Hey Guys-
I'm currently in the market for a diesel truck. I have some friends going to UTI for diesel and they pointed me in the direction of the 2nd gen 12v trucks (tough, my price range, easy to crank up ect.). This will be my first diesel rig so I'm looking for some 101 kind of info. I've done some searching but have found mostly performance related topics that are very helpful I just think I need a little more basic understanding before I get in over my head.

I plan on throwing parts at the truck just as soon as I can afford them so if anyone has some bang for the buck advice I'm all ears.

Any help would be great, thanks.

 

Lots of good info here. http://www.dodgeram.org/support_pgs/diesel_ix.htm
Hop-up tips here. http://www.cumminsdatabase.com/read.php?id=58
What kind of info do you need? 12v's are very simple, almost bulletproof, but the trucks they're in are getting old. First thing to do would be change all the fluids, and then the fuel lines. They get old and suck air, causing poor performance.
Auto trans are OK when stock, but can't take much more than stock hp very long.
Theres still some good ones out there, good luck.

 

Read up on the KDP "killer dowel pin" and make it your first repair if not already done. Check my gallery for a pic of the case damage. 12v's are very strong and reliable with out a doubt! All can realy say is read up! Great starting point with this site. Goodluck -Jake

 

Thanks guys.
I'm sure I'll get it as I go it's just a whole new game.

The age of the truck does have me a little worried but I won't buy one that looks like its been beat all it's life. Will dealerships take care of recalls with out too much hassle?

Are we talking about the injection pump dowel pins? Any way I can find out of the fix has already taken place just by looking? TST's kit is cheap and I'd probably do it just to know it's done if say, the PO wasn't sure/couldn't remember.

How accurate is that chart over at TST for selecting a TQ plate #?

Any after market brands to stay away from?

I'm getting excited to go roll some smoke as soon as I find the right manual truck.

 

Excellent choice on the second gen, cant go wrong with it..

serves as an awesome bomb platform... Here u go... im sure uve read this before..

THIS is just to get a little more power out of your ram. You can do serveral things, i see you are getting gauges, and you have an air intake on the way. which is good. Now this is an into to the main power source of the ram, Your P7100 Pump, and what you can tweak on it for more power. You can also time it, but thats advanced, well at least for me... use this as an intro more than anything.. I tried my best to explain it.... here goes... and

I meant to say post.... sorry.....

Here is an intro the link to the pic might not work, but u can see it as banks plate in my gallery.....

to get more power out of your truck the first and foremost investment is a good set of gauges. These are a must anytime that you are adding more fuel to your mix.

A governers spring kit, Reffered to as a GSK is a wonderful investment that widens your normally narrow powerband from the 12 valve engine and allows you to fuel hard to at least 3200 RPMS or so, before it starts to defuel, this is all dependant on your governer arm adjustment and your plate positioning. A Torque, or fuel plate should come next. NO one really follows the plate guide anymore and the most popular plates nowadays are 100 (PM northslope for wicked work! ) and a zero plate. Piers Diesel Research and Hot Rod Diesels have them for the same price, The fuel plate... here is my explanation....

Torque plates.... ok this is a torque plate right here... https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...=500&page=1

More commonly reffered to as fuel plates, they come in different numbers to explain how "aggressive" (for lack of a better term at the moment) that they are 10, 8, 6, 5, 0, and 100, zero being a flatt plate that bombards the pump with fuel, and a 100 being a ten plate curve with no top end defueling, much like the zero.. The one you see there is my banks plate, screwy yes, i know, i dont get it myself. that plate goes in the P7100 injector pump, It goes under what is called the AFC housing, which has a little starwheel on it, the starwheel can be accessed with the removal of the hex dealy using the the right hex head size plug, and u loosen it for more smoke, and better lower end, and tighten it for the inverse. Use a good screwdriver.... furthermore... You will see four screws there where the starwheel is, two that are flatt, one that is possibly a breakoff screw that can be a real PITA to remove, take a hammer and good screwdriver and bang the tar outta it, it will come off, if that fails, left hand drill bit... Looking down the driver side, the top left hand is the breakaway, and the top right is a regular screw as well, the bottom two are 8mm bolts and you need to get around to one that is in the back of the AFC housing that holds that fuel shutdown solenoid in place...

Install time, for a newbie, well it will take you about a couple of hours at most. If you read my literal "dissertation" of a post hehehehehehe. it tells u the procedure on how to do it. Your only real problem might be that break off screw, especially if your truck is stock, However, nothing a good strong screwdriver and some persuasion cannot take care of.

The other tricky bolt is the one (if you look down from the drivers side) behind the Fuel shutdown soleniod (electronic hooked up deal that bolts in front of the injector pump, easily removed with in my case an 8mm (and most should be too) socket and pull out the two bolts. when you undo those ull notice that there is one in the back that is holding the housing, you can just loosen the one in the rear using a deep 8 mm socket and just move teh shutdown soleniod out of the way, (downward) and then you can get to the plate..

When you are in there its simple adjustment, u just remove the stock plate and put the other plate in place of that one. NOTICE you have some play here. If you dont have gauges, dont set it full forward, If you do have gauges set it forward for a 30 or so rwhp increase!

Now put it back together and you are done. Installation is simply the reverse of removing it.PS having a magnetic tip screwdriver REALLY HELPS...

Which one is right for you.. id say the ten if you are not gonna be that aggressive with it, but the 100 is downright WICKED!! that be the one to go with, the zero is just too much at the low end for me but for dynos and racin, its awesome!.. The zero, PM Northslope AWESOME AWESOME WORK, and ull be helpin out a fellow DTR member, and the zero plate you can grind yourself, well you can do either or, but PM northslope do a search for plate grinding, started by gunracer1.. good instructions..

Either ways, you are going to need a clutch or tranny work if its an auto.....if you are going to play hard, in most cases if you just want a modest power gain, just get a 10 plate, set it a lil bit forward, and a GSK will wake up your truck. In the stock position its easily drivable and fun as well.

Waste gate, if i was good with pictures id put one up for you, but im sure you know what the wastegate looks like, that head looking deal, it is usually hooked to a rubber or similar airline, you want a little more boost? You can get a longer hose or pinch it up, There is a thread, i dont member where tho, where it shows someone improperly blocking the wastgate with a screw.... Well that aint good.. Anyways

Also make sure you get the KDP done on that truck as well... Not hard to do, look in my previous posts, KDP Report Using TST kit, or somethin similar to that......

PS this is cut and paste of other posts, sorry if its redundant....

Best of luck and hope that this helps..

Tx

 

TST makes an awesome kit for repairin the dowel pin,

ur are correct on ur assumption as towards which one it is.. anyways here is a writeup, i hope it helps you...

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...repair+TST+kit

And about the TQ plates, no one really goes by that chart anymore, as EGTS and everything else can go with good right foot control, brands to stay away from? i dont know, i think ur best bet is to call a reputable seller and buy one off of that person, OR u can grind ur own plate...

Rick

 

the only company you really need to stay away from is anything BANKS

 

Thanks guys!
It will be a manual truck so I'd like to build it nasty and just try not use it all until I can get a better clutch in there.
So KDP, gauges, air filter of some sort, GSK, TQ and exhaust should have me going pretty good and broke for sometime.

Who sells the #100 cam plate? I didn''t see it at PDR.

Thanks or the warm welcome. I'll take all the info I can get.

 

just grind one yourself heres a template for you http://umary.facebook.com/photo.php?...3&id=161800383

 

100 plate?

u can follow this profile in my pic gallery, its simply a J shaped plate, starts off like a 10 early on, then fuels like a 0 in the top end, hence the 100 name...



Clutch? consider valair for a great clutch at a very fair price.. Please, PM me for details...

Rick