welder666

Hey guys new to the forum here. I did some searches but mostly found things to do that generally involves increase in power output.

I am going to be buying a 2002 Dodge Ram fom my uncle. Its only had 2 owners, both old guys, and has been meticulously maintained and not molested at all. He took the truck into the Dodge dealership and had $5K worth of front end/brake work done to it two years ago. The whole truck is tight and drives amazing. I drove it last week for the first time and fell in love with it. I currently drive an 04 chevy 2500HD with the 6.0L gas and its truely been an amazing truck the 9 years ive owned it plowing snow and towing my boat. But its time for something new. The last Dodge I owned was a 2006 1500 quad cab, i had bought brand new and it was a huge lemon. I had nothing but problems with it and sold it with 27k miles on it.

I plan on buying this truck from him in the next couple months when I sell my current rig. I have a couple of questions as this is my first diesel truck. I have a Cummins QSB 355 horse engine in my boat and I absolutely love it.

I am looking for a list of things to do to the truck for the better. Such as a FASS lift pump, as I heard from a friend that the stock ones can go out and take the injection pump with it. I looked on ebay and found a kit for $500 that comes with the pump and water seperator. Is this a good kit to buy? I dont really want to add a ton of power to the truck. Id like to leave it sort of close to stock but am looking for things that are mandatory to do for the trucks well being. I will be using the truck for a daily driver and a work truck. I tow my 16,000 lb aluminum commercial fishing boat with it. I would like to add an AFE intake possibly, and a Edge tuner with guages and the whole nine to monitor things. The truck is an automatic, so i would like to maintain close to factory horsepower rating without putting a strain on it.

Any info is greatly appreciated and im looking forward to owning a cummins as a daily driver and not just for my fishing operation. Ill be coming back and forth tothis page for more info and probally more questions. thanks again

Robert Rausch

Holy Cow, towing 16,000 pounds of commercial fishing boat will sure make your truck sit up and take notice of what's behind it. You should definitely put in gauges so you don't melt your pistons while towing your boat. I don't know how long the stock trans will last towing that heavy--probably depends on your foot and how well the trans was maintained. There are more than a few auto trans places that can build your trans to be bulletproof when you tow heavy. ATS and Goerends are two that spring to mind.

welder666

your kidding me right??? my gas chevy pulls it without even hesitating. let me clarify something to you incase you werent aware, the vessel is on a King triple axle trailer with zero tongue weight. if you need some sort of proof via picture or video id be more than happy to show you. all ican do with that comment is just beleive you were joking. my uncle towes his boat that is twice the size of mine, with twin QSB cummins and Hamilton 274 jets, with this exact dodge i am asking about. you obviously arent aware of a work trucks potential.

Robert Rausch

Young welder666, I assure you I am very aware of what these trucks are capable of, and I am also aware of the melting point of aluminum pistons. Good luck.

Busboy

You don't say if your trailer is a goose/5ver or tag trailer.. If it's a tag then the factory hitch is only rated for 500/5000lbs non WD so you would need a class 5 hitch. If it's a goose/5ver then having "zero" hitch weight is very unsafe, it should be at least 18% or 2880lbs, the 2500 can't legally carry that much weight. One of the first things the second gen truck NEEDS is a fuel pressure gauge and if you are adding that you probably should add a boost and EGT gauges too.I found the factory engine mounted fuel pump to be adequate so long as fuel pressure is monitored, it's convenient to change even by the side of the road and a spare pump takes up no room. Also that factory automatic trans is not the best so transmission temp gauge would also be prudent. You being commercial I would have a look at the data plate on the door, that will tell you what the truck can do legally, you will be surprised at how little payload the truck has. You might be better keeping your GM gas truck if it will do what you say.

jrs_dodge_diesel

Busboy is right about the payloads and weight capacities. The 4x4 automatic diesel 2500 quad cabs with 3.55 rear axles had the lowest payload/tow capacity. GCWR of 16,000 lbs, payload at 2,320 lbs, and max trailer weight at 9,300 lbs.

The 2nd gen Ram with the highest capacity was a 2WD diesel 3500 regular cab with the NV5600 6 speed manual and a 4.10 axle. GCWR of 21,500 lbs, payload at 4,290, and max trailer weight at 15,150.

I have the factory tow package which has the class 4 hitch. It's rated for 10,000 pounds max, with only 1,000 lbs of tongue weight. The bumper was 5,000/500 lbs like Busboy mentioned.

2001 RAM Pickup Payload and Towing Charts

Tongue/pin weight does take away some payload capacity. It is next to impossible to have zero tongue/pin weight. The trailer weight can be set too far back would can lead to an unsafe condition where the tail wags the dog, so to speak. When that happens, and too much weight is on the trailer instead of the truck, then you end up in a very unstable condition that can be unrecoverable/out of control.

VADSLRAM

If you plan on towing that much on a regular basis then also plan on replacing the transmission eventually. The trannys on our rigs were the real weak link.