - they're usually a bit more forgiving to a little extra power than a slushbox. If, not a Southbend clutch will be next when this one craps out.

Fiftygrit

On my 06 I have the XZT tow box and an AFE intke, I pull a 25 ft TT this works for me just fine, I live in the mountains and theres no grade that i can pick how fast i want to go, I always use tow haul mode, as it does go into overdrive, I get better mileage hauling with the Quad XZT box,

n2dwild

I tow a 9500lb TT with two full size quads on a truck rack and one 90cc quad out behind the TT on a custom rack. Gcvw of 19500lbs. My sig tells you what I have on the truck (not much). I run the EDGE with Attitude in the low program settings 1,2,3 and never use the race or extreme modes. Here is what I can tell you about the setup I am running.

I can honestly say that my 06 HO Cummins does not need the extra power added by the Edge programmer to haul what I have. The limiting factor for me is EGT temps. Even in stock mode I can not run 65MPH up an 8% grade without exceeding 1250 EGT. That said, I still have plenty of peddle left, just can't use it. My truck runs best on the number 3 program of the Edge programmer for power and torque and the EGT's are only slightly different (50 degrees or so) than stock so usually I tow on the number 3 setting and just monitor EGT's and trans slip, backing out when I need to. Not something I actually enjoy. Like everyone else I would just like to let her run. It's a bit frustrating sometimes....

What I like about the EDGE: 1) Turbo timer 2) No need for guages and can monitor trans slip, temps, EGT's, MPH and much more 3) Trouble code monitor 4)Can be programmed on the fly. Notice, I didn't mention the power gains......

The reason is that the power gains are offset by EGT temps in a towing situation so before purchaseing a programmer, think about weather you will actually be able to use that power before EGT's make you back out of it.

Currently I have a stage 3 Snow water/meth injection kit on order to take care of all my EGT issues. I will be testing it in a full towing situation within the next few weeks. My hope is to run in stock mode or EDGE mode 1 with water meth mixture of 20% and be able to use all of my peddle and run 65-70mph on 6-8% grades without exceeding 1250 EGT. The reason I don't plan to use the power settings on the EDGE is not because I don't like them but more about preservation of my auto trans. If I find that the water/meth injection is my answere (from all I know it will be) then my hope will be to mostly use my EDGE as a monitoring system and turbo timer more than a power addative.

With that said, the EDGE gets my nod for a programmer even though I am not using it to it's capability just because it has so many useful features.

Joe

nelrod

I have an xzt that I had on for 2 tanks before I got race module. pm me if interested. My truck is 06 don't know if it will work on 04.

thxman

Thanks for all the informative replies. The EGT’s and Trans are my main concern, as previously stated if the dealer sees a gauge on my truck the drive train warranty is voided. The dealers here in SoCal are dogs , they actually tried to tell me if I ran anything but a MOPAR oil filter Dodge would void the warranty. I run a WIX filter and told them that is what I like to use. Of course they are full of it but that is the games they play. I have been to 3-4 different dealers and they are all the same. The other reason for selecting the Zilla would be the quick disconnect feature.

n2dwild

If all your looking for is 30-50 HP + whatever torque goes along with that in order to keep your trans in good shape and also be able to keep the EGT's down, wait a few weeks and I will definately let you know if the water/meth injection stage 3 kit from Snow does the job.

I have been in close discussion with the engineers at Snow and I have been assured that a stock 3rd gen truck towing 12K lbs with the stage 3 kit will see 40-50 rear wheel HP with smooth power delivery and a 200 degree or more change in EGT running 20% water/meth mix. I was also assured I would see 1 to 2 MPG gain in fuel economy while towing. I have spoken with others running water/meth and this does seem to be inline with their claims.

I will definately be testing the kit running in stock mode as well as running my programmer on 1, 2, and the 3 setting to see the effects.

I have done the research and comparison shopping for twins, bigger turbo, new intercoolers and such.

Intercoolers are far to expensive and net you very little in the way of cooling (not enough to make a signifigant change in my eyes). Twins are awesome and probably have the greatest effect on towing and EGT's but at a very costly price for the kit and for the Auto trans upgrades needed along with a new exhaust brake, not to mention a programmer is needed to push the extra fuel needed to make them work properly. A bigger Turbo will cool EGT's and give you the needed HP and Torque to tow, also at a costly price + trans upgrades and a new exhaust brake since the stock Jacobs of mine will not bolt to any of the aftermaket turbo's without major work. Also a bigger turbo leaves you with more lag time and less fuel economy.

After using my truck in it's current form and evaluating my needs I have come to the conclusion that for what I haul I don't need anymore power or torque, I just need to be able to use what I currently have without EGT's getting in the way, thus the water meth injection (Yet to be proven but I have researched enough the be very secure in purchasing this upgrade). I will try and post on the forum with as accurate of results as I get them.

Joe