frankieB

Hey guys, I'm pretty new here and new to the CTD as well. My last Dodge was a gasser. I do have an Excursion with the 6.0 (sorry, I am not proud of this) that I ran a superchips in for a while but after some furd reflashes it never seems to work right any more. Anyhow, I've been reading the Smarty threads and think this is the way to go. I'm not looking for anything crazy, just don't want to be embarassed at red lights . It sounds like you can run the smarty on #3 safely with no mods...true? I don't think I'm into doing anything major to the truck (yet). Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks

dodgezilla04

smarty on 3 is safe for your tranny. but ANY fueling mod without at least a pyrometer(exhaust gas temp gauge) is a bad idea. you can exceed the safe limit with a completely stock truck, even faster with a modified rig.

frankieB

Thank you sir! Any recommendations on which egt gage to buy? How hard to install?

trik396

I like Autometer. It's not hard to install but you have to drill and tap the exhaust manifold. Some find it hard or scary, but it's really easy to do. If you can install an EGT guage (pyro) you can install any guage as they are all easier than this type of install...

frankieB

cool, thanks. I read on another thread that some guys were concerned about getting chips/shavings in the exhaust. Is it worth taking the manifold off for drill/tap?

trik396

As long as you drill slowly and keep cleaning up every once and awhile, you'll be fine. Get a small magnet to pull any small shavings out of the hole. Use grease on the tap to contain small particles. And again use the magnet when done tapping. You'll be good to go. Search out some pics to find the location for drilling.

dodgezilla04

i taped most of my tail pipe over. got all the tools ready, put on gloves and goggles. started the truck and started drilling and tapping. the exhaust flow blew the chips clear. it gets hot that way though. put 20k on that turbo before going bigger, and no trouble with it.

frankieB

i gotta tell you i like the adventure aspect of the Dodgezilla method! I guess thats it then, Smarty and a pyro until I NEED more! Probably won't last six months before I'm askin' you guys how to add a million more things. Thanks for the help fellas, talk soon.

Frank

trik396

It is a slippery slope... be prepared to spend $$$...

frankieB

yeah i hear ya, its bitten me so many times before. hey just out of curiosity, what is the max stock egt you guys have seen, and where do you get the info on what is dangerous?

donnee

The max stock Iv seen on my 05 was 1300* pulling out of Denver.
Backed off the skinny pedal and dropped them to 900*

dodgezilla04

mine stock easily hit 1400* climbing the divide in montana pulling my 10K TT.

But that was stock, cant remember that anymore.

frankieB

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the knowledge share. I probably wouldn't have gotten gages but now I definitely will. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks,
Frank

trik396

Everyone should have gauges. The more you care about your engine and truck, the more guages you should have. Plus they just look way cool...
I'll be installing my 8th guage sometime this week....

jwb600

you can find deals online with a pillar and some autometers for around 300 or so. thats not bad. I have dipricol gauges and they have worked great, but I have alot more than that invested in them. like they told you get a pyro at least and maybe a tranny temp gauge if you pull anything. I have 4 gauges and need 5 and watch them all the time to see whats going on.