It was originally black but PO painted it 'champagne pearl'..but it looks ok. I just got through peeling off a terrible tint job on the side and back windows.... Fun. It will pull a two car open trailer on occasion.

It needs rear tires...what would you suggest? Size and range? Looking for best overall mileage.

What are some good mods that give the best benefit for the buck? It's pretty stock.

Thanks!

Dave

 

i would get about 50k out of my michelin xps,s when i had a truck that 16's would fit

 

after the tires, get at least a boost and egt gauge. an additional pressure gauge for fuel pressure would be good too. after that most of the mods are free! grind your fuel plate, turn the starwheel, boost elbow to turn up boost, turn up fuel pressure (stretch a spring) and maybe some timing. it will tow great with these mods, however a clutch upgrade will be in store shortly after. good luck and have fun with the new truck!

 

Like BigErks recommended, boost and EGT gauges are very important. I would strongly recommend adding a fuel pressure gauge before a boost gauge, a bad lift pump is one of the few things on a 12 valve that will leave you stuck or cause you to need an expensive repair on your injection pump. Also, you need to get your KDP (killer dowel pin) before it gets you. Add a location to your profile so that if someone is local they can possibly give you some pointers and maybe hook you up with someone to fix your KDP. An exhaust would be a great idea too. This guy makes nice exhausts at great prices:

ebay link

Order of importance in my opinion:

1. Have KDP either tabbed or pinned with a jig
2. Replace fuel filter, fuel strainer, and depending on your location replace or remove fuel pre-heater
3. EGT Gauge
4. Fuel Pressure Gauge/stretch OFV spring if needed
5. Check fuel/brake lines for major rust by the tank

Now that you have all the not so glamorous maintenance type stuff out of the way you can get to the fun parts that make some power:

6. Boost Gauge
7. Grind fuel plate/add boost elbow
8. 4" or 5" Exhaust
9. Have timing bumped up to the 15*-17* range
10. 3,000 or 4,000 rpm governor spring kit
11. By this point you will probably be overpowering your clutch unless it has already been upgraded.

Last but not least it would be a good idea to adjust the valves at some point. If you can do it yourself then it won't cost you a thing except a couple of hours under the hood and a set of valve cover gaskets. If you are going with a 4,000 rpm governor kit then you'll have to replace the valve springs and adjust the valves anyways.

At that point I think you'll be about as far as you can go without an injector/turbo upgrade. I'm sure others have different opinions on the "upgrade path" you should take but that's my suggestion.

John

 

i agree

if not first (cause of tires), second...i would take care of that KDP. you just never know when... which leaves me with chills every time i start mine up cause I haven't done it yet.

 

Could you elaborate on these two a bit more?

 

If you're in a "warmer" climate you can get away with simply removing the pre-heater portion of the pre-filter. I just did the lift pump on mine a couple of weeks ago and found the connector all melted. I'm assuming that was from the heater staying on when it shouldn't have but rather than spend $100 on the heater and harness right off the bat I removed the heater and simply screwed the lower portion of the pre-filter directly to the housing after I pulled the heater out. Take a look at this thread I started as well as the thread I link to in it:

Pre-Heater Thread

I'm not sure what more I can tell you about the second one. In my opinion you need a FP gauge even on a 12V and you can stretch the Over Flow Valve's spring a little to get the pressure up in the 20psi range at idle if its low right now.

John

 

You didn`t mention your axel ratio. If it is 4.11, you will not be happy with the fuel mileage. I have the same truck as yours, and did the mods as mentioned in the previous posts, as well as DDP stage 1 injectors.
Because I carry a heavy camper, I went back to the stock tire size, which is 215 85 16E. If you do not plan to have a heavy load in the box, you can probably get away with 235 85 16E
Do 3K gsk, kdp, gauges, 4" exhaust, boost elbow, but stay with stock injectors for better fuel economy. you will have lots of power.
The only way I can get any kind of economy is to drive at 50 MPH (which really sucks)

 

A good set of injectors will not only give you more power when you want it, but are supposed to give you better mileage due to improved spray pattern. If you can keep your foot out of it.

 

I lost fuel economy with my present setup, driving the same way, at the same speed, with the same GVW, driving the same 2200 mile trip.
I feel the higher flow injectors, are not operating in the optimum rpm range, and thereby wasting fuel.
If anyone can give me some insight into the loss of fuel economy, please put in your 2 cents worth. I am very careful when it comes to doing the calculations.

One thing I can say; I am not lacking for power. I did have to turn back the star wheel a full turn to keep the power from coming on to strong, and causing the clutch to slip.

 

I'm almost positive that the stock size tire was not a 215/85 as that seems really small. Check your door jamb to see what size tires and pressures are recommended for your truck.

John

 

Wow! Thanks for all the replies!!

atc250r - great links and description!!

There were a few mods that have been done. I asked about the dowel pin mod (I knew about it from lurking on this site...) and the guy said it was done. He had the exhaust changed and it's larger but I haven't measured the tubing yet.

Looks like I will be getting some gauges soon... Do most of you use the windshield pillar mount? Any particular gauge source? Autometer, etc?

I think the gear ratio is not 4:11 as I got about 19 mpg driving about 400 miles last Sunday. The exhaust has an annoying drone at about 2000 rpm (about 70 mph) so I was hoping a larger tire would move my rpms down a few hundred at 70.

This thing is just such a kick after moving from a 4 cyl. Toyota 4x4!!

Thanks again everyone and I will start reading up on the FAQs!!

Dave

 

I have the Autometer triple pod in mine:



Dodge used to make interior paint that you could use to paint the pillar to match your interior color. I don't know if they still do but I'd be surprised if they didn't. I have the DiPricol gauges in my sig plus an AMI industrial pressure gauge that I bought from a surplus place that infidel hooked me up with. It says "water pressure" on it but it works fine for the fuel pressure too, just make sure you do some research and make a "buffer" for it with a small gate valve. If you don't, the pulses from the fuel pump will kill the gauge in a hurry. The place I got it from doesn't have that one anymore but the other day I linked someone to a similar one that they are selling. You can look at my old posts and find it I'm sure. I have used Autometer gauges for close to 20 years in my street cars and have never had a problem with them. I am running the DiPri's because I wanted to try something different and they have not let me down at all.

John

 

pix of the new ride please